DCW

Freedom of Choice in 2012

2012-02-11T13:56:00.000-05:00

"Religious freedom" for employers affiliated with churches to discriminate in healthcare coverage between birth control and Viagra is not the real issue underlying the fake GOP hysteria over contraception. What motivated Mitch McConnell to declare a cultural war and inspired Senator Snowe to flip-flop on women's rights and join Tea Partier Marco Rubio in sponsoring the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 is raw unadulterated political power and the 2012 elections.

The righteous indignation expressed by the Republican Party posing as "the Church" this week nationally coincided with an effort in the Maine Senate to protect lawmakers from the deluge of church-generated anti-abortion mailings that are overwhelming the publicly-funded staff.

Maine State Senators were given a choice whether to continue receiving duplicative fire and brimstone letters arriving daily in boxes and piling up until public employees distribute them, or not. The photocopied tirades harangue lawmakers to act according to scripture as interpreted by an evangelical sect that takes advantage of bulk-mail rates for non-profits.

Some churches are feeding Maine's poor children and housing homeless veterans. Others want unlimited freedom to influence politics at a discounted rate, but reject on "religious freedom" grounds that politics should influence church businesses that provide programs and services to the general public. Thanks to the First Amendment we can choose between churches, and churches can choose between candidates.

Senator Snowe was for "basic fairness ...in how we treat and view women's reproductive health care versus every other health care need that is addressed through prescription drug coverage" before she was against it.

Your choice in 2012.

We have the tools to fix America.

2012-02-03T11:15:00.000-05:00

I am running for the United States Senate because I know we have choices as a country, and I will vote to help the people who elect me, not the elite group of special interests that are running things now. We have the tools needed to change the course of America, and we need people who have the political courage to use them. I am not afraid to stand up for fairness and families. I will create jobs here in the United States by investing in desperately needed public infrastructure. I will protect seniors and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, not weaken it. I will reward veterans, not abandon them. I will hold Wall Street accountable to avoid another economic collapse, and regulate the polluters of our environment. I will reform our tax laws so everyone pays their fair share, and work tirelessly to remove the corrupt influence of unlimited corporate money on our democracy.

Washington is not working for middle-class American families, and the United States Senate in particular is completely out of touch with the challenges ordinary people face today. Exorbitant health care and energy costs, unemployment and poverty are critical issues that are not being addressed by our government. Unfair tax laws that favor the super wealthy, the corrupt influence of big corporations on our democracy, the deregulation of Wall Street and the weakening of the labor movement have shipped jobs over seas and left millions of families without hope or opportunity.

This election will present voters with a stark choice -- return the same millionaire Washington insider to the U.S. Senate for what would be her 33rd consecutive year in Congress -- or elect a new generation of leadership who believes government belongs to and should be working for the people and the common good.

Does Maine want a career Republican politician who enjoys the lifestyle of the 1% making choices that further the interest of corporations, or a progressive working mother who will cast votes in the interest of future generations?

Progressives Teach You to Swim

2012-02-01T14:57:00.003-05:00

If you are drowning in 12 feet of water, a moderate Republican will throw you six feet of rope.

One in five Maine children are hungry and living in poverty, family budgets are crushed under the weight of exorbitant healthcare and energy costs, and too many people can't find a decent job. The American middle class is drowning and all we see and hear in the media is the spectacle of ridiculously wealthy men who have contributed nothing to the common good tell us why they should be president. Crazy right-wingers in the Congress are so busy trying to dismantle the social safety net, gut and "investigate" programs for women and kids that they don't have time to balance the budget.

None of them can be trusted to throw us a life line in Maine. Self-interest and greed is shockingly the agenda for all those afflicted with Potomac Fever, and the silence of our United States Senators in the face of their GOP caucus is deafening.

For over thirty years Washington has created vast income inequality. The insiders have stacked the deck in favor of corporations, and have failed the children and grandchildren of the greatest generation.

Members of Congress use their position of public trust to become career politicians and K Street lobbyists. Any of them who have been in DC and voted to deregulate Wall Street, corrupt the tax code and invite corporate interests in to the chambers of the U.S. Capital is responsible.

It is time for bold ideas and a progressive agenda. We need public financing of elections, everyone to pay their fair share of taxes, and investment in and celebration of goods made in America. We must protect public spaces that enable community-building. We can and should amend the U.S. Constitution to prevent a corporate coup d'etat. Our Supreme Court can and should be increased to dilute the power of the sitting right-wing element under the spell of the economy of influence. Healthcare must be reformed. Education, research and protecting the environment must move up the list of American priorities.

Equal opportunities to succeed must be offered by a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

If you are drowning in 12 feet of water, a progressive will teach you to swim. And that's what will make the difference for the future of this country.

I Have a Dream of Economic Justice

2012-01-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

Olympia Snowe has spent the last 33 years in Washington. That’s 33 years -- and counting -- that have made her one of the wealthiest people in America.

Lately, that wealth has been showing up in votes that put profits before people.

When Snowe voted against the Senate jobs bill in October, she identified only one provision of the bill she disagreed with: the surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $1 million in adjusted gross income.

According to a study by Citizens for Tax Justice, only one-tenth of one percent of Maine taxpayers would be affected by the surcharge — about 375 people.

The legislation would have created 2 million new jobs and cut taxes for virtually all Maine taxpayers. While her constituents struggle to survive the bleakest economic conditions in generations, a small segment of Mainers -- 375 -- have a senator on their side.

Did she vote against a small tax increase for only 375 Mainers because she is one of us?

Or one of them?

According to the Media Matters Action Network, Snowe’s estimated net worth -- between $12.6 million and $44.7 million -- makes her the 10th richest member of the Senate, a millionaire's club in itself.

But she makes only $174,000 a year as a U.S. senator. Though Snowe's most recent official financial disclosure form does not list specific income for her husband, John McKernan, it does indicate two income sources that make them millionaires.

McKernan serves as chairman of the board of directors of Education Management Corporation.

Education Management's corporate filings describe a "McKernan Agreement" under which he is paid an annual salary of $330,000, plus a target bonus of $412,500. McKernan is also a member of the board of directors of BorgWarner, which paid him $328,000 in cash and stock awards in 2010, and he serves on the board of directors of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Snowe's vote against the jobs bill is thus much easier to understand, since Snowe and her husband are among those fortunate few.

Everyone knows we need to change the dynamic in Washington to protect the many against the privileges of the few, to unleash the middle class and create a broad-based economic recovery.

But we can't keep sending the same people over and over again and expect a different outcome.

We need a senator who is one of the people.

A member of the middle class who wants to reduce taxes on middle-class families and keep alive the American Dream. Someone who believes everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed.

Someone who demands those who have reaped the biggest rewards pay their fair share to the nation that nourished that wealth.

Olympia Snowe never will.

I already have.

2012 U.S. Senate Race: What would Einstein do?

2012-01-01T18:54:00.001-05:00

Will 2012 be the year America gets its groove back, or are we going to send the same people to Washington that we have been sending for decades and hope things will change?

Against all odds I am considering running for the U.S. Senate against Olympia Snowe, who has been in Washington D.C. since 1979 and is now one of the wealthiest U.S. Senators in America.

Am I crazy? I want America to educate our children, protect our seniors, reward our veterans and keep people healthy and safe. I want corporations and wealthy people to pay their fair share of taxes, and I know that corporations are not people. I want a senator who will stand up for ordinary people and speak loudly for economic justice.

Not since George Mitchell have we had a Democratic Senator in Washington fighting for the middle class and taking a stand for good people struggling to find and keep jobs, put food on their table and protect their families. The Republican Party is out of touch with the challenges American families are faced with, and quickly becoming more and more extremist and obstructionist. Gridlock in Washington is robbing a generation.

I would love to hear from you -- the People I wish to serve. Are you ready for change in Washington? Are you willing to fight for it? I hope so.

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We are the 100%

2011-11-20T17:36:00.000-05:00

What my wealthy father the businessman has in common with my poor grandmother the factory worker now living in a nursing home is this: they both long for their family and mourn missed opportunities for closeness with their children when the holiday season rolls around.

The fad of separating people by their wealth is effective at drawing attention to income disparity, but not helpful to our collective soul. What makes for a good slogan doesn’t tell the full story.

We all yearn for a better world for our children, and because of hard work or worry about the lack of work we miss so much of what they bring to the table -- joy, optimism, imagination and wonder.

Before long they are grown and working. And we miss them more.

America’s fix will involve more than a super committee, super PAC or superman. The greatness of our country is reflected by the values we teach our kids. It’s time to get back to basics while we forge ahead. We’re all alone together.

Occupy the Park!

2011-10-16T22:41:00.006-04:00

The opposite of corporate greed is personal generosity. Government policies that enable the former and prevent the latter are both worthy of protest. The people of Maine are being handed a gift of a national park that will create jobs, protect the environment and increase the quality of our lives. It's threatened by anti-government ideology, and it's time for the public to stand up and fight.

Recently Roxanne Quimby, the founder of Burt's Bees and a major Maine philanthropist, was featured in Forbes Magazine. The interview was about the Maine Woods National Park she wants to create by gifting 70,000 acres and $40 million. In the context of how the park would bring jobs, economic diversity and a healthy lifestyle, she was quoted saying:

“We have the most aged population in the country…. I believe we have one of the highest adult obesity rates in New England. We have… oxycontin abuse… [and] Maine’s the largest net receiver of Federal funds, even though we supposedly hate the Feds…it’s a welfare state."

This statement about welfare is now being used against her to detract from the real issue of whether a national park is good for Maine.

But haven't we heard about Maine's "welfare problem" before?

Oh, yeah. It was the platform that most of the Tea Party Republicans ran on and won in 2010, including Maine’s current governor.

“Reports” produced by the Maine Heritage Policy Center on this and other subjects found their way in to almost every GOP stump speech.

“Families in your community are trapped in dependence… the skyrocketing level of dependence on Maine’s welfare system is a growing crisis-in almost every city and town in the state!”

And after chanting "today, one in three Mainers is on some form of welfare" over and over again, one Tea Party whipper-snapper was even hired to write the state’s FY 2011/2012 budget.

You know the one. It solves our “welfare problem” by cutting benefits to immigrants and gutting pensions of retired teachers, while doling out $400 million in tax cuts that we will pay for later by cutting more programs for people on welfare.

So you have to wonder why certain anti-government elected officials got hysterical when this former hippie-turned-successful businesswoman agrees with their premise.

They are offended not so much that she parrots what their people have been telling people, but rather because the solution she puts on the table is a public park.

“That is a blatantly false claim that is something that should infuriate all Mainers!”

“She has a great deal of disdain for the people of Maine!”

How dare she “denigrate the people of the state of Maine!”

She is the “the enemy of the North Woods!” (this, according to the guy who formerly compared promises Quimby made to limit the park’s size to Nazi Germany’s false promises before its annexation of Czechoslovakia and invasion of Poland in 1939.)

“This is not about acres. This is about the federal takeover of the northern woods!”

“I can’t understand why someone who needs the support of the people of Maine would say what she has. To me, it’s like throwing a banana cream pie in your own face!”

Let's pass on the pie. Maine really does have an obesity problem, and this is why we should occupy the park.

Angry anti-government guys calling the gift of private property for the purpose of creating a public park a “government takeover,” with references to Nazi Germany is the Maine echo of the Glenn Beck ideology and it's not going to solve our welfare problem, or any other problem.

This same group promised “welfare reform” and jobs in 2010, and have instead rolled back environmental protections and are busy working to gut labor and voting rights.

This party of “small government” wants a bureaucrat in every woman’s examination room, and a gun in every holster. The hypocrisy is maddening.

The question isn’t whether Maine is a welfare state. The question is how can we create jobs in order to lift families out of poverty?

Quimby also said this in the Forbes article about the proposed Maine Woods National Park:

It would provide enormous economic diversity and opportunity that doesn’t exist now. Prosperity begins with small business, with committed, passionate people and communities and families that care about each other. And that’s still intact up there. It’s pretty amazing…I’ve organized rural America…before, in Guilford, where I started Burt’s Bees, and I had up to about forty-five women and we got the business up to about $3 million in sales. It was like a sheer miracle.

It's a miracle she is working so hard and putting up with so much for the public good. Isn't that supposed to be the job of our government?

It is no surprise that Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who started her own knitting business on a Maine island by employing local women, supports a national park.

It's time the rest of our federal delegation hears from the 74% of Maine people who favor the creation and study of a Maine Woods National Park.

Ideology that believes government is bad, and that public institutions and places are not valuable is as destructive as corporate greed. An unfettered unregulated “free market” can't be completely trusted to provide a healthy and bright future for our kids, and neither can the privatization of all places. Erosion of public institutions and parks will be the downfall of the American way of life.

“Southern” is a State of Mind

2011-10-01T12:49:00.096-04:00

“We could tell the pro-park from no-park instantly because the pro-park men wore immaculate hiking boots and the women wore stone faces, graying hair, and no bras.” Mary Adams

The visit by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to Maine last August to Stearns High School in Millinocket, Maine, to discuss the proposed Maine Woods National Park was a brazen violation of states rights, and caused an army of stone-faced, pro-park professional environmentalists from the “south” to invade a small northern town, according to Mary Adams.

Of course “states rights” is the code word for extreme conservatism and has nothing to do with Roxanne Quimby’s proposed gift of 70,000 acres of private property plus $40 million to create and maintain a national park. Adams is a veteran right-winger who is game for any cause that reminds her of redcoats. She is from Garland, Maine (south of Millinocket) and the local face of the angry mob that's crippling America.

The Maine Tea Party and Adams' opposition to a national park serves as a proxy for the anti-government shtick they like to jump up and down and scream about, as our public institutions and infrastructure crumble. They don't care who owns Maine's North Woods, and they don't dislike people from the south, as long as they are big powerful private corporations.

Over the last dozen years without objection by Adams or the Tea Party the great land barons who owned Maine’s North Woods have quietly sold out to real estate investment trusts (REITs), timber investment management organizations (TIMOs) and pension funds from Georgia, Connecticut, North Carolina and abroad. Paper companies now only own about 15% of Maine’s woods, the largest undeveloped forest in the eastern United States.

National Parks create jobs, protect the environment and serve the public good. There is no geographic limit to the need for jobs and corporate accountability. Old weapons such as the mythical north/south chasm, and states rights divide people by shooting the messenger. The message is about government's role of protecting the public interest, not about zip codes and hair color.

Percival Baxter was from Portland, and though many locals in the Katahdin region feel they own Baxter State Park, we all own it. Every Maine tax payer also owns the Dolby Landfill in East Millinocket and will pay over $17 million to clean it up, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to operate it.

The proposed park land is not in Millinocket or Garland or Cape Elizabeth. It sits between Baxter State Park and the Dolby Landfill, and is surrounded by property owned by big corporations from away that are driven by short-term profits only. Everyone has the right to speak up about the Maine Woods National Park, and should.

The Road Not Yet Taken in the Maine Woods

2011-08-11T14:50:00.000-04:00

Two roads are diverging in the Maine Woods. Let’s take the one that will make all the difference!

In the final days of June, two different pieces of legislation came before Maine lawmakers, and they put in stark relief our choices and our priorities. One path takes us in a circle right back to where we are now—without jobs, looking in the rear-view mirror for solutions. The other path leads us forward.

The first road was a legislative resolve that gives Maine Governor Paul LePage authority to accept on behalf of all tax payers a “gift” of the Dolby Landfill in East Millinocket – complete with $17 million of clean-up costs and unknown, unlimited future environmental liability. The billion dollar corporations and foreign investment firms that are gifting us their polluted landfill said if we don’t accept it, they will board up the two paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket where the unemployment rate is above 20% and sell off the equipment.

The second road was a resolution opposing the acceptance a different kind of gift. Thousands of acres of pristine wilderness, plus a $40 million endowment to create and maintain a national park in the Maine Woods, just up the street from Millinocket, East Millinocket and the Dolby Landfill. This gift comes complete with economic benefits of jobs, new residents and businesses, in addition to preserving a national treasure.

The two paths – one succumbing to corporate blackmail and clinging to the past, the other charging in to the future with a bold vision that embraces change and aspires to add value – highlight the conflict in America today about the role of government. One view is that government’s function is to serve the interests of corporations. The other view is that government works to protect the public interest and for the public good.

Shall we take the first road because we hope it brings us back to when American paper mills employed thousands of people who lived comfortably within the confines of a union-protected pay check, and when American patron landowners opened the gates to the forest for all to use? With rose-colored glasses shall we deny the realities of the unregulated global economy, and the availability of cheap labor overseas?

Or will we take the second road? The road to a magnificent national park and thriving gateway community. The path to jobs, community vitality and preservation of America's great forest. The road that will make all the difference for Maine people.

Death by a Thousand Tax Cuts

2011-08-06T15:36:00.004-04:00

Why has the Governor of Maine ordered $100 million in cuts to state services? So he can finish what he started back in January.

Governor LePage and Grover Norquist don’t believe in government and they want to starve it of revenues by cutting taxes, and then telling everyone we are broke and have to cut spending.

Our Tea Party Governor began starving the beast when he proposed his draconian budget. There was no way to go but left for the Appropriations Committee, who took steps in that direction until Stockholm Syndrome set in.

The hypocrisy of now applauding the state budget that puts Maine in debt, while escalating the rhetoric about our national debt problem is nauseating.

It’s time to stop slapping each other on the back and start looking each other in the eye.

Yes, the budget just signed in to law by Governor LePage lowers income tax rates, lines up state deductions nicely with the feds, gives businesses big tax breaks and incentives, and increases the exemption for big estates by a million dollars.

This sounds really awesome! But there’s just one thing. IT IS NOT PAID FOR.

All these wonderful tax decreases and reforms create a $400 million hole in next year’s budget -- like that fabulous all-inclusive vacation to Cancun for the whole family! Put on a high-interest credit card.

Even the Chamber of Commerce is back-slapping and gushing about how wonderful the session was because businesses are getting tax breaks.

We haven’t got one fatherly lecture yet about living within our means. There’s been no angry rhetoric about personal responsibility. Why? Because the future $400 million hole provides the perfect excuse to further shrink government.

Get ready, though. The Governor’s order to cut $100 million in response to Congress’s “deal” about increasing the debt ceiling will be followed by many rants about the need to pay our bills, and run the state like a household. "Living within our means" when we create a big future deficit means cutting programs.

And how easy it will be to make these cuts with a republican majority in the legislature and a republican governor. There will be no need for a two-thirds vote. A simple majority will wipe out the social programs everyone thought were “saved” in the recent budget.

We will pay the $400 million bill created by tax cuts with all the social programs Governor Lepage set out to eliminate in the first place. School budgets will be cut, and public health programs slashed. “Welfare” will be further restricted to only married heterosexual pro-life women. Roads won’t get fixed. Investments won’t be made in technology, or research and development.

Public institutions will weaken, we will continue to decline as a society, but we will keep hearing how “broke” we are, and how we have to pay our bills.

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth

2011-07-22T16:38:00.006-04:00

Roxanne Quimby is offering everyone in the world thousands of acres of pristine wilderness, and offering a hurting community the opportunity to realize the American Dream. Hopefully she will throw in an all-natural potion that can replenish the hair we are pulling out in frustration with government leaders here in Maine.

Unemployment is hovering around 20% in the Millinocket area. The paper mills are closed or about to close, store-fronts are shuttered, schools and roads are deteriorating, and homes are for sale. One sad little place I saw there last week had a hand-scribbled sign taped to the door that said, “home for sale by owner, $25,000 or best offer.”

Quimby wants to give 70,000 acres of wilderness to create a national park adjacent to Baxter State Park. The Millinocket region will be the “gateway community” to the park under her plan. She will also chip in a $40 million endowment for maintenance, and is considering also donating a large parcel for hunters and other sportsmen to use next door. Quimby says she is motivated by her passion for the outdoors, her desire to share her good fortune, and her wish to give kids a place to explore the wilderness.

The national park will attract hundreds of thousands of people to the area, increase real estate values, create jobs, grow income and a declining population, and greatly expand the local tax base. People who lost their job at the mills will have the opportunity to start or work for a business that will support the park. Restaurants, lodging, service stations, and retail stores will be needed. Housing will be built. There will be a demand for professional services.

No wonder the Katahdin Region Chamber of Commerce, Millinocket Downtown Revitalization Committee, Friends of Baxter State Park, Medway School Board, and the Katahdin Area Rotary Club all support a feasibility study that will determine whether such an audacious and bold vision for their community is realistic.

The mountains, rivers, waterfalls and bogs in this so-called East Branch Region were Henry David Thoreau’s stomping ground in the 1850’s and close to where he wrote The Maine Woods. Here is where Maine Governor Percival P. Baxter camped and hung out in the 1920’s before he had his vision for Baxter State Park.

The East Branch Region is now home to rare plants such as blueberry lichen, purple clematis, fragrant ferns and orchids. Trees of every kind imaginable live here. Exotic dragonflies, butterflies, moose, deer and Canada Lynx keep each other company. Trout and salmon swim in the rivers. It’s therefore no surprise that one of Maine’s most recognized and respected sportsman supports studying the feasibility of making this spectacular biodiversity a national park for everyone to enjoy.

No one seriously disputes that Quimby’s park plan could boost the Millinocket area’s economy, while generously bestowing on the people of this country and the world a precious gift. And Roxanne Quimby and her company, Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., bring considerable business acumen to the table.

Anybody who has ever purchased a Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer will yell you this lady knows what she is talking about. Hugely respected Maine visionary Daniel O'Leary has this to say about Quimby:

"She is the first person I have ever known who is fully aware of the deep solidarity among the different facets of life in Maine," he said. "She understands the linkage among the family farms, the importance of preserving wilderness, the value of the arts, the role of the creative economy, and how all of those things working together lead to job creation."

