News
Information for charting a path forward.
- May 14 – Testify to Support Universal Healthcare: the All Maine Health Act
On Wednesday, May 14, consider testing in support of LD 1883. Location: Burton M. Cross Office Building Room 220, 111 Sewall St, Augusta, ME 04330Time: 1-2:30pm, Wednesday 5/14/25 From Maine AllCare: “(LD 1883) will establish a publicly funded universal healthcare plan for Maine. You can testify in person, via Zoom, or submit testimony online. Any testimony highlighting the many problems with our current system will be welcome. We’re especially looking for personal stories that illustrate why we need publicly funded, universal health care. These could be stories about unavailable or inaccessible care, exorbitant costs (of care or insurance), medical debt… Read more: May 14 – Testify to Support Universal Healthcare: the All Maine Health Act - Submit your comments to Avelo Airlines, transporter of immigrants
Send a message to Avelo Airlines and let them know that you will be boycotting their airline until they stop cooperating with ICE and Trump. They are aiding illegal deportations. Phone: 346-616- 9500. Email: support@aveloair.com, or leave a comment on their website. - Angus King’s 4/29 Speech: All Talk Backed up by No Action
Yesterday, a staff member of Senator Angus King told me I should be sure to watch his U.S. Senate floor speech (text here), that I would be impressed. I am not impressed in the slightest. Why? 1) King takes to the floor, draping the mantle of Margaret Chase Smith about his shoulders as if he’s saying something shockingly similarly new and revelatory as what MCS said decades ago. But what he says in the speech, people have been saying for *months*. 2) King declares correctly that “we in this body, at least thus far, are inert—and therefore complicit.” But his… Read more: Angus King’s 4/29 Speech: All Talk Backed up by No Action - Testifying Through Presence: Handmaids at the Maine State House
On Friday March 28 of 2025, members of the theater group of The Audacity traveled from their various home towns of the midcoast to the Maine State House in Augusta, donned the red robes and white bonnets that visually refer to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and stood outside the hearing room where the Judiciary Committee of the Maine State Legislature received testimony regarding L.D. 975 and other bills that would outlaw and criminalize abortion in the state of Maine. The visual testimony of this group augmented the written transcript of testimony by 34 members of The Audacity submitted to… Read more: Testifying Through Presence: Handmaids at the Maine State House - We Mainers need to talk more about Angus King
I received this from Becca Glaser, the original author, who told me she wants us to pass it on. — Nancy Galland Scroll down to sign on to register for King’s virtual Town Hall on April 9, TOMORROW – and when you do, there will be a form to fill out with your questions. We Mainers need to talk more about Angus King, and the fact that he may not be the “Maine treasure” many Democrats still seem to believe he is. King is taking part in a carefully curated virtual Zoom Town Hall this Wednesday, April 9th… Read more: We Mainers need to talk more about Angus King
Art
Works of original visual, literary, and performing creativity.
