tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51929411013342013812012-01-25T18:40:53.675-05:00News, or notLee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.comBlogger1681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-21400880596285665082012-01-18T10:11:00.000-05:002012-01-18T10:12:25.443-05:00

With 15 students out--nearly a quarter of our population--and children who say even their parents are sick, we are running scared from "the Puke." One of the second graders came to me at recess to tell me that her dad is ill. "My daddy's sick," she reported. "What does he have?" I asked. "The Puke," she replied, adding that her brother had had it the day before. Ugh. For those who want to know

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-5884871219665840942012-01-17T13:14:00.002-05:002012-01-17T13:17:07.503-05:00

To start this column, I first wrote, “Having never taught on an island...,” and that did not seem completely right. I thought for a moment and suddenly it dawned that my first teaching job was actually on an island. Apparently, the fact that it was an island with more than 20 bridges and countless car and rail tunnels linking it to the mainland, and a population of several million people confused

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-67226800831587294972012-01-02T22:30:00.000-05:002012-01-02T22:36:01.994-05:00

Here's a bit of seasonal show biz kerfuffle courtesy of Tim Minchin and Director of Television for ITV Peter Fincham.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-45261284380329216282012-01-02T19:43:00.000-05:002012-01-02T22:33:01.845-05:00

Here's what I want to do with my summer vacation: Music by, guess who? Tim Minchin, of course. Royal Shakespeare Company, anyone? Oy. H

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-22310000723710525902012-01-01T22:18:00.000-05:002012-01-02T22:32:29.417-05:00

In case you haven't been sentimental enough about the holidays just past, listen to this sweet Christmas song by the wry, dry, and slightly odd Tim Minchin. The Bloggess reminded me of how good and smart and musical he is. d

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-46841490418838207612012-01-01T17:49:00.000-05:002012-01-02T22:31:48.716-05:00

This morning in a fit of last-moments-of-vacation procrastination, I watched a documentary I'd longed to see, Buck, the story of Buck Brannaman (forgive the autoplay trailer) and his cowboy Zen approach to all things horsey and non-horsey. This film prompted uncounted thoughts and feelings, chief among them that I miss my horse and horses in general. There have been longish periods in my life

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-87771160472700553002011-11-28T06:20:00.001-05:002011-12-07T07:01:56.373-05:00

If you are an attorney who doesn't want to be blamed for the way a case turns out, I have a few suggestions: 1. Write and file orders when you say you will, or at all. 2. Contact opposing counsel with information when you say you will, or at all. 3. Call witnesses more than two days before the case is to go to court, or at all. 4. When a violent and threatening ex-husband fails to appear for

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-25735225073460178022011-09-14T15:59:00.005-04:002011-09-15T06:14:03.899-04:00

"The novelty will wear off." That's what one of my young coworkers said the other afternoon. She had seen my eyes widen at the blue sky and the bluer ocean, punctuated by what the Irish call white horses, and Americans more banally call whitecaps, racing the breeze while we plowed across Penobscot Bay from Rockland to North Haven Island, my home as of about a month ago.  Since then I've been

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-22122607970375464112011-06-27T07:39:00.012-04:002011-09-14T20:30:34.111-04:00

For the next, oh, perhaps forever, much of my food writing will be engendered by work for Lani Temple at Megunticook Market, where my first assignments are making pies and blogging. Take a good cause, two energetic, community-minded women, their devoted employees and a few wannabees, Latin music, a wall of oysters on the half-shell, plates of rich, fresh, spicy food, free-flowing wine,

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-9315547171307051852011-05-05T14:23:00.002-04:002011-06-18T08:53:20.324-04:00

This is the (mostly) final draft of a paper I wrote for a recent American and New England Studies grad course, Food, Politics and Culture. Recently I have begun to realize that my mother, born Alice Elizabeth Siegmund, a straight-laced, educated Republican who died 15 years ago, was a subversive. As far back as I can remember, Mom seemed ahead of her time and possibly a contrarian, but I

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-22253757471242501272011-04-26T17:11:00.001-04:002011-04-26T17:13:30.613-04:00

From Midcoast Democratic State House Member Bruce MacDonald: Dear Fellow Lincoln County Dems: I need your support and help! I am asking you to come to Boothbay High School Auditorium for a public meeting, 7-9 pm, next Wednesday evening, May the 4th to discuss the Governor's proposed budget, and the process we are going through to respond to his extreme proposals. I need you to be there to

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-48837457358193983932011-04-14T13:43:00.000-04:002011-04-14T13:43:03.521-04:00

This is a biggish local story and our local paper turned it into a massage the legislator exercise. Wish I'd taken more time to devote to this story. My quick and dirty contribution on AsMaineGoeslolz is here. I

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-66892416641773750602011-03-29T09:47:00.000-04:002011-03-29T09:47:44.121-04:00

No surprises here. From the Maine Small Business Coalition today:  AUGUSTA – Opponents of the Kid-Safe Products Act (KSPA), and the Maine Chamber of Commerce in particular, are spreading myths and misinformation to encourage the Legislature to roll back the law.  The Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources heard testimony today for and against a 2008 law aimed at helping