So what’s the problem?

Politics are coming before We the People of Maine.

The Maine Senate President, in the final hot days of the recent legislative session, ramrodded a Joint Resolution opposing not only the park, but studying the feasibility of a national park through the Maine Legislature.

The resolution opposing the park was likely engineered in a back room by an anti-government Tea Partier, or a corporate special interest group.

Part of the resolution reads:

“federal ownership or control of the north woods would create many problems including limitations on timber supply to the forest products industry, reduced recreational access and loss of local and state control of these areas.”

Really? Says who?

Governor LePage, whose legislative agenda has been written by corporate lobbyists, had this to say about Quimby’s proposal for a national park, "our forest needs to be a working forest. I'm all for conservation. I'm against preservation."

Something is wrong with this picture. Why is the Governor of Maine against preserving this privately owned land for public access? This is where Thoreau and Baxter wandered around contemplating the enormous benefits of being in the wilderness, for heaven’s sake.

An equally perplexing question is how Quimby maintains her patience and composure in the face of fear, ignorance and cronyism, but she does. Maybe it’s the Peppermint Foot Lotion.

The Irony of Maine's All-Male Media

2011-07-10T21:16:00.001-04:00

Sitting in his ivory tower reserved for men only in Portland, Maine, M.D. Harmon lectures readers about the myriad uses of irony while blaming “feminists” for a world where boys are valued much higher than girls.

And the irony apparently escapes him.

It’s 2011 and there is not a single female political commentator employed by the so-called “liberal media” in Maine. Sure, publications feature national syndicates, but all politics are local.

Here in Maine, as elsewhere, talk radio is dominated by angry obese men who lecture about personal responsibility. Here local television trots out the same two guys, an insurance salesman and an education professional, to serve as our only “senior political analysts.”

And here the newspapers are saturated with written opinions of male editors, economists, businessmen, and conservative curmudgeons like Harmon, an editorial writer for the Portland Press Herald.

In Harmon’s recent article, he accuses feminists “in Western cultures” for the aimlessness and violent behavior of men. From the comforts of his echo-chamber, Harmon “discovered” his opinion by reading articles written by other conservative men about a certain provocative book written by a woman.

Mara Hvistendahl’s wrote Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men, which is about the consequences of “sex selection” of babies in certain parts of the world, and the complicity of Western culture’s technology and government policy initiatives. There are a lot more baby boys being born in these places than baby girls, and this fact has causes and effects that are complicated, and include abortion.

Harmon and the men he parrots convince themselves that this book, about societies that choose boys over girls, is proof that pro-choice women are to blame for the violence men commit and the wars they start. He connects a bunch of dots and worries about all the poor young men who won’t have wives.

Never does Harmon question why it is in the first place that so many more boys are allowed to live while girls are aborted.

The fixation of Harmon and his writer-guy pals who dominate the op-ed pages of newspapers is on abortion, of course, and the “immorality” of the women who fight to protect their right to choose, instead of the reasons women might make these difficult decisions.

In this recent piece, for instance, Harmon goes on and on about irony.

“The irony? Abortion, which feminists in Western cultures see as a basic liberty (a woman can't be equal to a man if she is chained to children), has resulted in the deaths of far more girls than boys.”

Harmon’s indictment of women, however, based on this book as interpreted by a bunch of men, and his “pro-life” blame of women for violence and wars that kill children is the ultimate irony.

Millions of women and children have been and are being raped and killed because of wars started by men.

Is it immoral for a child-victim of war rape to have an abortion?

Marcy Darnovsky Ph.D., is the Associate Executive Director at the Center for Genetics and Society, a Berkeley, California. She reviewed Hvistendahl’s book, and said this about it:

“Selecting for sons is growing not just in South and East Asia, but also in the Caucasus and the Balkans, as well as among some Asian communities in the US. Its consequences are anything but abstract in the regions of South and East Asia where the wildly skewed sex ratio among the generation now coming of age is associated with an upsurge in trafficking of women for sex and for marriage–to the extent that some poor villages are empty of young women. And some of the most alarming sex ratios are in affluent areas; economic and technological developments are in fact driving sex selection rather than discouraging it by encouraging smaller families, which leads people who value sons to do whatever is required to ensure one. Widely available and relatively cheap ultrasound tests, followed by abortion if the fetus is female, provide the means. Sex-selective abortion is seen as a “cleaner and less ethically fraught” alternative to the deep-rooted practice of female infanticide.”

Are pro-choice Western women to blame for the deep-rooted practice of female infanticide and trafficking of women for sex in South and East Asia, too?

Harmon is a man who plays God by judging women for playing God.

What would you call this?

Unfair Trade Policy: A Gift That Keeps on Giving

2011-06-23T23:39:00.001-04:00

Brookfield Asset Management, the “global asset manager focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets with approximately $150 billion of assets under management,” is hoping to sell its Maine Katahdin Paper Mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket for $1 to International Grand Investors Corporation, part of a huge Chinese investment company that has been buying up mills in the United States.

If the sale doesn’t go through, Brookfield says it will sell the Katahdin assets, and eliminate 400 - 600 jobs.

What a bargain! Two major manufacturing plants in Maine sold to China for one dollar. It couldn’t get any better, right?

Wrong. It gets better. On top of the deal between these foreign investment firms, there is a proposed “gift” to the People of Maine -- the Dolby Landfill.

Used to take the waste from the Katahdin Mills owned by Brookfield, this “asset” is one the International Grand Investors don’t want in their portfolio. They may buy the mills, but only if the State of Maine takes over the Dolby Landfill, complete with all costs of clean-up and environmental liability.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection estimates it will cost $254,100 per year to maintain Dolby, and $17,019,420.00 to close the part that “historically had persistent capacity issues causing significant leachate overflows” and to take care of “needed groundwater remediation to address sitewide contamination.”

Who can blame these International Grand Investors for wanting to dump the Dolby Landfill? Their job is to maximize profit and minimize risk. In the global economy there are no rules, and thanks to really bad trade deals, the United States continues to lose jobs to foreign manufacturers who can make things cheaper because of low wages and no enforceable environmental, labor, health or other public interest standards. If Maine can’t offer up the mills free of environmental liability, these grand investor types will go elsewhere.

So what do you get when you mix bad trade policy, unregulated multinational corporations, economic insecurity and a hard-working Maine community desperate for jobs? Powerful investment behemoths making more and more money, while workers, the environment and communities spiral downward, unprotected by local governments held hostage.

Who can blame the Maine legislators who voted for LD 1567, A Resolve to Authorize the State To Aquire a Landfill in the Town of East Millinocket? Every state lawmaker wants to help Maine people get jobs, and Maine's congressional delegation is shoring up as many government benefits possible for communities ravaged by economic depression and the exodus of jobs overseas.

Government manages risks, too. “Without intervention, the private sector might pass on the Katahdin region, taking a traditional industry and hundreds of manufacturing jobs from the Maine economy. This is one of those occasions where the state should step in and do what the free market will not.”

In today’s global economy, the “free market” is like the “free landfill.”

Can Maine workers really compete with China when the People’s Republic directly subsidizes export industries including pulp and paper products, pegs its currency artificially low (an effective subsidy of 40 percent according to the Economic Policy Institute), and denies basic labor rights to its industrial workers?

Are we really “free” to choose between Made in America and Made in China?

Getting Right to Work at Redistributing Wealth in Maine

2011-05-27T14:31:00.000-04:00

Maine has two big problems. One is that we don’t have enough good jobs. The other is that we have a governor handing out tax cuts paid for by gutting the public employee pension plan.

The solution to the job problem is attracting new businesses that will hire more people. We need companies to set up shop in new or renovated old buildings, and buy equipment to make things or provide services. It’s pretty simple: we need businesses to invest in Maine.

And why shouldn’t they? We have a very high quality of life, a beautiful environment, low crime and low taxes on business investment. In fact, according to a recent study Maine imposes the smallest burden on new investment compared to all other states. This is due to factors such as a favorable corporate income apportionment formula that compensates for a relatively high tax rate, a property tax exemption for new equipment and low state and local sales tax rates.

Is Maine’s “business-friendly” governor and his henchmen shouting this good news from the roof tops? No. Has there been a press release or email blast by the Maine Heritage Policy Center ? No. Is there at least a new sign on the Interstate with this information?

No, instead we continue to be told by Governor LePage that Maine is drowning in a sea of regulations, and going broke thanks to bloated public employee pensions. With the infamous Forbes Magazine still clenched in his fist, he shouts the tired old GOP cheer. “What do we need? Tax cuts! When do we need them? Now!”

The Governor’s budget drastically reforms the Maine Public Employees Retirement System in order to give out $203 million in tax cuts. The message to the 26,000 retired public employees, whose average pension is $19,000 per year, and who do not receive social security, is “the state made a promise to you, but thankfully the 2008 market downturn, coupled with my administration’s drum-beat of doom gives me the political cover to break the promise.”

It’s no coincidence that the union-busting ‘right-to-work’ bill suddenly came back to life as budget negotiations and the renegotiation of the state employee union contract are straining under the weight of the governor’s bad ideas. Its drama, and another aggressive move to keep people confused and unsteady.

The 45,000 active and 26,000 retired public employees have invested their lives and their money in our public pension system. It is a system that is solvent, fiscally sound and responsibly managed. It should not be gutted to give tax cuts that are not needed, won’t attract investment to Maine, or create jobs.

We Can Get There From Here

2011-03-28T10:07:00.001-04:00

From around 1991 until 2003 we lived in South Portland. Our first house was on Marriner Street, and then we moved to Bowers Street. Our two children went to Small School. We bought and remodeled a small office building in Knightville that housed my law practice. We are members of the First Congregational Church on Meetinghouse Hill where our kids were baptized and I taught Sunday School for years. I currently teach in South Portland at SMCC, and am a regular at Hannafords and Nonesuch Books.

In October, 2003 we moved to Cape Elizabeth, and it was the 2004 presidential election that propelled me from frustrated bystander of American democracy to candidate. When I announced my intent to run for office, some people said, "you will never get elected here because you are from South Portland."

I proudly served as a member of the Cape Elizabeth Town Council and have been elected three times as the State Representative for District 121.

Now I am running for the Maine Senate in District 7 which encompasses Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and a small part of Scarborough. Some people are saying, "you will never get elected because you are from Cape Elizabeth."

The people of Maine want substance and leadership in Augusta, and the four miles that separate my old South Portland address from our home in Cape Elizabeth is not a canyon that divides, but rather a community with shared history, values and aspirations. Until 1895 South Portland was a part of Cape Elizabeth, and the desire of people here is that government works for them, provides an equal opportunity to succeed, invests in a shared and propsperous future, and provide a critical check on capitalism.

My hope for the future did not change because we crossed a town boundary line, nor has my desire to serve. I continue to want and fight for good schools and opportunity for my children, a clean environment, and government that is accountable, responsible and effective at solving our collective problems.

I have faith the citizens of Senate District 7 will not use zip codes as a litmus test in the voting booth. There's too much at stake.

Feeling Closer to Japan

2011-03-14T10:48:00.003-04:00

Parts of Japan are thirteen feet closer to the United States as a result of the earthquake, but it feels even closer. The multi-media images put you there. You can hear the crying, smell the fetid air, feel the damp and heavy sorrow and yet you remain paralyzed and useless in front of a screen. It’s the cruel irony of the modern world. Constant contact begets human detachment.

The more Friends and Followers you have in the cyber world the lonelier you get. Real friends and family get snubbed for an artificial universe of people you hardly know.

And yet technology has the power to bring immediately to the fore front what’s important. The bizarre, scurrilous and petty world of politics is momentarily muted in the face of a natural disaster that has broken families and washed away communities. Parents have lost children. Children have lost their past and much of their future. Heartbroken people are virtually naked, cold and alone.

At least not yet the earthquake and horrific human and natural disaster hasn’t been analyzed through the simplistic prism of left versus right. Like so many things, the rescue and aid to the people of Japan is not a Democratic or Republican issue.

Ready to Recall Me?

2011-03-09T16:36:00.003-05:00

Pretend for a moment that I am legislator. Now imagine me readings bills that would deny legal immigrants welfare benefits, require citizens of foreign descent to carry their papers or be arrested, require photo identification and proof of citizenship in order to vote, require candidates to prove citizenship, allow concealed weapons in the state house and in state parks, reverse constitutional protections for women, and make whoopie pies the state dessert.

Now picture me reading the GOP platform advocating for the protection of our borders, recognition of Jihad, the arrest and immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants (even if they were born here, are educated, working and paying taxes), a return to principles of Austrian Economics, and protection against One World Order.

In a moment of weakness, hypothetically, I blurt out “the GOP has been hijacked by radical, racist, Islamaphobic Tea Party people! They are not just Islamaphobic, they are really xenophobic! I mean basically they believe in sort of white, gun-toting, middle-America. I mean it’s scary!"

You could criticize my grammar. You might disagree with me. But since I'm an elected state official and not an employee of National Public Radio, you could not fire me.

Or, let’s say I was a constitutional officer and my job was to manage the state’s accounts, buy bonds and pay the interest, but instead I kept traveling to the state house to stand on a soap box and tell you falsely that Maine’s fiscal house is on the brink of insolvency.

Or picture for a moment that you are one of 62% of Maine people who did not vote for me as Chief Executive, you're unhappy with my performance, and all I have to say is, “kiss my butt!”

Even Donald Trump could not fire me because Maine, unlike 18 other states, does not allow a citizen recall of state officials.

Maybe it’s time we did.

Recall is a political procedure that allows citizens to remove and replace a public official before the end of a term of office by collecting a certain number of signatures and then having a special election. There are pros and cons, of course. Should citizens have recourse over elected officials who are not representing their best interests or incompetent? On the other hand, would too much 'democracy' lead to gridlock and give more influence to special interests?

You might be thinking, “yeah, okay, but I thought everything was supposed to be about the economy and jobs?”

An amendment to the Maine Constitution to allow a citizen recall of state officials might not only increase democracy and campaign spending, it could create jobs and bring desperately needed cash in to the state.

In Wisconsin, for instance, recall efforts are gaining steam with the help of groups from outside the state. Eight Republican and six Democratic senators have been targeted for recall. Nationwide liberal groups Progressive Change Campaign Committee, based in Washington, and Democracy for America, based in Vermont, have raised more than $500,000 online in the past week.

It really is about jobs, right?

Union Yin Yang

2011-03-06T18:21:00.003-05:00

My Italian grandmother worked at Full Flex Rubber Corporation for over 40 years on the 3rd shift. A highlight of her life was meeting Ted Kennedy and Cesar Chavez as a member of the executive board for the United Rubber Workers Union. She took one three-week trip to Italy, and owned a tiny two-bedroom home with a garden and access to the Highlands Beach in Bristol, Rhode Island. The kitchen floor under the counter where I played was cool, clean and safe. Always sauce was cooking, and meatballs and pasta needed testing. Everywhere were bowls of nuts, tangerines and candy. A replica of da Vinci’s Last Supper was on the wall. The union enabled her modest success, and some of my fondest childhood memories.

When my grandmother sold her house, her lungs were choked with talc from the factory, and she moved in to the same brick building that had been Full Flex Rubber Corporation, now an elder-care facility.

Everything has shades of light and dark. When a group of unsavory thugs from a different union showed up at my family’s business in New York and pressured long-time loyal employees to organize, it was both frightening and heroic that my father caught the ringleader stealing gas from the company and fired him. Two of the former union presidents were rumored to have been murdered, and one found in a cement truck in the Hudson River. The union lost the vote 99 to 6. The business gave me my first job, put me through college and law school, and helped me buy my first house.

When Wall Street crashed the economy to the ground, government rushed in with tourniquets and bandages. Corporate America was rescued, but the bail-out had conditions attached. Stricter regulations and regulatory reform, while not perfect, were negotiated to protect the public interest.

Now unions and public pensions are being blamed for budget shortfalls in many states including Maine, and government should again throw a life line with conditions attached that will better American society, because big business and organized labor are polar forces that exist in relation to each other. The middle class of the United States is dependent on the balance of power between corporations and unions, and the government must protect the public interest by not favoring one over the other.

Wealth created by business helped pay for an education that led to a life fighting for the civil rights of employees -- many of them union members. Unions allowed a woman with meager means in the 1950’s and 60’s to enjoy the bounty of a middle-class life. The corporation she worked for polluted her body and reneged on its pension promises.

There is high and low in unions. Their contributions to society made the American middle class. Wages and working conditions were improved. Women were invited to the marketplace and empowered to fight for voting and civil rights laws. Children are protected from exploitation.

And there is hot and cold in business. Business supports jobs, families, and communities. The never ending hunt for market share, unchecked, however can lead to exploitation. Powerful interests influence government and get advantages. Greed motivates relentless quests for tax breaks, loop holes and preferential treatment. Hunger for profit blinds executives to the trials and tribulations of employees. Faces become numbers.

The role of government in tending to the balance between business and labor is the question. Unions are not perfect, but they are a necessary ingredient in the American Dream. The pension shortfall was created in large part by corporate malfeasance and dereliction of duty by previous lawmakers. The government can help craft a solution that includes concessions such as longer school years, charter schools, and healthcare reform that will protect union members and push the United States forward.

Taking Liberties to the Extreme Right at Work in Maine

2011-03-02T19:19:00.003-05:00

When asked whether protests like the ones taking place in Wisconsin by state employees might come to Maine, Governor LePage said this to a Politico reporter:

“I believe that the Declaration of Independence says life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whenever someone forces me to do something against my will, they're infringing upon my freedoms and my liberties. And that's what I think we're doing in Maine when we have fair share, which means that you are required to belong to a union, you're required to pay dues but you don't want to participate. I find that to be against everything the United States of America stands for…it's all about freedom and liberty.”

Of course it’s about freedom and liberty. Everything is now.

Governor LePage took the liberty, for instance, to completely and freely misstate the facts and the law. In Maine it’s against state law to require state employees to belong to a union or pay dues. Workers have the right to join a union and pay dues if they want, and a right to not join a union or to pay dues. If a public employee chooses to work at a union shop and wishes to not join the union, the employee can be charged his or her fair share of the costs of union representation.

Choosing to work where there is a union and getting the related benefits of higher wages and collective bargaining, but not paying a fair share of the costs of representation would be freeloading, right?

“Freeloading is against everything the United States of America stands for,” is pretty much what I said to Eric Bolling, the host of the Fox News show Follow the Money on March 2, 2011 when I was interviewed. “In Maine nobody is required to belong to a union or pay dues. Governor LePage misstated what the law is.”

I added a quip heard earlier from a friend. “It’s ironic that the party of personal responsibility is promoting freeloading.”

After confirming we actually have a Channel 179 at home, I tuned in at 9 PM and watched the show. My picture was on the screen as the live telephone interview played. I stuttered a bit, and was not brilliant, but I made the point. Governor LePage’s statements about Maine law were completely inaccurate.

Eric Bolling, the Fox News host who interviewed me, said he is a believer in the “free market.”

Of course he is. And he is free to put the link of the interview with me up on the FOX web site in contrast with all the others that support his world view, or not.

Bolling took the liberty of posting instead a panel of angry bozos screaming at each other about the evils of big bad unions and corrupt state workers.

Is that what the United States of America stands for?

And the Oscar For Best Ideologue Goes to the Angry Fat Guy

2011-02-28T13:58:00.000-05:00

Convinced that all government is in a state of complete and utter crisis? Is the heavy weight of debt crushing the life out of our future prosperity?

Maybe the real load doomed to sink us is related to the girth of some of the guys running things around here. Over seventy-two percent of American men are overweight or obese, and they hold the reigns of power in the United States.

Women, weighing in significantly less, make up only 17% of the Congress, less than 24% of state legislatures, and less than 22% of state executive positions.

The rallying cry today is about personal responsibility and cutting spending. We talk about women and their good looks, but don’t talk about men and their big guts. We should. Obesity costs the American economy $270 billion per year in medical costs, loss of productivity and higher rates of death.

Almost every article covering the $315 million Huffington Post/AOL deal mentioned Arianna Huffington’s beauty, glamour and elegance, with not a word about the dashing (or not so much) looks of the men party to the transaction. Was the sensation of hair going up on my neck caused by sexist comments of the media, or just the wind ruffling my little Maine beard?

Every woman in power presents an optical illusion subject to public debate. Is she a hag, or is she a beautiful young woman? These conversations are apparently very important to our collective psyche.

Conversations about personal responsibility are important, too, in governing and in politics. It’s time to talk openly about many of the men in charge today in the media, in politics and in office who want to drastically cut the size of government. They are under a different type of illusion. They say they want smaller government but they are fat, and getting fatter by the minute.

Whining and Dining With Special Interests

2011-02-27T09:45:00.001-05:00

Thank God the Maine Heritage Policy Center, that bastion of constitutional law and government transparency, is now running things in Augusta. The Maine Legislature might finally get the respect it deserves. This week, for instance, lawmakers are cordially invited to attend a “a private Legislative Briefing and Dinner” at the Senator Hotel and Spa to hear DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew. This will be the first time she addresses policy makers as a group about welfare reform, a huge and controversial issue, so its fitting that We the People and the press won’t be pestering legislators while they scarf down prime rib and garlic mashed potatoes.

It appears Commissioner Mayhew, on the job now for about two weeks, is a heck of a lot smarter than some thought. She cracked the welfare system puzzle, and will rescue the thousands of poor Mainers trapped in poverty. And a big shout out to the MHPC! In a stunning coincidence, Mayhew has apparently concluded what these “free market conservatives” have been telling people for years:

Maine's welfare system undermines hard work and traps parents and children in poverty and we must fix the system to free families from dependency through accountability and hard work!

