Fishy info about salmon?
The Yankee Chef in the BDN on Nov. 21 states that he uses “wild Atlantic salmon because the flavor is twice that of farm-raised.”
Wild Atlantic salmon in Maine are an endangered species. Commercial harvest of sea-run salmon (Salmo salar) in Maine ended in 1947, when weir fishermen in the Penobscot River caught a grand total of 40 fish.
Recreational angling for salmon is prohibited because of their endangered status. Commercial salmon fishing is banned in Atlantic Canada and Greenland. Wild Atlantic salmon are not available in retail markets.
Salmon available to Maine consumers is either farm-raised Atlantic salmon (some of which is grown in Maine and eastern Canada) or wild Alaskan salmon.
To help consumers learn more about salmon and other local seafood, consumers can visit the Maine Seafood Guide, seagrant.umaine.edu/maine-seafood-guide.
Catherine Schmitt
Communications Coordinator
Maine Sea Grant College Program
Bangor
Political parties with too much power
Is America about to fall off a fiscal cliff of $16 trillion? No. Isn’t it around $100 trillion including liabilities? Fingers point to Medicare and Social Security as places to cut. Older Americans would benefit more if Congress didn’t have a law forbidding Medicare to negotiate lower drug fees. Let’s ask our elected officials for a change in the law even if it means less political contributions.
The truth is our nation is in far greater danger from the paralysis and the power of the parties than any other external or internal threat. Sen. Olympia Snowe sadly is leaving over this paralysis. These private organizations called parties have their hands on the throat of the American Republic. They violate the Constitution at their convenience. What’s part of the solution? Open primaries and open general elections to all, not just party-picked candidates.
Eliminate their power to change legislative districts. Impossible? No, other states are doing it. Why not Maine? Aren’t we “We the People,” too?
Joe Pickering
Bangor
2012: A victory for women
As a volunteer for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and a resident of Maine, I am deeply grateful that November’s elections proved a victory for women in the state and nationwide.
I know that with the leadership of Sen.-elect Angus King, the support of incumbents like Rep. Chellie Pingree in Washington, and the commitment from state legislators such as John Cleveland, we can continue to protect a woman’s ability to make her own personal medical decisions, without interference from politicians.
In Maine in 2011, five different bills were introduced that would have restricted a woman’s access to health care or reproductive rights. Nationally, the dialogue on women’s health was increasingly threatening.
When she was my age, my mother fought for the passage of Roe v. Wade and joined American women in progress toward the freedom to make our own choices. Decades later, I had never felt those choices so in jeopardy.
On the morning of Nov. 7, with the election of a president who will protect my voice and the mirrored victory of candidates in Maine who support women’s health, I felt true relief.
This election was an overwhelming rejection of an anti-women’s health agenda that some in our state’s government and in the U.S. Congress have pursued for the past two years. In the two years to come I will continue to fight for access to crucial health care and hard-won reproductive rights and to ensure that we elect candidates who will stand with women in Maine.
Claire Hortens
Portland
Was this election really a victory for women’s issues or a just a defeat of the most mindlessly stupid aspects of the anti-women agenda? I fear they are still out there promoting restrictions against women’s decisions making. They are just a bit more cagey about how they frame their message, but it’s the same old message.
Repeated quite often by the One in the White House.
You are living on what planet?
Probably a combination of both factors. Think of the extreme backward effect on women if Romny/Ryan would have won.
Even people with thier head in a gopher hole know that restricting womens reproductive rights and decision making are here to stay…The left has successfully removed any moral compass from our law-making……right and wrong have been scrubbed from societies lexicon….at least when it comes to moral depravity or killing babies…I’m glad the important stuff is protected….
what’s moral, about having a child that you do not want, can not raise? I know you all think, that nobody should have sex unless, you have all your ducks in a row, All the women, I know that have had abortions, have been married. so put that in your pipe!
Catherine Schmitt, if I’m not mistaken they have Atlantic run salmon fishing in New Brunswick, Ca.
Catherine, why don’t you educate yourself before making another career threatening gaff…http://www.flyfishingatlanticsalmon.com/
Claire Hortens – pregnancy is not a disease. If people would learn to value human life the way our Creator expects us to, Planned Barrenhood would cease to exist.
We do value human life, including the life of mothers and prevention of unwanted or unneeded pregnancies by contraception and family planning.
Oh, you forgot to mention abortion that has snuffed out at least 55 million innocent American lives since Roe v Wade and caused more than half of aborting women to regret their abortion. Tell me, how has Planned Parenthood’s effort helped anyone? Certainly not those 55 million lives and the women who regret their abortions, not to mention the majority who felt pressured into having one by their boyfriend, relatives, Planned Parenthood and their affiliates, etc.
As to contraception, how has this growing practice helped to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies that have become a growing, serious problem in society?
How many of those 55 million ( a guess by the way) unwanted children would have become happy healthy children?