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-65455462642460729622011-02-15T17:43:00.030-05:002011-03-09T08:53:11.228-05:00

This post is for a graduate class in American and New England Studies at USM called Food, Politics and Culture with Professor Ardis Cameron.In recent weeks I have begun to realize my mother, a straight-laced, educated Republican, was a subversive. As far back as I can remember, Mom seemed ahead of her time and possibly a contrarian, but I figured her votes for Nixon and Reagan (for governor and

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-56963234966514739862011-01-21T10:01:00.003-05:002011-01-22T11:28:34.485-05:00

Do you remember the night our president asked us to treat each other in a way that would make a nine year-old child proud of us? I do. He said it to a sports stadium full of emotional Tuscon students and residents still coming to grips with their town's part in the current national tragedy. He said it to those of us undone enough by the act itself and the ensuing palaver that we wanted to hear a

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-82851614137787996502010-11-04T22:16:00.000-04:002010-11-04T22:16:22.355-04:00

These are my (probably) my last words to the googlegroup formed for Maine State House candidates. I loved campaigning and wanted another outcome. That said, the State House might be difficult territory in the foreseeable future for a Lefty McLenin like myself. All: From dog avoidance strategy to campaign advice and encouragement, to Terry's stark words and Matt's sweet farewell, this googlegroup

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-56927064539543454252010-10-19T12:40:00.000-04:002010-10-19T12:40:39.228-04:00

Though I often bemoan the quality of our local newspapers, the Lincoln County News and the Wiscasset Newspaper, both of whom I once worked for, today I was twice reminded that journalism is far from dead. The not-for-profit, pure public interest, news organization ProPublica is doing the work of the angels promoting investigative journalism and paying real money for investigative reporting. As a

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-57964775320984781432010-08-01T07:49:00.007-04:002010-08-01T08:11:39.669-04:00

Spiral Galaxy M100 hubblesite.org Beginning with a three-week stay in the local hospital, this summer, despite maddeningly perfect weather, has been horrible. Sparing the details for another day, suffice to say I have embraced the suck and up is the only direction that remains. While being buffeted by the winds of ick, drama and heartache, a Tweet came over the Twitterbox a week and a half ago

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-84407407096697092462010-01-27T08:33:00.023-05:002010-02-06T16:26:19.339-05:00

Update: For now this blog will double as campaign central. The newest news is we have a bank account and can deposit seed money donations made out to "Lee Roberts for Maine State House" c/o The First, P.O. Box 431, Wiscasset, ME 04578. Many thanks in advance.This weekend we collected our first signatures toward my campaign to gain the District 53 seat in the State House of Representatives. Pretty

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-3816430111330899312009-12-21T13:27:00.015-05:002009-12-23T21:39:45.727-05:00

Remember when Holden Caulfield got the fantods? Or did he accuse others of having them? Anyway, I'm pretty sure I had a case yesterday morning when Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake sent me an e-mail urging me to phone Congress asking that they scuttle the Senate Health Care bill.I admire Jane Hamsher. Writer, film producer, breast cancer survivor and burr under the status quo's saddle, she has ridden

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-56116661017600211162009-12-17T13:20:00.012-05:002009-12-17T18:53:36.718-05:00

In fact, what I'm about to commit here can hardly be called journalism at all. I cannot tell this story properly because I do not have the witness's permission to use his name and I have not taken the time to do the necessary investigative reporting to make the story interesting or informative. Nevertheless, the story wants telling. Maine's forests depend on it.Here is what I know.A lifelong

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-19082515075511094552009-12-15T09:00:00.004-05:002009-12-15T09:12:10.784-05:00

Unable to get an abortion during a tour of duty in Iraq a soldier is left with no option but to do it herself—a humiliating but not uncommon story. Women in the military are forced to obtain a leave to get the care they need; but if they’re honest about why, they put their military career in jeopardy. If they’re not, they put their career in jeopardy.One woman's response devastated her career.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-48947092496825609432009-12-14T15:35:00.003-05:002009-12-14T16:11:47.854-05:00

The expression "beyond the pale" has to do with boundaries, as in out of bounds, off the reservation, beyond our control, over the edge, et al. One of the reasons Facebook seemed fun and interesting initially is that it had boundaries. Users could relatively easily control what they saw and what others saw of their cyber-lives.In a recent move, the powers that be at FB have made two grave errors

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-9525090196440459912009-12-02T08:55:00.010-05:002009-12-02T10:52:57.611-05:00

In late November former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino made headlines with career moves, then a World's Worst Person nomination. First former Clinton administration PR guy Mark Penn hired her for his DC firm Burson-Marsteller where she joins the likes of Bush pal Karen Hughes and Clinton speechwriter Josh Gottheimer.Within the week the Obama administration nominated Perino for the federal

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-82260908427201142762009-11-30T09:35:00.006-05:002009-11-30T20:52:04.484-05:00

So, I'm on holiday in Florida, headed to the beach any minute, and my @AugustaInsider Twitter feed points out some editorials and recent columns about how our esteemed governor's refusal to allow charter schools in the state has kept us from receiving federal Race to the Top dollars and will keep other monies and advantages from Maine schools. This makes no sense to me, since we have the oldest

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-51018613928853258402009-11-21T07:39:00.022-05:002009-11-21T12:35:08.986-05:00

Block schedules blanketed the American high school landscape about 20 years ago. Practically overnight, classes went from 28-35 minutes to 60-80 minutes in duration. Teachers simultaneously rejoiced in the extra time to impart their wisdom and grieved the loss of the quick-hit, fly-by-seat-of-pants class, where a game of Grammar Jeopardy would kill three-quarters of the period. Periods doubled in

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-18481795938271446422009-11-20T08:54:00.004-05:002009-11-21T08:02:25.083-05:00

The Wall Street Journal asks this morning whether Tom Petty is a rock god or mere mortal. All I can say is, what a thoroughly rhetorical question John Jurgensen, then be grateful that Petty is getting play in an international newspaper.[Update: 21.Nov.09--It does my heart good to open up my blog and see Tom Petty smiling out at me. Just sayin'.]

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-35753240006024747392009-11-18T06:09:00.014-05:002009-11-21T11:04:30.417-05:00

Yet another Maine woman allegedly died at the hand of her husband this week. In Old Orchard Beach, according to MPBN, a man despondent over his crumbling marriage shot his wife, then himself.Journalists' lack of understanding of battering and abuse is evident in the fact that in none of the three online news accounts of this all too common tragedy is the question, "Was the alleged murderer under

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-407298693695247752009-11-17T05:40:00.017-05:002009-11-17T20:05:38.090-05:00

My long dormant yoga mat came in handy dark and early this morning on the frosty grass. No, I wasn't doing downward dog in the dark. Not that ambitious. The purple foam rectangle made a perfect Leonid meteor shower viewing station.My penchant for wishing notwithstanding--I also like birthday candles, spilled salt, and fountains--I love meteor showers, and in a quest to inhabit my soul, as

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-83912279742496491092009-11-15T09:06:00.007-05:002009-11-16T09:59:50.413-05:00

Just saw the slide show (only eight pix) of the President's quick visit to Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base posted at TPM. As I paged through them I felt an unaccountable sense of relief as I watched the serious, dark-suited leader of our country. I couldn't quite decide where it came from until I remembered our last president's military base visits.GWB's fake military jacket and Alfred E.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-80676702128823240502009-11-14T21:13:00.005-05:002009-11-14T22:14:37.051-05:00

Wednesday I called Donielle Wilson, a former student who recently returned from her second tour in Iraq, and Rick Whelan, a long time friend and Viet Nam intelligence guy (sorry Rick, I'm sure you had a more apt title), to thank them for their service to the U.S. I got their voicemails and said something like, I was grateful for their courage and strength.Though I've not heard from young Donielle

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-70293688927454178102009-11-11T14:30:00.006-05:002009-11-15T22:03:31.793-05:00

Another entry in the quick hit series that has become my norm lately.It's not that I'm not writing. I am. Plenty. It's that nothing longer than a few sentences is for public consumption, either because I suck or circumstances suck or no one except me cares about the stupid navel-gazing topic of the day I've chosen to beat with a mallet 'til it's way past dead.So, in the meantime, go visit the

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-6444645928367901152009-11-06T18:28:00.004-05:002009-11-06T18:32:27.152-05:00

to eat homemade hollandaise sauce by the spoonful after the broccoli has been finished?Would be glad to hear of your food sins as we wend our way toward the gorging, er, umm, holiday season.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-46976459325280956712009-11-06T07:20:00.007-05:002009-11-06T16:54:50.603-05:00

This morning on NPR, former MPBN reporter Jennifer Ludden covered the bloody obvious--my favorite topic. Women, since about the second I and much of the latter-day Baby Boom started working, continue to make 77 cents to men's dollar. The "news" is that women are much more likely to work jobs without attached health insurance, and that as husbands are laid off due to the Great Recession more and

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-26222600009795099092009-11-06T06:34:00.007-05:002009-11-06T06:42:41.234-05:00

We're not stupid. We know the answer. A poll in American Politics Journal shows that we understand it's insurance and big medicine lobbyists, a.k.a. our campaign financing system.When the heck are we going to do something about it?

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-17793703389298574042009-10-31T22:11:00.004-04:002009-11-03T14:25:03.448-05:00

I'm taking a little rest from most things internettish. If you want me, catch me old school, e-mail or telephone. Stop in even. I'll be back before you've missed me. Promise.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-63897685727513966852009-10-30T09:25:00.008-04:002009-10-30T09:47:55.012-04:00

Though I fantasize about spending part of every Sunday reading the NYT and sometimes buy one, it was probably 1998 when I last actually did it. Articles like this one about the Obamas' marriage by Jodi Kantor make me think about ways to put the Grey Lady back in my weekend. This piece reads a bit like an episode from "West Wing."The opening 'graph:Another Washington dusk, another motorcade,

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-23042121235074228212009-10-29T18:40:00.003-04:002009-10-29T20:01:15.271-04:00

Won't go into detail. Suffice to say I had a junior high-esque meltdown at the hands of a "friend's" unintentionally hurtful post and now can hardly bear to look at the pale Wedgwood blue blocks and lettering.Coincidentally, this morning I was dismayed to learn from NPR that those stupid quizzes people send around are designed to strip information from your FB page. Mostly I ignored them and am

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-56834019559008934392009-10-15T20:30:00.011-04:002009-10-16T18:59:31.184-04:00

Whether Maine school employees are holding fire, in denial or simply coping as best they can has yet to be determined. In any case, today's news that swine flu numbers are increasing daily accompanied information that less than half the vaccine needed for high risk cases will arrive by early December.According to the MPBN report, more vaccine will arrive in the first of the year, but the way I'm

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-55552961325657027802009-10-10T08:04:00.004-04:002009-10-10T08:08:15.517-04:00

The Wiscasset Community Center, also to be known, for reasons too Byzantine to explore, as the Wiscasset Recreation Center, has a new website. What is particularly new and wonderful about the site is it appears to be accurate and up to date. Seems like a miracle.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-12466063520838336212009-09-20T07:17:00.008-04:002011-11-30T17:17:14.380-05:00

Yesterday was hard. Yes, the weather was beautiful. Yes, I spent the morning in bed, first reading Robertson Davies, then grading and blogging on the computer, my favorite things. Yes, I managed, despite a rotten cold to get out for a short run sans hacking and snot bubbles. Yes, I got a great hair-do at Mia's Shear Perfection. Yes, I got tons of mommy empathy for my plight with Eli and the

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-39422406525159295172009-09-12T19:38:00.011-04:002009-09-19T14:56:32.018-04:00

In an ad crafted for the Health Care for America Now campaign, a woman asks Senator Snow to maintain her independence and put Maine ahead of the insurance lobby.I am that woman. Here in Maine, commercials with me and my son Eli pepper the local news shows early in the morning and evening. In them I ask for health care reform that includes a public option, preventing insurance companies from

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-37879586452004889272009-09-07T18:13:00.005-04:002009-09-07T19:08:44.826-04:00

Yes, this country has to have health care for all. The public option is already a compromise. I have said this or similar things to everyone who can tolerate my blather for months, maybe years.When I met the organizers and activists who came to Maine to help us persuade our Senators of the wisdom of health care for all we started to work the phones, Interwebs, newspapers, parties and sidewalks.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-17478274367079312132009-09-05T20:10:00.004-04:002009-09-05T20:47:55.640-04:00

Finally a reporter managed to get most of the story on recent Matinicus violence straight. The only thing missing is the manipulation of the supposed lobster territory birthright according to gender or just what the heck ever.p.s. Thanks to Will Fraser of Wicked Good Films for the news story tip.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-62410929980263646322009-09-03T18:48:00.006-04:002009-09-03T18:59:36.457-04:00

Though she said this at the Portland meeting, as opposed to the Bangor round table where I was a panel member, MPBN has the story. The elegant and articulate former Kansas governor shores up the public option in the first moments of the MPBN piece.Here's more or less what I said to the Secretary and the 60 or so people gathered at Orono this afternoon:Thank you Madame Secretary coming to Maine.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-25796125272361634242009-09-01T20:22:00.006-04:002009-09-02T20:48:50.311-04:00

Can't resist posting this picture. Though you cannot tell, it was taken at the Windsor Fair this past Sunday.How lucky am I to have a sweetheart who embodies cool, warmth and heat, all with a giant brain?

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-6220870120166680362009-08-24T09:48:00.010-04:002009-08-24T11:32:20.312-04:00

Despite the fact that you represent the State of Maine, about a three-hundreth of the American population, your position on the Senate Finance Committee gives you one sixth of the power to make the U.S. a healthier country by holding fast to a public option in health care reform.Arguably because you are a Republican, your vote on the Senate Finance Committee has even more clout. Max Baucus, the

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-62558493234400048772009-08-16T12:43:00.004-04:002009-08-16T12:55:42.532-04:00

She just Twittered a link to this blog written by a couple octogenarian women called Margaret and Helen. Read it, love it.Here's a little taste of their wisdom on the vast subject of Rush Limbaugh:I am not giving Obama a free pass. I’m giving him a chance. He has four years to “make it or break it” as they say. And considering what George Bush did to it, breaking it is the least of our worries

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-82352811538816931792009-08-11T11:27:00.002-04:002009-08-11T11:37:57.205-04:00

Another quick hit here, since I'm working on some LTEs and an op-ed. In case you don't compulsively check TPM, here's a good look at the complete insanity that has overtaken the debate about health care.One thing I would like to know is why exactly are journalists so ill-equipped to report this nonsense? Aren't we charged with calling BS on BS?

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-17543852231753613342009-08-09T08:21:00.002-04:002009-08-09T08:30:33.289-04:00

David Sirota is in the house. Well, he's in Maine, anyway. Keep your eyes peeled for smart writers.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-80558719828079555842009-08-08T15:39:00.004-04:002009-08-08T15:56:11.363-04:00

Daily Disher and Atlantic Editor Andrew Sullivan does not identify the observant, cogent and alarmingly correct reader who sets us all straight about why we should feel anything close to surprise that the health care debate--among other things--has taken the sickening swerve that it has lately.This clear-eyed writer argues that Sullivan still sees the U.S. with immigrants' eyes, optimistic and

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-60691762203347485912009-08-07T14:08:00.003-04:002009-08-07T14:11:06.184-04:00

Just a link since I'm laughing too hard to actually write anything coherent.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-21095809038639746982009-08-06T17:44:00.018-04:002009-08-07T14:42:07.732-04:00

Today, while visiting Jane Hall, the Eyeglass Frame Fashionista of Damariscotta, I learned why we will never be able to afford health care for all in this country. A certain visitor to Jane's office told us in no uncertain terms that the rich have never and will never pay any taxes. Could that really be the difference? Could it be that the members of the Public Option contingent think Americans

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-92051437356452504012009-08-06T07:34:00.003-04:002009-08-06T07:40:11.151-04:00

The only difference between doctors and lawyers is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you, too. (Anton Chekhov)I don't mean you Drs. Webb and Love, of course. Your practice is unique and beautiful in its simplicity and personal nature. Can anyone tell I have to go to the doctor's today?

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-17607075444256476682009-08-06T05:42:00.005-04:002009-08-06T06:14:05.193-04:00

Much as I hate to address anyone as "Stupid," the uncivil disobedience at Congresspeople's town meetings grates me, especially since, as Josh Marshall points out, a plurality of those complaining are beneficiaries of--and mostly happy with--our country's single payer health care system, Medicare. Remember? The one the Republicans have sworn to dismantle.A few weeks ago I was booed at a regional

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-67867079872423409642009-07-30T12:03:00.006-04:002009-08-03T06:19:19.487-04:00

My sweetie's best friend, besides me, is Hannah Holmes, a smart writer and researcher with a great blog. Though she and I have yet to meet, I already love her writing. The blog topics alone are enough to keep my science-groupie mind busy for eternity, and her writing is sharp, self-effacing and engaging.[Update: 3.Aug.09 -- Funny, I forgot to say Holmes is really funny, too. And in the "only

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-11982619535002055542009-07-30T10:48:00.004-04:002009-07-30T11:00:43.443-04:00

With the goofiness surrounding beer brands, picnic tables and the importance of the President, the Professor and the Policeman swigging a brew this evening, let us not ignore the irresponsible commentary Glenn Beck offered up on Fox News recently.TalkingPointsMemo reader MA offers an excellent analysis including: This is not Kanye West saying Bush doesn't care about white people, or Michael Moore

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-40153494966084696582009-07-28T21:58:00.005-04:002009-07-29T07:47:21.663-04:00

My public radio friend Elena See put this clip up on her Facebook page. After a Saturday afternoon spent dancing--for the first time in an age--this video made me weep with joy. At about four minutes I checked to be sure it wasn't going to end right away and was relieved to see that there would be another minute. Hope you love it.I do not know who Jill and Kevin are, but they put on a heck of a

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-71459429123719932102009-07-28T07:56:00.005-04:002009-07-28T08:20:04.615-04:00

Swamphog, a commenter over at the BDN, writes this about the Matinicus situation:Instead of coddling the islanders, tell them this, "1. Stop taking the law into your own hands by overt or underhanded means.""2. If you cannot police yourselves tactfully and within the law, alternative measures will be taken."Alternative measures? Turn all waters surrounding Matinicus into a marine sanctuary with

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-39149452240677018682009-07-24T11:16:00.006-04:002009-07-28T16:27:42.020-04:00

Just tried to call the only photographer type named Kevin Bennett I could find in Maine. He works at the BDN. I'd hoped to confirm that he is the videographer. I found the clip on a blog called Lobsters on the Fly, run by Debby, an Orrs Island lobsterman's wife. UPDATE: 28.JULY.09--Mr. Bennett called me back. He did indeed make the video and yes, he is a photographer at the BDN. Yay.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-22361222903778893912009-07-24T08:35:00.003-04:002009-07-24T08:42:23.461-04:00

Thanks to early-adopter internetty journalist Jill Lang, I see that because of the Maine swap catalogue's inclusion of private gun sales, the Boston Herald distributors have taken Uncle Henry's off the shelves in stores the Herald serves.According to the article, guns bought through Uncle Henry's have turned up in Boston area crimes.Is anyone surprised?