One in seven Maine children are living in poverty because they don’t work hard enough. Simple.

Former Governor Baldacci and the Democrats treated legislators like the proletariat when they were in charge. Attending a briefing by a Commissioner meant cramming in to the stuffy Appropriations Committee room with members of the public (!) and the press, or worse, suffering through an American Chop Suey dinner on paper plates at the Armory. The cost of this slop was actually deducted from their per diem. How humiliating.

Its mourning in Augusta, friends. Don’t you feel prouder, stronger and better?

Kiss My Beard, Governor

2011-02-24T09:31:00.000-05:00

Recent comments by Maine’s governor have been distorted by the media, and the reporting has largely ignored his most important remarks. Yes, Governor LePage said, “so the worst case is some women may have little beards,” in response to a question about the dangers of BPA, the additive to plastics believed by most scientists to interfere with human hormones and cause numerous health problems.

But that’s not the end of the story. Governor Lepage went on to say, “and we don’t want to do that.”

What does the governor have against a little female facial hair? Doesn’t he know there are hundreds of thousands of American women born and raised in the U.S. (with the papers to prove it) who proudly, albeit inadvertently, sport mini-beards already?

Maine’s governor appears to have many symptoms of the right-wing flu spreading throughout the United States. Women are particularly vulnerable to this highly infectious strain of the disease. We are being denied healthcare, representation, family planning, welfare benefits, constitutional protections, and educational opportunities for ourselves and our children. In return we are offered BPA-laden sippy cups, low wages, discrimination and war.

But even this epidemic of testosterone-induced legislation is not enough yet to bring women together and rise up, form a political party, and fix what’s so obviously broken with politics in the United States. It’s going to take something more – some unconscionable and enormous assault on our dignity. Something like facial hair.

A Hospital and a Teacher Walk in to a Bar

2011-02-18T15:25:00.002-05:00

"We need to be honest with the Maine people. This isn't about slamming anybody here; this is about paying your bills," said Paul LePage, speaking about the hospital debt that had been kicking around for over a decade. The Baldacci administration had of course paid down $3.7 billion on this decades-old “bill,” but the campaign rhetoric about the state “paying what it owes” resonated. Hopefully it still does.

The political theatre starring Maine’s unpaid hospital bills was choreographed by Communications Director, Dan Demeritt, who said, "and I’ll even make sure our members know the exact day the exact amount of State funding (is) transferred...to their local hospitals so our members can show up with a big symbolic check to make it a press event. I like the visual of Garret Mason standing outside Central Maine Medical Center with a plywood-sized check in his hand signed by Paul LePage for $40 Million Dollars..."

Grab any teacher, firefighter or nurse, and ask them how they like the “visual” of a plywood-sized bill for $4.3 billion. That’s the amount these state workers will be taxed in order to pick up the state’s tab on its retirement plan, according to the Governor’s proposed biennium budget. Because in addition to the hospital “bill” that went unpaid over the past several decades, there are other bills as well, including a pesky debt called the Unfunded Actuarial Liability, or “UAL.” This debt reflects past normal costs of the state retirement plan that were not paid by the State of Maine.

UAL costs are past unpaid debts that are required to be paid by 2028 pursuant to an amendment passed in 1995 to the Maine Constitution. In 2007 we were 74% on our way to paying it off, but then the market crashed and billions of dollars in the plan were lost.

The LePage budget for the next biennium proposes a 2% payroll tax on state employees to pay this bill, plus an increase in the retirement age, and a freeze on any cost of living adjustments, while businesses and private sector employees will get a tax cut.

What’s ironic is all the GOP rhetoric about Social Security and how its bad and how it should be privatized and how its expensive and how employees should pay more and how businesses should pay less and how private companies have defined contribution plans and only bloated state governments have defined benefit plans.

It’s all a bunch of garbage that distorts the facts, but the anti-government mantra has convinced lots of people that it wasn’t the fat cats on Wall Street who screwed us, or rampant corporate greed and malfeasance, it was those lazy state workers!

The real facts are that state workers provide a valuable service, work for the public good, pay their fair share of a retirement plan that costs less than Social Security, and would be self-sufficient but for the state not properly funding its share between the 1940s and the 1990s.

Maine is one of 14 states that does not participate in Social Security. Instead, state employees are members of the Maine Public Employee Retirement System (MainePERS).

In the private sector, employees contribute 6.2% of their pay check, and employers pay 6.2% in to Social Security, a federal program under which the federal government bears 100% of the risk and pays a retirement benefit. Many private employers also offer, in addition to Social Security, a defined contribution plan such as a 401K, to supplement Social Security.

Currently under MainePERS, state employees contribute 7.65% of their paycheck, and the State of Maine contributes 5.5% in to the plan. This amount FULLY COVERS the cost of the current plan. (In other words, if the UAL didn’t exist, MainePERS would be fully funded for current state workers in the plan.) State employees who retire at the age of 60 or 62 get a defined benefit from MainePERS only. They do not get Social Security benefits.

The UAL is like the hospital debt, an unpaid bill that the state owes, except only state workers are being asked to pick up the tab.

And this isn’t about slamming anybody?

Maine's Weapon of Mass Destruction

2011-02-13T11:33:00.003-05:00

Maine has the lowest violent crime rate in the country, is blessed with a landscape and culture that are exquisite, and is ranked as the 17th best run state in the country. Jobless claims are the lowest since 2008, and the stock market is predicted to rise 11% next year. Spring is around the corner. So why is our Governor trying to scare the bejeezus out of us?

Because fear makes people think, act and vote irrationally. The massive U.S.A. Patriot Act was passed by Congress six weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, just hours after it was printed and before it was read by lawmakers because the country and the country’s leaders were afraid. Blatant violations of constitutional rights and civil liberties were offered up in the name of security.

Governor LePage gave his budget address on Thursday, and his message to the people of Maine is that we should be afraid. He said Maine’s economic security is very fragile, our debt is crushing, and that past management of the state’s finances has led us to the brink of disaster.

If it were true, a near-bankrupt state would be a very scary proposition. But it's not.

The Governor gets his facts about Maine’s fiscal health from the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative ideological think tank that regularly sounds the alarm to drum up contributions. Every conclusion of every report is the same: government is failing and we are in crisis. And please send a check.

Recently for instance the MHPC read a report prepared by the State’s watchdog organization (OPEGA), put its ideological spin on the facts, and proclaimed to have “discovered” that salaries paid at the Turnpike Authority are excessive. This MHPC “report” (a power point presentation with misleading graphs) was described as a “distorted view” that “confuses and clouds the issue” by policy expert Sam Pizigatti from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.

Those familiar with the MHPC clarion call are conditioned to take every so-called “report” with a grain of salt. Theirs is but one perspective that reflects the extreme right-wing philosophy now called the Tea Party. What’s new and troubling is that the Maine Heritage Policy Center serves as the chief advisor to Governor LePage, and obviously wrote his speech about the budget.

“If we were a private sector company, we would be in bankruptcy,” the Governor said, adding ”we owe twice as much in debt as we expect to collect in General Fund Revenues over the next two years and our debt as a percentage of state GDP is twice the national average.”

This is but another distorted view that confuses and clouds the issue so people will become afraid.

Maine simply does not have inordinate or excessive debt. If it did, we wouldn’t have bond ratings of AA2, AA+, and AA2 from the three leading bond-rating agencies Moody’s, Fitch and Standard and Poor.

Maine’s debt is low, and by all accounts our fiscal house is in order. CNN ranks Maine low among states in its debt ranking, and Maine is graded as the 17th best-managed state in a recent study. The pension “crisis” that the MHPC wants to use to scare people in to rolling back sound regulatory polices is a problem that was created decades ago and was on the path to being resolved until the market crashed. Now that the market is predicted to rise 11% over the next year, we can exhale and continue to march forward towards the new economy employing responsible fiscal policies that will invest in our future and create quality jobs.

In addition to falsely misleading Maine people to believe we are steps away from the brink, the Maine Heritage Policy Center has convinced Governor LePage that borrowing to invest in infrastructure is akin to running up credit card debt. This simplistic analysis is an easy sell to vulnerable people facing their own mounting debt, but it isn’t good policy and it won’t help us. Spending on infrastructure, R. & D., and education has the potential to create more value than it costs and while it’s hard to make a case for investing more when everyone believes we should be spending less, there’s never been a better time. Interest rates are historically low, and borrowing is cheap. Corporations have already realized this and have borrowed half a trillion dollars last year, according to James Surowiecki of The New Yorker.

In other words, if we were a private-sector company, we would be investing in the future.

Ten years after the U.S. Patriot Act was passed we are still paying the price for succumbing to fear-mongering by Dick Cheney and George Bush. Our neighbors are being stopped, searched and held without warrants, and we all face the humiliation of the TSA at airports. Today’s weapon of mass destruction in Maine is fear of financial collapse. We the Real People of Maine must not be tricked in to believing the sky is falling. We must not let ideological think tanks sell our state to outside corporate interests, or pander to an extreme right-wing social agenda. We must not be afraid to move forward.

We Are All Arianna in LePage Land

2011-02-09T11:08:00.000-05:00

Why do brash liberal pansies blog for nothing? Of course there is sheer delight in having a personal voice and medium in the world of corporate mass media. But what started as festering liberal rage toward the Bush administration in need of a steam valve has evolved over time. Now bewilderment has pivoted to right-wing sirens Palin and Bachman, and talk-show blowhards Beck and Limbaugh. In fact the blogging topics are endless thanks to the Tea Party and DC spectacle. With a little bit of Yankee ingenuity a new American business is born.

Arianna Huffington is being paid $315 million for her business, and is now the boss at the company that wrote the check. Not bad for a Republican-turned-Democrat. Her blog, the Huffington Post, enlists 9000 people to write content for free, and boasts over 30 million hits per month.

Behind this brilliant, powerful woman with her “A-list” Rolodex was Kenneth Lerer, a guy with “sophisticated technology and careful brand management.” These two people came together and grew an idea in to an industry that has ordinary people dreaming about the American Dream.

W is back in Texas, but we have our own unique opportunities for expression right here in the Whoopie Pie State. While looking for Mr. Lerer here in LePage Land, let’s dust off that Rolodex and get started.

LePage and Company Can’t Afford to Govern in Maine

2011-02-04T14:02:00.001-05:00

Maine, Inc. under the new LePage administration is hiring, but the pool of “qualified” candidates (i.e. men who think like Paul LePage) can’t afford the meager government pay of $103,000 plus benefits. “Why would you want to take that pay cut?” asks Joe Bruno, the former Republican Leader, who thinks the Governor and his cabinet deserve a raise. After all, it’s going to be hard work cutting all those welfare benefits, rolling back environmental laws, and gutting education programs.

There’s no shortage of people willing to cry wolf at the Maine Heritage Policy Center, however, because there doom and gloom grease the cogs of one big lucrative machine. Red tape is not a problem for the business that fear-mongers for dollars.

Broken-record Tarren Bragdon, CEO of MHPC and a co-chairman on LePage's transition team told us again yesterday, "Maine's unfunded government employee pension system is bankrupting our future!”

No kidding. Really? Isn’t that the same problem we’ve been talking about since 1913?

Bragdon won’t be working for the State of Maine either because telling people the sky is falling is easier and more profitable than actually having to solve the problems that arise from a limited budget and competing needs.

Instead, “Business Bragdon” will stay put in his svelte office collecting tax-deductible contributions from well-heeled special interests in order to keep pumping out white papers that tell us what we’ve known for decades. In fact he’s ecstatic to be out from under the dome. People actually work there! Yuck.

“It's great to be back to work at The Maine Heritage Policy Center. I am honored to have been a part of Governor Paul LePage's Transition Team, but my place is right here, working with policymakers, supporters and staff of MHPC to accomplish great things on behalf of Maine people,” he told us, presumably from his luxury, non-profit corner office where the riff-raff can’t bother him with petty concerns of poverty, illiteracy and the administration of justice.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

2011-01-30T12:26:00.001-05:00

I was looking for that perfect little something to keep the fire burning in our 22-year marriage, and I found it online. Instead of the Kama Sutra for the Kindle, I went with a beautifully wrapped EZ Pass for the Maine Turnpike. This small, discreet and high-tech gadget was clearly a winning Christmas gift for the man who claims to need nothing, and who knew it would also make supporting the Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Irish Heritage Center EZ at the same time?

If you are lucky enough to have one of these little babies, every time you drive through a toll booth in Maine you make a contribution to these special interest groups, among others, and chip in to pay for turkeys, gift certificates, in-room movies and booze, according to the new report released by OPEGA, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability.

Concerned that special interests are buying our government? You can relax knowing this quasi-government is apparently sending our money to special interests.

Constituent Services Under the LePage Administration

2011-01-28T13:23:00.001-05:00

TO: RepCynthia.Dill RepCynthia.Dill@legislature.maine.gov
Sent: Fri, Jan 21, 2011 3:41 pm
Subject: Gov. Lapage-Whistle blower

Rep. Dill,

I am writing to you today because I have been made aware of some very disturbing things happening with the new Administration. I am acting as a whistle blower. I am sorry that his has to be anonymous but I hope you will protect my identity. I am sick of what is happening in this Administration and you two seem to be the only ones with the guts to take them on. I think the press needs to see this, and I hope you can get it out to the people of Maine before it is too late. I don't pay taxes so 11,000 bureaucrats can work to re-elect Republicans....

Again, please respect my anonymitty and let me know if I can provide any other information. I was forwarded this email third hand from a friend who would kill me if they knew what I was doing. A lot of people are upset about this but are to scared to act.

Please do what you can to make the people of Maine aware of what the Governor is trying to do.

Please see email below

___________________________________________________________
From: "Dan Demeritt"
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 11:13:26 -0500
Subject: incumbent protection

We need a business plan for incumbent protection and we should all contribute.
I know you guys are already thinking about it, but I wanted to make sure you know the Governor’s office is committed to making it a priority. That is why Paul has asked me to direct both Communications and Legislative Affairs – we are going to spend a great deal of time making Heather Sirocki and Garret Mason look very effective.
I am open to ideas, suggestions and changes. These are my initial thoughts on the planning process:

• Identify in numerical order (maybe groups of 10) our most vulnerable members and get to work on raising their profiles. Taking into consideration the demographics of their districts, their own abilities, and the strength of potential opponents we can prioritize so our resources are put to the best use.
o New House members
o New Senate members
o House members getting ready to make the leap to the Senate

• Identify Target Districts for pick-ups.
o Develop a list of districts where we have opportunities.
o Find ways to get real time information into those districts to soften the ground
o Find ways to get potential candidates engaged – Tony Couture of Jay lost a close house race and was at our Red Tape forum in Farmington. He is running again. Let’s start now.

• Coordination
o House and Senate Leadership
o Senator Snowe is aggressively gearing up. Let’s get her and her state offices involved in increasing the profile of our people.
*Constitutional Officers
o The LePage Administration – every department, every agency and the Governor himself.
§ Schedule Coordination
§ Sharing the spotlight on announcements & successes
§ Engaging members in the process

Example: We are probably going to pay the hospital debt through 2009 as part of the supplemental budget – about $259 million. We need to take several bites of the apple along the way – when we introduce the supplemental, when we pass it, when the Governor signs it. And I’ll even make sure our members know the exact day the exact amount of State funding transferred (and the amount) to their local hospitals so our members can show up with a big symbolic check to make it a press event. I like the visual of Garret Mason standing outside Central Maine Medical Center with a plywood-sized check in his hand signed by Paul LePage for $40 Million Dollars (or whatever the actual amount is).
• Training
o Train staff on identifying good opportunities
§ Introduced bill
§ Solved a problem
§ Cub scouts came to Augusta
o Train staff on coordination
o Train staff to use their time wisely. Termed members have to take a back seat to freshmen.
o Train staff to create low risk, high profile opportunities (i.e. hospital rallies / red tape audits – fish in a barrel stuff)
o Training Reps and Senators to be on the lookout themselves.

• Information I / we need on each member
o Committee Assignments
o Priorities
o Local hot button issues / large employers (i.e. businesses, hospitals, colleges)
o District media outlets – radio, weeklies, tv coverage, new media
o Local Contacts we can use to push information into communities through email / face book / word of mouth

A well-run effort makes it easier to pass our change agenda and puts our members in a position to stick around long enough to see the process through to the end.

I’d like to connect the week before Christmas with you and key staff. If you are not in town, we can hopefully get some of your staffs putting together some of the resources / information we are going to need to get rolling. Once we take office, Paul will put 11,000 bureaucrats to work getting Republicans re-elected. (emphasis added)

Best,
Dan

Dan Demeritt, M.B.A.
Communications Director
Gov.-Elect Paul LePage
(207) 877-7616 Office
(207) 215-4544 Cell
DDemeritt@LePage2010.com

The Winds of Opportunity Sow The Seeds of Success

2011-01-24T10:38:00.003-05:00

To Bill Nemitz , Maine Democrats may very well be a bunch of pansies, but keep in mind these colorful flowers are hardy and can survive freezing temperatures while in bloom.

November’s election suffered a bad case of stem-rot, that common pansy sickness caused from fungus in unsterilized animal manure and campaign b.s. Symptoms include sudden collapse without warning. The GOP takeover of the Maine House of Representatives is but one example.

Luckily this disease can be easily treated with alcohol and a cold shower, two things Democrats tolerate extremely well.

We didn’t make a big stink about the inexperienced friends and family of the Governor (also a fun-gi) being appointed to his cabinet. We are letting sleeping dogs lie while we brew up an ancient elixir sure to bring down the House. Bill Shakespeare wrote about this potent pansy potion in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

"The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid, will make a man or woman madly dote upon the next live creature that it sees."

After a long, cold winter Maine people will wake up and come out of their cave. They will be hungry for real food, and will delight in seeing colorful harbingers of spring. Blue skies and pansies everywhere.

Beware of Corporate Carpetbaggers

2011-01-21T12:45:00.001-05:00

“Go back to Rhode Island and stay there,” Gerald Griffin from Falmouth told me in a recent letter. He’s sick and tired of “carpetbaggers” vacationing in Maine and “then gotten the idea that they want to live here and push their views on us.”

Griffin wants “carpenters, plumbers, electricians, fisherman, lumberjacks and housewives” to make the laws in Augusta instead of “strangers” like me.

Gerald, baby, wake up! Housewives? Really? Who can afford to do that?

The carpetbaggers you need to worry about are not middle-aged mothers raising their kids, working three jobs, and paying taxes. Write your nasty letters to the out of state corporations who pumped $1.8 million dollars in to the campaign of Governor Lepage and are now driving his agenda to roll back regulatory protections and shrink government so small it will only fit in our bedroom. Send a snarky letter to the Republican State Leadership Committee in Arlington, Virginia, who spent $400,000 on nasty Maine state senate races.

Sure, I’ve only lived in Maine for twenty-two years, but I’ll bet my views are more in line with yours than the pharmaceutical industry or a private prison company.

The Fudge Factory

2011-01-19T11:08:00.001-05:00

Through the picture window sits the big mixing bowl swirling the day's batch, and on the shelves and in the cases varieties of all kinds sit in fat bricks waiting to be gobbled up by people longing for an authentic and “refreshing” Maine experience.

Here’s just a sampling.

A very popular flavor is Dirty Deeds. “I never had it on. Never had it on. Ever,” he said. “That house was bought for my wife. That house in Florida my mother-in-law bought, we helped her.”

Another favorite is DEP Over The Top. "And the state of Maine made me do a three-month buffalo study," he says. "Did you hear what I said? Buffalo study. The next spring, they decided that they still didn't want this project to be built so they had us go out and count black flies. Two months counting black flies. That tells me that the attitude of the regulatory agency was very adversarial to that project."

If you like real BS, try Maine Government Is Out Of Control. “The State of Maine is the only state in the United States of America that charges sales tax on bull semen. You hear that? Bull semen. The only place in the United States of America - this state.”

MLK Holiday Special (now on sale). “I would be more than happy to go, but I would meet all prisoners — and that wasn’t acceptable to them, so tough luck.”

Finally, our newest flavor, "this is nothing but a political race card and tell 'em to get over themselves, I'll send my son, who happens to be a black kid, to talk to 'em."

We are having a contest to name this latest fudge confection. What do you think we should call it?

Memo to The Governor of Maine: Civil Rights Are Not The Enemy of Business

2011-01-16T10:42:00.002-05:00

In a world that isn’t lily-white like Maine, the message “we are xenophobes” is not good for business. American prosperity is the result of an open-door policy to people of all races, colors and creeds.

Your first executive order asked state officials to question the immigration status of people here, and now you have made it clear that groups advocating for minorities and civil rights are not on your team. You describe the NAACP as a “special interest group” that can “kiss your butt” while you attend numerous Chamber of Commerce meetings, and the message isn’t lost on us, or the global economy. These words now define us, unfairly and inaccurately.

What makes American business exceptional are civil rights laws that prevent profiting from human suffering. The notion that constitutional protections of equality and due process are the enemy of business misses the point the founders of this great Democracy were making when they ensured not only a market place of ideas with a free press and free speech. America is a place where everyone has the equal opportunity to succeed.

Government is not a business. It was created to protect the public good, and to uphold and defend the constitution. The constitution specifically establishes three branches of government to balance power. In your recent memo to your Commissioners, you wrote, “communications with members of the Legislature must be coordinated with the appropriate members of my senior staff.”

Imagine if President Obama sent a memo to the Secretary of Homeland Security and ordered his federal employees to get prior approval from the President’s staff before they spoke with Senators Collins or Snowe, or any members of the U.S. House? Speaker Boehner would laugh until he cried. The legislature doesn’t work for you, Governor, and you don’t work for the Chamber of Commerce. You work for us. All of us.

