Pem Schaeffer

Pem Schaeffer is a retired engineer who progressed to a position in business development leadership in defense electronics. He lives and writes in Brunswick, Maine, and blogs at: http://othersideofbrunswick.blogspot.com/ He can be reached at pemster4062@yahoo.com or you can always buy him lunch at a Maine Policy Institute luncheon. He's easy that way, and he'll still respect you if you do.

Commentary

What if discretion is our recourse?

(If you read my column “Have We No Recourse?”, this column is intended...
Commentary

Have we no recourse?

Can we do anything lawful and legitimate to “protect, defend, and preserve” America...
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The torches are being lit, the battle is being joined and the truth is being pursued. It’s time to join up

Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “The philosophy of the school room in one...
Energy & Environment

Whose hand will be on the global climate crisis thermostat?

“The Invisible Hand” is a notion coined by Adam Smith in the context...
Commentary

The cancellation of MLK

You may think the words of this title are harsh, and they are...
Commentary

What we learn from the rhetorical disputes over SCOTUS nominations

It’s Supreme Court nomination time again, and the result is predictable. The usual...
Election Center

Why is the left promoting electoral dysfunction?

Every citizen who meets statutory qualifications has the right to vote, and to...
Commentary

The new left rejects a self-governing republic

I’m an engineer by aptitude, education, and vocation. Those of you who are also...
Commentary

What’s going on in our cities?

I counted to 10, but it didn’t work. I don’t know about you,...
Commentary

‘No one is above the law’ – except members of Congress

We’ve been watching the judicial gyrations over the fate of retired Lt. Gen....
Commentary

Look both ways – twice – before disbanding the police

We grow up being told to “look both ways before you cross the...
Daily Catch

Defeating COVID-19: Lessons from the business of complex warfare systems

The Coronavirus pandemic has us engaged in “warfare” whether we wanted it or...
Commentary

Law, oaths and the truth

In today’s partisan, impeachment-centric political climate, the following have become figurative lapel pins...
Daily Catch

Passenger rail authority fleeces taxpayers to the tune of $10 million

In April last year, the Press Herald ran my Maine Voices submission; it...
Commentary

It’s time for Maine’s private colleges to step up

Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, is surely among the wealthiest institutions in Maine. Its...
Commentary

Free college, Medicare for All and other insanities of the extreme left

Clichéd as it may be, conservatives live in “a target rich environment” for...
Daily Catch

The Full Alexandria

Maybe you’ve seen The Full Monty, or at least heard of it. It’s...
Citizens' Initiative

Ask your doctor if Referendax is right for you

Matt Gagnon did a superb job of “fisking” Edgar Allen Beem‘s recent Forecaster...
Commentary

Rail authority demonstrates two degrees of fraud, waste and abuse

This article first appeared in the Portland Press Herald. “Nobody spends somebody else’s...
In Depth

Alexa, what are you doing in my room?

How much would you pay someone to invade the privacy of your home? ...
Commentary

A quick and brief tour of leftist crazy-land

Herewith a few quick examples of the cognitive cacophony of those on the...
Commentary

Is there a cure for spinal frailty in Republicans?

Pundits and commoners often repeat Michael Savage’s thesis that “liberalism is a mental...
Commentary

Progressives facing existential PR damage from Charlottesville

Moral superiority is the lily-white garb donned by progressive true believers to shore...
Education

Teacher Pay? It’s Time to Reform the Underlying Structure and Driving Factors

I agree with Governor LePage. Teachers should be paid what they are worth....
Commentary

Tea and Crumpets in the Senate Cloakroom, Anyone?

“Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the...
Commentary

A Nation of Laws? Nay, We Are a Nation of Kingdoms and Kings

Recently I attended the MHPC luncheon at which Tom Fitton, Head of Judicial...
Commentary

How to Bring Accountability to Public Schools

“When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the...
National

Part III: Federal Employee Compensation Reform

In 1959 I began my pursuit of a BS degree in Electrical Engineering....
Commentary

Part II: Suggesting the Obvious – Starting at the Beginning, and the Top

Sometimes, seemingly intractable problems need to be addressed with ‘brute force.’ That is,...
Commentary

Deficits, Debts, and Drug Addiction

A three part series on chronic abuse of other peoples’ money Part I: The...
Commentary

Schaeffer: Updating the Filibuster Conundrum

More than three years ago, The Maine Wire ran a brief item of...
Commentary

Something’s Gotta Give: O’Sullivan’s First Law and Political Gravitational Pull

I’ve often generalized about Republican’s and Democrats by saying that the former almost...
2014 Gubernatorial Campaign

Unto Everything There Is A Season

Who was it that said election time is ‘silly season?’ For years I’ve...

Pem Schaeffer

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Energy & Environment

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Election Center

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Daily Catch

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Daily Catch

Citizens' Initiative

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In Depth

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Education

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National

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2014 Gubernatorial Campaign

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