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-8746440166821196972009-07-23T12:11:00.003-04:002009-07-23T12:34:43.330-04:00

A judge, trying to protect the lobstermen from themselves after a recent shooting, ordered a two-week holiday from lobstering in the waters off Matinicus.Matinicus lobsterman Joe Bray, who was thick in the last shooting incident a couple years ago--at least that anyone knows about--went to court today and got the two week holiday reduced to a weekend.The link that shows Bray's involvement in the

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-10931429536037584782009-07-21T10:05:00.003-04:002009-07-21T21:09:24.930-04:00

If you have ever imagined you should live on a Maine island for some peace and serenity, think again. At least pick one where the ferry runs more than once a month.On Matinicus it seems many of your potential neighbors have limited coping skills and worse self-control. They shoot each other over lobsters. Lobsters. Like sneakers and sunglasses only in more picturesque venues.A perpetual feud over

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-25592850525402753482009-07-18T11:47:00.045-04:002009-07-18T14:36:16.872-04:00

RSU 12 budget meeting started @ 10 a.m. I arrived late, just as the first article, Regular Instruction, comes up for approval. Article One asks residents to approve $12,889,329. The combined school total for 08-09 is $12,549,249. A Wiscasset resident wants to know why the k-2 line item is rising $249,721. Greg Potter allowed that the difference is due to the need for estimate combinations of

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-28056186452828808672009-07-18T10:32:00.003-04:002009-07-18T10:37:36.059-04:00

Like a family fatigued by anger, distrust and blame, some 100 of Alna's 600 or so citizens voted Wednesday night to give a piece of town-owned property to the not-for-profit fire department.Weeks of accusation and finger pointing followed decades of occasional eruptions of rancor between fire fighters and the town's representatives. Stretching back to the 1970s, Alna townspeople and rescue

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-27490947401364909852009-07-01T10:46:00.005-04:002009-07-01T12:13:29.571-04:00

According to this Salon article, it may easily be that last night's tuna steak dinner and the haddock in recent weeks consisted of commercially extinct fish. Damnation.In an articulate comment to the article, the writer says that half the fresh water in the world goes to quenching the thirst of livestock. Like Laura Rogers at HuffPo, I noticed the ads in the Washington Metro reminding us that 70

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-43712862244415292242009-06-24T15:22:00.005-04:002009-06-24T22:02:37.302-04:00

USAIR flew about 25 Maine delegates, plus some regular passengers, to D.C. in fine style, on time, early even.Upon landing we trooped through the beautiful Metro system to the Fairfax Embassy Row, where SEIU has billeted us. We appear to be a group various in age, from upper 60s to barely 20. After a month in Maine's June gloom, all of us fairly drank in the abundant sunshine and warmth pouring

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-89921303886067041342009-06-20T10:19:00.005-04:002009-06-20T10:42:09.397-04:00

Ah, the literacy and humor of our President makes me proud. In the keynote speech at last night's Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner last night, the famously understated and nerdy John Hodgman described the rift in our country as one between the Geeks and the Jocks. He calls on President Obama to bridge the gap.God, I love C-SPAN. Does that make me a geek or a nerd?

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-31986234187967673912009-06-19T05:48:00.004-04:002009-06-19T05:56:06.441-04:00

My intrepid sister, friends and hundreds like them set out this morning on their bicycles from Bethel, Maine. They will take three days to ride to Belfast to raise money for the American Lung Association. It's pouring and looks to keep it up all day.The crush of the last day of school keeps me from singing my little sister's praises properly. Suffice to say she's a hero of mine. She has raised

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-50146522776973989742009-06-08T21:51:00.004-04:002009-06-08T21:57:23.427-04:00

see more Fail Blog

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-88721013981467704832009-06-08T11:10:00.005-04:002009-06-08T11:26:43.849-04:00

From the Guardian, we learn that the documentary film "End of the Line", a film designed to explain the prediction that commercial fishing will end by 2048, has opened around the world to mark World Oceans Day, tomorrow. I wish the film could premiere in Gloucester, Rockland, or Port Clyde for that matter.Here in Maine, unfortunately, we have no easy access outside a trip to Massachusetts. Those

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-24955223106044145782009-06-06T12:53:00.005-04:002009-06-06T13:02:30.512-04:00

Lori Handrahan, a Phd from the London School of Economics, writes in the Bangor Daily News about her experience escaping her abusive husband and her vain attempts to protect her daughter in Maine Family Court.My faithful friends who have endured Eli's saga will hardly be cheered.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-89939622691294449562009-06-04T10:52:00.010-04:002009-06-04T18:12:54.880-04:00

Just in case you might be feeling some irrational exuberance, here's a Nick Turse article to help you feel the earth's core pulling at us. His waltz through America's current despondence may keep any warm fuzzies at bay for a while.Read this if you think our country's problems are temporary and can be solved. If they seem interminable and beyond our ken, keep moving, nothing to see here.My real

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-82694622840451791882009-05-26T18:50:00.008-04:002009-05-27T22:16:37.228-04:00

In a potentially tragic manifestation of the old saw, "the thigh bone's connected to the hipbone; the hipbone's connected to the backbone," a local power outage shut down the Chalk River nuclear reactor in Ontario, Canada; the shut down led to a heavy water leak at the world's oldest nuclear research reactor; the leak caused officials to close the plant indefinitely; the closing has obliterated

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-15378830029658074482009-05-17T20:21:00.013-04:002009-05-22T11:47:01.027-04:00

Finslippy, Remains of the Day and Some Pig are my gifts to you, all six of you regular readers. You deserve it. Of course they all write so clearly and humorously, I may never see your IP address 'round here again.Between Finslippy, Remains of the Day and Some Pig, my Mommy Blog jones gets fixed, I get some great laughs, an education in not sweating the small stuff and some incisive school-based