Your stump speech about business acumen is getting old. You are not yet the champion of economic prosperity. You have not lowered taxes or reduced state spending. You have not created jobs or reduced red tape. You haven’t balanced the budget, fixed the roads, improved the education system or solved the public pension problem that’s been brewing since the McKernan administration.

Instead, you have depicted a colorful and creative swath of Maine’s community as “the problem,” ignoring the true cause of our current economic hardship -- unregulated corporate malfeasance on Wall Street and the growing income disparity in the United States.

Please step out of your comfort zone, Governor. Meet people who are living and contributing to this great state but don’t show up at Chamber meetings. Work with the legislature to make good, sound policy that will attract entrepreneurs and investment from a diverse global population. Be bold but not brash. We want you to succeed, and we embrace success for all of Maine’s people and businesses.

He Means Business. Maine Governor Tells NAACP, “Kiss My Butt”

2011-01-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

The Maine NAACP has not been feeling the love from the new LePage Administration since the Tea Party- backed governor was elected in November. Numerous requests for meetings have been denied, and one of LePage’s first official acts was an order allowing state officials to question the immigration status of people in the Pine Tree State.

While at a function for a local Chamber of Commerce, the governor explained to a reporter that he was too busy to meet with the NAACP, who he describes as a “special interest” group, and that they can “kiss my butt.”

Governor LePage intends to run the State of Maine like a business, and has issued an order that state departments must notify him when they speak with the press and when they communicate with state legislators.

Perhaps this governor needs to step outside of his echo Chamber.

Who Needs Judges When We Have the GOP?

2011-01-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

Some Maine lawmakers want to streamline government by consolidating the legislature with the judiciary. They want elected officials to make laws, and to determine whether laws are constitutional (formally the job of courts in what was commonly referred to as “checks and balances.”)

An Act to Prohibit Enforcement of the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, if passed, will do just that. This bill declares that the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), a federal statute passed by the United States Congress and signed by the President, is unconstitutional, and further, that federal agents who enforce or attempt to enforce ACA are guilty of a Class C crime. The Maine bill would make state agents who enforce or attempt to enforce ACA guilty of a Class D crime.

The bill’s supporters may have missed the recent reading of the U.S. Constitution when “separation of powers” was discussed, or could be relying on the popular abridged version that condenses the constitution to only two chapters, We the People, and the Second Amendment.

And talk about self-serving. Why discriminate against state agents? Why shouldn’t they be treated just like federal agents and subject to conviction of a Class C crime for granting health insurance to a child with a pre-existing condition, eliminating lifetime caps, fixing the “donut hole”, and otherwise holding insurance companies accountable?

Whose Benefits Would Jesus Cut?

2011-01-08T15:03:00.001-05:00

Maine lawmakers experienced their own kind of epiphany on January 6th in the House of Representatives. The manifestation of right-wing political extremists appeared before them disguised as a man of faith. With eyes closed and heads down, some lawmakers had flashbacks to the campaign trail when myths of “welfare cheats” spun like course wool.

“We have replaced the pride and dignity of hard work and honest pay for a welfare state where subservient dependency looks for a handout,” said Reverend Roger E. Tracey of the East Eddington Community Church during the morning “prayer.”

Maine tax dollars pay for a morning ritual in the legislature that in the past has been a nondenominational few minutes of reflection and peaceful solemnity.

“In the name of political correctness, we have become tolerant of everything except the faith of our fathers, Christian principles, and anyone who holds dear the traditional values that have sustained us from the very beginning” according to Tracey, who must have forgotten that thanks to his work we don’t tolerate gay couples getting married in Maine.

That tolerance of others is “political correctness” by the fathers in Augusta might explain why on day one of the new administration an executive order was issued urging state and local law enforcement officials to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining state and local welfare benefits.

Reality doesn’t reflect the rhetoric, though. According to a study to be released later this month by Maine Equal Justice Partners, the Maine Women’s Policy Center, and the University of New England, one in eleven Maine children and their families is at stake in this debate about “welfare” in our state.

Most people on welfare in Maine are single mothers caring for young children who graduated from high school, have recent work experience, and 67% of such families include at least one member with a disability. The real reason 25,000 Maine children receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) is because the instability of work in the low-wage labor market, illness and disability, and family-related problems including divorce, separation or domestic abuse. The maximum basic benefit for a family of three is $485 per month, the lowest in New England, and the median length of time that families receive TANF is 1.5 years.

Reverend Tracey concluded his morning tirade with these words. “But now a new day has dawned, and a new congress has convened, and a new hope and enthusiasm fills this great chamber.”

It sure is a new day, and I’m hopeful the good people of Maine and all those who were elected to serve them see that the devil isn’t in the details. The truth is.

The Insane Plainly Reigns In Maine

2011-01-03T10:30:00.001-05:00

Is it a coincidence that all the new categories of disease in the soon-to-be-released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, describe quite succinctly politics in America?

Maine, for instance, might appear rather boring to the unsophisticated eye. It has more old people than any other state, is dominated by women, and 96.1 % percent of the population is white (yawn), but scratch the surface and the “political ideology of Islam” lurks. At least it does in the mind of the conscientious resident who recently sent Maine legislators a copy of the best-seller, Sharia Law for Non-Muslims, with a typed three-paragraph letter lobbying for a bill in the upcoming legislative session seeking to prevent Maine courts from using any “foreign law, legal code or system.”

This sounds a little crazy, so it might just pass. After all, the 2010 platform adopted by the Maine Republican Party trumpets a “return to the principles of Austrian Economics,” and wants to “repeal and prohibit any participation in efforts to create a one world government.”

The book legislators could really use is an advanced copy of the DSM-V, especially Democrats heading back to work in 2011. All of them and most of the general population qualify for at least one of the new choices: post traumatic embitterment disorder, depressive personality disorder, sluggish cognitive tempo, and/or binge eating disorder.

A sense of humor and a diagnosis will make 2011 easier for incoming lawmakers, but even the world of psychiatry has its share of political skirmishes. Some of the shrinks on the DSM drafting committee are lobbying to get rid of the Asperger Syndrome categor. An opposition group has formed, called “Keep Asperger’s Syndrome in the DSM-V.” Seriously.

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but everyone knows Asperger Syndrome was named after the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger, and if Aspergers is good enough for Austrians, and isn’t Islam, its good enough for Maine, right?

FCC Taps Reasonable Man to be Net Neutrality Czar

2010-12-22T13:16:00.001-05:00

In a 3 to 2 decision along party lines, the FCC voted to adopt an Order that purportedly codifies and makes enforceable the open Internet principles that have been kicking around since 2005, aka “net neutrality.”

The actual Order isn’t public yet, but the FCC news release as well as the public statements of the Commissioners yesterday indicate that it (1) mandates Internet Service Providers to be transparent about their network management practices, (2) prevents wireless ISP’s from blocking websites, and wireline ISP’s from blocking content, applications, services and devices, subject to reasonable network management practices, and (3) prohibits wireline ISP’s from “unreasonably discriminating” in the transmittal of traffic.

For clarification, I guess, the Order makes it clear that “reasonable network management shall not constitute unreasonable discrimination.”

This all sounds pretty reasonable, right? Most people agree that the public’s interest in the Internet -- the infrastructure of today’s democracy and platform for free speech and innovation -- deserves protection and oversight. Most also agree that the government can’t and shouldn’t build out networks to serve America’s 308 million people. Businesses should be encouraged by market forces to invest in networks, and need freedom to fairly exercise judgment in the management of their enterprise.

The often used metaphor likens the Internet to an “information highway” in need of basic rules of the road. Excessive tolls, detours and bumps slow down the information traffic and the modern economy. The Internet is the 21st century Interstate on which goods and services hum along to good people everywhere at the same clip. On the asphalt highway you get a ticket for going too fast or driving recklessly. On the Internet it’s been a free-for-all, until now.

The long-awaited cop on the Internet beat is someone you might recognize. The Reasonable Man, that prudent fictional character who mows his own lawn in shirt sleeves, drives an American car, takes the flag in when it rains, and whose conduct sets the standard in tort law will now work a second job over at the FCC.

What constitutes “reasonable network management” when technology is evolving at the speed of light and millions of dollars are at stake will likely be determined by 3 to 2 decisions at the FCC along party lines until some court or the Congress gets involved, and even then “reasonableness” will depend on one’s view of the world. If you believe government should protect the public’s interest and ensure the equal opportunity to succeed, reasonable network management tactics will be scrutinized very carefully and free speech and democracy will be accorded substantial weight on the scales of justice.

If, on the other hand, you believe corporations’ First Amendment rights, and the “right” of big business to accumulate unfettered power and wealth are more deserving of protection than ordinary people and the public good, then any interference with the machinations of big-business is, well, unreasonable.

Pelosi Is No Lame Duck

2010-12-13T08:35:00.002-05:00

January 4, 2011

The deal struck between the White House and Republicans that would have extended the Bush tax cuts and greatly enhance the coffers of the countries richest people -- dead and alive- -- failed to make it on to the House floor for a vote before the 112th Congress convened on January 3, 2011.

In a surprise move that has some Democrats euphoric and Republicans stunned, Speaker Nancy Pelosi exercised her authority for the final time and blocked the vote.

“We will not let these Bush tax cuts go through the gate. The gate is closed, and don’t think about going over the fence. The fence is too high, and you all are too fat to pole vault in. You don’t look good in jumpsuits, and real parachuting went out of style with George H.W! We are not going to give millionaires and billionaires more money when most Americans are struggling to make ends meet. This proposed legislation would add billions of dollars to the deficit,” she said before grabbing two bottles of Chardonnay and jumping out of the House Chamber window on to an inflatable slide.

Above the hum of the private jet waiting below, the crowd heard these last words,

"To the Republican who called me a m—-f—er, f—- you! I've been in the business 23 years. I've had it. That's it."

I can see Augusta From my House

2010-12-05T21:33:00.004-05:00

Maine’s same-stream media featured two columns in Sunday’s Kennebec Journal about the candidate who publicly criticized the Republican choice for Speaker of the House. The two share four themes: the controversial Republican choice for Speaker of the House, the Maine Clean Elections Act (“MCEA”), the machismo of “doing doors,” and the familiar tale of guys who have never won a State House race telling a woman who has how to do it.

The liberal guy of course questions the wisdom of her spending less money than most other candidates, and calls it “campaign malpractice” that she won by 58% of the vote. The 2655 people who supported her must not have read the studies he cites faulting her campaign methodology. The Democrats who did read them going in to the November election lost. Oh well. Better luck next time!

The conservative, a man of the People, just wants to repeal the Maine Clean Election Act. He and the GOP know better than the all the real people who worked like dogs to get this law on the ballot in 1996 in order to cut the cord between wealthy special interests and politicians. That 80% of all legislative candidates use Maine’s Clean Election law isn’t important. Spending $1196 legally on a computer (my God!) to run a campaign that will cost taxpayers ultimately $717 is a sin, and his Clean Election candidate who stiffed the State for $1.2 million and used MCEA funds in an uncontested race is patriotic, or something like that.

Both guys do share one major concern. The fact that she didn’t knock on peoples’ doors when they weren’t home or having dinner really bugs them. This is how elections have been won and lost forever. How dare she do things differently?

Maybe we aren’t ready for grizzlies, but Maine could use some mamas in the media.

Please Forgive Us, Mr. Speaker

2010-11-26T18:53:00.003-05:00

On December 1st the Speaker of the House for the 125th Maine Legislature will be elected by the 78 Republicans, 72 Democrats and 1 Independent who won their election on November 2nd. Because the Republicans now have a majority of the seats, for the first time in 36 years their candidate will be voted in and become the third most powerful person in Maine state government.

Some Democrats are faced with the dilemma of whether to participate in the traditional pageantry of casting “one unanimous vote” for the presumptive winner, or not.

The Republican Speaker-elect’s baggage is now widely known. Stories abound in the news that as the owner of True’s Pharmacy, Robert Nutting was found to have overcharged the State of Maine $1.6 million for rubber gloves, incontinence pads and liners between 1997 and 2001. He spent “over six figures” on fancy lawyers, counter-sued the state, and then declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy after paying back only $433,188 leaving Maine taxpayers holding the bag for $1.2 million.

Speaker-elect Nutting maintains that overcharging the state repeatedly using a formula that marked up some products 143% instead of 40% an “honest mistake.” He blames complicated rules and the stranglehold of government bureaucracy for his troubles.

Don’t take it personally, Mr. Speaker, if some of us can’t push our green button next week and vote to usher you in. You see, this isn’t really about you, but rather what you stand for, and what we are elected to do.

We might be willing to take you at your word that you were a victim of “the system,” but you represent that very small population of people who can beat the system. You made a very large mistake as the owner of a business that made millions of dollars overcharging for supplies sold to poor people. You have not repaid your debt to society, are not taking personal responsibility for your actions, and are nevertheless being elected to be the Speaker of the House. This is at a time when most people don’t have similar opportunities for redemption and coronation.

A time more people are poor -- the national poverty rate is above 14%

A time when more people are hungry-- one in seven people in Maine, as a matter of fact, which now also has the distinction of being number 2 in the nation for extreme food insecurity.

A time when American businesses earned profit at the annual rate of $1.659 trillion in the 3rd quarter of this year, the most on record.

At a time when nationally the unemployment rate is 9%, and millions of people are underemployed and working two or three jobs to keep afloat, we are being asked to hand you a job that holds tremendous power, a salary that is 50% higher than the rest of us elected members of the House of Representatives, provides health insurance and other benefits, pays a generous per diem and includes numerous other perks, all paid for by the people who elected us.

We know your constituents have sent you back three times since your little “incident,” but keep in mind the good people of Harlem, New York have voted to send Charles Rangel back to Congress since 1971. Most people, including Democrats, still support the November 2010 finding of the Ethics Committee that Mr. Rangel is guilty of 11 counts of violating House ethics rules, and further support the sanction of public censure and his removal as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Some things aren’t just about partisan politics, but what’s right and what’s wrong.

For many the quality of life has slipped so dramatically that what were once aspirations for a better life for future generations are now coping strategies to stay housed, fed and employed. This is wrong. Recreation is a luxury we can’t afford. This is not your fault, but you being elected to lead the peoples’ house after making a mistake that cost ordinary people over a million dollars, and spending more money on lawyers defending yourself and filing for bankruptcy than some families make in a lifetime, wreaks of a system that is rigged to lift only some. The American Dream no longer is open to the public but to only a very small group that you belong to, and most others don’t.

People are angry at government and believe politicians are incestuous and self-serving. For some of us Democrats, casting a vote for you as a gesture of good-will, or to avoid unpleasantness, or in hopes you might put us on a certain committee, or staff our office, or keep our favorite secretary on the payroll makes us complicit in this game. And this feels wrong.

We are hoping you won’t be too hard on us if we push that red button, Mr. Speaker. We aren’t voting against you, but rather voting for the people who are hungry, out of work, beaten down by greedy corporations, and taxed to pay your salary.

Getting Good and Old, Again

2010-11-24T09:56:00.002-05:00

Serenity might be too strong a word, but forgive yourself. Your mind is still foggy from heavy injections of sugar, butter, and tryptophan. You are experiencing Thanksgiving nirvana.

You always had mixed feelings about the holiday as a kid. Food was the main theme and everywhere. Some was very good and some so-called food was really, really gross. Stuffing was over-rated. Onions and celery were non-negotiable. There was love in the air, and something else. Momentum in the kitchen was palatable. The sounds of mixers, an electric carving knife and whisking, accompanied by the oven door opening and closing in crescendo. Foil-covered bowls and pots outnumbered guests. Your mother barked at your grandmother. It was hot. The dishes and pans to wash were overwhelming.

Then you got married and strived to be Martha Stewart. You toiled over an artichoke stuffing with free-range walnuts that nobody liked. The turkey was blessed and fed a last supper of organic grain before it was killed and priced accordingly. Roasted root vegetables with sprigs of herb you grew in pots on your deck were not quite the big hit you hoped for. You made that fourth trip downtown in traffic for the Gewurtztraminer you needed for dinner. The dishes were still overwhelming, and with a headache even more challenging. Your kids didn't eat anything and were hungry for macaroni and cheese. And you made it for them.

Thank God middle age set in. You look yourself in the mirror and now see an old friend who never was much of a cook and you realize it doesn't matter. You really do want everyone to come and you don't fuss a lot with decorations. You don't think about going to Target. Butterball Turkeys and Bell Stuffing are gorged by laughing nieces and nephews. You happily surrender pie-making to your mother-in-law and daughter. You turn a blind eye to your children drinking soda and eating cookies minutes before dinner. You drink the wine that is closest to you and open. You ignore the dog hair blowing around in tumbleweeds. You give in to the energy and momentum. You have a vision of your limited days and years ahead and you know you have choices. The memories are in the making.

Presented to you on Thanksgiving is an opportunity to be in the moment and you now have the good sense to seize it.

Democrats: Surfs Up

2010-11-17T08:07:00.001-05:00

The tsunami of GOP and Tea is still flooding our country. The choices seem to be ride this wave and succumb to fear-mongering and blaming the most vulnerable among us for the corporate theft of our nation’s dignity, or drown.

Or is there a Third Way?

Take it from a Rhode Islander now living in Maine - when a big breaker is coming at you, dive under it! Come up on the other side and catch your breath. Get ready to take the next white horse for a ride.

The backside of the 2010 election wave looks like a Saturday Night Live version of Messrs. Smith Goes to Washington. An army of wide-eyed GOP freshmen marching in to the capital, flag pins prominently displayed and pocket constitutions in tact, ready to repeal healthcare reform and the deficit, and “take our country back.”

Just how far back are we going to let them take us before we snap out of it and take credit for the good work that has been done on our watch? We reduced taxes for the middle class! We saved an American car company and increased jobs! For God sakes, we brought most of our kids home from Iraq and put them on our health insurance plans.

Democrats, we are down but we are not out. We just need to keep working hard to help ordinary people, and brag more. We need some attitude.

The number of new jobs created during the eight years of the Clinton administration was 23 million, and the number of new jobs created during the eight years of the Bush administration was 3 million. The difference is more than just an old-fashioned math problem. Since Obama came to office the hemorrhaging of jobs that occurred on W’s watch began to decrease, and now jobs are being created. This is so totally radical, right? Why aren’t we screaming from the rafters?

The biggest middle class tax cut in U.S. history was the largest single component of the stimulus bill recently passed by Democrats, accounting for $300 billion of the $800 billion total. Right on, Blue Dudes!

If you had invested $100,000 in the stock market on the day Barack Obama was sworn in, it would be worth around $180,000 today. $100,000 invested the day George W. Bush took office was worth $65,000 eight years later. That’s, like, gnarly.

Republicans right now have a success problem of their own. They have a bunch of know-it-alls with sights on the 2012 coronation and now this pesky little thing called “governing,” is in their lap.

This is our chance. Right now we must begin writing the rest of the real story. With attitude!

Democrats: Our Dog Died

2010-11-05T13:04:00.003-04:00

Your first child was a large Golden Retriever named after jazz great Miles Davis. He had a large head, muscular shoulders, and a fur coat that was gorgeous. With the exception of your brother-in-law Fred, everyone you knew loved Miles. He was handsome, well-behaved, good natured and smart.

Miles got old and strange bumps appeared on his body. He walked so slow it was painful to watch, but you did for many years. His legs began to give out. Smelly “gifts” were left for you around the house. Then Miles died and your hearts were broken. You buried him in the yard, held hands and cried.

After a while, when the grieving faded and the fond memory of Miles replaced the emptiness, a sense of freedom snuck up on you. No longer did you have to brave the elements to walk him twice a day. The tumbleweeds of fur and fragrance of wet-dog were noticeably absent. You were a lighter load when traveling and more nimble. Having Miles was wonderful, and not having Miles was good, too.

Democrats, our dog died on November 2, 2010. What was large, promising and wonderful became bumpy, old and dysfunctional. We will miss it dearly. Fond memories of being the majority party will hopefully soon replace the confusion and remorse we feel now as the minority.

Soon, however, we will be liberated.

No longer are we saddled with the sole responsibility of governing in a time of world-wide economic turmoil and terrorism. The Republican machine can show Americans how exactly we reduce spending, the deficit and taxes simultaneously with fighting the good fight in Afghanistan. The conservatives can crack the nut of the unabashed and grotesque spending of money in the United States on political campaigns. The GOP can demonstrate how in the era of powerful interest groups and extremists Government can represent We the People.

Chamber of Secrets

2010-10-24T23:04:00.005-04:00

While scary in real life, the vast amount of secret money the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is stockpiling to purchase the next election is fodder for fiction if you are J.K. Rowling flirting with the idea of writing another book. How hard could it be to write a sequel to this Harry Potter favorite and describe all the Democrats petrified by a big-business basilisk?

Just like the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the US Chamber houses secret vaults for Dow Chemical, News Corporation, Prudential Financial, Goldman Sachs and other corporate behemoths that are filled with cash and gold coins, and guarded by gremlins resembling a cross between Dobby and Karl Rove. Millions of unmarked payola dollars have been carted out by the “non-profit” Chamber in Washington, DC, and used to shape the healthcare reform law, soften the financial regulation bill, and spin myths about climate change. Now thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, these same Chamber gremlins are secretly financing the campaign of a witch. Really.

If the Chamber of Secrets isn’t titillating enough for today’s “conservatives,” Rowling might write, “Harry Potter and the Half-Stud Prince.” The sordid saga of Clarence Thomas, and how one justice’s obsession with pornography has shaped American jurisprudence and campaign finance law. After all, Thomas didn’t think the Citizens United case “went far enough.”

