Opinion
CONTRIBUTORS
Maine needs greater disclosure about toxins in toys
By Morgan Pottle Urquhart on May 21, 2013, at 11:32 a.m.
I have a three-year-old son who adores matchbox cars. He has carried them around with him all day, nearly every day, for almost a year. His particular favorite is a little Lightning McQueen car that came in a package of two. It was all he wanted for his birthday. This ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Ensuring the future of the National Labor Relations Board
By Jim Sutherland on May 21, 2013, at 11:18 a.m.
Washington is stuck in gridlock. Far too many pieces of legislation and nominees to fill critical positions cannot move forward because, instead of a majority being able to vote and move something onto the Senate floor, it takes 60 votes. Our senior Sen. Susan Collins has often broken with her ...
BOURBON. PORTLAND. BEER. POLITICS. (blog)
LePage isn’t offended, The Office of the Governor is. What?
on May 21, 2013, at 9:52 a.m.
This Sunday, Appropriations Committee Co-Chair State Senator Dawn Hill adjourned a budget writing committee session as Gov. LePage rose to speak. Her rationale, she stated, was that the session had already ended on a good note. The implication, of course, was that the only notes the Governor knows are combative, ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Obama’s boyfriend line
By William Saletan, Slate on May 21, 2013, at 8 a.m.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama gave a commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “Keep setting an example for what it means to be a man,” he told the graduates. “Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner, or father to your children that you can ...
EDITORIALS
Ignore LePage politics, get to root of DHHS funding needs
on May 20, 2013, at 5:02 p.m.
A battle of wills and legislative powers took the spotlight Sunday, stirring up a political fire at a time when legislators and Gov. Paul LePage’s administration should instead be focused on fixing the state budget crisis and preventing future cost overruns at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Give Spam a Chance
By Anna Weaver, Slate on May 20, 2013, at 4:55 p.m.
On a recent cross-country road trip, I visited the Hormel Foods factory and neighboring Spam Museum in Austin, Minn. The air surrounding the factory smells just like Spam. If you’re like most Americans, you’re probably gagging at the thought of Spam-scented air. I say, take another sniff. Because if you ...
OTHER VOICES
Myanmar needs the right help to manage its Mandela moment
on May 20, 2013, at 4:44 p.m.
Activists complain that President Barack Obama, who welcomes Myanmar’s President Thein Sein to the White House this week, is embracing the former general too soon, before he’s proved his reformist bona fides. In fact, Obama is late to the party. Nowadays international businessmen, academics and aid workers throng Yangon’s dilapidated ...
GEORGE DANBY | EDITORIAL CARTOONIST (blog)
Augusta politics
on May 20, 2013, at 4:21 p.m.
Appropriations fun…
LETTERS
Tuesday, May 21, 2013: HIV, global poverty and consolidation
on May 20, 2013, at 2:20 p.m.
No support for change The federal government sends funding for Human Immunodeficiency Virus services through the Ryan White Part B program, to be used for prevention and case management services across the state of Maine each year. In the past, these funds have been somewhat fairly distributed across the state. ...
The case against legalizing marijuana in Maine
By Dave Canarie on May 20, 2013, at 12:57 p.m.
Substance abuse is a serious problem nationwide and especially in Maine. The Maine Office of Substance Abuse reports a 19.7 percent increase in people seeking treatment for substance abuse in 2012, and a recent study by the RAND Corporation reported a “substantial increase” in people seeking substance abuse treatment for ...
Older Mainers need Medicaid expansion
By Roberta Downey on May 20, 2013, at 12:46 p.m.
Lately, the news has highlighted the opportunity to expand health care coverage in Maine. Right now, our state has the chance to help thousands of Mainers who have lost their jobs or are barely getting by in jobs without health insurance. An illness or accident impacting these individuals could cause ...
What legislators can do about Maine’s social worker shortage
By Heather Gosselin on May 20, 2013, at 12:45 p.m.
