Monthly Archives: September 2017

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and remove your hats

Another football weekend is upon us. Friday night will see high school boys under the lights, while collegiate student-athletes will take the field on Saturday. And Sunday? We’ll have another round of NFL football with its associated acrimony about the national anthem. This entire controversy is nonsensical; countless words have already been thrown at it. […]

We have met the investors, and they are us

The Bangor Mall and Medicare for All. If you’ll bear with me, I’ll try to tie these two together. Think I can do it? This past week, the Bangor Daily News reported that the Bangor Mall may soon be insolvent; its total debt will exceed the value of the assets. That is not entirely surprising. […]

Laws are tricky; that’s why voters have other people make them

Laws are tricky things. Just ask the Portland City Council. This past week, seven members went on a learning junket out into Portland’s harbor to inspect safety improvements at the historic Fort Gorges. The problem? Maine’s “Freedom of Access Act.” It specifies that, when three or more public officials are gathered in any official capacity, […]

Can we end gerrymandering?

The Gerrymander. The most evil of political beasts, destroying competition in the electoral sphere and laying eggs of partisanship to perpetuate itself. To get the full effect, you need to read that in the voice of Sir David Attenborough. Because when it comes to redistricting and representation, the entire concept is treated as some strange, […]

Back to school with Harrison Bergeron

School is back in session. For students throughout Maine, that means sports, homework, and, yes, reading assignments. Some of those books will be a slog to get through — I still don’t get “Catcher in the Rye” — while others will stick with them through the years. One such story is “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt […]