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By WILLIAM LAMBERS

The first atomic bomb test in New Mexico on July 16, 1945 opened the door to the dangerous nuclear arms races we have seen ever since. J. Robert Oppenheimer, a leader in the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II, thought...

By PENNY SCHULTZ

Western Massachusetts doesn’t get a whole lot of attention from the state, so a visit by our new, feisty, change-making State Auditor Diana Dizoglio in Williamsburg was a welcome event for all who attended.DiZoglio is shaking things up in...

By IAN RHODEWALT 

In my household of two, together we hold $132,829.70 in student debt. On a bitter cold day in early March on the week the Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments, at a student debt cancellation rally, 25 of us stood on the steps of the federal court...

By MATT L. BARRON

One of the major fights in the coming reauthorization of the 2023 Farm Bill will be over the commodity checkoff system. Checkoffs are mandatory Department of Agriculture fees assessed on a per-unit basis that many U.S. farmers and ranchers pay every...

By KERRY DUMBAUGH

Having just passed the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision to restrict abortion access, it is worth considering Anthony Comstock’s terrible legacy of doing more to restrict American women’s reproductive rights than anyone...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

Major League Baseball has produced many classic, inspiring moments over the years, including the World Series. But one of its most noble efforts is not well known.It was during the Second World War, when Major League Baseball launched a plan to raise...

By ROB OKUN

Women’s activism, including mothers in leadership roles, is legendary. Moms have long employed their moral authority as parents to advance the social good.Where are the fathers and grandfathers? We care about our children and grandchildren, too. As...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

When General Dwight Eisenhower spoke at the third anniversary of the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, he praised the bravery of American soldiers. The D-Day invasion of Nazi German occupied France led to the liberation of Europe and victory in World...

By GENE STAMELL

I changed my razor blade this morning. I realize this revelation falls far short of being categorized as earth-shattering news. But if you bear with me, dear reader, you may recognize some parts of yourself in the following self-reflection — and I’m...

By JOHN PARADIS

May is National Military Appreciation Month. Designated by Congress in 1999 to honor past and present military members and their families, the month includes several commemorations, including Loyalty Day, VE Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day,...

By SUSAN J. TRACY

In addition to the recent carnage in Nashville, last spring 18-year-old shooters in separate incidents killed 10 adults in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas, 10 days apart. Both shooters were using semiautomatic...

By JAMES LEVINE

‘Childhood trauma.” We hear these words so often that they’ve lost any kind of concise meaning. Virtually all children confront disturbing experiences, and rates of their diagnosed mental struggles have increased significantly, but not every one of...

By THE REV. PETER KAKOS

According to one Biblical Easter account, when Jesus appeared to his followers, now frightened that Roman crucifixion would be their fate as well, his first word to them is one that is spoken to this day as a greeting across the world by three of the...

By RENEE SEACOR and JOHN MAGURANIS

City dwellers take many forms. In Boston and cities across Massachusetts, hundreds of different species call our cities home, including foxes, raccoons, bald eagles and coyotes.It’s surprising for most urban dwellers to learn that species such as...

By ALAN KANNER

Two months after President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, here is another address and it is essential that another State of the Union be heard. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to inform you that the State of the Union has weakened. Not since the...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

The tragic shootings in Nashville, with children and staff at the Covenant School being killed, demands action from Congress. But so many times we have seen Congress do nothing after gun violence.If America’s Founding Fathers could have traveled in...

By RUTHERFORD H. PLATT

Amid the deluge of political, war, and economic news, a new report from Antarctica caught my attention: Floating pack ice surrounding the frozen continent has shrunk to the smallest extent since monitoring by satellite began in 1979.As reported in The...

By JUSTIN SILVERMAN

During the early months of COVID-19, governors in New England states issued executive orders allowing municipalities to meet online so long as the public could attend remotely. The democratic benefits of this arrangement quickly became evident....

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

On International Women’s Day (March 8) step back in time to London, England in the year 1919. At Trafalgar Square in Central London you will see a woman handing out flyers to whomever passes by.She wants to tell everyone about children starving to...

By BRUCE MILLER

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is openly threatening to force a default on our nation’s debts unless President Biden agrees to a so far unspecified list of spending cuts to federal programs. But the president has a formidable constitutional argument...