The Wealthy on Welfare. A True and Tragic Irony

2010-10-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

The boogeyman in this years’ election in Maine is welfare, which is curious because only one complaint about the public assistance system was made to the state representative of Maine’s richest community in four years.

“Jim” worked as the director of a neighboring city’s public assistance program for decades and was on the verge of a comfortable retirement when he called his state representative. “There is fraud and abuse of the system by people who don’t speak English,” Jim told her. “These people are collecting benefits they don’t deserve.”

Jim’s state representative agreed to set up a meeting with Jim and the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to hear more about this “problem.” Jim then fell off the face of the earth. Numerous calls made by his representative to him went unanswered. Email communication ceased.

Months later the state representative was running past Jim’s house. She saw Jim in his truck and asked, “why didn’t you follow through with the meeting I set up with the Commissioner? Why didn’t you call me back, Jim, or respond to my emails?”

Jim said he was not going to “get involved” after all. He was ready, he said, to enjoy his well-deserved retirement.

A welfare director living large on a retirement benefit supported by an assistance program he believed was corrupt but did nothing to fix is “ironic,” right?

Whose job was it to investigate the so-called abuse of this program, Jim? How exactly are we supposed to fix a “problem” no one is willing or able to document?

Isn’t the real problem, Jim, that we lack the integrity and moral compass to put the collective good ahead of our own?

What’s worse than welfare is a political system that no longer addresses the complicated problems we face as a society, but instead uses fear and myths to generate anger that is directed at the most vulnerable among us. What’s worse than welfare are individuals whose gaze is locked on their own reflection and who don’t see themselves as part of both the problem and solution. Personal responsibility is more than just a campaign slogan.

Save the Self-Storage Stalls for Senators

2010-10-12T00:01:00.003-04:00

We shopped for so much stuff on credit that our homes burst at the brim and another American industry was born and is now bankrupt. Seedy self-storage stalls still litter the landscape to remind us of the decadent decade that almost destroyed our country.

Our problem went from the corporations and banks lending us too much money to buy things we didn't need, to these same corporations and banks buying our elections and bribing our politicians with the bailout we provided.

What if we transformed these self-storage barracks into sanctuaries for senators bird-dogged by special interests? Imagine the transformation when thick satin finish paint covers the walls, and polished wooden floors are sprinkled with wool rugs, a comfortable bed, a porcelain basin filled with lavender water and all the sustenance needed to win an election and govern.

True self-storage could become possible for the people we elect to solve our collective problems. With only the company of soft light and even softer music our leaders could with clear conscience re-connect to their values and the values of their community. These refurbished enclaves would offer soul-storage for the weary who are hunted by day for votes by well-heeled dogs, and who must hunt each night to fill their war chests.

The battle of the campaign is brutal. Greed and extremists are fierce enemies. Our den, though small, will nourish and strengthen. Government of, by and for the People will abide there.

Wireless is no exception to net neutrality

2010-09-11T10:35:00.000-04:00

After reading 113,038 comments on the preservation of an open Internet, you might think the Federal Communications Commission would have enough information to make its rules about net neutrality.

Not so. Once again the FCC has invited public comment, this time about two specific issues: whether net neutrality rules should apply to wireless broadband, and whether ISP’s should be allowed to offer “specialized services” that would fall outside the net neutrality purview. Let’s talk about the wireless issue this time, and touch base later about specialized services.

The big ISP’s argue wireless should be exempt from open Internet rules because of an alleged spectrum crunch, and the obvious physical differences between wireline and wireless networks.

Wireless traffic is predicted to increase by almost 4000% from 2009 to 2014 (yikes) and there is a limited amount of spectrum available to handle the traffic, they say.

Also, unlike physical wireline or fiber networks where ISP’s can plot the location of their customers and connections and plan accordingly, wireless customers move around all over the place all the time, and sometimes crowd together in areas. The Obama inauguration on the Mall when millions gathered and sent photos of themselves back home or to Facebook might be an example.

I am excited about filing comments with the FCC as the Digital Democracy Project Director for Common Cause urging the good Commissioners to protect the Internet and keep it open – regardless of how one accesses it. Traffic jams and crowding are in fact very good reasons to have basic rules of the road apply and be enforceable. Don’t you think?

Monkey Business

2010-09-03T09:22:00.003-04:00

An artist would draw the three monkeys to resemble Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin at a tea party. Pouring from the spout into each cup would be money. The caption would read, "hear no facts, see no facts, and speak no facts."

You are no artist, though, so when the epiphany strikes, a thousand words gush out all over your blog explaining why these iconic leaders of the free world lie.

El Rushbo, Glenn and Sarah's pathological lying is caused by rare medical conditions.

Completely deaf until he got a bionic ear, Rush now gets his facts directly from Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. Every time Rush alludes to the President as "Imam Obama," he gets six million bucks, and a new wife every 100th time he suggests Obama wasn't born in the United States. It works out pretty good for Rush, considering his disability.

Glenn Beck is going blind and (according to him) is too damn lazy to learn braille. No wonder why, as he was "restoring honor" in front of the Lincoln Memorial last week he said, "I went to the National Archives, and I held the first inaugural address written in his own hand by George Washington." This is completely false, of course. What he was really holding was his new $2 million Fox News contract. He just couldn't see it.

If the blind leads the blind, both will fall in to a ditch, but if the Blind leads the Tea Party, he gets rich. Now you get it.

Sarah 'Barracuda' Palin's primary diagnosis is, of course, being a beautiful woman, but its her zoophilia that best explains her speech impediment. This mama grizzly took down a moose, field dressed it, and turned it in to chili before shooting that cute helpless wolf from a helicopter (or was it a caribou?) No wonder why she can't speak.

You think back when as Governor she blurted, "we're gonna consider how to manage the public's expectation desiring the lawmakers and the public acknowledge these are short-term temporary funds that should not lead to government growth two years from now when the dollars are gone, and we will...we will consider on a case by case basis whether the dollars need to be applied for or the dollars that are in the budget today could or should be vetoed. It's going to be a long process still in deciding what to do with the dollars."

It makes a lot of cents now.

Thanks be to Comcast

2010-06-21T13:52:00.001-04:00

An envoy from Pakistan was in Washington, DC last Thursday at the Federal Communications Commission public meeting to observe U.S. democracy in action. The cautionary tale in American governance to take back to the old country is big and bulky, but the carry-on message is simple: watch out what you wish for.

Once upon a time the connection to the Internet was classified by the FCC as an “information service” under Title 1 of the Telecommunications Act, and everyone agreed to an Internet Policy Statement that protected consumers and ensured (so we thought) open access to content and applications of our choice.

Comcast managed its network in a way that blocked our ability to access certain lawful content and use certain lawful applications. Public Interest groups filed a complaint. The FCC said Comcast violated federal policy. Comcast adopted a new system of bandwidth management. The FCC issued an order telling Comcast to disclose the specifics of its new approach. Comcast complied with the order.

End of story, right?

No, instead Comcast sued the FCC - which led to the now infamous Comcast court decision stating the FCC does not have authority to regulate Internet service providers’ network management under Title 1.

(How do you translate “open a can of worms” in Punjabi, anyway?)

So the FCC announced it will open a proceeding to classify Internet connectivity under Title II in order to expand broadband, protect an open Internet and foster competition. It held its standing-room only meeting in Washington. Commissioners gave passionate speeches and produced a whopping 48 page Notice of Inquiry with 116 paragraphs filled with hundreds of questions that interested parties can comment on before August 12, 2010.

One glaring omission in this tome of questions: Comcast, what in God’s name were you thinking when you sued the FCC?

Business hates uncertainty we are told. Uncertainty chills investment. Everyone knows this, and that litigation in federal court is a crap-shoot where campaign contributions don’t dictate outcomes. “Opening a proceeding creates so much regulatory uncertainty that it harms incentives for investment in broadband infrastructure and makes providers and investors alike think twice about moving forward with network investments under this dark regulatory cloud,” according to Commissioner Baker.

The Comcast decision has led to the FCC proceeding with no end or next step in sight, and gives certain members of Congress one more opportunity to bicker, preen and strut. Meanwhile convoys of lobbyists will get even fatter by the second when they “comment” ad nauseam the daylight out of the time clock.

One thing is for certain. We don’t know what is going to happen at the FCC or in Congress. We do know who to thank, however.

4G government, or a trap for the wary?

2010-06-14T11:18:00.001-04:00

While members of Congress, the FCC and various public interest groups scurry around frantically trying to find the way to network neutrality following the Comcast decision, Google, Verizon and other leading broadband and high-tech companies have declared independence from the U.S. Government.

The Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group, or "BITAG," includes unelected representatives from AT&T, Cisco Systems, Comcast, DISH Network, Echostar, Google, Intel, Level 3 Communications, Microsoft, Time Warner and Verizon. These powerful dignataries' stated intent is to find common ground with respect to an open Internet, and create a high-tech bureaucracy that's way cooler than the crazy sausage-making we fondly refer to as democracy.

The BITAG will create policies, resolve disputes, issue advisory opinions, establish best practices and encourage staff from federal agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to "observe." Look but don't touch, says the big BITAG.

Ironically these masters of the cyber-sphere want to copy the advertising industry's practice of self-regulation. Most ad agencies, however, would not choose a name like "BITAG" that means "trap" in Filipino.

Let's all roll up our sleeves and protect the Internet

2010-06-09T09:37:00.002-04:00

In a recent letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Maine Republican Senator Olympia Snowe invites her colleagues in Congress, the FCC, industry and public advocacy groups to “roll up our sleeves and update existing laws” that pertain to the Internet.

Snowe, a self-described “long-time champion of network neutrality,” rebukes the “hyperbole and rhetoric from both sides” of the issue since the FCC announced its proposal to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. She says we must resist the temptation to try and fit emerging technology and the wonders of the 21st century communications network in to the stilted and aging telephony laws of the past.

"Just as technologies, networks, and services have dramatically evolved over the past decade, so too must our policy and regulation--to better reflect the changes in the landscape and ensure our continued competitiveness in the global digital economy.”

As a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, and one of few GOP backers of network neutrality, Snowe is seeking what she calls the only true “middle ground.” Described at this point as a “new and appropriate framework” that will include rules to protect consumers and prohibit anticompetitive practices, Snowe also wants to ensure broadband providers have the flexibility to effectively manage their networks and ensure quality of service to all customers.

Nobody's Perfect

2010-06-04T09:19:00.000-04:00

Nagging is really quite easy when you live with teenagers. Effortless, in fact. Whether it's asking them to turn off screens after 6 or 7 hours, stop throwing the basketball against the white painted living room walls, or simply pointing out that the pile of Stridex Acne pads on the bathroom floor is pretty good evidence they missed the trash can, the response is the same. Stop nagging me.

Excellence at nagging apparently causes utter and complete ignorance of professional sports. You are not capable of filling out a bracket for March Madness, and clearly not a suitable candidate for a birthday Celtics game. Nagging and sports illiteracy pretty much sum things up for you these days, except for the little bit of weirdness that has also set in. Demanding hugs in exchange for meals is weird. Getting misty when they dress up for a dance or are found snuggling with the dog is weird. Sending them text messages just to say you miss them is really weird.

It's been described as the worst call in baseball in the last 25 years when with two outs in the ninth inning Detroit, Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga almost threw a perfect game but the first-base umpire, Jim Joyce, called the runner safe at first base. But he wasn't really safe. It was a mistake and Joyce apologized. Galarraga accepted the apology.

You think this is nice. You point out (or nag, rather) that sportsmanship is about more than winning. You predict good things will come to both pitcher and umpire because of their actions. You appreciate at last athletic role models worthy of the money and status they garner. You are so weird.

Welling Up About Oil

2010-06-02T09:20:00.002-04:00

President Obama is being lambasted about his lack of emotion, or more interesting, his inability to show emotion about the BP oil spill. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times goes on and on about it, and others in the so-called "main stream" media are also a little too emotional about whether Obama is sufficiently emotional. Newsweek, David Broder and the blogosphere continue to analyze whether the president is too hot or too cold.

Most women are used to being dismissed occasionally as "too emotional" about something or other. No matter who delivers the message, it burns. Temper tantrums are celebrated when BMOC's on the field or in the boardroom do something ordinary, but chicks shedding a few tears or sporting a red face is, well, embarrassing.

Double standards are standards, though, and Mr. Obama might fail his first test.

Just how should a president respond to the worst environmental disaster this generation has ever faced? What is the appropriate tone to take with a multinational corporation who is simultaneously responsible for the catastrophe and the fix? Do you care whether your president can show emotion, or do you want a caring president to show he can lead to the solution of this horrific problem?

When Hillary Clinton choked up in New Hampshire during the presidential primary in 2008 and had her emotional moment, pundits and psychiatrists analyzed and deconstructed every word and all three tears that formed puddles in her eyes as if she had spoken in Russian tongues. It was a transformative moment - for the media.

This cry baby's advice to the president: let a few tears flow for the reporters, and then get back to plugging that damn hole for the rest of us.

Everything is Happening at Once

2010-05-30T14:33:00.006-04:00

Everything in the universe is interconnected. Everything evolves - nothing stays the same. Everything is happening at once. The same can be said about the Internet, and in the coming months Congress, the Federal Communications Commission as well as state legislatures around the country will attempt to redesign U.S. telecommunications laws to adapt to the changing ecosystem.

Developed in the 1960's by the U.S. Defense Department to connect government research facilities, the Internet now connects people in 65 countries around the world. No nation, person or corporation owns or controls it. You might say the Internet is the quintessential public resource.

While the laws of physics are the same throughout the universe, the laws attempting to regulate access to the Internet are different in different places. Information is power, and the Internet is the information highway. Policy makers in the United States will be deciding what basic rules of the road should govern access to this critical infrastructure. Telecom companies, who own the on and off ramps and sell services that connect users, are shouting that any regulation is a "government takeover" of the Internet. Interest groups, on the other hand, fear continued anarchy on the net will lead to corporate control of what we say and hear, and ultimately what we think.

What ordinary people want is community and the opportunity to succeed. We want the freedom to express our ideas and access the unfiltered ideas of others. We want government and corporations to be held accountable. We want stability and expect effective oversight of public resources.

The coming year demands a commitment from leaders, industry players and the American public to work together and craft sound Internet policies that will support the continued use by everyone of the Internet to dispel the ignorance and misery of the world.

Marley is such a bitch

2010-05-02T15:31:00.001-04:00

Asking us to send additional troops to Afghanistan, throw the public option under the bus, and consider off-shore oil drilling was one thing. Suggesting we fork over cold cash to read the online Wall Street Journal, listen to Glenn Beck and stop mudslinging is entirely something else. There's only so much of this stuff we can take, Mr. President.

Sure enough, though, Mr. Audacity himself in a commencement address to the students at the University of Michigan and 80,000 of their closest friends prescribed how to keep our democracy healthy. First, we must recognize the need for some government and work to make it smarter and relevant to today's world. Second, Americans need to be nice to each other, open-minded and seek out alternative points of view, even if it means listening to Rush Limbaugh. Third, people must get involved.

One and three seem reasonable enough, but number two is outrageous and un-American. It's not just the fringes of the ideological spectrum who delight in muckraking and vilification. Character assassination is an innate thread in the fabric of our society. An important segment of our economy is built upon this fundamental value and the last thing we need is Jon Stewart and Tina Fey at the trough slurping up welfare benefits.

Closer to home an example involves a certain Marley named after Bob the Rastafarian but a girl who happens to be an adorable 17 month-old yellow lab. Teenagers who love her more than pizza and television find it hysterical and ridiculously edgy to say out loud for the benefit of their mother, "she is such a bitch."

So au courant is green

2010-04-27T15:02:00.005-04:00

Plugged-in and contemporary treehuggers intent on decarbonizing the world are endearing, and you are reasonably tolerant of vivacious Gen Y'sters endlessly jabbering about green jobs. You would drive a hybrid car if you could afford one and you want renewable energy. Fresh and awake you are cool as jade most of the time.

It's when you turn a shade of army green in a sea of emerald, hunter and celadon that stinks. The bronze skin tone of friends recently vacationed in Mexico turns your eyes from hazel to celery. Your bunions in flip-flops behind supple perfectly pedicured feet in line at Hannafords give you a glow of olive drab. Wine cellars, lake houses, tickets to Europe, boats, pools, MacBooks and book contracts surround you and stir nauseating embarrassing thoughts. You hate that dark green place.

Oh but the spring green grass is sparkling and virile! You have hip friends and family and your life is lush. Snap out of it! Sustainable living is maintaining a 5 to 1 ratio of feeding and yelling at your kids, and you're out of milk.

Barrel Chested Patriots

2010-04-23T16:31:00.002-04:00

Guns and breasts, it turns out, have a lot in common. A parade of women bearing their souls and naked torsos marched on Congress Street in Portland last week, and men will show off their guns this Sunday in an "open carry" march.

Yes, the second amendment says you have the right to carry a gun, and Maine law apparently grants you and all your fat friends the right to walk in public without a shirt. Why walk when you can jog? Why just carry a gun when you can carry a gun with no shirt?

Far be it from us to suggest these two groups have issues with sexuality and were neglected as children. We are just sayin' these people missed class the day protesting was taught by their liberal college professors. Normal deviants protest against something, war for example, or for rights they seek like equal pay.

Let's assume hypothetically soldiers have never quartered in your house without your consent. Now assume for the sake of argument the third amendment to the constitution says "no soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner."

Are you and your friends going to dress up as soldiers and roam about the neighborhood with signs that say "Americans for soldier-free homes?" Of course not. That would be ridiculous.

A Modern Proposal

2010-04-18T21:36:00.002-04:00

It is a melancholy object to those who Google, twitter or travel in the world, when they see in the United States the presidency, corporate boards, congress, and investment banks, crowded with the male sex, followed by three, four, or six ex-wives, all in suits and importuning every deity for an alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time working for less while caring for more. Parents, grandparents and helpless infants remain their charge, who as they grow up either live at home for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some of these women sell their soles to please everyone all the time.

Mother's Little Helper in this fast-paced digital era is of course her phone. Swiftly switching applications enables shopping, banking, answering interrogatories and advising her teen what is and is not acceptable to wear at a dance, all the while in her seat waiting for speeches to end and votes to be cast.

Her phone is her alter-ego. She calls her mother back, again, while car pooling doing kegal exercises. "Pay credit card bill today" reminds the friendly blue-lit box. Pretending to listen to the witness testifying, she emails her client. Late at night she smiles when the two-toned text ring she knows is her friend chimes. Decompressing and still working. Updating Facebook. Planning a trip. Checking if anyone has ever read her blog.

Sexting, that cute portmanteau with a bad rap, marketed just right could be the next Cuisinart for today's working woman in a committed relationship short on alone time. Sure, there is the little problem of the USA Patriot Act and domestic spying by Uncle Sam (that could be really embarrassing) and obviously sexting is not for kids. For the conservatives, though, high-speed digital relations are non-carnal. For the germophobics its all clean. Liberals with iPhones can photo-shop. Gay and lesbian couples have equal rights. For exhausted underpaid working mothers it could be one more time-saving, family friendly application.

Tea Partier for a Day

2010-04-16T15:41:00.006-04:00

Under the penalty of perjury you sign the 19 pages that make up your tax return, and channel Sarah Palin just a little bit. The weight of the document and its solemnity might be justified if you actually made a lot of money, or had sophisticated off-shore investments to report, but you didn't. What brings your Tea Party chi to the surface is perplexity about the return's actual meaning, and certainty the annual ritual of its preparation will cost you more than a thousand bucks.

The thick year-end package from the payroll company for your one part-time employee was startling, but the 29 page "how to file your tax return as a state legislator" memo on account of a $13,000 salary was the kicker that launched the day dream. There you are, standing at a podium in a rent-a-Chanel suit, waving your tax return while sounding off about the federal government takeover of our lives. One particularly flip and snarky sound bite, "the IRS is a gangster!" earns you passionate cheering from the crowd and a reference in Bill Clinton's speech. A parody on Saturday Night Live is imminent.

You are awakened from the dream by the CBS News/New York Times report about real Tea Partiers. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002529-503544.html

You are not invited to the party after all. Being white and miffed on tax day doesn't cut it. You're not angry enough, you believe President Obama was born in Hawaii, you don't carry a gun and, most importantly, you don't make enough money.

Nattering Nabobs of Net Neutrality

2010-04-13T13:31:00.000-04:00

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a decision on April 6, 2010 that winds back the Net Neutrality agenda of the FCC. The court said in a 36 page decision that the Federal Communications Commission does not have authority to regulate an Internet service provider's network management practices.

The facts of the case are simple. Comcast interfered with its customers' use of "peer-to-peer" network applications. These apps allow users to share large files directly with one another, and use a ton of bandwidth. Comcast says it was simply managing its network capacity. The FCC issued an order saying Comcast was violating a federal Internet policy that gives consumers the right to access lawful Internet content and run applications of their choice.

The problem, according to the court, is that there is no specific statute that gives the FCC authority to tell Comcast what it can and can't do with its network. Regulations to promote and preserve an open Internet can't be woven from whole cloth. Congress has to pass a law first.

The FCC is not a quitter, though. "Today's court decision invalidated the prior Commission's approach to preserving an open Internet. But the Court in no way disagreed with the importance of preserving a free and open Internet; nor did it close the door to other methods for achieving this important end," says FCC Spokesperson Jen Howard.

In an election year, when corporations can give unlimited amounts of money to campaigns, and Google and Facebook are up against Telecom giants like Comcast and Verizon, we are in for a treat!

