Connecting the Dots: Do as I do, not what I say

By JOHN BOS

There’s a quote on my crowded bulletin board full of prompts and reminders about life questions. One of the quotes is by Richard Bach, born the same year I was, in 1936. “Here,” he wrote over many years ago, “is the test to find whether your mission...

The World Keeps Turning: Who’s ‘soft’ on communism now?

By ALLEN WOODS

“Red-baiting” — accusing someone of being “soft on communism” or having murky “connections” to communist groups or individuals — has been an effective tactic for Republicans for nearly a century. It’s a simple way to put opponents on the defensive,...

My Turn: Opposing Leverett megaproject only common sense

By JOHN VARNER

While it is true that racism has been behind some zoning restrictions, racism is not the only reason zoning restrictions exist.Is all zoning racist? This is certainly what some real estate people want you to think, based on nearly a full page of...

My Turn: Planet wrecker in chief — Part 2

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

Last month I wrote about the damage the U.S. is causing to the global climate by exporting huge amounts of oil and LNG (liquefied natural methane gas) — the most of any country in the world. I shared the information that the fossil fuel industry wants...

Julia Duncan: Burning commentary

Jon Huer’s Jan. 13 column is titled “Where hate burns in America.” It burns practically every day on this liberal editorial page, but of course, Huer is referring to Donald Trump and the Republican Party. That’s all this writer does is tear into Trump...

Ellen Kaufmann: Guantanamo Bay prison unresolved

You might have noticed a few people dressed in bright orange jumpsuits on a recent Saturday in downtown Greenfield. Those orange suits are the uniforms worn by the prisoners at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.As of April 2023, the U.S. has...

My Turn: Farms as farms, forests as forests

By GLORIA KEGELES

The flooding this past summer pulled back the curtain on the vulnerability of our local farmland resources and viability. Responding to what was deemed a crisis, the community, local lawmakers and the governor’s office swiftly responded with more than...

Jim Bates: Utopia meets reality

I’m so happy I could cry. Have you ever heard that song?Well, local activists are crying in Wendell over a proposed battery storage project. I seem to recall activists in Wendell holding a funeral ritual and praying over tree stumps after they were...

Richard D. Little: Time to celebrate county’s armored mud balls

Dear readers: you don’t need a geology course to visualize dinosaurs! Two hundred million years ago, the Connecticut River Valley was indeed “Jurassic Park” in a great rift valley similar to the famous ones of east Africa today. Podokesaurus, our new...

Sara Cohen: Oct. 7 rape reports weren’t ‘fake news’

I am writing in response to Pat Hynes’ recent letter claiming that the reports of rape and sexual violence during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel were “fake news” [“Why feminists are silent about Oct. 7,” Recorder, Jan. 10]. She cited her sources. We...

Donald Moskowitz: Politicians propose abandoning Ukraine

Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and joined by Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri have made wild statements and taken absurd positions. The three of them want to abandon Ukraine, which will allow Russia to...

Laurie Boosahda: Our taxes are funding the war in Gaza

I urge every tax-paying adult to contact your senator and representative and insist that the U.S. government stop sending funding and weapons to the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Congress is poised to vote on a package of $14.3 billion of...

Maura Morrison: Franklin County’s demographics

I read the Dec. 29 My Turn column by Marguerite Willis, “Repackaged old, failed education ideas still fail” and was disappointed that the writer begins with a statement that is incorrect. She states that she lives in the “poorest and whitest county in...

Pushback: So much wrong with OK for market

By AL NORMAN

On Sept. 29, 2021, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey sent a letter to the town of Shutesbury disapproving one sentence from a bylaw passed at their annual Town Meeting. The Shutesbury bylaw allowed associate members of the town’s Planning...

Wendy Foxmyn: Acknowledge the dirty hands on all sides

I write to both thank Daniel Brown for his opinion pieces over the years and the Recorder for printing them. Brown’s recent piece questioned the lack of response from women’s and feminist organizations to the reported rape and sexual mutilation of...

My Turn: Another 3 hypocrisies of the American immigration system

By RAZVAN SIBII

Last month, my column was an end-of-the-year top 5 list of hypocrisies that poison our current discussions about the migrant crisis at the southern border [bit.ly/3RLgE6s]. I think I got more emails about that column than about any other I’ve written...

My Turn: Little League's mercy rule in a time of war

By ROB OKUN

Let’s start with some basic assumptions: 1) Israel is not Jewish — just as the U.S. is not Christian. 2) Palestine is not Muslim. 3) Hamas perpetrates heinous acts, puts civilian lives in peril, and regularly violates the “rules” of war. 4) Israeli...

Guest Columnist William Lambers: Congress must urgently fund program that feeds infants, mothers

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

President Harry Truman was right when he said “No nation is any healthier than its children.” Congress needs to live up to this standard by fully funding the WIC program that feeds low income mothers and infants throughout America.The Special...

Travis Drury: Heat pump success

In response to the Jan. 7 article on heat pumps, I want to add my experience [“Public slow to warm to heat pumps,” Recorder, Jan. 8]. Overall, air-source heat pump options aren’t that complicated. If you have existing forced hot air ducts, you can...

Ruth Witty: Sexual violence in Israel should be taken seriously

A representative of Traprock Peace center believes the rape of Israeli women did not take place [“Why feminists are silent about Oct. 7,” Recorder, Jan. 10]. Well there are videos showing just this, as well as other barbarous cruelties. They have not...