Hazing is a chameleon activity: one minute it can be harmless, the next minute it can be hazardous, or worse. The centuries-old practice still draws strong rebukes and surprising defenses from those who think it’s more about tradition than foul play.

You’d think that dominant banks, utilities and telecommunications companies would have learned the lesson by now. Consumers are sick and tired of being nickel-and-dimed, and won’t take it anymore.

Iran’s announcement that it had test-fired two missiles at the end of 10-day naval exercises in the Persian Gulf was a sharp reminder of regional instability, whether in countries emerging from decades of dictatorship or still subject to arbitrary rule.

Every election cycle, some politicians make hay with a proposal to shrink the size of the Legislature. But last week the House of Representatives grew and everyone cheered.

Maine is a small state with a citizen Legislature that offers its members part-time pay. It would be too much to expect that no lawmaker would ever work for a business or agency that does business with the state, or have a family member who did.

Don’t be fooled by the swagger in Mitt Romney’s walk at the conclusion of Iowa’s caucuses to choose a Republican presidential nominee.

Of all the numbers that have tumbled out of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to fill a $220 million budget shortfall with cuts to MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, one of the most striking is also one of the smallest.

The votes have been counted in Iowa, and the winner is (drum roll please) … Super PAC.

This year, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up three issues that would be important at any time in the nation’s history: health care reform, immigration enforcement and determinations of geographical boundaries of legislative districts.

If you can’t be optimistic at the start of a new year, you probably won’t get much opportunity later.