The End

2010-04-09T13:14:00.001-04:00

Being a cog in the wheel of state politics can be frenetic. Ringing bells call lawmakers to their seats, gauntlets of lobbyists chatter, and herds of people stampede through the marble halls of the capital to create a cacophony of sound that over time becomes familiar and strangely comforting.

The energy at the end of a legislative session is particularly intense and addictive if you are a player, and mind-numbing if you're not.

For legislators self-appointed to the center of hot issues, procrastination is no longer an option at the end. Controversial bills must be resolved, and chaotic lines in the sand are drawn. Held in captivity for long hours and sleep deprived, these people exist on raw emotion and arguments erupt. Doors slam and tears flow. It's high drama.

For the rest of us, the final day of the legislative session can't come soon enough. Spouses and children are no longer enamored with our public life and rightfully skeptical the 17th time we predict this day at the capital will be our last. Our clients are antsy and irritable. Tax returns stating ridiculously low income aren't filed. Houses need cleaning, flower beds beg to be raked and our hair needs to be cut.

We are all grateful for the increasing amount of sunlight, and welcome the screaming peepers at dusk and chorus of birds in the early morning that cheer us to the finish line.

Estimated Prophet

2010-04-03T10:54:00.004-04:00

Catching President Obama in Portland, Maine reminds you of going to a Grateful Dead concert. Friends with connections get tickets and you hit the road. Sun shining, music playing and windows open, you tap out rhythm on the steering wheel as carloads of happy Democrats whiz by on their way south from the capital to the show. Obama Biden bumper stickers and dark suits replace Steal Your Face and tie dye, but the feeling is the same. You are connected by a common purpose.

After parking blocks away you make the pilgrimage with the masses to a place transfixed by the event. Instead of buying a veggie burrito from a nice Dead Head, you grab some Thai noodles at Whole Foods and a water bottle. What had been the dingy Expo Center on Saturday for your daughter's track meet is now the center of the universe. Peaceful protesters and people looking for tickets mill around, bells ring and police stand at attention.

Being a part of the establishment has its perks. The blue ticket you scored gets you on the fast track with the usual suspects. Former governors, candidates for governor, legislators, congress people, and big donors get shepherded in by volunteers you also recognize from conventions and caucuses. White ticket-holders are in a line that hasn't moved since 5 AM.

Inside the echo chamber some people fill in the bleachers, some jockey for media exposure and schmoozing, but you go to the floor in front and join believers who want to look the President in the eye.

Jerry Garcia caused hysteria simply by tuning his E string. Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! And the Obama staffer who places the Presidential seal on the podium and tests the sound system receives a standing ovation. Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

Preaching to his choir Barack Obama is relaxed and playful. He is among friends who are high on victory. His speech is good, but it's more than the words that inspire. It is a confidence in our country and in us that makes some middle-aged women jump up and down, and scream. It's the promise of a future for our children. It is hope, and yes, things have changed.

A Tall Regular, Please

2010-03-07T13:56:00.002-05:00

People who don't drink coffee give you the jitters. When you shuffle to the market early for the Sunday paper and a cup of joe and see your new co-worker suck down a large diet soda, it is a peek through the window of her soul. You might get along, but definitely are not mates. When you meet that new friend at Star Bucks and he orders a Red Bull, you can hear the air go out of the conversation bubble.

Tea Partiers make you a little nervous too. These young people carrying signs (and guns) remind you of a Buffalo Springfield song because what they stand for aint exactly clear. Tea Party paranoia strikes deep, and into the GOP it creeps. When Scott Brown won the senate race in Massachusetts they said "hooray for our side" until he stepped out of line and voted for the jobs bill. Too much aspartame in their brew might be making these Partiers nutty.

It could be time to stop, children, and join the Coffee Party Movement. "Government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans," say the Coffee Partiers as they twitch and shake.

Sure sounds stimulating. Coffee Party USA has a Facebook page with 94,516 Fans and planning National Coffee Party Day on March 13th.

Maybe you will just throw some fish on the grill, turn up the music, and wait for the Wine Party.

A Fairy Tale

2010-02-26T12:04:00.005-05:00

Once upon a time a fat telecom company named Pyg swaggered in to the shire throwing coins to the people and shouting from a megaphone, "I will bring connectivity to your hinterlands and employ your villagers. Let me in!" Smiling people from away threw confetti and sang songs about Pyg's goodness as the mayor handed him the keys to the castle.

After the neighbors welcomed Pyg with casseroles and bean suppers, they waited patiently to be connected to the rest of the world. They waited and waited but their screens remained dark and their telephones became silent. The people became angry and marched in the streets. Pyg then took off his mask and said, "I am big but not strong or smart enough to connect you. I must go to the City to get more coins and confetti."

Gee Wallaby Ibis was a nice little telecom company. She and her friends dreamt of someday befriending Pyg and working together in his castle. They tried and tried without success. One day they rolled up their sleeves and began connecting the village to the world in a new way. The good people on the farms and in the hills were happy because their blue screens lit up and their phones began to ring.

When King O announced a connecting contest, Gee Wallaby Ibis and her friends invited Pyg to join them and seek the prize, but Pyg was jealous and cranky and refused.

Using the best blacksmiths and the strongest metal, Gee Wallaby Ibis and her friends built a beautiful and sturdy chain to connect the entire shire with the wide wonderful world. After the king's knights spent 40 days testing the chain, Prince Locke rode in to the square and declared with pomp and circumstance Gee Wallaby Ibis the winner. Trumpets sounded. The people cheered, "Hurray! We will be connected at last!"

Pyg's castle began crumbling around him as he seethed with anger. Instead of using the coins he got in the City to fix his castle, he bought a new mask and disguised himself as a Gentleman Blacksmith. Whispering to the people that Gee Wallaby's chain would break and they would be lost at sea, the Gentleman Blacksmith began spreading fear and doubt in the land. In hushed and somber tones he told the people that Pyg had a bigger and better chain hidden behind the castle walls.

Some of the good people became very afraid and confused. They urged Gee Wallaby Ibis to send back the prize, and give her chain to the Gentleman Blacksmith to fix.

The wise elders of the community gathered and spent many days thinking. The people waited with baited breath until finally the wisest of all stepped forward and told the people, "The Gentleman Blacksmith is a Pyg in disguise who must fix his own castle. Gee Wallaby Ibis built a beautiful new chain that will connect us. Let us have courage to change the things we can!"

Shaksper N Luv

2010-02-14T18:11:00.007-05:00

Parting is such sweet sorrow when you drop him off at the bus station this cold dark February morning in Maine. Its sweetness is the reminder that you are not affixed to each other by children, mortgage or habit alone; its sorrow the many lost opportunities for closeness.

A pair of star-cross'd lovers is a polite way to describe your beginning. He was dating someone his mother adored, and you were dating your boyfriend's (former) best friend. Being theoretically unavailable made flirting at the restaurant while you both worked harmless. Continuing to serve and pour each other wine after your shifts together, alas, was not.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet, but when that funny Valentine from "TC" arrived in the mail your heart pounded. His last name had not yet come up in conversation. Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs, and sharing cigarettes between dances at Nectars had left no time for formal introductions. Added to your college drama were the recent advances of that blond European student, Thor C.

"I would not wish any companion in the world but you, and by the way, what is your last name?" you ask when you finally find him, breathless from running. His answer and mutual blushing complete the meet-cute.

The course of true love never did run smooth, and yours took the road from Burlington, Vermont down to Boston, and then north to Portland. Love is like a child, That longs for everything it can come by, and your two kids are no exception. Weeks pass sometimes without a second alone together. A rendezvous at a basketball game or ski meet is a date.

If music be the food of love, then texting is the poetry that now connects us. Your Valentine's words are few because his phone and style are old school, but less is sometimes more.

Oh My Blog!

2010-02-04T21:29:00.001-05:00

You have been meaning to blog about President Obama's commanding performance in Baltimore with the GOP. The leadership races coming out of the woodworks in Augusta give you the creeps. You are on the fence about the story of the Baptists kidnapping the Haitian kids, and downright nauseous when you think about John Edwards. The woman suicide bomber in Pakistan killing school girls is disturbing and thought provoking. The United States of America policy of "don't ask, don't tell" is almost hard to believe.
So much material and so little time!

The Chair Now Recognizes the Senator from Monsanto

2010-01-24T14:42:00.004-05:00

Being the strict constructionalists they are, the five Supreme Court Justices who struck down campaign finance reform this week really had no choice but to interpret "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech" in the First Amendment to mean that corporations have the constitutional right to pump billions of dollars in to elections.

Justice Clarence Thomas alone thinks Congress can't even require corporations to report spending on elections or put disclaimers with their advertisements. Corporations should be treated like the rest of us, in his view. This is an odd channeling of the founding fathers, who counted a slave as only three-fifths of a person.

Campaign finance laws are off the books so once again we will enjoy the fruits of deregulation. A big business bail out will be accomplished in less than five working days when the right people get elected, and the advertising industry can hire all the white guys who got laid off recently to create clever and misleading Swift Boat campaigns. Our White House can be re-named the Gillette House for a hefty sum to pay down the deficit. It's not all doom and gloom.

For now, though, shareholders are people too. We might just decide to read the 500 page company prospectus to see how our money is being "invested" in political speech before it's lost. Our democracy might be sold to the highest bidder thanks to the Supreme Court, but good old fashioned capitalism means we can vote with our dollars. We can buy things from companies that pledge to exercise rights of free speech fairly and reasonably. We can choose to not buy Lipitor and hybrid seeds.

The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Democrat

2010-01-20T10:22:00.003-05:00

The story of Scott Brown winning the Massachusetts senate seat is an excellent reminder that politics is a lot like sports. People root for the underdog. A game in which one side gets crushed isn't that fun and sometimes you cheer for the other team when one of its skinny little players makes the free throw.

The new senate score of 59 to 41 means the Republicans made it to the finals. The crowds are going crazy and rushing down on to the field. The pundits are doing the Monday morning quarterback routine. It is not clear what, if anything, the outcome will actually mean for most people and it doesn't apparently matter.

We know Senator-elect Brown gives a really long, boring and unscripted speech. He will therefore fit right in the Washington scene, and no doubt there is a bet somewhere being made on the odds of a scandal coming to light before the re-election in 2012. The drama will continue. The Democrats and the Republicans will chew on the outcome of this race for months, and exploit it shamelessly for money, jokes and sweet revenge. We will exacerbate our carpel tunnel with feverish clicks of the remote.

Meanwhile in Portland, Jome Murphy is being charged with assault for spraying protesters and police with fox urine. He apparently was sick and tired of the whining going on below his apartment about alleged poor working conditions for restaurant workers and took the matter in to his own hands.

Lord knows some trial lawyer will argue Murphy's got Second Amendment rights to pack fox urine and protect his home from liberal union radicals. President Obama and his social secretary are busy planning a Tea Party for Senators Snowe and Lieberman. The world keeps spinning and Fox News is undoubtedly enjoying its day in the hen house.

The Enemy Of Your Enemy Is Your Friend

2010-01-17T16:20:00.002-05:00

Technology evolves at the speed of light, while most of us lumber along with multiple gadgets and distractions. Do you worry that your Twitter account isn't interfaced with your Facebook Page? Are your photos lost somewhere up in the cloud? Do you spend every waking moment checking your messages and updating your status?

Recurring nightmares of being stranded on an island with an obsolete laptop, Windows Vista and a flip phone convince us it won't be long before we are left behind like the woolly mammouth. Technology is in the driver's seat. We fret it will soon take over our minds and control the world.

Despots in Iran and Communists in China want to take over the minds of people and control the world. People in these places who oppose regimes will be censored, tortured and killed if they fail to conform to oppressive and tyrannical government policies.

Nazila Fathi is a reporter who barely escaped from government forces seeking to squash her efforts to shine light on the fraudulent elections in Iran last June. She lives now in exile but is able to continue her journalism about the escalating situation because of the Internet and creative use of technology by people still there. "Bluetooth" has become a verb. "A protester Bluetooths a video clip to others nearby, and they do the same. Suddenly, if the authorities want to keep the image from escaping the scene, they must confiscate hundreds or thousands of phones and cameras," she says. Information is able to go AWOL and reach Fathi's notebook and ultimately the pages of the New York Times.

In China, government hacks trying to collect information about human rights activists from Google's network suffered a surprise power outage. Google, an American corporation, has taken a stand for civil rights. If China is going to censor its pipes, peek in to it's files and black out topics like "Tiananmen Square," then Google is gonna pick up its ball and go home. We hear cheering in the streets. Google unplugged the People's Republic!

The same technology we fear may control us is fighting authoritarian regimes that fight to control us.

The Gray Lady

2010-01-15T09:36:00.001-05:00

Two colors are considered complementary if gray is produced when they are combined. Gray has no opposite. Gray can be spelled grey and still mean the same thing.

If a committee of Democrats and Republicans reach consensus, sometimes the resulting policy is gray. There is good and bad mixed together. Black and white, stirred but not shaken. The moral value is not striking or vivid.

If a committee of Democrats and Republicans reach consensus, the political culture mandates the rest of the herd to follow along. You are discouraged from engaging in independent thought and analysis. The overarching goal of unanimity is supposed to override any motivation to seek out alternatives. Challenging assumptions is perceived as an act of disloyalty. Depending on your perspective, this policy-making machine is either groupthink or progress.

Leadership is demonstrated in politics when decisions reached by consensus are still open to absorb and integrate ideas that may benefit the people we are elected to serve.

Good News!

2010-01-13T08:12:00.001-05:00

With all of the headlines focused on the budget crisis, it may be easy to miss some of the good news. In the last few months, Maine received a huge boost to our efforts to build our broadband infrastructure – a virtual superhighway that is quickly becoming the frontier of commerce. Linking our rural communities to the Internet is vital for the development of Maine’s economy and our future.

That’s why the $25.4 million award to the state from The National Telecommunications and Information Administration for GWI’s “Three Ring Binder” (http://www.threeringmaine.com/.) middle mile project is so important.

As the House chair of the Broadband Strategy Council (BBSC), I am very excited that the federal government has chosen to accept the council’s recommendations to fund the biggest of the four major broadband infrastructure projects the BBSC recommended.

This project is a public-private effort which will allow Maine telecommunications companies and vital Maine institutions to enhance broadband Internet access in rural Maine, and the end result will be high-speed Internet connections in more than 100 additional towns throughout the state.

The success of funding this much-needed project in Maine is the result of hard work and collaboration through a public-private partnership, which serves as a wonderful example of how the people of Maine can invest in their economic future, even when times are difficult.

To understand the terminology, a “last mile” project refers to the final leg of delivering connectivity from a communications provider to a customer. Any plan to provide that last mile of connectivity to a given area has to overcome the absence of what the telecom industry calls a “middle mile” connection to the Internet. The middle mile connection is similar to an electronic artery capable of carrying large volumes of information at high speeds to large geographic areas. In many areas of Maine, such digital arteries simply do not exist.

When the BBSC began its assessment process last summer, it measured each project against the overall goal of a secure and reliable telecommunications network that provides broadband access to unserved and underserved populations and regional areas. We put a special emphasis on projects that would foster economic development, create jobs and enhance the delivery of goods and services.

GWI’s “Three Ring Binder” project met all those criteria, as it will significantly improve the telecommunications infrastructure of our state and greatly enhance our ability to compete in the global economy.

Maine can put aside partisan differences and get good work done to help people and businesses prosper. This is good news!

Just How Excellent Are You, Mr. President?

2010-01-10T20:08:00.000-05:00

Americans love baseball, apple pie, loaded questions and torture, if you swallow the logic of 40 year-old syndicated columnist Jonah Goldberg. His column yesterday in the Portland Press Herald connects the dots between a ridiculous poll and some anecdotes to conclude that most Americans do not support President Obama, want waterboards for Christmas, and are hungover following a raucous year of liberal orgies.

"And a Rasmussen Reports poll last week found that 70 percent of respondents either support waterboarding the Christmas Bomber suspect or are unsure whether we should." Therefore, Goldberg concludes, there is no "kindling for a prairie fire of progressive activism."

Oh. Okay.

Goldberg goes on to say, "Perhaps there are no laws of history. Perhaps, for all the liberal celebrating last year, the reality is that Obama fulfilled his mandate the moment he was sworn in as President Not-Bush, and it's hangovers for as far as the eye can see."

Putting aside the very poor grammar and writing technique (because we are liberal pansy cream puffs), can you imagine answering the phone and being asked if you "support" waterboarding the Christmas Bomber?

When did you stop beating your wife? How fast was the car going when it went through the intersection?

Polls are like statistics - they can be made to prove anything. Statistics can at times be dangerous. Ask W.I.E. Gates about the guy who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches.

That's My Boy

2010-01-07T21:13:00.009-05:00

"Okay, fine, I promise I won't comment on any of your posts."

It seemed like a reasonable compromise at the time, and that's what it took to be his Friend. In retrospect it was a small price to pay for a meaningful perspective on this big, smart-ass, handsome guy.

I would silently observe his life as if up on the balcony looking down. Lots of sports references, yet surprisingly they were very funny and insightful. Jokes made me LOL. Thankfully there were no drug references or inappropriate language. A few too many beautiful girls "friending" him constantly, but otherwise I was impressed, and proud.

It was December 24th in the evening but unfortunately I hadn't yet put on my kerchief or settled down for a long winters' nap. Instead, I was on Facebook when what to my wondering eye should appear but a post by him that said "twas the night before Christmas."

For reasons unknown on that cold night I went to the dark side and broke my promise, and I will forever regret it. I typed in, ever so slowly, a comment. Yup. I did it. I confess. I wrote, "not a creature is stirring except a 14 year-old in the basement playing NBA 2K10."

He unfriended me immediately. Repeated apologies and begging for forgiveness have not changed his mind. The kid has got principles, and he isn't budging. Not even an offer that he re-Friend in lieu of buying me a birthday gift was acceptable. He rightfully throws back in my face verbatim lectures about the importance of keeping your word that I gave to him not so long ago.

My only hope, at this point, is that some of what I have said about redemption has also sunk in.

Money for Nothing and the Chicks for Free

2010-01-05T09:12:00.001-05:00

The second session of the 124th Maine Legislature convenes on January 6, 2010. The Epiphany. Wouldn't it be great if three kings brought gifts totaling $438 million to fill the hole in the Maine state budget? Hope springs eternal, but it's likely the kings aren't showing up, and neither is the second coming of Almighty Stimulus. We can't afford to do everything for everyone who wants and perhaps deserves a government hand-up.

Does everyone you know want a program to help them and simultaneously believe government wastes money on unnecessary programs? As the big business with the high paid lobbyist you argue convincingly in a soft voice and expensive suit at a reception that your company employs hundreds of people whom you pay a decent wage and provide health insurance, therefore you deserve a break. It's the least government can do since without you more people would be on the government rolls sucking money from the tax payers. You pay high income and property taxes and its fair for government to offer some carrots in the mix. There is always North Carolina, after all.

If you are a small business, you wipe the sweat from your brow, look government in the eye and plead for common decency and mercy. You are tilling the soil, milking the cows and baking the artisan breads that keep the "rural" in rural Maine. You add community and landscape to the Maine economy, and have practically nothing to show for it but some scar tissue and a blue ribbon from the Common Ground Fair. Surely your small family enterprise deserves a subsidy to account for the outlandish corporate welfare that props up the distended and grotesque behemoths that put Main Street out of business.

You might just be a really angry individual who went to one of those Tea Parties and can't understand why the government is bailing our banks and investment companies out with your money when you and your neighbors' houses are being foreclosed and no one in your family can find a job. The government, damn it, should be protecting freedom and guns. Period.

And then of course there is you, child. You don't even realize that your health, hopes and dreams barely ever make it in to the conversation. You have no lobbyist to fight for quality childcare and innovative schools. Your parents are working around the clock like dogs and can't afford to take even a sick day off, and nobody is putting quarters in the jar for your college education. You eat bad food because it’s cheap, play video games because no chaperone is required and are denied the wonder and glory of the natural world because you aren't allowed out of the house alone.

So what do you think the government should be doing?

Hate to Hate the Haters

2009-12-30T23:01:00.002-05:00

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ("Umar F'in A") tried to bring down Northwest Airlines flight 253 using a PETN bomb in his bikini underwear, as we all know. On the flight he allegedly threw one of those germy airline blankets over his head and said, "I have a stomach ache," and then tried to blow up the plane and kill all the people. On Christmas.

If this incident wasn't so absolutely disgusting and disturbing, it would be funny. Tina Fey or Seth Meyers is going to stretch this material until the absurdity makes people laugh. Thank God.

The vignette might include an all-American "kid" the size of Bill Murray flying home alone, again, from boarding school. In his loneliness he tries to befriend Umar F'in A. Umar is distracted, however, with his evil plot and rejects Billy's overtures of friendship with distain. Billy's pissed, so when Umar pushes the button to request a blankie and no attendant appears because the airline is on the verge of bankruptcy, cute little Billy offers Umy his Harry Potter "Invisibility Cloak" (wink wink). We might then see Umar rubbing his hands, laughing menacingly, pouring steaming chemicals into science beakers he pulls from his pants, under what he thinks is a blanket...until he's whacked in the head and subdued by the SNL guest who runs in breathlessly and says in that old familiar way,

"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

But we are not there yet. Before we can joke at all about this very serious breach of national security we have the investigative reports to hear, the congressional committee hearings to withstand, the media slice-and-dice, the international reaction and the Republican fundraising to survive. Even worse, though, are all the blogosphere hate comments.

