Looking for proof that the economy is improving? Just count the number of chairs around the Thanksgiving table.Improving consumer confidence is translating into an estimated 36 million people nationwide traveling more than 50 miles for the holiday, which is the highest number of travelers in two years, according to AAA.Economic growth surged to 8.2 percent […]

PLYMOUTH, Mass. – One year ago when the newly arrived immigrants invited the Indians of this wooded coastal region over for a meal of thanks and appreciation for helping them to survive, some thought this was to be the beginning of a great friendship. But now as the first anniversary of that dinner approaches, there […]

And so, Michael Jackson’s story comes round to a place that seems, in hindsight, inevitable. A police raid on the Santa Barbara amusement park he calls home. New accusations of child molestation involving a 12-year-old boy. His arrest.And if you ever liked him, if you sent $2 to the fan club to be “Michael’s Personal […]

We thought the law allowing slot machines at horse racetracks was a bad deal before voters approved it on Nov. 4. Everything we’ve seen about the issue since then has confirmed our misgivings.According to an Associated Press story Monday, the financial deal approved in the referendum gives the owners of racetracks in Maine – specifically […]

It is not often that President Bush has invoked William Tyndale, the martyred reformer who translated the Bible into English in the 16th century, in the course of defending the war on terrorism. But Bush’s speech at Whitehall Palace in London was different. It was not just a defense of the war on terror, but […]

Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are backing legislation that would create a prescription drug benefit in Medicare.Snowe, who has been pushing for drug coverage in Medicare for several years, says the legislation is a “foot in the door,” an imperfect bill that does some good.We agree – half way. The Medicare legislation is […]

Now he goes to London to make a speech!President Bush’s visit to “fortress London” to meet with Tony Blair and speak to the British public on why war against Iraq was justified comes a year too late.Today Bush is met by 100,000 protesters in the streets, the wittiest toppling a statue of Bush in effigy […]

It is not as if the ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court permitting the “marriage” of same sex couples came as a surprise. If Massachusetts doesn’t care about the sexual practices of some of its politicians, why should it care about what some of its lesser citizens do?The 4-3 ruling, which orders the state […]

They say you can’t fight city hall, but Kathie Leonard proves that a person can, at least, win an argument with the government.Leonard found a decision by the Department of Defense indefensible, and took her case to Washington. Not only did she convince the DoD that it was wrong, she helped protect local manufacturing jobs.The […]

In Western lore, rustlers found justice at the end of a rope.We, gladly, have moved away from such punishments for theft, but when we hear about callous activities like those last week, we wonder where Judge Roy Bean is when you need him.Last Tuesday night, somebody cut the fence on an Oxford farm and waited […]