Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • My Irish Up: Privacy? What a quaint concept!

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist Under considerable pressure already from the CIA, and fearing a drone strike from Mr. Trigger Happy, I have decided to release all of my electronic records to Eric Snowden. I’m sure he can be trusted to do the right thing with them. What’s in the files? In the interests of […]

  • Earth Notes: Resilience thinking in the Lake Region

    By Bridie McGreavy Resilience is a concept that is emerging as a way to think about protecting ecosystems and human well-being. In my resilience research at the University of Maine at Orono, I have come to see resilience as a useful lens to think about how to make the abstract idea of sustainability tangible and […]

  • My Irish Up: Problem solved

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist There is nothing wrong with America’s ideals, never has been. All we need do is stop rigging the game and start living those ideals, so that all people can contribute their talent, ideas, work and energy to create more self-sufficient local communities. We need to do this by letting markets […]

  • It dawned on me: What is bugging Dawn?

    By Dawn De Busk BN Columnist Almost every Mainer has that moment in the middle of winter when they wishfully recall the warm days of summer. I admit I do this despite the fact I absolutely adore wintertime. Funny thing, though those memories — similar to those fond recollections of the 1969 Ford half-ton truck […]

  • My Irish Up: Saving the federal government, Part II

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist In my soon-to-be award-winning program to shrink the size of the federal government and make you important again, or at least as important as the rest of us can stand, I offer Part Two of “Saving the Federal Government From Itself.” Last week, we solved the energy crisis by getting […]

  • Uppermost House: Fatherhood, the joy handed down

    By S. Peter Lewis BN Columnist Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary describes the word “father” as a noun and defines it simply as “a man who has begotten a child.” Okay, and the Atlantic Ocean is merely “a whole bunch of salty water piled up just east of Perth Amboy, New Jersey.” As a hopelessly sentimental romantic, […]

  • Small World: Solo performances

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist If you didn’t know it before, you understand it now: The power of a single individual, acting alone, can decisively influence the behavior of the world’s strongest government. Edward J. Snowden taught us our most recent lesson in political science by, according to a top intelligence official, inflicting “great harm” […]

  • My Irish Up: Collapse of a colony

    By Mike Corrigan BN Columnist When they grow too dense and numerous, ant colonies can collapse. Man’s colonies can too. The Keystone XL Pipeline question, like the nuclear waste issue of 30 years ago, has brought the world to the Lake Region and to Maine, to our not-so-dense colony in the woods. The real issue […]

  • Small World: The fragile tie that binds, trust

    By Henry Precht BN Columnist Back in the mid-1960s, I went home to visit my mother whose world rarely extended beyond her backyard. After discussing grandchildren and other family stuff, I shifted the conversation to what was going on in the nation’s capital. Bear in mind that my mother had always been apolitical, dutifully voting […]

  • Earth Notes: Lost Streams of Consciousness

    By Frank Daggett This week, I visited the Lost River Gorge in nearby Kinsman Notch, New Hampshire. With my wife, I descended and re-climbed 300 feet, following the plunging stream that dives under glacial boulders and re-appears, often creating spectacular waterfalls and, over the course of at least 10 millennia, carving out granite cauldrons. Following […]