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By ROB OKUN

Let’s start with some basic assumptions: 1) Israel is not Jewish — just as the U.S. is not Christian. 2) Palestine is not Muslim. 3) Hamas perpetrates heinous acts, puts civilian lives in peril, and regularly violates the “rules” of war. 4) Israeli...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

President Harry Truman was right when he said “No nation is any healthier than its children.” Congress needs to live up to this standard by fully funding the WIC program that feeds low income mothers and infants throughout America.The Special...

By SHIRLEY MAJEWSKI

I read the article in the Recorder and am in agreement with resident Charlene Galenski about the raising of assessments in town. And now borrowing $5 million for road repair. The roadwork borrowing of money was voted down, but the town will hold...

By MARK REYNOLDS and LINDA BUTLER

As we reflect on a year of unprecedented weather events, we must move into the new year embracing a diverse mix of power options to protect Americans from blackouts and climate extremes.While Massachusetts escaped the worst of the U.S. heat waves this...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

Both the college and pro basketball seasons are heating up now with games every day. I was watching my alma mater Mount St. Joseph University play Bluffton University of Ohio and wondering if basketball could draw attention to global hunger. There are...

By MARGOT FLECK

There is much talk today about “toxic masculinity,” but I wonder, is it inevitable in this competitive culture that many boys grow up emulating the most aggressive, non-empathetic men among us?Salmon Rushdie wrote: “I have always been inspired by...

By CLAUDIA LEFKO

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a statement on grave violations of children’s rights in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory on Oct. 13. “We reiterate that the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requires States...

By SUSAN AVERY

Dear Son: My December birthday came and went last week. I thought I might’ve heard from you, but I did not. And then came Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and as family and friends gathered at home to celebrate, there was something missing; I didn’t...

By GENE STAMELL

One morning, a number of years ago, I found myself standing in line at a Starbucks counter.The woman in front of me was screaming into her phone, arguing about what seemed to be a rent dispute. Obviously irate, she was completely unaware of her impact...

By KATHERINE GOLUB and STACEY SEXTON

As elected officials representing the people of Greenfield, we face the very real needs of our community every day.Fourteen percent of Greenfielders live below the poverty line. Our schools face an untenable fiscal situation leading to cuts in...

By MATT L. BARRON and JON WEISMANN

On Dec. 11, the U.S. House passed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, legislation to require Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to disclose drug rebates and discounts, revealing what they pay drug makers for prescription drugs. The bill would also...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

It was December 1947 and Captain Allan Smithies would not be home for Christmas. The Captain of the American Leader vessel was on a special mission playing the role of Santa Claus.As reported in the Hartford Courant, Smithies was guiding a ship of...

By PETER M. HAAS

The recently concluded Climate Change COP28 (the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) surprised many observers by generating more concrete decisions than had been expected. Most...

By SUSIE MOSHER

The article “Bill seeks to give terminally ill options” published in the Gazette on Oct. 23 gave a slanted report on the public hearing held at the State House on Oct. 20. From reading the article one would be led to believe opponents of the Medical...

By BISHOP WILLIAM D. BYRNE and MEMBERS of CATHOLICS FOR INCLUSION

In 2021, Pope Francis instituted a call to every Catholic congregation, and beyond, to take part in a worldwide synod, an invitation to even non-Catholics who wished to participate, to listen to people and ask how the Holy Spirit was moving them, and...

By DICK EVANS

Today, Dec. 5, 2023, is the 90th anniversary of a remarkable — and rarely remarked upon — episode in American history, having enormous consequences in law, in commerce, in families and in culture. More remarkable was its path, perhaps the best-kept...

By LARRY HOTT

It was February 2001. I was at my desk in our film studio reviewing every grant proposal I had written for our film “Imagining Robert: My Brother, Madness and Survival,” which was based on the book by Jay Neugenboren.I met Jay four years earlier while...

By IAN RHODEWALT

My first union job, and my first strike for cost of living increases, was as a teacher in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Several weeks ago, trade unions in Palestine put out an urgent call of solidarity to unions around the world on on Oct. 16 to...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

It was Thanksgiving in 1963 when a group of 25 people in Plymouth, Massachusetts had an idea: Let’s skip Thanksgiving dinner. These men and women, in the town where America’s first Thanksgiving was held by the Pilgrims, decided to fast at Plymouth’s...

By MICHAEL SEWARD

Soon after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted, this newspaper published an article where U.S. Reps. Richard Neal and James McGovern attempted to justify their decision to join all House Democrats in that effort. In doing so, they once...

By ROB OKUN

Another American first. We’re closing in on 600 mass shootings in 2023 and — good news, people — there’s still two months left in the year. Can we get to 650? 700? USA! USA! USA! Banks. Bars. Beauty Salons. Big box stores. Bowling alleys. Concerts....