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-90097088274515225742009-05-16T11:04:00.008-04:002009-05-16T17:16:50.300-04:00

This week, thanks to a Gallup Poll, we learned that for the first time since Gallup began counting, more people self-identify as Pro-Life than Pro-Choice. None of the articles promoting the poll point out that the number of people who think abortion should be illegal under all circumstances--the old measure for the moniker Pro-Life--is still less than a quarter of Americans, and remarkably close

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-77129854951721457582009-05-16T07:50:00.005-04:002009-05-16T17:17:36.235-04:00

Here is what is great about Twitter:With the help of Firefox's Friendbar, a dull browser frame becomes a personalized crawl, a la CNN, but without the MWG (Missing White Girl) and Crisis of the Week news. Follow comedians for truth; news reporters for laughs (and sometimes information); philosophers for exercise; curmudgeons for introspection; pundits for head-shaking wonderment; screenwriters

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-74122131493381216792009-04-29T14:55:00.002-04:002009-04-29T14:57:58.616-04:00

According to the Boston Globe, swine flu has been confirmed in both Kennebec and York Counties. Also, I have it on good authority that WHO will raise the pandemic threat level to 5 on a 6 level scale at 3 p.m. EST.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-18574137361667557182009-04-28T18:23:00.009-04:002009-05-22T11:52:42.952-04:00

No, this is not another Tom Petty post, though I am always up for that. It has nothing to do with Maine that I know of, and is only news to those who care about the big picture. The biggest picture.This is about a real star, actually the death of a really old star, the oldest star ever seen. By seen, of course, I mean felt or sensed by a NASA satellite. This object, according to Harvard

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-38161526034242978142009-04-26T13:24:00.006-04:002009-04-27T18:13:59.923-04:00

About half an hour ago, 1300 Sunday, the Department of Health and Human Services declared a Public Health Emergency in the U.S. and the Centers for Disease Control have recommended that schools think about closures. (Don't have a link for that yet.)Maine is uniquely situated in that most of our students have been out of school for the last 10 days and are set to reconvene tomorrow. Many of these

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-86016253347779263552009-04-12T09:17:00.002-04:002009-04-12T09:19:51.282-04:00

Via Andrew Sullivan and Twitter.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-91659750302038144172009-04-09T05:44:00.006-04:002009-04-09T05:50:18.233-04:00

Again, I have made no time for actual writing. Nevertheless, my now constant Twitter feed put me onto the "Blog" of "Unnecessary Quotation" Marks. Have a look while I go searching for blogs of inaccurate antecedents, illogical conclusions, sentence fragments and vague generalites.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-3237631723965833932009-04-08T11:13:00.006-04:002009-04-08T11:21:51.991-04:00

Please accept my apologies, Dear Reader, for the quick hit. Teaching has sucked the extra time out of my day. In case there is any doubt, this is a good thing, though our little blog has suffered.Writer Kay Liss and I did a presentation on PR for Maine Media Women last weekend. Kay gave the nuts and bolts and I provided some links and bytes, defending the proposition that virtually all PR is

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-4668128677637739102009-03-18T20:10:00.005-04:002009-03-18T20:28:27.920-04:00

Talking with Terri Gross today, James Balog, a geologist and National Geographic photographer, said within 30 years the Indian subcontinent could be largely out of water, thanks to the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers. That's a couple billion really thirsty people.View Larger MapHere's how he knows:Yikes!

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-41667491450037227752009-03-14T08:21:00.008-04:002009-03-14T11:12:35.354-04:00

Hanna Rosin's work measuring American political and religious winds has interested me for years. Now she has written an article for the Atlantic wherein she all but says breastfeeding makes women insane, twice.Of course she is smart and a good researcher so she makes an excellent argument for giving in to the pressures against breastfeeding. Trouble is she calls women who nurse their children

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-502714307045538052009-03-13T15:47:00.002-04:002009-03-13T16:10:57.087-04:00

If you ever wonder why high school teachers suffer gladly the indignities doled out too often by adolescents, it is partly because we love our subjects and are evangelizing for learning, and partly because we know the adolescents will eventually grow up.Here, from a former Lincoln Academy student, Donielle Wilson, now serving her second tour in Iraq, is an example of the latter. She responded in

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-81320658576902400092009-03-05T20:40:00.004-05:002009-03-05T21:16:33.648-05:00

LWB=LazyWoman Blogging. Expect more LWB as I am teaching English full time for at least the next two and half weeks.As for this Daily Show video, watch it; send it; post it..cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-83382089528369658722009-02-28T07:40:00.007-05:002009-02-28T17:14:34.869-05:00

See how over the edge you really are in a few short minutes. Here are my frighteningly accurate results. This matches almost verbatim a fancy and expensive one I took several years ago.Moderately willful. lol Eysenck's Test Results Extraversion (82%) high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-39347406884389392292009-02-20T15:45:00.005-05:002009-02-20T15:57:13.790-05:00

