Katahdin’s lure
In the book “Sacred Mountains of the World,” Mount Katahdin is called the most imposing mountain on the eastern part of the continent. There are many great mountains in the region, but none can equal the grandeur of “Maine’s greatest mountain.”
Unlike other mountains with road access that leads to the summit, Katahdin’s summit is reachable only by foot.
I have seen many “worldly” visitors climb Katahdin. Boy Scouts from Pennsylvania and tourists from Germany and Japan, to name a few.
A national park located near Baxter State Park would make Katahdin more visible, and this would be good for the state’s economy.
Irvin Dube
Madawaska
Amusing payback
All the complaints about Gov. Paul LePage are very amusing. Do any of these complainers remember what President Barack Obama said to the Republicans after he won the presidency? “ I won.” And he and his henchman, Sen. Harry Reid, have been refusing to work with Republicans ever since.
The “do-nothing” Congress was not result of the obstructionism from the Republicans, but the lapdog, Reid. Like Senate leaders, from both parties, before him, he sat on more than 300 House bills that were not brought up in the Senate.
Payback stinks, doesn’t it.
David Smith
Newport
Bush at 90
I congratulate Barbara Bush on her 90th birthday. I also want to extend best wishes to George H.W. Bush. I never voted for him, but I noticed that as president he didn’t demean people and was the type of man who was not too partisan, and a man who was easy to admire. May God continue to bless them both.
Bob Tweedie
Westfield
Sub-standard service
I’m not sure which state Kimberly Lindlof, president and CEO of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce is living in, but it certainly isn’t Maine. Her June 8 OpEd, “Expanding broadband access, without putting taxpayers at risk,” claims that “all urban residents, and 96.3 percent of rural residents, have access to … at least 10 megabits per second” download speeds.
I live in downtown Rockport, located between Camden and Rockland, and subscribe to FairPoint Communications’ DSL. The best we can get is 3 megabits per second. Except for those who are along the municipally strung fiber, I am unaware of anyone getting more than 3 megabits per second without a special line that costs and costs and costs. And our service is so bad that we lose Internet connection five to 10 times per day. No business could exist with that kind of service.
Being closely associated with the municipally-owned fiber-optic network (government-owned network as she puts it) in Rockport, I can state that neither FairPoint nor Time Warner Cable have expressed any interest in providing higher speeds, certainly not in the 100 megabits per second or more range needed by professionals and businesses.
The result is, if Rockport residents are to receive reasonably reliable and truly high-speed Internet (in excess of three to 10 megabits per second), it is going to happen only through government-owned networks. Which means there is either some risk, such as Isleboro and Rockport are considering, or we are left with sub-standard service.
William Chapman
Rockport
The child and the bully
Webster’s Dictionary defines “childish” as: 1) “marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise a childish spiteful remark, 2) Deteriorated with age especially in mind: senile.”
Both definitions fit Maine Gov. Paul LePage.
LePage, in his May 28 press conference at the state Capitol, called all Maine Democratic politicians “repugnant,” “disgraceful” and “children.” He then proceeded to castigate them for refusing to vote along his political agendas and then said he would veto every Democrat-sponsored bill until they relent and agree to accept his constitutional amendment to eliminate Maine’s income tax.
Webster defines “bully” as: “a blustering browbeating person; especially: one habitually cruel to others who are weaker.” This one also fits LePage.
Governing is the art of persuasion, compromise and the solvable, not intimidation, threats and bullying. LePage does not govern, but he intimidates and threatens unilaterally, and he does so with childish behavior and bully tactics. When he doesn’t get his way, he throws temper tantrums and acts the victim, which also are very childish traits.
I would strongly suggest that LePage take a page from President Barack Obama on how to govern in a civilized manner, with poise and some compromising and some intelligent give and take.
This unrelenting bullish attitude and take-no-prisoners’ mentality of his is more suited to uncivilized and dictatorial governments than civilized and Democratic ones. Things get done when folks sit down and agree to agree; they do not get done when they sit opposite each other in anger, call each other names and then level condescending childish threats.
James Chasse
St. Agatha
Transgender kindness
Caitlyn Jenner is a brave human being. She has been waiting 65 years to be born. Please speak kindly of her to family, friends and others.
I have been researching transgender issues all of my life (I read Kraft-Ebbing before I was a teenager). On her deathbed, my mother told me I was born a “pseudo-hermaphrodite.”
Humans seeking transgender surgery need to change their gender. I am convinced by my research that most transgenders were born either hermaphrodites or pseudo-hermaphrodites (I am one of the lucky ones who never needed to make the change because I always considered myself 50/50 female/male). Last time I checked, the numbers were one in 100,000 human babies are born either hermaphroditic or pseudo-hermaphroditic.
At birth, hermaphroditic or pseudo-hermaphroditic babies’ genders are “chosen” by their doctors and parents. Very infrequently, parents insist upon their child’s right to choose their gender after hormones kick in and other variables of human life develop. It is disturbing that doctors and the media make no mention of hermaphroditism or pseudo-hermaphroditism in their assessments of transgender issues.
The transgender process is immensely complex (probably as complex as living the wrong gender). One who does not have to make this difficult decision can’t imagine this difficult transgender transition. Please speak kindly of transgender humans to your family, friends and others.
Jackie Freitas
Friendship