(A version of this ran as an OpEd in the Bangor Daily News on November 24, 1994. The changes here update the data on inequality and income.) In his book, “Changes in the Land,” historian William Cronon details how Native Americans and early European colonists of North America used and affected the landscape. One of […]
Bob Duchesne’s radio program on 92.9 The Ticket is a regular part of my Saturday morning routine. The show is informative, entertaining, and gets me thinking. The Saturday, November 9 show focused on the big game management planning process now underway at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W). After listening to the […]
It was an honor to give the Geddes Simpson Memorial Lecture at UMaine last week. In the lecture I put forth the proposition that the State of Maine adopt an open firearms season on chickadees under which every holder of a hunting license could shoot an unlimited number of chickadees during the year. After all, the […]
The numbers of some bird species in North America are in steep decline, in part due to human activities. For some people this is of little concern, birds are not of interest to them. But for many humans, birds are an important part of their lives. Economists would say that many people value birds. By […]
A key issue in the upcoming (and seemingly interminable) Presidential campaign is supposed to be inequality. Major candidates are already talking about their solutions to the problem of increasing inequality in the U.S. Not surprisingly, most of the proposals are for tired prescriptions from the past. Democrats call for increasing minimum wages while Republicans talk […]
Like many people, I found Governor LePage’s refusal to issue Land For Maine’s Future (LMF) bonds a violation of democratic principles. When I voted on the bonds there was no language saying that I was approving the Governor’s use of the bonds as bargaining chips for issues of importance to him. He had “promised” to […]
You may remember hearing in the 2014 Maine Gubernatorial race that Maine roads stink, something which Mainers know all too well. My candidate for the worst Maine road in recent years has been Route 15 from Orland to Blue Hill, particularly in the spring time when the frost is coming out. Finding ways to fund […]
