Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012: Gender reporting, foreign policy and right to marry

Gender reporting

I am writing in response to the headline of the article “ Drug-fueled burglary spree nets Camden mother of three 18 months in jail.” Although it may be a fact that the woman convicted of these crimes is also a mother, I wonder why the BDN so rarely reports how many children a male criminal has fathered. It seems every day the BDN reports on men who have been arrested for domestic violence, and I cannot think of one instance where you listed (in the headline) how many children were involved or how many children they have fathered.

Domestic violence seems like a crime that would warrant that type of information. I don’t see the relevance in reporting that Ms. Ali-Ariza is a mother of three, other than to perpetuate society’s belief that women should be held more accountable for being good parents than men.

Hannah Ives

Newcastle

Foreign policy 2012

I find it most alarming that our present foreign policy has such a short memory of our past history.

President Woodrow Wilson said, “A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do.”

Let’s begin with the recent murder of our Ambassador Chris Stevens, and the others at the consulate in Benghazi, Libya. There is a working formula here for disaster when you are perceived as weak. Let’s go back some 70 years ago when Germany and Japan intended to destroy us. It is a fact that our diplomacy of appeasement then is very similar to how we are operating today.

Let’s go back to the beginning of our problem with the radical Muslim terrorists; you may have thought the beginning of it was Sept. 11, 2001 when these terrorists rammed the planes into the World Trade Center and intentionally murdered hundreds of innocent Americans.

Wrong, it started way back in 1784 with the same Muslim countries and lasted till the Treaty of Tripoli in 1816. During this time 1,025,000 American mariners were taken prisoner or sold as slaves or killed.

The fact is, we need a president like Mitt Romney to bring us back to the reality of peace through strength. He’s our only hope to regain respect throughout the world. Folks, this is serious business.

Romney can turn our present disastrous foreign policy situation around and bring honor and strength back to America once again. It’s up to you. Vote!

Gene Graves

Rockport

Legal right to marry

My wife and I are retired educators with nearly 70 combined years of experience working with young people. We would like to share our views concerning the upcoming vote on same-sex marriage.

We frequently go back to central Maine, where we taught for the majority of our careers to visit with “our kids” at their class reunions. They are adults with fulfilling careers and families of their own. Several of our former students are now living openly gay lives. We remember these students as young people who made major contributions to their schools and communities. They were brilliant scholars, outstanding athletes, talented performers and class leaders, and all of them whom we knew were very well liked and respected by their peers and teachers.

Today, they are still bright, talented young men and women making their mark in the world. It hasn’t been an easy road for them. They have had to make difficult decisions and often endure heart-wrenching pain at home. It’s sad to think that some have also faced prejudice in their workplace and communities.

Through the years, we have gotten to know these young people personally. We know their families. We know how much it would mean to them to have the opportunity to legally marry the person they love and with whom they hope to spend the rest of their lives. Please give them and their families that opportunity this fall. We hope you find it in your hearts to give all citizens of Maine the opportunity and the legal right to marry the person they choose.

Frank Davis

TA R7

Vote Cassidy

Democrat Katherine Cassidy, although a newcomer to Lubec, comes with long-range vision for the health of our town. I write in support of her candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives.

Even before she moved here last June, she had a plan — the Bay of Fundy International Marathon, that will bring many benefits to our community. We now have a working committee of a dozen and growing. We have responded to Cassidy’s leadership and enthusiasm to organize a 26.2-mile marathon for June 23, 2013.

The marathon’s impact goes well beyond the 200-plus runners we expect on the weekend, spending money locally, filling our restaurants and lodgings, and coming from two-dozen states so far. Besides developing tourism in the shoulder season, the marathon will serve to get our own residents more active in general. The impact on school children could be dramatic. One doesn’t have to run a marathon next June to change one’s lifestyle toward more healthy habits in the meantime.

Cassidy isn’t organizing the Bay of Fundy International Marathon for political gain. She’s doing it because she has a vision for something new, fun and significant for our community’s future.

Rachel Rubeor

Lubec

Differing views

Recently I discovered that Nichi Farnham is being attacked by her Democratic opponent for being a rubber stamp for Governor Paul LePage.

When I heard this, I laughed as last spring at the end of the legislative session I wrote Nichi a fairly scathing e-mail because I didn’t think she was supporting our governor adequately. In fact I

told her that I might as well vote for a Democrat if she wasn’t going to support him in his efforts to get the state budget under control.

At this time, I am wondering what her opponent is talking about, as Farnham explained that she has many constituents to represent who may not all think the way I do and she has to keep them in mind when voting. I wasn’t entirely happy with that answer, but I understood her position when our conversation concluded. It seems she is willing to compromise, I wonder if her opponent would take the same view and represent my more conservative outlook in the way she is always

considering the views of the Democrats in her district.

Terry Hamm-Morris

Hermon