SInce most were going to grow up poor, possibly unwanted and lacking in education they would have a higher than average chance of entering the criminal justice system, if male, or heading poor single parent families relying on financial help if female.
I can hear just how loud the Right would be complaining about the costs of the social safety net with all the additional people enrolled in it.
As for the growing number of out of wedlock pregnancies, that can be placed directly at the feet of Abstinence Only sex education and reduced funding for contraception.
So let’s just kill all children, to spare them from possibly suffering in life. Problem solved. If all children were killed, then the human race would not be able to propagate, and because of that, we could save Mother Earth and all the animals and trees that live on her. What a wonderful world we would have without any people!
Typical Shrill reply of someone with no facts on their side. No one is advocating for all children to be aborted. Pro-Choice people want all children to be born into a family that wants and loves them and can provide for them properly. Pro-Life people just want the child to be born and then complain if the child costs society 1 cent (except if the cost is in the prison system,then it is money well spent)
In answer to your last paragraph, obviously contraception hasn’t been promoted enough. it’s even “forbidden” (but often ignored) by the Catholic Church. Attacks like those plus abstinence only sex education are partially responsible for out of wedlock births.
Abstinence is the only sure way to end out-of-wedlock pregnancies. Tell teenagers who tend to engage in risky behaviors to use contraceptives and see what happens. The subliminal message to them is clear: it’s okay to have sex. And then when they do, contraception is only good for a while until it becomes “too inconvenient to use”. You see, the fact is, with sex comes both personal and social responsibility.
It is okay to have sex, sex is a wonderful thing. You try to tell a whole bunch of teenage not to have sex and see how that works. Instead we should be telling them its only okay to have sex if you are safe. The fact is telling people not ot have sex is stupid, why? because people will always have sex. They should be giving out the pill left and right.
Obviously not everyone is like you. Yes, admittedly, in today’s culture it is difficult for anyone to avoid sex. But we can never hope to change a culture that is bent on self-destruction unless we start teaching our children what we expect of them. Set the bar low like society has been doing for the past 40 to 50 years and you will reap a laid-back narcissistic generation upon another generation. Teaching children to avoid risks doesn’t work very well because they are naturally risk takers. Teach them proper morals and standards and they will more likely follow suit as sex saturation in society begins to decline.
As it always has been and always will be. And in the past (and we sure do not want to go back to those practices) wealthy women flew to Mexico or had their expensive private doctor help get rid of a pregnancy. Those of little means often died as they did not have those options. Most of us deal in reality.
You’re making things up. Go look at the pregnancy and STD rates where “abstinence only” education is the method — their rates are massively higher than the rest of the country. Prohibition doesn’t work.
Quit lying to make your points — all it does it prove you don’t have a real point.
Opinions like this jeopardize the salvation of many millions of souls. Jesus asked, what would it matter if a man gained the whole world, but lost his soul? Is unfettered sex worth spending an eternity in agony, where you will never get even a split second of relief, forever? I surely hope not to experience that, and I don’t want anybody else to, either. But if we encourage people to disobey God, what chance do they have to be saved?
Why don’t we figure out how to feed the 16,500 children that die daily from starvation first.
Better yet, why don’t we figure out how to provide for the needs of all children, including unborn ones. Must we sacrifice the lives of unborn children in the sanctuary of the womb in order to feed children? Who else will be on the chopping block if we don’t protect all human life from beginning to end? Abortion just like euthanasia and genocide threatens all mankind, including the least among us.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matt 25:40.
“Thou shall not kill”. Exodus 20:13
“Thou shall not take another life without just cause”. Natural Law written in the human heart.
Because that would require some sort of Socialism. You know that stuff the Christian right hates. Why don’t we first focus on the the ones who are currently walking the earth
“Thou shall not kill.” That poster definitely must be against all wars then!!!
Please, go tell that to all the children that are starving, Let them know that is all okay because Jesus loves them.
Yes, what about the starving children? Do we kill them too? How about encouraging sex after marriage to curb the cycle of poverty? Guaranteed to work if we are serious about ending poverty.
No, you just pray for them and let Jesus care for them, if they die it was gods will. No How we curb poverty is to allow free and easily accessable abortions and free and easily accessable contracptives. The welfare and crime saves would more then pay for the cost. As for encouraging sex after marriage is just stupid. Humans have sex, that is what we are build for, its one of our most basic instintics. Yes sex after marriage would work, but flawed from the beinging because you are telling people not to have sex, which is just silly because you can never get people to not have sex, it would go against every filber of our being.
How do you explain the rise in dependency, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, s.t.d.’s, higher divorce rates, and serious crime leading to social chaos since the beginning of the sexual revolution in the 60’s that paved the way for the right to kill ones progeny?
No one has been able to show “comprehensive sex education” and other programs that promote greater use of contraceptives have decreased pregnancies. It’s abundantly clear however sexual activity outside the bounds of committed relationships has dramatically increased at all age levels, particularly among teenagers.
