According to the airline Air Transport Association of America, the number of airline passengers has dropped by one-fourth since Sept. 11 yet sales at airport bars are up nearly 10 percent. Some experts say this may be the result of nervousness on the part of the flying public, some say enhanced security procedures give travelers more time to kill. Some business travelers say they’re merely doing their bit to stimulate the economy and hope the co-workers who review expense accounts see it the same way.

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Groundbreaking was held last week on the William Jefferson Clinton Library in Little Rock, a $200 million project that will house some 100 million papers, 75,000 artifacts and more than 2 million photographs, making it the largest such collection in presidential history. With that much documentation of public affairs, it’s simply amazing the former president had time for the other kind.

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Independent candidate for governor David Flanagan suffered a setback this weekend when the top four members of his campaign staff resigned. Nobody’s dishing on just what went wrong, with Mr. Flanagan only there was disagreement “about what the appropriate philosophy of the campaign ought to be …You expect these things to happen and you’re sorry when they do, but you have to accept it and move on.” We don’t know what philosophy the former staff embraced, but the candidate seems to be going for some kind of existentialism/Zen combo.

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One of Maine’s most esteemed citizens, former Sen. George Mitchell, stopped by his home state the other day to say he is optimistic that peace can be achieved in the Middle East because the current situation is so unbearable that something has to change. Maybe that’s an accurate assessment of geopolitical realities by an experienced statesman, maybe he’s just practicing up on the wishful thinking in case that deal to become part owner of the Red Sox goes through.

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With holidays upon us, humane societies across the state are reminding shoppers that pets do not make good gifts – what seemed like such a good idea to the giver often turns out to be a lifetime commitment the recipient is unwilling to make. Think of it as an Ab-Roller that needs feeding.