The future of Social Security depends on society as a whole entity, doing the right thing in order to ensure balance and a possibility of having a future as a legacy for our children. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. You can buy your kids books and send […]
Alex Lear
Staff Writer
Alex Lear is a lifelong Mainer who has spent 25 years in journalism -- the first 20 as a reporter for newspapers in Damariscotta and Falmouth, then as Opinions section editor for the Sun Journal and now a digital producer with the Maine Trust for Local News. His long-running “Learics” column won first place in the Maine Press Association’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest. He and his wife Lauren are kept young by their 9-year-old daughter Alaina. Send feedback and suggestions to Alex.
Clarence Page: Don’t let press freedom die in the ‘Sunshine State,’ or anywhere else
Amid his culture war campaign against “woke” liberals, critical race theory and other bugaboos of the political right, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken his ongoing culture war to an old, reliable political enemy — the media.
Tom Putnam: Facing the earth’s fragilities and our own — we pause before spring
Maybe by setting aside certain days each year to pause and consider who we are and where we are going, we better equip ourselves to carry our lives forward, planting seeds for a new course while the world slowly settles around us.
Austin Bay: The Finns are ready to deter Russia
No matter how the Ukraine War ends, the Finnish border is now a NATO border, and it presents the Kremlin with very complicated military problems — the kind of complicated problems that should deter future Kremlin adventurism.
Froma Harrop: Guns kill people. Zombie politicians see to it
There’s no making moral sense of the political zombies who take orders from the National Rifle Association.
Roger Belanger: Some Vietnam Navy vets must now fight for medical coverage
Today, I watched coverage of the Vietnam veterans and the thanks they received for their sacrifice. After serving in Vietnam, in the Navy, I and many others developed multiple diseases on the presumptive list for Agent Orange. All veterans that served in Vietnam received notice of presumptive exposure for diseases from Agent Orange. Congress and […]
Paul Baribault: Shootings reflect various forms of child abuse
There is a form of child abuse that goes unrecognized in our society today — it’s too subtle to be called that, but it’s there. It’s the abuse of children coming from all who claim the right to possess any and all weapons they wish to have, even if these can become the instruments of […]
Froma Harrop: Gen Z gets ready to don the gray flannel suit
Work schedules may be more hybrid than in the past, but all indicators point to more time in an old-fashioned office. Younger workers looking for a social life may like it.
Cal Thomas: In defense of Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu has been a force for good for Israel and the Jewish people. The same can’t be said for his political enemies.