Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Small World: War without end or authorization

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist You would have to be pretty well along in years to remember a time when our country was not at war. There were, of course, months when our forces were only conducting something like a “police action” — Grenada, Somalia, the ex-Yugoslavia. By war, however, I mean a fully engaged […]

  • Small World: Trial and verdict by fire

      By Henry Precht BN Columnist Our daughter Katherine once lived in London in a block of garden apartments not too far from the swish London neighborhoods of Notting Hill and Kensington. She made good friends there, professionals for the most part, like her, one of whom she married and another with whom she often […]

  • Earth Notes: Power to decide

    By Rev. Robert Plaisted “Once there were trees and a river. Once there was grass where you stand. Once there were songs about rights instead of wrongs. Once was the time of man.” That song has haunted me since I first heard it about 50 years ago. It was written by the late Travis Edmonson […]

  • Small World: Seeming to snore, but never sleeping

      By Henry Precht BN Columnist Down here in Maryland we are experiencing a phenomenon that has, so far, defied agreed explanation — 17-year cicadas are appearing after only 13 years under the earth. We hear their song (male mating calls or intermittent snoring?) in the evening, espy their holes in the unpaved ground, and […]

  • Earth Notes: Quiet paddling in western Maine

    By Jen Deraspe My all-time favorite mode of transportation is by canoe. This ancient way of travel leaves me feeling peaceful and present in no time as I leave work-a-day details behind with a few short paddle strokes. Experiencing the floating support, being suspended on water, another body holding me up and carrying me along, […]

  • Small World: Liberals have their say

      By Henry Precht BN Columnist We were a gathering of five certified liberals at dinner in Washington, D.C. Not an unusual assembly, given that only four percent of voters in the District cast ballots for Mr. Trump. And perhaps typical in another way: none of our antecedents were liberal Democrats — they were Irish […]

  • Small World: Ranking the rank

      By Henry Precht BN Columnist A historian friend of mine has listed the men he deems the ten worse American presidents. He didn’t leave a vacant slot for the incumbent, but I wonder whether Mr. Trump might not soon fit in based on this country’s experience of the past two and a half months […]

  • Uppermost house: Emergence of the 17-year handyman

      By S. Peter Lewis BN Columnist It began innocently enough, taking the initial form of a short twig of errant wire sticking up out of the corner of the dining room floor. It had been poking up thusly since we bought this old house almost two decades earlier, and I don’t know why it […]

  • Small World: Middle Easternizing American politics

      By Henry Precht BN Columnist For the past several months the national media, many Democrats, Republican hawks, and some aged cold warriors have been busting out with charges of semi-treason in the Trump camp for having talked to (perhaps they really meant plotted with) officials from the Russian embassy, especially the ambassador. As an […]

  • It Dawned on Me: You can stare at the moon, but not the sun

      By Dawn De Busk BN Columnist I missed three supermoons in a row. I had planned to be waiting the very moment that the full moon popped into the horizon. I wanted to be there to witness the celestial phenomenon. The word supermoon was coined to describe the moon during the times of the […]