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1 month ago | 
thebollard.com | Al Diamon |Samuel James |Elizabeth Peavey
This Flight TonightThe wing of the plane dips out of the murk and the ground sparkles with the lights of Scarborough or South Portland or Westbrook. It’s been raining in Portland all afternoon, and now, at 10:30 at night, the sky is ink. I’m not sure exactly which direction we’re heading, or which way is home. It’s been a harrowing trip.
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1 month ago | 
thebollard.com | Al Diamon |Elizabeth Peavey |Samuel James
Our immigration policy is always white supremacyOn Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, resulting in the removal and imprisonment of Japanese people— immigrants and U.S.-born — from areas “lying to the west of [the] Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains in Washington, Oregon and California”. FDR issued the order, which invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, at the recommendation of Lt. General John L. DeWitt, who oversaw the purge and incarceration.
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1 month ago | 
thebollard.com | Al Diamon |Samuel James |Elizabeth Peavey |Phoebe Kolbert
The Coming FirestormOn the bus to Philadelphia at dusk, I am listening to Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” thinking, as I always do when listening to that song, about how a man who grew up Orthodox Jewish might have come to write such a banger Christian anthem.
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1 month ago | 
thebollard.com | Samuel James |Elizabeth Peavey |Al Diamon
A (w)Rench in the worksThe last thing U.S. Sen. Susan Collins wants to face in the 2026 Republican primary is a certified Trumpsicle. Such a race would agitate the scuzzy underground of anti-Collins sociopaths with their predictable troglodytic gripes (She’s female! She voted to convict Trump! But mostly, she’s female!) that inhabit the GOP catacombs, avoiding daylight, trans people and vaccines.
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2 months ago | 
thebollard.com | Al Diamon |Samuel James |Jessie Banhazl |Sara Hogan
Border CrossingI’m standing on the side of the road, talking with my neighbor Chester (not his real name) about the porcupine that had been in that very spot for several days but is now gone. “Smelled it before you saw it,” he says. A period of silence follows. I’ve learned not to rush these conversations. They’re fragile things, and one wrong word or move can shatter them. We both gaze at the greasy smudge where the critter met its fate.
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2 months ago | 
thebollard.com | Al Diamon |Elizabeth Peavey |Julia Maslen |Samuel James
Lyin’ Joe and Ruinous Susan Like a lot of people, I knew this country was cooked during the Biden/Trump debate last June. Biden’s sad babbling wasn’t what convinced me, though. It was just one small moment, lost in the overwhelming disaster of the night. Both sides had agreed to debate without fact-checkers and Trump was on a tear, looking silly as hell. The Internet was exploding with frustrated Dems wondering why Biden’s team had agreed to something that would so clearly benefit Trump.
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2 months ago | 
thebollard.com | Samuel James |Elizabeth Peavey |Julia Maslen |Al Diamon
Bailey bails outDennis Bailey used to be the best political consultant in Maine. I know that’s true because he was proclaimed as such years ago by none other than me. At the time, Bailey was engineering the early campaigns of Democrat Tom Andrews for Congress and independent Angus King for governor (and, later, U.S. senator). Bailey was even successful (temporarily) in keeping casinos out of Maine.
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2 months ago | 
thebollard.com | Elizabeth Peavey |Samuel James |Al Diamon |Julia Maslen
A recent Revive Gathering. photos/courtesy Julia MaslenOvercoming the loneliness epidemic in MaineRecently, while shopping at Shaw’s in Falmouth, I was struck by the self-checkout stations that replaced some of the traditional cashier lanes. I felt sad as I reflected on the reality that we are slowly disconnecting from even the simplest human interactions, like a pleasant chat while we buy our groceries. What once was an opportunity for social exchange is now a solitary task on a screen.
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Mar 8, 2025 | 
thebollard.com | Elizabeth Peavey |Al Diamon |Leo Hylton |Samuel James
How the fuck we got here Have you been asking yourself reflexively every 15 minutes how the fuck we got here? Well, it’s actually pretty simple. This country is covered in a nationwide web of racist voter laws and racist voter maps that not only smother the Black vote, but wildly overvalue Republican votes. Without that advantage, our last Republican president would’ve been Dwight Eisenhower. This white supremacist advantage distorts all of our national political systems.
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Mar 8, 2025 | 
thebollard.com | Elizabeth Peavey |Samuel James |Al Diamon |Leo Hylton
Maine still needs parole“Most testimony presented by criminal justice professionals, victim advocates, and victims feels that parole should be re-established in Maine.” — Dr. Arthur Jones, renowned criminal justice and parole expertThe Maine Legislature’s last session was painful. It was the first time in my life that I engaged in political processes in any meaningful way. At 32 years of age, I poured my heart, mind and soul into the push to reestablish parole in Maine.
