Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Small World: Wisdom down the street

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist We needed the exercise. So, despite the summer-like heat, my wife and I went for a therapeutic walk in the neighbor-hood. It’s a quiet place, just over the District of Columbia border in Maryland. It’s a place of smallish houses shaded by oaks and maples, mostly dating from the 1930s […]

  • Small World: The classic drama of today’s politics

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist For fans of classic Greek drama these are the best of days. You must be in paradise or at least in the box seats. The struggle between Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, has all of the essential ingredients of a play by Sophocles or one […]

  • Earth Notes: Climate change

    By Rev. Robert Plaisted What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? That classic paradox dates back at least to the ancient Greek philosophers. The historic solution has been that an irresistible force and an immovable object cannot exist in the same space and time; therefore, one or the other must give way. […]

  • On My Corner: Some enduring stories

    By Bob Casimiro Les Misérable by Victor Hugo is one of the enduring classics, and an obsession of mine. In addition to reading Hugo’s novel (1961 edition), I have Graham Robb’s biography of Victor Hugo, seen the musical/play, watched the original movie and the 1978 remake, and I play the music at home, in my […]

  • Earth Notes: Forest bathing

    By Joyce White When I first heard the term “forest bathing,” I had images of naked people frolicking through the woods. Or maybe splashing in a forest brook. Or maybe even stretched out on sun-warmed pine needles, perhaps even taking a snooze — but not in blackfly season. Or winter. But no, “forest bathing” is […]

  • Small World: Securing secrets or selling scores?

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist President Trump has revoked the security clearance of John Brennan, career spy, former advisor to President Obama, and ex-director of the CIA. If anyone knows where all the bodies are buried, it is most assuredly he. But what’s the real story of U.S. government secrets and access to what Washington […]

  • Cebra From Augusta: Maine Clean Elections are really not so clean after all

    By Rich Cebra State Representative (R-Naples) In 1996, the people of Maine voted to create what has become known as the “Maine Clean Election Act (MCEA)” election funding system.  It allows candidates who collect a certain number of five-dollar checks, depending on the office they are seeking, to have their election campaigns funded by taxpayer […]

  • Earth Notes: Mercy for Humanity

    By Sally Chappell 1968 was a volatile year, notable for the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Less notable was the founding of the Club of Rome and the publication of The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich (Anne Ehrlich was the co-author but uncredited). The first Club of Rome meeting led […]

  • Small World: Time for a Tune-up

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist Our country, most critics agree — and there are few commentators who are not critics — suffers from weak and uncertain leadership. We are riven, they say, by uncompromising and conflicting ideologies, by a steep chasm separating the rich from the poor, and by a refusal on all competing sides […]

  • On My Corner: A loaded question asked

    By Bob Casimiro I received another “loaded question” while holding my “Secure Our Border” sign at Pondicherry Square last week. The previous week’s question was: “Have you traveled overseas?” (“Loaded question for sure,” July 12, 2018). This time a male driver asked me: “Where are your parents from?” Who am I — the “Answer Man?” […]