If you ever doubted the fact that many politicians see citizens as mere pawns in their political game, the wrangling about whether employers should give adequate notice about looming layoffs should enlighten you.

The recent spate of attacks by Afghan forces against their coalition counterparts is troubling, to say the least, but it should not change the timetable for withdrawal.

Anyone who has watched a basketball game has likely seen what is casually known as “the flop.”

In the only vice-presidential debate of 2012, Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Joe Biden came out swinging, pleasing both their bases. The narrow edge goes to Biden, who returned momentum to Democrats smarting from President Barack Obama’s lackluster first debate.

Ask most people about smart meters, and if they can tell you anything at all, they will remember that a vocal group of utility customers armed with a little inconclusive science believes that they’re dangerous.

One of the ironies of this election cycle is that the influence of money on legislative races is much greater today than it was when the Maine Clean Elections Act was passed 16 years ago to limit the influence of money on politics.

The college admissions process looks unfair to many who try to navigate it. For every accepted student, selective colleges can turn down an equally qualified applicant. Or two. Or 10. In the end, decisions are made on a wide variety of factors beyond SAT scores and grade-point average. One of them is race.

This year, a company in Framingham, Mass., the New England Compounding Center, shipped 17,676 steroid injections for back pain to clinics in 23 states. Some of the injections were contaminated with a fungus that has led to a meningitis outbreak in 10 states, in which 119 people have been sickened and 11 have died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that some 13,000 people got the injections, starting May 21.

Is the strategy in Afghanistan working? As we marked the 11th anniversary of the war Sunday, the answer is no.

Critics of school district consolidation may get what they want when voters go to the polls this Nov. 6.