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By BILL NEWMAN

This is scary. The number of books being banned in school libraries is spiraling upwards. Nationwide, for the 2022-2023 school year, PEN America substantiated 3,362 school book bans that targeted 1,557 unique titles. That’s a 33 percent increase from...

By KAREN GARDNER

It’s the “Name That President” game show! And you, our contestants, are here to show your mettle and knowledge by matching the correct president to his statements and accomplishments. What fun!In today’s game, you have a choice between President X and...

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 RUTH CHARNEY

Granddaughter on phone: “She’s really mad.” Daughter: “I hear her. She’s yelling.”Son on phone to sister: “What a jerk.”Grandma J: “I hate it … It’s … red. I hate it red. Send it back.”Grandma Judy is older than me and I am old. She has survived...

By JOHN BOS

This Christmas past I found myself searching for light at the end of the climate crisis tunnel. It was during the week of the shortest day and longest night of the year, a time when ancient holy people lit “yule logs” to push back the darkness and...

By ALLEN WOODS

It’s near the end of pandering season in my home state of Iowa — a political season rather than a meteorological one, also occurring in New Hampshire and other states every four years. Suddenly, for a short period, a few states are awash in...

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 DANIEL A. BROWN

In 2017, in reaction to the revelations about the sexual misconduct of Harvey Weinstein that led to the creation of the #MeToo movement, feminist activist Eve Ensler (“The Vagina Monologues”) wrote the following: “I’m over the passivity of good men....

By H. PATRICIA HYNES

Dear President Joe Biden: I would wish you a Happy New Year but it seems trite, given all the challenges and troubles you and our country face in 2024 — some inherited from previous administrations, others of your making.Americans are 10 times more...

By SARA SCHLEY

If the blood spilled on Kibbutz Be’eri, where hundreds were massacred on Oct 7 could speak, would it cry out in Hebrew for vengeance? Would the children crushed by concrete in Gaza demand retaliation in Arabic? Both screaming from their graves for...

As of 2023, there were 31.2 million elders enrolled in private Medicare plans, known as “Medicare Advantage.” For the first time, that’s more enrollees than in the “Traditional” Medicare program. Seniors choose these private companies because they see...

By AMY WIWUGA and SYLVIA GHAZARIAN

In the ongoing battle for reproductive justice, the intersection of religious beliefs and public policy casts a long shadow over the fundamental rights of individuals, particularly those in marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ and non-binary...

By DANIEL CANTOR YALOWITZ

The New Year is finally here, so what can we hope for and look forward to in the year ahead?“New Year’s Day” is a (re)start, a “tabula rasa/clean slate,” an opportunity to think and do anew.With whatever metrics one uses, 2023 (last year), was an...

By SUSAN WOZNIAK

As summer was winding down, I had a conversation with a young woman. Something she said, led me to answer, “That’s out of my bailiwick.” She looked puzzled and asked, “What’s a bailiwick?” I chuckled a bit and said, “Your generation uses the word...

By JON HUER

The most common description that liberal-democratic America uses to refer to Donald Trump’s GOP-MAGA followers is that they are “crazy.” This description seems entirely appropriate. Just watch and listen to Trump — and his followers in the street and...

By NINA SCOTT

Richard Nicoll and his wife, Martha Hanks-Nicoll, live in New Salem, in a lovely house with a spectacular view. Richard is originally from the southwest of England; he finished high school and one year of Agricultural College, then came to the U.S. in...

By MARGUERITE WILLIS

The Recorder’s Nov. 27 headline, “Plan falls short of goals,” is such an understatement concerning the state’s Student Opportunity Act, passed in 2019.As a 77-year-old white woman living in the poorest and whitest county in Massachusetts, I’d suggest...