Terror then, now
With the recent passing of another Dec. 7, I can’t help reflecting on what we can enjoy in this country. I looked up at the sky the other day and was taken by its beauty and serenity. After watching the daily bombings in the Middle East, I relished the security and peace of our sky here at home. Pearl Harbor Day will always be the reminder that we too can have bombs dropping around us.
My Hawaiian mother was there that day with her family. Her dad was a serviceman. Bombs rained down as my grandmother herded her four kids to a bomb shelter.
That was the day America experienced the terror seen around the world today. That day the serenity in our skies was broken. We must be ever vigilant to prevent another attack here at home. I hope we can also be respectful and caring towards those suffering such senseless bombings elsewhere.
Tom McDonald
Ellsworth
Replace tracker with civility
After being elected by a margin of 11 votes to represent the citizens of Clinton, Detroit and Pittsfield in the 126th Legislature, I found the following quote from former President John F. Kennedy: “The margin was narrow, but the responsibility is clear.” Clearly the voters in my
district have tasked me with the responsibility of changing the dysfunctional atmosphere that currently exists within our political system in Augusta. The voters know that a collaborative effort between their elected representatives is what’s needed to turn our economy around.
It’s my intention to bring that change to fruition. So, I have taken some initial steps toward making that change happen. I contacted the chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, Ben Grant, but was unsuccessful in my effort to convince him that it would be in everyone’s best interest if the MDP removed the tracker that it placed on the governor. I asked this of Grant because I believe that the negativity generated by this serves only to dampen prospects of collaboration between political parties during the upcoming session.
As a Democrat, I ask the MDP to afford us, the members of the 126th Legislature, the opportunity to start fresh, without this outside interference. What’s needed is a collaborative effort by you, the citizens, to get the MDP to do the right thing. Therefore, I ask you to contact your district representatives regarding this matter. Help the Legislature to get off on the right foot.
Stanley B. Short Jr.
State Representative for District 29
Pittsfield
Media, then and now
Bruce Porter is quite right in suggesting that trackers are just another name for stalkers (BDN, 12/11/12). But the malice of tracking goes beyond stalking, in hopes of recording a ruinous event.
An ugly example: The photographers at the 1932 Cleveland National Air Races, who ignored the race and never took their eyes off Jimmy Doolittle’s wife, waiting to catch her expression when Jimmy’s fast but dangerously unstable Gee Bee would probably crash. It did not, and Doolittle won the race.
Such practice by the media, then and now, is contemptuous.
Henry D.M. Sherrerd, Jr.
Dexter
Return ‘Memory Lane’
MPBN canceling “Memory Lane,” as reported in the recent article by Tom Groening, didn’t surprise me in the least. My only concern and problem with MPBN is that when soliciting funds from its listening audience, it takes great pride and care to stress the “P” in the acronym for Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
How can one segment of the public be ignored in this arbitrary decision to terminate this program? Shouldn’t the public’s voice have some say in this decision? What happened to the public since 1979 when “Memory Lane” was introduced? Did the public lose listening interest in the recorded songs and music of 1940 to 1950?
If the writer George Orwell (“1984”) were still around, he probably would say, “I warned you about erasing history and what can happen as a result.” No more “Play it Again Sam,” “Satchmo,” “Bing, Frank and Ella,” and by all means, let’s forget about the big swing bands that kept WWII sentiment and sanity alive in those years. Didn’t the listeners get enough talking in this last election? Getting rid of “Memory Lane” is like getting rid of family photos from that period of time.
It’s my hope that “Memory Lane” is returned to MPBN or else the “P” in the acronym MPBN may have to mean private.
Elizabeth Jalbert Pecoraro
Fort Kent
T. McDonald, E. Pecoraro; Good letters.
S. Short: admirable, but probably futile attempt at collaboration. LePage would probably just replace his weak excuse with another.
H. Sherrerd: ancient, non-applicable history.
Tom McDonald–I fear that you don’t even see the irony in your letter.
Let me give you a hint–Pakistan…drones.
Is that ironic somehow?
Tom, nicely put letter. A thoughtful wish for peace on earth is always good this time of year.
Pecoraro: very good letter. I’m not old enough to have been around for most of the years that Toby LeB covered in “Down Memory Lane,” but that hardly mattered as he smoothly moved from song to song and from week to week with thorough professionalism And then MPBN asks for end of year special contributions–screw them! I will reduce my annual contribution next time and say exactly why. Toby LeB. remains a class act who should be brought back. Let Charles Beck go off the air instead.
I was around from the 40’s on and heard many of the previous ones as they were brought back. i agree that it was a very unwise move to cancel the show. I didn’t check last Friday, but there’s no evidence the shows are streamed regardless of promises.
Amen. Once a week, I certainly prefer it to the BBC. And Living On Earth isn’t worth trading Toby for.
Mr. Short- While your sentiment in regards to the tracker is admirable, it is a moot point. The governor has no interest in compromise or what is in the best interest of the majority of Mainers. He is only interested in appeasing a couple of billionaire trust fund babies and their campaign to bring the wages for the working men and women of America down to that of the average Chinese worker.
Your comment only illustrates what troubles our state government. It starts and ends with a negative tone throughout. Is this what Maine needs in Augusta? The answer is a resounding “No”. Newly elected State Representative Stanley Short from Pittsfield is right on the money with his idea of our state lawmakers’ need to make a fresh start. He is right when he says that the Maine Democrat Party needs to remove the tracker on the governor that is designed to catch the governor in an embarrassing moment. And he is right in his assertion “the negativity generated by this (tracker) serves only to dampen prospects of collaboration between political parties during the upcoming session.”
I applaud Mr. Short for his willingness to change the way the state legislature operates. The Republican governor has already come forth with a verbal commitment to work with the Democrat majorities in both legislative chambers. Let’s hope Democrat Party Chairman Ben Grant whom Mr. Short has already approached has a change of heart about his refusal to eliminate the tracker for the sake of all Maine people.
Qualified verbal commitment. Something he should be doing anyway.
Mr Short, the tracker is needed for LePage. Maybe it will keep his mouth from running so much and bad things won’t come out of it.
To me, the use of “trackers” is an indication of how low our political campaigns have sunk. It might be helpful if both parties in Maine would agree to stop the practice.
I wish Rep. short well in his efforts to bring a little civility and bipartisanship to the legislature. I hope there are other legislators who will join him.
Mr.Short thats the only kind of attitude that is going to get us out of our problems .I just hope it is contagious and you spread it all around but unfortunately if the past is any indication I won’t hold my breath.