Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Small World: The War on Terrorism (Cont.)

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist Over three million French men and women and foreign leaders and visitors assembled in Paris last week to express outrage over the terrorist attacks in Paris, support for the principle of free speech and unity behind a common stand. The terrorists had murdered 12 cartoonists and journalists and the policemen […]

  • Uppermost House: Rooting for the last frost

    By S. Peter Lewis BN Columnist On Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, at precisely 6:30 p.m. (EST), something will happen that will trigger perhaps the most exciting event of my year. It was below zero when I got up Friday morning. This is something that I am both opposed to and have grown used to. And, […]

  • Small World: An old tale retold

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist Last week, I attended a talk by Malcolm Byrne about his new book, Iran Contra. I offer a brief summary and a few observations for those who are rusty on the details of this near-forgotten tale of official deceit. The scandal that rocked the Reagan Administration started with the confession […]

  • Darkside of the Sun: A real festival of okay ideas

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist I see where Governor LePage is using his overwhelming mandate of 48% of those Mainers who bothered to vote last November, to advance yet another trickle-up plan. He wants to grow the sales tax, an idea which will surely jack up the cost of living for people who already can’t […]

  • Uppermost House: Toilet gig, totally rocked it

    By S. Peter Lewis BN Columnist A couple of columns back, I left you all awkwardly standing by while I paused in my efforts to fix a leaky toilet. I fear some of you have been shifting from one foot to the other for a month now, and I’m sorry if I caused you any […]

  • Darkside of the Sun: Retirement expands to fill the time there is

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist The trouble with being retired is that everyone you know suddenly thinks you have all the time in the world. Of course, this is not true, because, since everyone you know thinks you have all the time in the world, just their consequent demands on you take up the entire […]

  • Small World: Walking the streets of Brooklyn

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist This year, our extended family gathered in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the festivities of Christmas week. We stayed in a neighborhood that is mainly a fusion of Jamaican and Haitian immigrants, with a salting of Asians. Far from their balmy beaches, these folk have embarked on the search for job opportunities […]

  • Nostradamus on: next year

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist Nostradamus lived in either the 13th or 14th century, in Spain or Italy or France, and he made a lot of predictions in the form of vague assertions, under the influence of powerful mind-altering drugs. In fact, his most definite prediction seems to have been, “In the future, in a […]

  • Small World: The Realities of racism

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist There has been much talk in recent weeks of racism in America. Outraged by police shootings of unarmed black youth and subsequent grand jury refusals to indict the officers responsible, some citizens have condemned our society as racist to its core. While it’s hard for an outsider to comment on […]

  • Irreverence, irrelevance, whatever…More international news, supposedly

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist Homeland grants to Maine schools Homeland Security has announced its 2015 grants to the nation’s middle and high schools. Homeland Chief D’Arcy Snogg noted that the expanded academic programs are beneficiaries of cutbacks in ongoing police department militarization across the land, a funding program which has grown more controversial now […]