At the coffee shop seminar this week, the well-known historian, Lucius Flatley, offered some comparisons of the current American involvement in Afghanistan with previous attempts by other world powers to make a silk purse of a sow’s ear. For good measure, he contrasted that bottomless pit with the quicksand of Vietnam. Located adjacent to Pakistan, […]
American Journal Opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly
Another consolidation idea worth considering
Last week, Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton announced that the city would not be looking for a replacement for retiring police Chief Bill Baker. Instead, the city is creating the new position of director of public safety to oversee all police, fire and rescue operations and services. As Baker noted at the city’s Jan. 10 press […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly, Web
EDITORIAL – Wading through a sea of bills from the Legislature
Maine’s 125th Legislature is now in session, and if history is any indication it will have lawmakers wading through hundreds of bills whose sponsors hope to become law. Last session, around 1,700 bills were submitted, including a doomed bill that sought to limit the amount of bills submitted each session. About the same number is […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly
EDITORIAL – Wading through a sea of bills from the Legislature
Maine’s 125th Legislature is now in session, and if history is any indication it will have lawmakers wading through hundreds of bills whose sponsors hope to become law. Last session, around 1,700 bills were submitted, including a doomed bill that sought to limit the amount of bills submitted each session. About the same number is […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly, Web
EDITORIAL – Targeting red tape a worthy, but tricky, goal for LePage
While Gov. Paul LePage is behind schedule on his plan to fill his cabinet by the end of 2010, he is moving quickly on another of his campaign promises: to slash the state regulatory process that he believes hinders the growth of business in Maine. And it is with good reason, since the LePage administration […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly, Web
GUEST COLUMN – I love Maine poetry
I must admit that I was quite surprised when Gov.-elect Paul LePage’s camp announced that no poetry would be read at his gubernatorial inauguration. As the executive director of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance – a thirty-five-year-old nonprofit devoted to enriching the cultural life of Maine by supporting the literary arts – I paused […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly
EDITORIAL – Homegrown ideas offer lessons for fight against hunger
A report released last week by the Campaign to Promote Food Security in Cumberland County painted a stark picture of the state of hunger in Maine’s most affluent county, and served as a holiday reminder of poverty’s broadening reach during an economic recession. According to the coalition, which is led by the United Way of […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly
EDITORIAL – Homegrown ideas offer lessons for fight against hunger
A report released last week by the Campaign to Promote Food Security in Cumberland County painted a stark picture of the state of hunger in Maine’s most affluent county, and served as a holiday reminder of poverty’s broadening reach during an economic recession. According to the coalition, which is led by the United Way of […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly
EDITORIAL – Opt-out option needed for CMP's smart meters
The debate over the ongoing installation by Central Maine Power of so-called “smart meters” is at its most basic about the potential for new technology to create savings and efficiency, and the possible long-term impact of that technology on the public’s health and well being. But it is also about the ability of residents to […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Current, Lakes Region Weekly
Earth Speaks – The full price of war
Everything is connected, including the havoc wrought by the destructiveness of war to both humans and the environment. Last September, the Brunswick Times Record sponsored a forum titled “What Price does our Community Pay for the Military Budget?” A panel, consisting of local representatives from health care, education, social services, business and green/environmental interests, addressed […]