So we tell them not to have sex, they already are having it. Our sex education sucks. People likeyou want to tell people not to have sex, which isn’t going to work,then you work to stop actual education. People have sex, always have had sex, will not stop having sex. The promote contraceptives, but the the people using them? Condoms are the stupidest form of contraceptive there it. WHy becuase if you do not have one you are not supposed to have sex. Yes please tell two really horny people, no condom, no sex. Not going to happen. Give women the pill for free, and when the male pill comes, give it to them for free.
Again, a cop-out response for those of you who refuse to believe in the power of the grace of God. Having God in your life works to solve problems, but you have to accept his presence in your life in order to make it work. Rejecting God just leads to much more disappointment, disillusionment, and suffering for the human race.
Next time a family that doesn’t have food or money, I will just tell them ACCPET JESUS!! I have lived a great and wonderful life without Jesus.
No, that is not what the previous poster implied. Why the distortion on your part? In fact Christians are at the forefront in providing assistance to whomever needs it. My community has a food pantry, a homeless shelter, and a Catholic Charities center that offers almost anything for free to those who can’t afford to pay. I believe the workers there are all Christians even though atheists are welcomed without hassle to volunteer along side them.
For starts, we can get sex education out of public schools. These programs if anything are very divisive and interfere with parents’ rights to raise their own children as they see fit. Big Brother rarely offers a good solution. His interest in social engineering is motivated by greed and controlling others.
I prefer the school have sex ed. I am fully qualified to teach my kids trigonometry, but I prefer the school does that, too.
You just won’t accept the power of humans’ being able to live by the grace of God. We’re not just animals with no self-control. We can choose to have sex outside or within marriage. If people would let God rule their lives, poverty would be far less prevalent.
Jesus loves them dearly, and he loves you, too. And if any children starve to death, they have a great eternity waiting for them in heaven. One of the biggest issues that you people who don’t believe in God have, is that you seem to think that death is preventable. Well guess what? We’re all gonna die. Then our real, final life begins. And where we spend the final stage of our lives depends totally on how well we have lived according to God’s laws while we are in this life.
He loves them so dearly they should starve to death! I bet that warms these childrens heart every night knowing that while they have a empty belly and might die tomorrow, Jesus loves them. Or the man that lives a great, wonderful life, full of happyness and love and joy, but if he doesn’t believe in Jesus, boom enteral doom!
How do you know what He expects us to value? How do you know He doesn’t value Planned Parenthood? And who appointed you His chief interpreter anyway?
I’m not his chief interpreter. That title belongs to the Catholic Church, to which the God-man Jesus Christ gave all his authority to teach in matters of faith and morals. We ignore or disdain the teachings of the Catholic Church at our own eternal peril.
So appointing the Catholic Church the sole interpreter of the Creator is more acceptable and appointing yourself? BWAAHAHAH! I’m wondering what all the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Baha’i etc think of this appointment of yours. LOL
No, the Catholic church is not the chief interpreter. It does not speak for many. We do not have one church or one faith in this country. Never have, never will. You are woefully ill informed.
So to you planning when to have children is worse than bringing in unwanted children or children you cannot afford to raise correctly?
If you are truly against abortions then you should be for easy access to affordable contraception.
Good letters all.
My body, my choice
Morally speaking, yes, “my body, my choice”, providing you are not stepping on other people’s boundaries. My freedom stops where some other person’s begins. With that, tell me, how are women well-served when most aborting women feel pressured to having an abortion and when the majority of them regret their abortion? You see, abortion not only takes a human life, it really deprives others of freedom as well. Think about it. If you have time check out websites that actually show photos of dismantled unborn babies. What you will witness is the legacy of legalized abortion, as photos don’t lie.
I have seen the pictures. I don’t know that most women regret having had abortions. Please supply links to the surveys. I do know from women I have spoken to that in the vast majority of those cases, the decisions were gut wrenching and there was/is much sadness. No one is saying the decision to have one should be or is taken lightly. But the decision of what to do with one’s body should be made by the person who owns and lives in that body.
Claire Hortens – Yes, it is a victory for the selfish, cold-hearted, promiscuous, and uncaring women who seek to dispose of the unborn instead of taking responsibility for their risky behavior, and a complete loss for the defenseless, innocent, unborn children. Of course, it’s all in how you look at it. I prefer to weigh on the side of the unborn.
You prefer to weigh in for the unborn but the second that child is born you, and others like you, could care less about them.
Such false BS. Christians do far more to help children than any other group of people on the planet. Liberals don’t even want to give babies a chance in life. Let’s just play God, and kill all the problem children, right?
As usual, a broad-brush, stereotyped condemnation of an entire group of people.
You don’t think that people who believe that the lives of babies should be legally, violently snuffed out can be lumped into a singular group? Sounds like a perfectly stereotypical image to me. Thanks, EJ, for telling the truth. Too bad more people aren’t willing to heed it.
Maybe we should figure out how to feed all the starving children we have now.
Your comment is a perfect example why we need to keep the church and government out of women’s wombs.
Yessah