EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA--Opinion

Our view: Region's sports fans need a lift

Sat, 17 May 2008 03:08:00 EDT

New England sports fans need a big win — another NBA title for the Celtics, perhaps, or a repeat of last October's World Series victory — to lift the funk that has enveloped the region since the Patriots fell to the Giants in February's Super Bowl.

Quips and quotes

Sat, 17 May 2008 03:00:00 EDT

"The White House is won in the swing states, and I am winning the swing states."
Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, after on overwhelming victory in the West Virginia primary.
"I was getting ready for bed and had gone to the kitchen to turn the light off. On the way back to my bedroom, someone knocked on the door and told us to get out."

Sound Off

Fri, 16 May 2008 17:01:00 EDT

Signs
It's a nice thing to put up signs for a good cause, but please take them down afterward. I'm an elderly lady and I'm not able to lift all these big signs. I tried once and it was difficult. If you're not going to take them down, then please don't put them up at all.

Our view: New words for a tough economy

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:55:00 EDT

Hard times sometimes demand an expansion of our vocabulary.
Lynn Duncan, chief planner and community development director for Salem, Mass., spoke the other day about the "value engineering" that's going into a project her office is overseeing. What she meant is that every effort is being made to complete it as cheaply as possible.

Our view: Salem selectmen should meet in Salem

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:55:00 EDT

Members of the Board of Selectmen in Salem, N.H., seem unwilling to understand the furor surrounding their meeting in a North Andover law office last week.
Worse yet is some board members' characterization of those who objected to the out-of-town meeting as the usual cranks who criticize everything.

Letters to the editor

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:55:00 EDT

Longer school day has merit
To the editor:
Your editorial on Expanded Learning Time (April 23) misunderstands our exploration and the implications of adding more time to the school day as another possible way to improve the education we provide our students.

Nat Hentoff: Secret laws have no place in America

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:55:00 EDT

On April 30, the Senate's subcommittee on the Constitution held a vitally important hearing on "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government," chaired by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis. At issue, ignored by the presidential contenders, is a profound change in the very core of our laws. Said witness Steven Aftergood, secrecy expert at the Federation of American Scientists:

William Rusher: Bob Barr enters the race

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:55:00 EDT

Former Republican Congressman Robert Barr of Georgia recently announced he is running for president as a Libertarian. This is a formidable development, and it's by no means out of the question that Barr could attract enough otherwise conservative voters to defeat John McCain and put Barack Obama in the White House.

Dan Thomasson: FBI does not play well with others

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:55:00 EDT

There is little new in recent reports of a long-standing feud between the nation's two top law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In fact, since 1924 when J. Edgar Hoover took over the ineffectual and corrupt Bureau of Investigation in the Justice department, the FBI has been at odds with nearly every one, usurping the jurisdiction of every police agency from the sheriff's office to its own siblings, like ATF.

Our view: Chemical fire should not have happened

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:15:00 EDT

The cleanup of a chemical spill in a Lawrence rail yard was less than ideal. City officials should look into what could have been done differently to prevent the fire that broke out in boxes of the cleaned-up chemical two days after the spill.

Letters to the editor

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:15:00 EDT

Legislature wrongly targets pharmaceutical companies
To the editor:
As a nurse practitioner, who has followed the Legislative debate over the banning of "gifts" to health-care professionals by pharmaceutical companies, I find it laughable to consider the notion that this practice has increased the cost of health care. Does a pen emblazoned with a medication's logo in my hand compel me to prescribe the drug? Is a modest dinner going to drive me to write a prescription of the sponsor's medication? Is a lecture by a leading expert going to make me fawn and prescribe the most expensive medication?

Our view: Danvers blast should spark needed reforms

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:14:00 EDT

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board's final report provide as thorough an explanation as can be expected of the cause of the Nov. 22, 2006, Danversport explosion. More important, it includes valuable recommendations for preventing future catastrophes.

Barbara Anderson: Activist warns of cost of government intrusion

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:14:00 EDT

Barbara Anderson
As a taxpayer activist and longtime friend of Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, I have a standing invitation to attend what has been called the most important meeting in Washington — the monthly Wednesday meetings of conservative Capitol Hill aides and center-right "Leave Us Alone Coalition" representatives held in Grover's offices.

David Shribman: Campaign of 1988 offers little insight on today's race

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:13:00 EDT

David Shribman
Some people think they have seen this campaign movie before.
The one with the big fuss about the flag. The one with the attacks on a man's patriotism. The one where the candidate who was being attacked didn't fight back. The one where the prey was a cerebral guy with an outspoken wife. The one where the Yale graduate accused the Harvard graduate of being an elitist. The one where the Democrats relinquished a huge lead. The one that happened in 1988.

Commentary: Two disasters prompt differing responses

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:13:00 EDT

China's response to a devastating earthquake should make the Myanmar government ashamed of its own lackadaisical response to a lethal cyclone.
It won't, but China's rulers know something the secretive Myanmar military junta does not: The people will forgive much in a government that, whatever its other failings, is there for them in times of disaster.

View from Beacon Hill: Biotech: Friend or foe?

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:12:00 EDT

Glen Johnson
BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray are taking a road trip to San Diego next month for a major biotechnology conference. The way things are shaping up, they could end up as the proverbial skunks at a lawn party.

Letters to the editor

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:20:00 EDT

President, Congress must act on gas prices
To the editor:
Recently, gas reached an aveage $3.72 a gallon nationwide. Where is the outrage on the part of our elected officials in Washington? Are they more in step with the oil companies' PAC money than the taxpayers and voters back home? If it were up to me, I would kick them all out of office because they certainly do not seem to be worried about their voters back home. This nation is in crisis and they need to start doing the job they were elected to do on behalf of the voters.

Our view: Myanmar's leaders among world's worst

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:19:00 EDT

It is possible that there is no worse government on the planet than the military junta running Myanmar.
A cyclone May 3 devastated the southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma. While the official government death toll is around 32,000, the United Nations estimates that 60,000 to 100,000 may have been killed by the storm. The death toll may push into the millions as the storm's victims, their homes and crops destroyed, now face starvation and disease.

Sound Off

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:19:00 EDT

New light bulbs
I wanted people to know that these high efficiency "better" light bulbs that they are telling you to purchase in actuality do more damage to the environment than the old light bulbs. The reason is that they contain mercury. So by putting this substance into the environment, it's having a negative effect.

Our view: Solomon's locker reveals poor judgment

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:18:00 EDT

The contents of former Methuen police Chief Joseph Solomon's personal locker at the police station warrant a full investigation. District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office should determine why the former head of the Methuen police had marijuana, guns, knives and pornography stored under his name at the department.