In one particular Facebook post, a right-winger Friend of mine posted a comment that suggested President Obama is responsible for the underwear bomber because two of the accomplices were released from Gitmo. He even cited a link to a story from ABC News! The story reported that two former Guantanamo prisoners were implicated in this terrorist plot, and that they had been released in November of 2007. A year before Barrack Obama was elected. Nevertheless, a comment followed that read:

"I honestly wanna know who voted for that stupid fucker because i ask everyone every day and NO one says they voted for him...."

You might have read some of these hate comments. I hate them. When a Bangor Daily News story wrote about Congresswomen Chellie Pingree's life and career, some anonymous person wrote:

"And your moron Pingree, who says she is against corporate welfare, beamed when she announced a $40 million stimulus gift to Mafioso wind company Firts Wind. Corporta welfare is good if it's for one of Chellie's pet causes. She is fired next November."

What kind of humanity tries to blow up innocent families traveling on Christmas Day? How can anyone who has a heartbeat not know someone who voted for the President of the United States? He got roughly 53% of the vote nationwide and all four Maine electoral votes! And, Chellie is a moron? I bet she can spell First and Corporate.

We were raised not to hate. It's hard not to hate the haters.

The Land of Opportunity

2009-12-27T11:12:00.002-05:00

My imaginary friend Ellen Goodman said yesterday she is retiring on January 1, 2010 as the leading syndicated columnist who writes about women. Opportunity knocks when you are in the right place at the right time and know the right people. Clearly the time is now for some lucky person to slip in as Goodman's replacement, but where does she need to be, and with whom in order to vie for the job?

If you have been a professional for a while and just figured out the political game (by the way, I agree with you, and it looks like you lost weight) even thinking about a job as a writer is audacious. Yet here we are on the precipice of a brand new year. "2010" sounds perky and promising. If a black man can be elected President of the United States, surely a self-proclaimed moderate working mother from a small town in Maine can grab the megaphone for a few weeks and comment on the state of affairs of women and girls, right? You have thoughts. You were an English major. This is America. Go for it.

If writing isn't your forte, grab your clubs and cover for Tiger Woods for a year or so while he recovers from the crash. Or, maybe since Kate Gosselin and the eight kids are on their own; you could pick up a Rent-a-Husband franchise for a good price and make her an offer.

Somebody, anybody, run for senate in Connecticut! God knows Joe Lieberman needs a time out.

The 24-hour news cycle is chock-full of possibilities. Partisanship and polarization might be troublesome if your cup is half empty, but for every challenge there is an opportunity. This year you might get your lucky break. Alternative Dispute Resolution for Congressmen could take off if marketed and priced right. Your brilliant and effective Twitter Therapy for working parents with ADHD could get in to the healthcare bill as a covered benefit if you are from Nebraska or Louisiana.

It's cold, dark and raining. Surely an opportunity is buried somewhere under the discarded wrapping paper and pine needles. Turn off the Christmas music and put it away. Package up 2009 and put it on the shelf. Against all odds and in defiance of cable news shows, ring in the New Year and make it the best ever.

The Young and the Restless

2009-12-21T09:29:00.000-05:00

Politics is defined loosely as who gets what, when and where.

Sounds a little like Christmas, don't you think?

If you are political and ambitious, the holidays might present an interesting challenge. You could choose to send politically correct "holiday" cards to the audience who will usher you in to victory at the next election. At some level you sincerely mean the wishes of good health and peace, but there is an ulterior motive. You are trying to win votes. For some, this is a conflict. For others, it's the game.

If you are a twenty-something coming of age in the digital era during a recession and a war on terrorism, the holidays might introduce the first of many chapters of family politics. You define yourself and stand apart from your kin yet simultaneously long to be recognized and accepted. Some of us have been that young adult. We graduated from college blessed and burdened with the knowledge that what our family told us was true about the world is not universally accepted. There is another view - and another way of life that is attractive, and feels good. You might express yourself and your cerebral awakening with long hair or vintage clothes. You might acquire a taste for strong black coffee, rioja and green olives. You reject, for a while anyway, red meat.

The irony of studying and traveling on the family dime only to mature and find yourself at odds with some fundamental principles once believed to be self-evident is not lost. You see a crack in the ice and cold water separating yourself from the very people who raised and nurtured you, and put you on that plane to Europe with $500 and a back-pack full of clean clothes and wishes of safety.

All politics is about compromise. The elected officials who were passionate and unwavering on their soap box during the campaign learn quickly ideology takes a back seat when the election is over and governing begins.

The family, together for a day or two around the holidays, recognizes the common ground and embraces the differences among its tribe. There is compromise of a different sort. Tolerance is a value both old and young acquire for the survival and celebration of a shared journey.

The Bright Side

2009-12-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

Sure, the recession sucks, but look at the bright side. Being thrifty is now cool, and cutting expenses is all the rage. This is a wonderful opportunity to change your life. You can re-invent yourself - for less.

So go ahead - fire that cleaning woman that's been driving you crazy for the last three years. Rip us the renewal for the ridiculous Day-Timer refill that costs $30 and comes in a plastic tub filled with useless paper. It is way more fun to buy a pocket calendar at the local book store for $12.50

Pull out some clothes from the back of your closet that thankfully still fit and are woven with memories of yourself from a different era. Say out loud and without shame "I can't afford it" to the thirty-five people who ask you for money today. It's liberating - and true. Finish every bottle of product, including hotel hair conditioner. It frees up space in the bathroom and must be good feng shui.

Set aside this year's embossed and engraved gold foil Christmas card from the Maine Turnpike Authority and make a mental note to check on how much this exercise in political glad-handing is costing tax payers.

The recession might also be good for women, in a dark sort of way. Flex-time, recently only for "mommies" on a track, is now for anyone at a Fortune 500 company that wants a "sabbatical." Businesses are cutting costs by offering employees reduced hours and encouraging creative ways to work less while meeting demands. This is not a bad thing.

Maybe all the guys on Wall Street are busy counting their bonus money, but did you see last week's NYT Sunday Business section? The Corner Office and The Boss, two feature articles usually about male masters of the universe, were about women. The cover story was about menopause, for God sakes. There were three other major pieces by and about women.

If the recession means less shopping, more soul-searching and a shot at the corner office, bring it on.

Bon Appetit

2009-12-13T13:56:00.006-05:00

If you were at that Holiday party last night and are now feeling a little...tired...eat bruschetta and watch Julie and Julia with your long-legged 12 year-old daughter. Then blog about it. This exercise will string back together any loose brain cells and send feelings of comfort and joy to your core.

In the movie, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) whips up a batch of bruschetta for her adorable husband Eric (Chris Messina) and he wolfs it down while inspiring her to blog about cooking. It was during the scene with the chopped fresh yellow and red tomato medley piled on thick slices of pan-fried-in-butter French bread that we hit "pause" and headed to the kitchen. Isabel chopped, and I sautéed. She tossed plum tomatoes with olive oil, course salt, pepper and basil. I started the bread-seared-in-butter a second time without garlic so it wouldn't burn. Isabel squeezed fresh lemon juice in her mix. I sliced pieces of Manchego, fresh mozzarella and smoked apple cheddar cheese to have on the side. This wasn't in the movie, by the way. The dog's ottoman covered with a checkered table cloth set with white china plates made a wonderful table. She had orange juice. I had seltzer.

The tossed tomato concoction over the slices of bread browned with butter was gorgeous. Delightful. Heavenly. Medicinal, even.

Also in the movie Julia Child (Meryl Streep) discovers French cooking while in Paris with her adorable husband Paul (Stanley Tucci). It's difficult to describe Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Paris. The adjectives in my repertoire don't do justice. You can't help but fall in love, again, with this version of Streep and her relationships with people and food.

We left just a smidgen of the tomatoes but no bread or cheese for my adorable husband. Oh well.

You already know, of course, that the dream of being a successful writer comes true for both Julie and Julia in the books, the movie and real life.

After we finished our spontaneous and delicious brunch, Isabel looked at me and said with satisfaction and confidence, "Mom, you should blog about this."

Where do I begin?

It Happened Today

2009-12-09T15:15:00.001-05:00

Has it happened to you yet? You know it will. It's just a matter of time.

The mind-altering spice cocktail of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger got me in the mood today. Inhaling this blend of scents making gingerbread on a snow day ushered in Christmas Spirit.

Christmas like snow is layers that accumulate. Some get muddy. Others, fluffy with the right mix of environmental factors, are dazzling. We have a base of childhood that builds over time with various textures and depth for a limited part of every year. Forget 365 days of Christmas. It has a beginning and an end. The Christmas Spirit blows in and out year to year on different schedules that aren't on your calendar.

If the press of business, lack of funds, or sheer loneliness is creating a barrier, take a hit of A Charlie Brown Christmas, by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Art inspired by art, these tunes are a delicious layer of frosting. Guaraldi's interpretation and self-expression of Charles Shultz's story is beautiful music that will soothe and wrap you in a blanket. You will remember that night in Burlington, Vermont when it snowed for hours while you were in Leunig's listening to jazz. The windows were foggy. The candles burned low as the fat bartender with the handlebar mustache waddled around pouring and shaking and clearing. The bells on the door jingled and cold wind rushed in your face when you finally left to find the streets silent except for the forward clamor and backward beeping of snow plows off in the distance.

If Vince doesn't invite the spirit in, say out loud "Peppermint Patty" three times. That might also do the trick.

Power Lunch

2009-12-03T13:34:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama gave his speech on Afghanistan, in case you haven't heard. If you didn't articulate immediately a strong and reasoned position about the merits of the Obama Administration strategy, don't be too hard on yourself. You weren't invited to the lunch either.

Thomas L. Friedman, the New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has an amazingly vivid and coherent opinion on the subject. He does not agree with President Obama's decision to escalate in Afghanistan. He said so yesterday. This is sort of interesting, and can be heaped in the pile of all the other opinions out there. Along with the columnists are the pundits, candidates, generals and radio jocks all arguing over whether the President is right or wrong. The speech is a big meaty bone they will gnaw on for our benefit and their paycheck until the next speech.

What is interesting in yesterday's Friedman article is the reference to a sneak preview he and others got to the Afghanistan speech. "At a lunch on Tuesday for opinion writers, the president lucidly argued that opting for a surge now to help Afghans rebuild their army and state into something decent - to win the allegiance of the Afghan people - offered the only hope of creating an "inflection point," a game changer, to bring long-term stability to that region."

What lunch? Who are these opinion writers? Was Fox News invited? Did President Obama smoke a cigarette with his coffee? Did the Salahis show up?

My gut says there is no precise right or wrong answer when it comes to fighting terrorists. There is no play book. To the people who are aghast that "never before" has our commander in chief put parameters around a commitment of American blood and money, I say get over it. Storming the beach at Normandy isn't an option.

I liked when President Obama said:

We must rebuild our strength here at home. Our prosperity provides a foundation for our power. It pays for our military. It underwrites our diplomacy. It taps the potential of our people and allows investment in new industry. And it will allow us to compete in this century as successfully as we did in the last. That is why our troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended — because the nation that I am most interested in building is our own.

Then again, I just had a tuna sandwich alone at my desk.

Shun With Me People!

2009-11-30T16:05:00.000-05:00

Michaele and Tareq Salahi are the scoundrels who crashed the state dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Obama in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Now they are trying to cash in on their deception, and are banking on Americans like us to pay in one form or another for a peek show.

Not one red cent should make it to the Salahi coffers.

Sources far and wide suggest the Salahis are morally as well as financially bankrupt, and living beyond their means. That hardly makes them special. Their house in Virginia is reported to be in foreclosure and viral rumors are flying around the Internet that they do not pay their bills. Michaele, like most of us, is working three jobs. She is the manager of her Facebook page (with over 4000 Friends!), a make-up consultant, and working full-time as a candidate for the very popular and exciting reality show, "The Real Housewives of D.C."

Tareq is believed to be the former Chair of the America's Polo Cup, and spends the rest of his time telling people he owns his family's failing winery, even though he apparently doesn't own it.

When asked in April of 2008 to describe her style, Michaele said, "Classic and feminine with a slim rocker edge. I'm addicted to white clothes, and I love stilettos."

In other words these two people are ordinary Beltway Americans, except for one very important thing: they are not identified as either Democrats or Republicans. This really and truly sets them apart from most who thrust themselves on the Washington scene and in our face. More importantly, this presents a rare opportunity for all of us to band together and take a non-partisan stand. Let's all join hands in one big circle and turn our backs on these low-lifers.

AAWCL, Americans Against Wretched Cheap Losers, is starting a campaign to shun all that's Salahi. Turn off Larry King. Don't buy the anticipated book Going Opportunist. Call all your buddies at Half Yard Productions and vote Salahi off the Real Housewives Island.

Unfriend Michaele.

Getting Good and Old

2009-11-27T11:25:00.006-05:00

Serenity might be too strong a word, but forgive yourself. Your mind is still foggy from heavy injections of sugar, butter, and tryptophan. You are experiencing Thanksgiving nirvana.

You always had mixed feelings about the holiday as a kid. Food was the main theme and everywhere. Some was very good and some so-called food was really, really gross. Stuffing was over-rated. Onions and celery were non-negotiable. There was love in the air, and something else. Momentum in the kitchen was palatable. The sounds of mixers, an electric carving knife and whisking, accompanied by the oven door opening and closing in crescendo. Foil-covered bowls and pots outnumbered guests. Your mother barked at your grandmother. It was hot. The dishes and pans to wash were overwhelming.

Then you got married and strived to be Martha Stewart. You toiled over an artichoke stuffing with free-range walnuts that nobody liked. The turkey was blessed and fed a last supper of organic grain before it was killed and priced accordingly. Roasted root vegetables with sprigs of herb you grew in pots on your deck were not quite the big hit you hoped for. You made that fourth trip downtown in traffic for the Gewurtztraminer you needed for dinner. The dishes were still overwhelming, and with a headache even more challenging. Your kids didn't eat anything and were hungry for macaroni and cheese. And you made it for them.

Thank God middle age set in. You look yourself in the mirror and now see an old friend who never was much of a cook and you realize it doesn't matter. You really do want everyone to come and you don't fuss a lot with decorations. You don't think about going to Target. Butterball Turkeys and Bell Stuffing are gorged by laughing nieces and nephews. You happily surrender pie-making to your mother-in-law and daughter. You turn a blind eye to your children drinking soda and eating cookies minutes before dinner. You drink the wine that is closest to you and open. You ignore the dog hair blowing around in tumbleweeds. You give in to the energy and momentum. You have a vision of your limited days and years ahead and you know you have choices. The memories are in the making.

Presented to you on Thanksgiving is an opportunity to be in the moment and you now have the good sense to seize it.

Boosters Gone Wild

2009-11-19T08:06:00.013-05:00

Hollywood, hard knocks and parents prepare most of us for what to expect when we grow up. If you are old, like me, TV shows like Adam-12, Mod Squad and the Brady Bunch showed you the ropes.

If we ever get busted, we will listen intently for Miranda warnings and if they are not forthcoming we will sue their sorry bad-as_!

Of course we don't get busted and live in the suburbs. We practice tough love, like Carol and Mike Brady, and take family trips in a station wagon. We rake leaves. Our kids play sports on teams.

Whether its marriage, parenting, coming out, dying, or just jogging in slowmo towards insanity, we usually have a movie trailer to set things up and get us ready. We have been preparing for the future since first grade. There aren't a whole lot of surprises as we march onward and upward through life. We go to college, get the job, buy the house and blow out our backs and knees, just like we planned.

There are, of course, exceptions. Nothing quite prepares you for giving birth to a child, or conscription in to your high school Booster Club.

These Booster Titans can and do command you and your child to mandatory two or three-hour meetings with less than 24 hours notice, and yes, you will bring a pot-luck offering for hoards of strangers and your check book. No subpoenas are necessary. You and your kid tremble as you read over and over again the 25 emails that outline what you are supposed to do and buy. There are posters to make, food to prepare, car washes and bottle sheds to man, dinners to attend, road races to run.

This powerful coven casts a spell, and whammo! You become a Stepford Booster.

"Buy a lot of stuff you don't need and can't afford!"

"Sell stuff to uncomfortable and guilt-ridden neighbors and relatives!"

"Buy more!"

"Sell more!"

Before you know it, you are dazed and numb, buying multiple plastic cards with discounts to stores you will never visit, tickets for raffles you have no chance winning, and clothes you don't need or want. You make casseroles of homemade macaroni and cheese and sheets of brownies around the clock. You wait nervously after the team dinner to see if your Caesar salad was the Chosen One.

Worse, you are depressed. No matter what you do, make or buy, you still don't quite fit in. Admit it. You are an unhappy Booster.

So, you ask, what to do when you get that 7:30 am email blast in all caps that says Chief Booster expects all parents to decorate their kid's locker and fill it with candy by 3 pm that day?

Take a deep breath. Put your hand on your kid's shoulder and say, "son, I love you, and I hope you win your game today, but I am not going to decorate your locker and fill it with candy, again."

Hug him, and then turn away. Fight back and resist the sobs of humiliation, angst and feelings of failure. Go to work. On the way to work stop and get a really big latte, read a newspaper, and eat a croissant. As an extra precaution, before you make that first call, watch a few You Tube videos of Jon Stewart.

And exhale. Everything is going to be all right.

The Ultimate Paradox

2009-11-14T09:19:00.003-05:00

John Allen Muhammad put to death by lethal injection, and the landmark legislation in the House of Representatives amended to insure not one government dollar is spent on legal abortion.

Scott Roeder murders Doctor George Tiller on "pro-life" grounds.

Strident hawks, eager to march our sons and daughters off to the black hole terror of Afghanistan, blockade immigrants and refugees seeking asylum in our United States.

The Catholic Church threatens to stop feeding the hungry and housing the homeless in Washington D.C. over a law that protects gay and lesbian people from discrimination.

You have to wonder what Aristotle and some of those other philosophers would do with this material. There is no logic. No moral consistency. Smug and self-satisfied in their convictions, radicals snuff out lives like candles fighting their crusade on the one hand, and kill in cold blood with the other. They are blinded by the screaming paradox of their beliefs. They see no gray in life.

A Comfortable Majority

2009-11-07T09:07:00.001-05:00

Emily Post is not someone I make reference to or think about very often, but her explanation of why we should use good manners comes in handy raising kids. "Do not burp loudly in front of grandma and grandpa, it makes them uncomfortable."

The reason we should say please and thank you, according to Post, is because it makes people comfortable and therefore encourages civil discourse and social order. It's that simple. Well-mannered people's subconscious message ("don't worry, nothing weird is going to happen") is the bedrock of civilization.

Etiquette and the fight for civil rights is not that cut and dry. The Suffragettes and the Black Panthers put a few people out of their comfort zone. Hippies made the Ward and June Cleaver set squirm. Barack Obama's strategy behind winning the presidency was making white people feel comfortable with him and his family.

Question 1 on the Maine ballot asked the people of the Pine Tree State if they wanted to repeal the marriage equality law passed by its legislature. For many this translated to "are you uncomfortable with gay and lesbian people?"

52.8% of voters said yes; some for religious reasons, but not all.

The sad fact is some people only know what they fear about gay and lesbian people. Flagrant expressions of sexuality and provocative parades make them uncomfortable, and that's what they choose to know. A local, very popular radio host said while he has "no problem" with gay marriage, when he sees two gay people kissing it "creeps him out."

More people have never seen two real gay or lesbian people kissing, but saw instead TV commercials suggesting gays and lesbians are monsters who will brainwash and eat their children. In a bizarre twist of democracy these same folks got up off the couch, cast the remote aside, and voted away the civil rights of their neighbors.

If we could anonymously vote off the island all the marriages that make us uncomfortable, the world would be very different. Couples that argue too much make me uncomfortable. They're out. Mr. and Mrs. McD. are too fat. They're done. I don't like the way he treated her at the neighborhood Christmas party...they play mind games with their kids...they don't do their share of car pooling.

"Etiquette," Emily Post once said, "is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is the code of sportsmanship and of honor. It is ethics."

Marriage equality is that simple.

You're Likable Enough, Mr. President

2009-11-01T23:09:00.004-05:00

Fox News suggests Barack Obama is a boor because he doesn't play basketball with girls.

Bonnie Erbe of U.S. News & World Reports wrote about the President, "I just don't get the impression this man is comfortable with women. Nor do I believe he cares about them beyond needing women's votes."

Even the New York Times ran a story in which an anonymous junior aide was quoted saying the "sports-fan thing at the White House" could become "annoying," and Maureen Dowd challenged the President to a game of Scrabble to see what kind of X words "the smarty-pants Y chief executive can come up with."

There are legitimate criticisms of President Obama. Has he dithered around Afghanistan? Has he bribed seniors to support healthcare reform with $250 social security checks? Has he done anything meaningful for middle class Americans strapped with bad mortgages?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But is Barack Obama a good ol' boy?

No. Not even close.

If anyone is desperate for votes, it's the radical right-wingers like Dick Armey whose men's club threw Republican Dede Scozzafava under the bus in upstate New York because she wasn't conservative enough.

So how does at least one XX love the President's treatment of women? Let me count the ways.

1. In November of 2008, President-elect Obama appointed Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State. Since her confirmation, Secretary Clinton has announced to the world that the civil rights of women and girls are a priority and at the core of American foreign policy under the Obama administration. Clinton has spoken out in a strong voice against violence, rape, economic and political persecution of women and girls around the world. That half of the sky women hold up in Africa and Middle East countries is finally graced with sunlight shining on the atrocities inflicted by guerilla armies, evil despots and brazen misogynists.

2.The first thing Barack Obama did as President of the United States was sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 ensuring victims of employment discrimination have a fair chance of bringing their claims. Since women today make 78 cents for every dollar men make, this is important, good law that slaps down a very bad Supreme Court case written by Justice Alito.

