Kindness on the high seas
A big thank you to Jim from Maine for his generous donation. While cruising on the Oasis of the Seas during the first week of April, he met us — a couple from London, Ontario — who lost two sons to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We volunteer for Jesse’s Journey (a registered charitable organization that unites families and researchers to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy) and met Jim while on the cruise.
After hearing about our story, Jim later came back and said, “I wanted to give a little something to help the cause” and handed us an envelope with money to give to Jesse’s Journey. When asked for his name and address, so we could send along a receipt and thank you, he simply said “that wasn’t necessary.”
The only information we have about Jim is that he lives somewhere in Maine. We would like Jim to know how much we appreciate his kindness and generosity. Because of people such as Jim, Jesse’s Journey is able to fund the critical research needed to help find a cure.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a progressive genetic disorder that gradually weakens the body’s muscles. There are different types of muscular dystrophy: Duchenne is both the most common childhood form and one of the most severe forms of the disease, affecting one in every 4,000 boys. Jesse’s Journey has made great strides supporting life-changing research. To date, Jesse’s Journey has given $5 million to research, resulting in major advancements in clinical discoveries, helping children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy live longer lives and significantly improving their quality of life.
Thanks again, Jim, wherever you are.
Michele Sands
London, Ontario
Welfare disagreement
I beg to differ with the BDN’s April 23 editorial on our nation’s welfare policies.
It is not that I disagree with the observations about the current cynical political manipulation of the welfare issue here in Maine. Nor do I disagree that the governor has done little to provide credible employment opportunities for Maine families.
However, the assertion that the essence of federal welfare reform is inherently exclusionary is not correct. Three simple propositions fairly characterize the core policy framework of our nation’s family support programs.
First, support is provided only to those in genuine need of our, albeit temporary, help. Second, the path away from such support is living wage employment. Innumerable components of the federal law get to that practical outcome as quickly as possible. Finally, the programs recognize that for some citizens, living wage employment is not possible.
A well-designed and implemented state program built upon that federal framework can achieve meaningful economic and social consequences for the individuals involved. And the federal financial underwriting of state programs allows states to implement all three policy propositions in a balanced, thoughtful manner.
Our governor and his allies find an apparent advantage by endlessly demagoguing this issue. Through the governor’s singular focus on keeping people who need our help from receiving aid, he seems ruled not by a value proposition of shared social responsibility but by a self-interested effort to win elections. Federal policy has little or nothing to do with it.
Marilene Edrei Foster
Phippsburg
A modern bistro?
Lolita? A modern bistro in Portland? Someone thinks they are clever? In naming their new restaurant “Lolita,” the owners are using a word that has nasty and sexist connotations for girls and boys who are being or have been sexually abused by a family member. Have the owners read the book, “Lolita”? Seen the movie? The movie made me sick.
Sexual child abuse is an abomination. These monsters steal a child’s sexual development. Early childhood abductions (including for sex trafficking) rob victims of productive lives and produce man-made masochistic machinations. It all started in the hair-pulling Neanderthal Age, which has never left us; it has recently been proven that humans still have Neanderthal genes. Author Vladimir Nabokov used these genes to do abused children a disservice by inferring “Lolita” was the instigator in vying for attention from her stepfather.
Andrea Dworkin made it her life’s work to end pornography. Dworkin was correctly convinced that pornography (not “porno,” as it lessens its destructive impact) was the root of all perpetrated evil against girls and women. The rest, including sexism and prostitution, followed, supplying the variables to the whole unequal and monstrous equation called “Misogyny 101.”
The BDN unfortunately espouses society’s condemnation of Lolita’s childish infatuation: “Lola’s coquettish cousin Lolita is unpredictable, seductive and ready to push the boundaries of the modern bistro.” When a child is “coquettish,” “unpredictable,” and/or “seductive,” it is up to the adult to set the boundaries.
Anyone sexually abused by a family member may feel the same way I do about the “Lolita” restaurant. I will not go there.
Jackie Freitas
Friendship
Kudos to Penobscot County PD
My house in Orrington was one of many targets of burglars during the past month. Some suspects are charged with the crime thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office. I cannot thank them enough for taking those criminals off the streets.
Almost two weeks after the break-ins, I received the wonderful news that the sheriff’s office’s new canine, Dozer, with his owner Deputy Ryan Allen, found my purse in the woods near my house. I was in shock because we were initially told that the contents of my purse may never be found.
To Dozer, I am eternally grateful. By the time the purse was found, I had already cancelled all accounts and reported the stolen property to all of the creditors, but just to have everything (except the money) back in my possession, to be disposed of properly, is such a huge relief.
To all of the employees of the sheriff’s office, I have nothing but positive things to say about all of my encounters with you. From Detective Andrew Whitehouse, who was at our house at 6 a.m. taking information, to Detective Bill Flagg, who contacted me when my purse was found, met with me to explain everything and answered all my questions, and especially to Dozer and Deputy Allen. We are very fortunate to have all of you patrolling our area. Thanks so much for keeping our homes safe and secure after a frightening and traumatic experience.
Lisa Grant
Orrington