- Fine Is The Enemy Of Freedom
Have you experienced this? You hear a piece of news, and it shocks you. Maybe it’s word that a university student you know has been arrested by ICE and sent off to a secret prison camp. Maybe it’s Donald Trump declaring that he has asked El Salvador’s bitcoin dictator, Nayib Bukele, to open up 5 new concentration camps, each one capable of holding tens of thousands of prisoners, to confine American citizens as political prisoners. You hear this news, and then you go outside, into the world, down the street, and you see people just going about their daily business,… Read more: Fine Is The Enemy Of Freedom - Red Heart Signs – Pre-order by 4/21
After the fraught 2016 election Midcoaster Peter Baldwin took note when a neighbor painted over their political sign leaving a bright red heart over a stark white background. Peter says the simple symbol, “made me feel good when I drove by it.” And so, he headed to his woodshop and made a few of his own. When neighbors expressed interest, he placed an order. He started selling the signs at $10 a pop and donating the proceeds to the Wabanaki Cultural Preservation Coalition to support their effort to buy the land they had been renting. Peter says he’s placed several… Read more: Red Heart Signs – Pre-order by 4/21 - Testifying Through Presence: Handmaids at the Maine State HouseOn Friday March 28 of 2025, members of the theater group of The Audacity traveled from their various home towns of the midcoast to the Maine State House in Augusta, donned the red robes and white bonnets that visually refer to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and stood outside the hearing room where the Judiciary Committee of the Maine State Legislature received testimony regarding L.D. 975 and other bills that would outlaw and criminalize abortion in the state of Maine. The visual testimony of this group augmented the written transcript of testimony by 34 members of The Audacity submitted to… Read more: Testifying Through Presence: Handmaids at the Maine State House
- Song: We’ve Got to Change This World
I’ve written this song as a statement on our times. Please listen to it on substack: https://petermblachly.substack.com/p/weve-got-to-change-this-world Opening lyrics: Who owns the diamonds that are down in the mine? Who has the right to pollute the sky? Who owns the oil that’s beneath the sand? Who plays the market with a crooked hand? Brother, it’s not You or I… - Handmaids -Augusta March 29
Views
Perspectives, commentary, and discussion about the authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption of our time.
- This Fascist Christmas, It’s Jesus versus Jesus
Congratulations! 2025 is almost over. Eleven months into the second Trump presidency, you’re still standing. If you’re reading this, then you’re not one of the people who has been hauled off to a prison camp by America’s masked government agents. In three weeks it will be Christmas. So, if you’re one of the 60% of Americans who are Christian, you may take some time to stand back and reflect on what Jesus would say about the hateful fascism that has taken over the United States of America. It’s useful to put difficult times into context. If putting a religious frame… Read more: This Fascist Christmas, It’s Jesus versus Jesus - G42 – The AI Fascists You’ve Never Heard Of
It’s become a motif for sociopathic digital executives to name their creations after concepts from science fiction and fantasy novels without grasping the meaning of those concepts within the stories from which they have been taken. For example, Peter Thiel, who made a fortune as an executive at PayPal, later created a company called Palantir, named after the seeing stones that an evil spirit in the Lord of the Rings used to spy on the world and control people from a distance. In the story, it’s understood that spying on people and controlling them from a distance is a sign… Read more: G42 – The AI Fascists You’ve Never Heard Of - Angus King’s 4/29 Speech: All Talk Backed up by No ActionYesterday, a staff member of Senator Angus King told me I should be sure to watch his U.S. Senate floor speech (text here), that I would be impressed. I am not impressed in the slightest. Why? 1) King takes to the floor, draping the mantle of Margaret Chase Smith about his shoulders as if he’s saying something shockingly similarly new and revelatory as what MCS said decades ago. But what he says in the speech, people have been saying for *months*. 2) King declares correctly that “we in this body, at least thus far, are inert—and therefore complicit.” But his… Read more: Angus King’s 4/29 Speech: All Talk Backed up by No Action
- Why Protest? #3: Because Cowardly Politicians Bend to StrengthBecause cowardly politicians bend to strength, we must show we are strong. Perception of public opinion matters to politicians. Some politicians see following public opinion as their job. Others are fear-driven and will always take the side of the strongest person or force, because cowards feel small inside and seek protection above principle. To apply this insight, we should direct our work at demonstrating that we are the strong ones. And we show we are strong just by showing them who we are: a massive wave of people holding bravery and compassion and creativity and joy and rock-hard resolve. We… Read more: Why Protest? #3: Because Cowardly Politicians Bend to Strength
- The Despair In My Hair
I began my professional life as a consultant in the world of business in the mid 1990s, and ever since then, I’ve been trying to fit an identity that could match my career. I worked to keep my appearance relatively tidy, for the sake of credibility, so that I could feel secure encouraging others to think more expansively about their own work. I kept my hair short for the the same reason that I mowed the lawn in front of my home. I didn’t mind long grass, but I heard other people talking about the virtue of a tidy lawn.… Read more: The Despair In My Hair
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