3. On March 11, 2009 President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls made up of 25 high-ranking officials including the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Labor, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing, Transportation, Energy, Education along with the Attorney General. The Council's purpose is to "establish a coordinated Federal response to issues that particularly impact the lives of women and girls and to ensure that Federal programs and policies address and take into account the distinctive concerns of women and girls, including women of color and those with disabilities."

4. In May of 2009 President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court, who was confirmed by the Senate and sits as the first Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court Justice and only the third woman.

5. Seven presidential cabinet posts have been granted to women, the most of any United States President.

6. On Friday, the Obama administration recommended political asylum for a Guatemalan woman seeking refuge from horrendous abuse by her husband. This decision, a departure from Bush policy, offers hope to millions of women who are brutally tortured and abused in their homelands. The Statue of Liberty's torch is brighter and the melting pot of our American society once again includes a pinch of compassion.

7. There is a realistic chance a comprehensive healthcare reform bill will pass.

These are but a few examples of major policy shifts since the new president took office that directly impact and enhance the lives of women and their children.

Stories about male bonding in the gym and on the golf course are easy targets and cheap shots absent real women who felt left out or disadvantaged. The gender sensitivity violation issued by pundits, lacking any genuine narrative about real harm, does not come close to overshadowing the tremendous strides the Obama administration has taken to elevate the critical issues women and girls face around the globe.

Are you out there?

2009-10-29T20:36:00.002-04:00

How do you express yourself?

Decorate your front door. Write a real estate newsletter. Knit wool slippers. Wear a mini-skirt, reading glasses and thick tights. Run for school board. Paint a portrait. Give a speech. Photograph a stranger. Play a banjo. Harass your elected official. Be a blogger.

Expression sets us apart and keeps us alive.

Does it matter who sees the door, wears the slippers, hears the banjo or reads the blog?

Eye is for Internet: the wonders of DPI

2009-10-27T15:53:00.003-04:00

The debate over net neutrality is about more than just potential discrimination on the Internet and the wisdom of legislating a government mandate that all data traffic be treated the same.

Net neutrality is more than weighing the pros of regulation to insure access to content, applications and services of our choice, with the cons of potentially stifling needed investment in infrastructure because turning a profit under such a regulatory regime might be threatened.

It turns out net neutrality is also about deep packet inspection.

You haven't heard of DPI? It's sort of like cloning. A fine example of amazing science and technology, with a hint of Frankenstein.

DPI simplistically stated is a bunch of tools that network operators can install to collect data about traffic on their pipes. Not just run-of-the-mill data, but really deep and highly personal data. For you techies, OSI Level 7 deep. The digital equivalent of those X-ray glasses sold in the back of comic books that see through peoples' clothes.

Benevolent uses of DPI include identifying viruses, collecting data for business purposes and assisting law enforcement track down criminals.

Malevolent uses include spying on users like you.

Yup, network operators who spend millions for DPI can, in addition to managing traffic for business reasons, peek in to your email, chart your video habits and keep records of the various applications you use.

As the FCC refines and vets ideas in the current rulemaking process, the question of whether consumers have a right to be free from Internet Provider eavesdropping under the net neutrality rubric is an interesting one.

Senator Snowe is Net Neutral and Free

2009-10-27T10:09:00.001-04:00

The Federal Communications Commission under the leadership of Chairman Genachowski, an Obama appointee, voted unanimously last Thursday to codify net neutrality rules over the coming months. This makes many Democrats happy and is supported enthusiastically by Google and Facebook, big users of networks that stand to lose a lot if telecoms start directing traffic on the Internet to give fast lanes to special applications and push competitors or bandwidth pigs to the slow lane.

On the same day Republican Senator John McCain introduced legislation titled the "Internet Freedom Act" to block the FCC's proposed net neutrality rules, calling such legislation a "government takeover" of the Internet.

So where does our good Republican Senator Snowe come down?

She believes net neutrality rules are necessary "as these fundamental protections are critical to ensuring Internet freedom and openness." Snowe herself introduced net neutrality legislation in the last Congress.

Freedom's just another word for...??

Community Connections

2009-10-23T14:38:00.003-04:00

You walk in to a coffee shop warm full of people as bells ring on the door and espresso machines hiss and plates and cups sing and people on lap-tops in green glasses shaped liked parallelograms read the New York Times, legs crossed, and you feel flirty and alive.

And you log on to Facebook in sweat pants in your office in the morning with a cup of coffee as your dog gently snores to scroll through status posts, add Friends, carefully study photographs of artichokes and faces of cousins and children while you yearn for parents and grandparents as you write and rewrite a comment.

And you pull out your one pair of seersucker pants and white shirt with the American flag on front to march in the 10 minute Memorial Day parade behind the Veterans alongside the school board in front of the middle school band with your daughter throwing candy to bystanders clapping as you pass the town hall gussied up in bunting heading to the monument to hear In Flanders Fields and the Gettysburg Address.

And you Google hotels in Paris and click L’Hotel Vignon that brings you to a page with beautiful piano music and intriguing photos and you remember the café filled with French words and Salade Nicoise and cigarette smoke.

Pingree and Michaud Differ On Net Neutrality

2009-10-21T16:22:00.006-04:00

Maine’s two members of the U.S. House appear to be on different teams in the net neutrality game in advance of the FCC announcing its much anticipated draft regulations tomorrow.

Congresswoman Pingree continues to favor regulation that will “assure baseline rules that allow consumers to access the lawful internet content of their choice, run applications and services of their choice, connect to their choice of legal devices, and ensure competition among network providers and content/service/application providers.”

Congressman Michaud on the other hand wants the FCC to continue to rely on the “exercise of regulatory restraint.” He along with 71 other members have a strong belief that “continued progress in expanding the reach and capabilities of broadband networks will require the Commission to reiterate, and not repudiate, its historic commitment to competition, private investment and a restrained regulatory approach.”

Net neutrality generally refers to Internet providers treating all data over the Internet the same, and prohibiting discrimination against content or applications. With net neutrality Internet providers can't restrict or delay access to any sites.

For the most part we all enjoy net neutrality now. It enables us to connect to the Internet with the device of our choice and have unfettered access to any application available, whether its Skype that might use a bunch of bandwidth or email that uses very little.

Proponents of net neutrality believe that incumbent telecom companies will use their market share to effectively block out competition and thwart innovative start-ups. The “little guy” will take a back seat and get slower connections and be blocked from accessing applications that might compete with a product associated with the network owner. Regulation is necessary, some say, to insure Internet neutrality remains to be the case, and can be enforced by the FCC.

The fear of some opposed to Internet regulation is that as technology evolves and more people and products enter the market, companies that invest in telecommunications infrastructure may legitimately want to manage their network traffic to offer different products to different consumers. Some use the example of Fed Ex. You can pay a premium to get a package delivered overnight to Machias on Saturday, or you can send it via the U.S. Mail and have it delivered next month.

In the Internet world, users of video applications have different bandwidth needs than consumers who only access the net to do email. A company that wants to offer premium packages to video consumers selling speed of connection at a price, and a different package to consumers of just email capability, would be prohibited from doing so under strict net neutrality rules.

Net neutrality was for a while a partisan battle. Democrats including President Obama made it a rallying cry. As the battle heats up differences of opinion within the caucus are emerging. It should be yet another interesting fight.

You Lie!

2009-10-20T08:56:00.003-04:00

All hope for Shepard Fairey is gone.

Revelations that Fairey lied about stealing an AP photo to make his famous Obama poster are disturbing, especially since he sued the Associated Press seeking a declaratory judgment that he was entitled to use the image under the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law.

It is not fair.

This poster was symbolic of a monumental struggle for many Americans, including myself. I remember the summer evening we were having dinner and interrupted by a knock at the door. A man bearing the poster as a gift was outside. He had driven past our house where various campaign signs were hung before the Beach to Beacon road race in August of 2008 when 5000 people were expected to run by. This man offered the poster as a gift to us to be hung in solidarity.

I was a Hillary Clinton delegate from Maine at the time getting ready for the Denver convention, where Barack Obama was expected to win the nomination. My town had overwhelmingly supported Obama. My kids were on the fence, so to speak. They knew how passionate I was about Hillary but were excited by Obama.

I thanked the man. My husband put the poster in a frame and hung it on our fence. It was a transformational moment for me. I felt part of the movement.

The poster remained prominently displayed in our kitchen for the remainder of the election season. I went off to Denver and returned wearing an Obama t-shirt and handing out the Shepard Fairey posters. My family cheered and cried when Barack Obama was elected and the poster now hangs on my 14 year-old son's wall.

Shepard Fairey created an icon and generously gave it to the world to use without restriction. For that we can be grateful.

The good Shepard went bad when he lied, transforming hope in to another golden calf. For that we are very sad.

Glenn Beck's Company Town

2009-10-18T09:53:00.002-04:00

Glenn Beck is stinking rich and hates unions. He makes millions while his fans work for him for free. Meanwhile his good buddy Rush has been shut out by the NFL players' union and is indignantly playing his rejection up to hysterical proportions in order to squeeze out every penny from the story.

Oh, to be a right-wing fat cat! Forget about making billions at Goldman Sachs. A union-hating radio uber-man is the job to love.

Beck already has a couple notches in his belt for taking down Van Jones and ACORN, and now he's got SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, is his scope ready to pull the trigger as soon as he gets his ducks in a row.

It shouldn't be long.

He has called forth his minions on the air and commanded them to Google their hearts out and unearth unsavory information about SEIU's 2.1 million members. It's likely a handful of scandals will emerge about rogue janitors, greedy doctors or underperforming teachers. Moreover, certainly somebody in SEIU has been in attendance at a meeting with President Obama, so the link will be made.

Once the dots are connected on Beck's blackboard say sayonara to SEIU.

These poor suckers, I mean listeners, are going to spend hours doing mindless searches on their computers for absolutely nothing except the thrill of having Beck and his producers use the information in their quest to take down SEIU like a buffalo. Maybe they will get a virtual hug or a postcard from their charismatic leader. Beck will then reveal the stories with embellishment and fanfare on his show, shed a few big tears, and talk about his love of country and painful search for the truth.

Tears of joy! More money for Machiavellian Man.

Glenn Beck asks volunteers to do his smut-gathering, shapes the information with his fat little hands to fit his conspiracy theory, and rakes in the mulah. Melodramatic radio and television shows "connecting the dots" between President Obama and every bad person alive is a lucrative business.

Of course Beck hates unions! If his underlings were organized, Beck would have to pay them for their time.

Liz Cheney - Sowing the Seeds of Fear

2009-10-12T21:36:00.002-04:00

Did you know that for just $99 you can get a pail of seeds to plant a one-acre "survival garden?"

"Without the ability to grow your own food next year, your family may be in danger," says the commercial for Survival Seed Vault, a regularly featured ad currently starring on conservative talk radio. The picture on the company web site features an elderly woman pushing an empty shopping cart down a deserted grocery aisle along with the question: "What will your family eat when the grocery shelves are empty?"

Gosh. Like we don't have enough to worry about. Anyone who read the Sunday Times magazine a few weeks ago about anxiety is wondering if they or their children have a thick cortex. Most of us worry about our dwindling savings accounts, aging parents and declining memories. Close to 10% of Americans are without a job.

But growing our own food? Next year? Please.

Heirloom Organics, the company pushing the Survival Seed Vault is either really, really paranoid or just capitalizing on the fear-mongering movement made popular these days by right-wing hawks. Politicians and pundits alike rattle the sabers and spin stories in to a tornado of uncertainty and angst to exert power and create zombie-like followers.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was, and perhaps still is, the Master of Fear. Liz Cheney, his 44 year-old daughter, is the Heir Apparent.

A former State Department official, lawyer, and mother of five children, Liz is one rising star in the Republican Party. She is Sarah Palin with credentials and GOP family pedigree. Like her father, Cheney espouses foreign policy that is short on diplomacy and long on scare tactics. When it comes to national security she is an aggressive interventionalist, not afraid to call out President Obama as a sissy, and was quoted saying he is "an American president who seems to be afraid to defend America."

Barack Obama? Afraid? It sounds scary, and Americans afraid play right in to the hands of the Neocons and Cheney, who likes to invoke the notion of our fragile "security" under the Obama administration when she makes the rounds and gives her stump speech. Like her father, she is a know-it-all. She alone knew, for instance, that "W" stood for women in the 2004 election. She knows better than George Mitchell what peace in the Middle East requires, and she certainly knows better than the 5 elected members of the Norwegian Parliament who awarded President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1895 when Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died, his will divided his estate and left "one part to the person who shall have done the most or best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for holding and promotion of peace congresses."

An interesting legacy for the guy who invented dynamite.

The legacy of the Dick Cheney is also interesting. From the loins of the guy who sent us to war in Iraq based on make-believe WMD's, we have General Liz marching towards the 2012 election armed with rhetoric, chutzpah, and a soon-to-be aired web site KeepAmericaSafe.com.

Don't worry America, Liz has got your back.

The People v. Worldwide Pants

2009-10-03T13:11:00.004-04:00

Sexual harassment is not funny. If any of the women David Letterman had sex with at work have been harassed, discriminated against, or otherwise damaged by their relationship with him, they deserve to be fairly compensated and he should be held accountable. I would even consider taking the case.

A guy named Joe threatening a company called Worldwide Pants with a screenplay is kind of funny.

Not all relationships that transpire at work between employees are bad; in fact some lead to 19 year marriages.

No real cases about the exploitation of women are properly the subject of sarcastic editorial.

There is something humorous, though, about the producer of "48 Hours Mystery" lurking outside David Letterman's house in the early morning hours with a mysterious package. Not a pipe bomb or anthrax (because that would not be funny) but... a play!

The evidence will show that Joe said "your world is about to collapse," and then handed a shaking Letterman the package. Letterman was really, really scared so he wrote a check for $2,000,000. That's what New Yorkers do, I guess, when they are scared. Joe deposited that check along with his paycheck for $214,000 and then got arrested and sent to jail.

The final scene might be Joe's ex-wife, who he tried to screw in a bitter divorce, laughing wickedly and stirring a big saketini. Or maybe Stephanie Birkett, his ex-girlfriend, appearing on Jay Leno announcing the publication of her new book "Not Trying to Go Public: A New Yorker's Life."

The moral to this story? Greed is not good unless it makes people laugh.

Grayson's Gauntlet

2009-10-01T11:56:00.006-04:00

Last night Congressman Alan Grayson gave the GOP the old one-two.

Grayson's bio quotes from the book of Deuteronomy. Justice, justice, ye shall seek. He has five kids who are named Skye, Star, Sage, Storm and Stone. The man has got a flair for the dramatic.

This Democrat is from Florida's 8th District, but he grew up in a tenement in the Bronx and it shows.

Grayson first gave an effective and powerful speech aimed at Republicans for their inhumane healthcare policy, which he says is "don't get sick." Excellent point. Does any Republican besides Olympia Snowe in the United States Congress have a good idea about how to solve our healthcare crisis? The time for keeping your cards close to the chest is over.

During his speech Congressman Grayson was a bit theatrical. He had props and used sarcasm. He employed clever rhetorical devices. There was irony and metaphor and he used the word holocaust.

Some indignant GOP members insisted on an apology. After all, Congressman Wilson was asked to apologize. Why shouldn't Grayson apologize since Wilson had to? It's only fair.

The Congressman was happy to oblige. He knows how to get to Carnegie Hall.

His apology was to the 44,789 people who die every year in the United States because they do not have health insurance. It was a second blow to the right. It was political theatre at its best. The new director of Tosca at the Met could learn something.

To judge passion as insincerity or disrespect, however, is a mistake. Grayson was very sick as a child and went to the hospital four times a week with his mother. He believes but for the grace of God and his health insurance he would be dead and his passion for life shows. Grayson put himself through Harvard University where he has earned numerous degrees. He has worked as a prominent lawyer, started a technology business that became hugely successful, founded an agency to help elders and has earned national recognition as the man responsible for routing out contractor fraud in Iraq.

Bravo. Bravo.

Snowe and Pingree on a Horse in the Desert

2009-09-30T15:45:00.003-04:00

Maine's leading ladies on healthcare, Senator Snowe and Congresswoman Pingree, are both right. We can't have a public option and we must have a public option.

The public option Senator Snowe voted against and will continue to vote against would create a government bureaucracy to produce a taxpayer-subsidized insurance product. This big, brand new entitlement program would unfairly compete with private companies and therefore stifle innovation and market driven efficiencies. This behemoth would be invincible and forever defended by a Congress that hopes to be re-elected.

The public option that Congresswoman Pingree wants to vote for is a government entity that can provide some level of competition in Maine to drive down costs and pull more people under the insurance tent. This new entity would not be powered by the corporate profit motive that denies people with pre-existing conditions coverage, and puts caps on benefits. There would be no marketing campaigns, excessive administrative costs, or fat cat CEO's sucking up all the money so costs would be reduced.

Many people have drawn their line in the sand. Public option! No public option!

In my view, the words are getting in the way of a solution.

Let's pretend for a moment the phrase "public option" is extracted from our minds and linguistics. Poof!

The problem, simplistically stated, is we are a capitalistic, democratic, wealthy society with sky-rocketing healthcare costs, mediocre healthcare, and lack of affordable insurance. The causes are, among other things, a pay-for-service medical system with patchwork, state-by-state insurance regulation. The solution is a national policy that will regulate the insurance market, and fundamentally change the way doctors and hospitals are reimbursed for their services.

Let's look at Maine for example. One could argue that with great intentions Maine adopted policies to mandate minimum standards in the insurance market. Insurance companies were forbidden to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions, for example, or discriminate on the basis of gender. These laws to help consumers made making a profit harder in Maine so many companies left the state.

Maine designed a public-private insurance partnership to offer coverage to uninsured’s, and also to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of care. Problem is it costs too much and therefore covers too few people. The program lacks the purchase power needed to bring down costs or change behavior.

Republicans in Maine routinely offer as a solution intra-state insurance markets. "We need competition in Maine! Why can't I buy my health insurance plan from New Hampshire where everything is cheaper?"

For starters, no states allow consumers to buy and sell insurance across state lines. Insurance is regulated in every state, so the states with the least restrictive regulations can attract many companies. Some might call this a race to the bottom. Some might argue having a "choice" in other states among several very poor plans doesn't address the problem.

If instead of state regulated insurance markets there was a national policy that made it illegal to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, to have caps on benefits, and to cancel coverage because the consumer has the audacity to actually invoke it, people would benefit. If this national policy created a non-profit regulatory board that changed the reimbursement model to incentivize preventative care, and could oversee a competitive national market, businesses would benefit.

Who cares what we call it!

Rush Limbaugh is a Loser

2009-09-29T09:07:00.002-04:00

Remember during the 2008 presidential election when Rush Limbaugh asked whether the people of America really wanted to watch a woman age daily in the Oval Office?

The visual for some, I guess, was a withering on the vine of Hillary Clinton. A rotten-apple face of a president tacked back at the ears by plastic surgery mixed with big jewelry and bleeding lipstick.

These people rushed out and caucused for anything with an X and Y chromosome.

The question today is do the people of America really want to listen to an angry, narcissistic, swollen orca of a man talk about his diet?

El Rushbo, as he likes to call himself, is on a diet. He and his side-kick Snerdley broke the story in April and drone about it on the Rush Limbaugh show. Apparently his BMI is broadcast excellence.

Broad, maybe, but anyone out there with an active imagination? What do you think of when you picture Rush weighing in every day before he hits the airwaves?

Is he in size 75 briefs with a gut the size of a Ford Pinto hanging over the waistband? Does he wear boxers that could be used as tarps to shelter the homeless?

Rush allegedly has lost 90 pounds and jogged, amazingly, one fifth of a mile yesterday. This is impressive. But how, where and what, exactly, is all that extra pink skin doing these days?

The visual might be a mix of a Sharpei and a pig.

A Sharpiggie.

In Your Facebook: Fifth Grade All Over Again

2009-09-27T21:01:00.026-04:00

My husband refuses to be my friend. It's certainly no surprise, then, that we are celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary Tuesday. Ever since 5th grade I have liked guys who present a challenge.

Facebook is like 5th grade. Numbers, rejection, and obsession are major themes.

For starters, let's face it - the sheer quantity of friends when you are a Middle School kid, and when you play Facebook as an adult, is what counts. Especially if you are in politics. The idea is to rack up a couple hundred "friends" and then bombard them relentlessly with self-serving messages about what you would like them to think you are doing every day. For them.

"Helping to train the next generation of grassroots leaders today!"

"Exhausted after meeting with hundreds of community organizers to help stop global warming!"

"Just voted to send millions of dollars to my pathetic, forlorn district before I head out for martinis and sushi!"

Okay that last quote I made up. The others I didn't. The only thing worse than a politician on Facebook is a blogger.

Then there is the dicey game of requesting friends, and agreeing (or not) to be someone's friend. A trusted 9th grade Facebook consultant told me to accept all friend requests. It's hard to do. There are people who post every God darn thing.

"Just turned on the dishwasher."

Another stressor is that lingering friend suggestion. You know the one. You apparently have a lot of "friends" in common so the FB software thinks you would hit it off. Except you know you hate that person. What's a friend to do?

If you are shy like me you hesitate to ask people who aren't your friends to be friends. But you don't hesitate for long.

And then, what about when that certain person you barely know (or don't know at all) asks you to be friends with him? Sort of pushy, don't you think?

But what the heck. Friends are hard to come by. And besides, chances are there will come a time when somebody you request to be your friend refuses. I know. It sucks. It happened to me once:-(

And how about the games people play? Mafia Wars? Like I feel SO LEFT OUT!!

Finally, admit it. Facebook is addictive and you are obsessed.

"Why hasn't anybody commented on my witty status?"