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I wanted to touch on one of the subjects Recorder columnist Jon Huer brought up in his last piece, “Our job anxiety: The chain that shackles us all” [May 31]. The part I wanted to bring up is how we obey orders and conform so easily. Even if we’re told to do something against our own personal beliefs. Huer brought up ICE agents doing their jobs like robots. So most of these ICE agents know that what they’re doing is not what their hearts would truly allow under normal circumstances. The main objective is to obey your orders. You will conform and obey, because that’s what they tell you to do.

By RICHARD FEIN

Recent presidents waited until they became private citizens to make millions of dollars from their presidency. The general principle while serving in public office is to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. After leaving office it is a different story. In Washington it is called “Doing good then doing well.” For example the Clinton’s were technically in debt when they left the White House due to Bill’s legal expenses. Now their net worth is estimated at $120 million derived mostly from book sales and speeches. The Obamas’ post-presidency net worth is estimated at $70 million.

By KAREN SERRA

The first time I heard the word autism, I was in high school. Someone told me it was caused by “cold moms” and vaccines — and that it could be prevented. I didn’t know much about autism back then, but I remember thinking, that doesn’t sound right.

Shortly after dawn on Thursday, May 22, the Republican-held House of Representatives approved, strictly along party lines and by a single vote, a budget bill that is cruel, anti-democratic, and dangerous for our economy. Every person in this country must be aware of how, exactly, this group of legislators turned against America.

By RICHARD WEDEGARTNER

Iread a lot of news and blogs. Most of my news comes from the left: MSNBC, columns or blogs by Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Robert Reich, and others. My concern about the direction of our country has increased daily since President Donald Trump was installed as our 47th president.

By H. PATRICIA HYNES

A postcard I use as a bookmarker contains a set of principles for gardening in urban soils for minimizing risks to human health from exposure to lead and other contaminants. Developed many years ago for Boston Natural Areas Network by Dr. Wendy Heiger-Bernays, a toxicologist, and myself, I now read it on a deeper level — as a prescription for both soil health and human health — and thus, Planet health. For I have come to understand we are part of a whole — the Earth and humans together — and must be saved together.

Summer is almost here, and with it will come deadly heat waves supercharged by the climate crisis. Yet in 27 states, it’s perfectly legal for utility companies to shut off electricity on the hottest days of summer for nonpayment, leaving individuals and families without air conditioning in extreme temperatures and threatening their health and safety.

I was disappointed by the uncritical reporting of the words of Kevin Roberts: “The whole world is mission country today — just like Northfield, Massachusetts, was for the first people who settled here.” [”Protesters oppose Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts as Thomas Aquinas College commencement speaker in Northfield,” Recorder, May 29]. This statement is simply incorrect. The first people who settled here were not Christian missionaries, they were Indigenous Americans with their own culture and spirituality. Colonialism and Christianity have been at the root of countless atrocities, and the destruction of Native American people is one of them. We need moral people of faith to understand how to repair the damage that their own forbears have done, not double down on the kind of Christian nationalism that is embraced by Heritage and Project 2025.

Art is the most important piece of culture that a community can have. It empowers people, it inspires people, it makes people feel any emotion the artist wants to convey. It reflects what the artist believes, informing and communicating different aspects of life and the world, different perspectives and point of views, and shows every part of humanity.

By JOHN PARADIS

President Trump and his MAGA movement don’t own patriotism or the American flag. Both belong to all of us.

By JOHN CARNEY

Proponents of Death with Dignity legislation in Massachusetts are heartened by positive feedback in the current session of the State House. At the present time, 10 states, and Washington D.C., have laws which allow terminally ill patients the legal option to end their lives with a physician-issued prescription. Massachusetts is not one of those states.

Thomas Aquinas College invited the president of The Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, to speak at its 2025 commencement on May 24. Roberts is the “architect of Project 2025.” I believe that Roberts’ values, and the objectives of his Project 2025, are antithetical to those of the Catholic Church. I think the college is a good school with a challenging curriculum. The students that I’ve met have been polite, respectful, and inquisitive. I hope that Kevin Roberts’ invitation was an aberration, and not an indication of a shift in policy. I suspect that some students — and the pope — might agree.

For those that haven’t seen “The Fall of Minneapolis” documentary on the internet, it will provide a lot of suppressed evidence about George Floyde’s arrest and death that you should understand. It is very well done and will help you understand any future pardon of Derek Chauvin that may occur.

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, this administration is costing you money. Exactly how much depends on how long the current tariffs remain in effect, as well as your family’s spending pattern, but barring a change, tariffs will cost the average American household over $2,300 a year (Yale Budget Lab, May, 25, 2025). And that’s not the abstract theoretical money that rides the waves of the stock market, it’s the actual, real dollars you fork over for back-to-school clothes and Christmas gifts. Perhaps sticker shock hasn’t set in yet, but once retailers exhaust their pre-tariff inventories this summer, all of us are going to feel how high the price tag on Donald Trump’s trade war actually is. I wonder if we’ll think it’s worth it.

I appreciate the efforts of Recorder columnist Daniel Cantor Yalowitz. His column every other Monday feels like an attempt at helping people cope with what he and others perceive as a difficult time for all Americans. It’s true many are disappointed in the election results of 2024. However not everyone is suffering from (TDS) Trump derangement syndrome. For every, outspoken/in your face activist lecturing others on the dangers of Orange Hitler and whatever else is trending with America’s betters, there are many quietly going about their day with a sense of optimism and pride. This group is inclusive, a term that has become ubiquitous and often weaponized in recent years.

Indivisible North Quabbin has been meeting regularly in Memorial Park in Orange every Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon. The purpose of these gatherings is to protest President Donald Trump’s budget cuts and his policies in general. Because there are so many budget cuts in numerous areas and so many assaults on our democracy, we have a highly mixed group of protesters with varied interests and concerns. We usually have between 95 and 100 people attending weekly, holding signs and discussing these issues. We have had as many as 300 attendees.

By PETER B-G WELLER

Last week, my 8-year-old daughter used her school-managed internet browser to research information for a science report on cheetahs. She entered key words to discover sites describing the big cat’s sleek golden coat, tear-marked face, and explosive speed. She learned about its habitat, prey, and the unique features of its claws, designed to grip the ground like cleats. She then paused, looked up, and asked if the computer was “watching her type.”

By MIK MULLER

In his May 21 letter (“Reparations? Let the Democratic National Committee pony up!”), writer Norman Schell makes the mistake of equating slavery to the Democratic Party, alone. I believe he is confusing political parties with the divide between northern states and slave-owning southern states before and after the Civil War. Here’s some history.

By OLIVIA LARAMIE and TORY EDWARDS

The Hampshire-Franklin Commission on the Status of Women and Girls advocates for the needs of women and girls in our community. As part of this mission, the commission asks for your support of Bill H.2499, “An Act pertaining to women’s health at midlife and public, medical and workplace awareness of the transitional stage of menopause and related chronic conditions.”

“Half the truth is often a great lie” Ben Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1758.