Mental-health professionals seem upset that an Auburn businessman has opened “Vent-Line” – which charges callers $1.99 a minute to air their problems – and have refused to refer patients. The businessman, Philip Doyen, says the line is perfect for the frustrated Mainer who would like to yell about a boss or detail a spouse’s many failings, though he says it is more a “listening service” than formal therapy and he is not trained as a counselor, according to an AP story. “I’m in it for the money,” he said, “like everybody else.” That sort of honesty makes us feel better already.

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A University of Maine program recently sent out a reminder of a workshop deadline for teaching Native American studies addressed to “Maine Principles, Super Intendance, and Teachers,” with the admonition, “LD 291 begins this fall be prepared!” A workshop on spelling and grammar will follow.

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The Washington Post reports that increasing numbers of people are using early results of research that finds severely restricting calories leads to a longer life. “They painstakingly calculate the caloric and nutritional content of every morsel that passes their lips, weighing each ingredient and entering the results into computer programs that meticulously track calories and nutrients,” the Post says. “Some lose so much weight their libidos disappear and they have to remember to carry a sweater to stay warm in air-conditioned buildings and pillows to cushion their bony behinds.” If not a longer life, certainly a life that feels longer.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan encouraged Congress to pass the first Bush administration tax cut in January 2001, though lesser mortals screamed that it would create a deficit that couldn’t be offset by increased economic growth. Now, with record-setting deficits, Mr. Greenspan sagely observes, “Our fiscal prospects are, in my judgment, a significant obstacle to long-term stability because the budget deficit is not readily subject to correction by market forces that stabilize other imbalances.” Maybe another tax cut would fix things.

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Peter Hoff, president of UMaine, says he’s unlike other finalists competing for the presidency of the University of Nebraska. “I’m willing to bet another candidate hasn’t gone out and played volleyball in the mud with the students the past seven years,” Hoff said. Nor is he like most students, most of whom grow out of the mud-volleyball stage after only four years – five if they take that semester abroad.