Commentary
Editor’s Notebook: Welcome to December, by way of the Siberian wilderness
It’s “Stick Season,” as Vermont musician Noah Kahan dubbed this gray and dreary stretch of days in the American Northeast. It doesn’t quite feel like fall anymore, and it doesn’t yet feel like winter. It feels like cold, raw limbo. Ken Yates, a Canadian singer and songwriter who also knows a thing or two about […]
Mount Washington Valley is a top spot for ice climbers, but climate change threatens that status
For years the ice climbing guides who make a living on the frozen waterfalls of Mount Washington Valley have seen the changes – shrinking trails, unsafe ice, and rocks and dirt where there used to be cascading ice. Now an in-depth analysis of photographic evidence, historic temperature increases, and extrapolated climate models is confirming what […]
Supreme Court to consider giving First Amendment protections to social media posts
The First Amendment does not protect messages posted on social media platforms. The companies that own the platforms can – and do – remove, promote, or limit the distribution of any posts according to corporate policies. But all that might soon change. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear five cases during this current term, […]
Bridging the gap: The need for fair wages in elder care services in New Hampshire
While climate change and its concurrent risks receive public and political attention on a daily basis, there’s another threat to our society that has profound consequences on our well-being and is much more immediate. It’s a crisis that’s not getting the public attention it deserves. It’s well known that the share of older residents in […]
Healing for the NH deaf mental health community after Lewiston, Maine
Over the past few weeks, our local deaf community has been planning and attending the wakes, funerals and celebrations of the lives of four deaf men killed in the October 25th Lewiston tragedy: Billy Brackett, Bryan MacFarlane, Joshua Seal, and Steve Vozzella. As announcements of the plans unfolded, I’ve been struck with a mental image […]
How to make the U.S. more affordable
For the last two years, the debate on the economy has centered around inflation. After reaching a 40-year high last summer, inflation as measured by economists is now approaching normal levels. But despite the rapid slowdown, millions still feel squeezed by a decades-long affordability crisis. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans struggled to afford sky-high prices […]
The ever-shifting shape of Thanksgiving
Those of a certain age can appreciate my childhood dream of growing up and living in a house like “The Waltons,” with a big kitchen, a long table, and lots of family around. Holiday meals would be bountiful and boisterous, and nightfall would bring full beds and counted blessings. Thanksgiving has taken many different shapes […]
The interdependence of New Hampshire’s long-term care
Representing nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, I feel occasionally obliged to dispel myths. A big one is that the only other option for Medicaid home care recipients would be nursing home care. This ignores what’s happened since the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 permitted states to provide Medicaid funding for home and […]
No, you’re not that good at detecting fake videos
Someone tracking the conflict raging in the Middle East could have seen the following two videos on social media. The first shows a little boy hovering over his father’s dead body, whimpering in Arabic, “Don’t leave me.” The second purports to show a pregnant woman with her stomach slashed open and claims to document the […]
A home away from home
November brings about the end of daylight saving time (don’t even get me started), anticipation of Thanksgiving pies, the return of my Smartwool socks, and my niece’s birthday. She was born 20 years ago at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, and soon after was airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. The particulars of […]
UN’s ‘global stocktake’ on climate offers a sober emissions reckoning − and signs of progress
When this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in late November 2023, it will be a moment for course correction. Seven years ago, nearly every country worldwide signed onto the Paris climate agreement. They agreed to goals of limiting global warming – including key targets to be met by 2030, seven years from now. […]
Abortion rights victories show issue is unlikely to fade in 2024 elections – 3 things to know
Abortion rights advocates won major victories in several state elections on Nov. 7, 2023, signaling that abortion laws are likely to continue to play an important role in the 2024 elections. In Ohio, the only state where abortion was directly on the ballot, more than 56 percent of voters in the conservative-leaning state approved a […]