Sounds like a news story, yes? Well, I do not know when; I do not who whom, other than my former department head Patti Sims, is going; and I can only presume why they are going. I can tell you that LA is in Newcastle, Maine, is a "private school in the public interest" and has vigorous foreign language and educational travel programs. Off the top of my head I can think of teachers taking students

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-2545467240903873592009-02-19T15:06:00.009-05:002009-02-19T15:25:53.106-05:00

Well, nearly.California's Assembly passed a budget after 45.5 hours of wrangling. The cost to the tax payer: open primaries. If you thought the governor's race was wild...Did Reagan cast a spell on my fellow Native Suns? The tax-phobic--and I mean phobic in the sense that despite all rational arguments to the contrary, these people have never seen a tax they could tolerate--have sold the seventh

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-82045968637932052612009-02-17T14:55:00.004-05:002009-02-17T15:07:28.764-05:00

Wonkette's Ken Layne goes doomsday on us and manages to be funny at the same time. Visit Wonkette and laugh and cry with me. How does a 50 percent drop sound? Hang on to your flannel shirts. Posted using ShareThis

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-34607879807618145332009-02-17T08:15:00.003-05:002009-02-17T08:33:14.923-05:00

Turns out the doc execs at HBO are annoyed about 33 percent of our nation's wealth in the hands of one percent of Americans.Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune, directed "Born Rich" for HBO. He recently finished "The One Percent." It premiers Saturday, 21.Feb.[Update: According to the interview on HBO's website, Johnson has aimed the film at the "vastly rich" in an effort to

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-59940871164553831382009-02-16T06:15:00.005-05:002009-02-16T07:15:16.718-05:00

Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald takes apart David Brooks in a terrific explication of Brooks' dewy eyed view of Washington journalists and lobbyists. Greenwald calls on a conversation he had with Bill Moyers and NYU Journalism ProfessorJay Rosen to clarify his thoughts.Brooks got his start at the Washington Times, otherwise known as the NeoCon Newsletter--a paper that has never once turned a

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-11478737814546665352009-02-09T08:29:00.012-05:002009-06-06T10:43:22.602-04:00

Here we are two days from the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birthday.As I take a moment while the juniors (mostly) finish their U.S. history quiz, I am thinking about the connections that make history fascinating and that seem to elude too many teenagers. I like to file things like this under There Are Only Eleven People In The World.For instance, some argue that John Brown's radicalism lit

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-9927341579099071362009-02-07T11:05:00.003-05:002009-02-07T11:13:28.803-05:00

The next time I hear a Republican Senator, Congressman or RNC Chairman say, "The government has never created a job," I am going to ask, "Then what the hell are we paying you for?"I am at the end of my rope with the self-fulfilling prophecy of lousy elected officials and policy-makers talking about how horrid government is and then proceeding to make it horrider.

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-82471563677286338142009-02-06T08:30:00.003-05:002009-02-06T23:36:53.120-05:00

It is 11:13 p.m. on Friday, 6.Feb.09. The U.S. Senate has supposedly agreed on an Economic Stimulus Package. From everything I have read, our very own Reasonable Republicans, Senators Snowe and Collins, have all but handed the Radical Right Wing the keys to the kingdom.When they could have made the right choice, a la Rachel Maddow's wonderful dissertation today about facts (not up yet, I'll link

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-65564958175400927102009-01-27T06:22:00.028-05:002009-01-28T22:37:07.582-05:00

It is all about the tax code.Unless the fight over tax breaks removes income taxes for those who earn less than $35,000, or adds grants for education and home windmills, please stop wrangling over them. Unreasonable Republicans, like Eric Kantor who persist in using the incorrect form of the word when describing "Democrat leaders," are wrong and and have misjudged what will help most of us.When

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-24793619629298126572009-01-26T12:05:00.014-05:002009-01-27T13:06:11.179-05:00

Yesterday, Jon Robbins, my sophomore English teacher and husband of the pastor at Sheepscott Community Church, told me a story about what happened to him after he heard President Obama's Inaugural Speech and its challenge to work toward solutions on our own. Jon said he had run his errands and was on his way home when he approached St. Patrick's, the Catholic church in Newcastle. A large sign

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-19636964164492525292009-01-24T10:45:00.006-05:002009-01-24T11:08:50.740-05:00

If I had my druthers I would probably flog a diary a day from DailyKos. Today, I give in to the urge. (Translation: the house is a mess and I should be vacuuming.)Here is a piece noting President Obama's--it feels so good writing that--recent advice to the GOP to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh if they want to "get anything done." What I love is that this suggestion has the excellent quality of

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192941101334201381.post-29347745600809840382009-01-18T18:08:00.009-05:002009-01-18T19:04:24.797-05:00

Elise "The Scorpion" Voigt from Heartwood's spring '08 production of the original work "Gilgamesh."Steve "The Body" Shema as Gilgamesh in "Gilgamesh."On a recent January night in Damariscotta a dozen well-fed souls traipsed through the outerspace-like chill to find Tennessee Williams' southern sensibilities of the Wingfields in the latest production of "The Glass Menagerie." After a sumptuous

Lee Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01147787484739829179noreply@blogger.com1