It was this time four years ago that our world turned upside down. Returning home from a trip in early March 2020, I noticed a few people wearing masks on the airplane. Despite my public health training, I remember thinking that perhaps they were overreacting. Boy, was I wrong. While we had been reading about […]

A growing number of Americans think the American Dream is out of reach, but I think they are wrong. According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, only 36% of voters said the American Dream still exists, way fewer than the 53% who believed so in 2012. Half of the poll’s respondents believed that America’s […]

I’m looking at a map of Maine depicting the variance of temperatures from normal during “statistical winter,” which for some reason begins Dec. 1 and ended this year on Feb. 29. The state appears to be on fire. That doesn’t seem likely since the calendar is just turning toward spring, but there it is. Nor […]

There are lots of thankless odious jobs in America — sanitation worker, septic tank repairman — but surely none are worse than cleaning up Donald Trump’s serial excrement. That goes double for his top female acolytes, who are tasked with defending a thrice-married adulterous crotch-grabbing rapist currently on the hook for $92 million in defamation […]

Republicans are never going to impeach Joe Biden. I wish more Republicans would beat that fact into their skulls. Just as Democrats weren’t able to impeach Donald Trump because they didn’t control the Senate, Republicans are never going to impeach Biden for the same reason. Biden will never be impeached and MAGA Republicans have already […]

THE CONVERSATION — School meals are critical to child health. Research has shown that school meals can be more nutritious than meals from other sources, such as meals brought from home. A recent study that one of us conducted found the quality of school meals has steadily improved, especially since the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act strengthened nutrition […]

THE CONVERSATION — The first trial ever of a former president, the so-called “hush money” case against former president and likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, is scheduled to begin with jury selection in New York on March 25, though that may be delayed by a month. Trump faces 34 felony charges related to alleged crimes involving bookkeeping […]

Okay, it’s official. The Republican Party is the Trump party. Any politician who bucks Trump is toast. Just take a look at all the members of Congress who have flopped into Trump’s boat in recent days. Even New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu threw his towel in with Trump after badmouthing him for years. Spinelessness is […]

I recently participated in a Maine Gun Safety Coalition lobbying effort where we respectfully expressed our concerns about the lack of meaningful deterrence to gun violence. Scheduled time all too quickly elapsed and much of the exchange was spent revisiting the tiresome defense of Maine’s hunting tradition or was eclipsed by the overwhelming shock of […]

In a previous column, I noted that in Norway, one of the coldest yet richest countries on Earth, 82.4% of vehicles sold in 2023 were fully electric. People who can afford to buy the best and most Earth-friendly cars choose electric vehicles (EVs). Both the performance and sustainability benefits of EVs are becoming better and […]