Social work is defined as the professional activity of helping individuals, groups or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to this goal. There is no doubt that our fine state is in desperate need of highly skilled social workers. To become a ...
GWYNNE DYER
Pakistan’s new government: An older and wiser Nawaz Sharif?
By Gwynne Dyer on May 20, 2013, at 11:54 a.m.
The first time Nawaz Sharif became prime minister of Pakistan was almost a quarter-century ago. His second term was ended fourteen years ago by a military coup that drove him into exile. Now he’s back, a good deal older — but is he any wiser? Pakistanis seem to think so ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Bill Gates: ‘Death is something we really understand extremely well’
By Ezra Klein, The Washington Post on May 20, 2013, at 8:17 a.m.
“I always use this chart of childhood death,” Bill Gates says. “In 1960, 25% of kids died before the age of 5. And now we’re down below 6% of kids dying before the age of 5.” We’re sitting in a bare conference room at his foundation’s D.C. headquarters. Gates — ...
GEORGE DANBY | EDITORIAL CARTOONIST (blog)
Maine tax reform
on May 20, 2013, at 6:39 a.m.
Tax reform…
Jeffrey Nugent says his brother Ted Nugent is wrong on background checks
By Jeffrey Nugent, Special To The Washington Post on May 19, 2013, at 2:48 p.m.
Not everyone is qualified to own a gun, so expanded background checks should be a legislative priority.
BOURBON. PORTLAND. BEER. POLITICS. (blog)
Because these thoughts didn’t really fit anywhere else.
on May 19, 2013, at 1:24 p.m.
Really. I don’t pick up hitchhikers wearing tank tops. Anyone who employs the preemptive caveat “I hate to be a buzz kill, but…” is a goddamn liar. “Like a Prayer” just came on the radio. Please excuse me for five minutes while I try like Hell to remember the kneeling-for-prayer-emerges-into-jumping-and-spastic-jazzhands ...
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER
Redacted truth, subjunctive outrage in Benghazi scandal
By Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post on May 19, 2013, at 10:27 a.m.
Note to GOP re: Benghazi: Stop calling it Watergate, Iran Contra, bigger than both, etc. First, it might well be, but we don’t know. History will judge. Second, overhyping will only diminish the importance of the scandal if it doesn’t meet presidency-breaking standards. Third, focusing on the political effects simply ...
As North Pole melts, U.S. Arctic policy needs to heat up
on May 19, 2013, at 10:08 a.m.
The recent decision by the Arctic Council, led by the eight nations with Arctic territory, to accept China, India, Japan and three other countries as new observers points to the region’s growing importance. It’s also a sharp reminder of the need for the United States, the council’s biggest player, to ...
Maine protects a woman’s right to choose
on May 19, 2013, at 10 a.m.
The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard more than six hours of often emotional testimony Thursday about three bills that, despite the earnest intentions of their sponsors, would wrongly elevate government’s role in private decisions women make about their reproductive health. The committee correctly recommended Friday that all three bills ought not ...
Man accused of killing Glenburn teen denied bail, has received death threats, attorney says
Family remembers Nichole “CoCo” Cable, warns of social media dangers
Kyle Dube arrest, murder charge surprising to some who know him
Glenburn woman gets 18 months for embezzling $100,000 from beagle rescue group
Man linked to Boston bombing suspect killed by FBI in Florida
Guest Post: “I’m about ready to name my daughter Revolution.”
How to humble a wing nut
Help Maine charter schools succeed before adding more
Bucksport’s Wood enjoying the professional cage in MMA bouts
Unity Raceway heading in new direction when track opens for season Sunday
Live updates: UMaine baseball vs. Stony Brook at America East Championship
Tommy Lawrence pitches UMaine baseball to victory in first America East tournament game
Messalonskee’s Dexter, South Portland’s Richards key first-year contributors for USM baseball team
Bangor veteran of World War II exemplifies the way life should be
It’s hard to keep secrets from a friend who is clairvoyant
Federal agencies eye return to restored historic Custom House in Portland
