Organics and pesticides
Jody Spear, who wrote the Aug. 13 OpEd about spraying blueberries with pesticides, should read the national organic program regulatory text and she will find that many pesky pesticides can be used in certified organic production.
I’ve been harvesting my wild blueberry crop, and one of my fields was certified organic. I applied a pesticide to the certified organic wild blueberries, with a label that says, “Toxic to bees”; “Toxic to aquatic invertebrates”; “Restricted entry interval”; “Coveralls, chemical-resistant gloves … must be worn by workers entering fields within 4 hours after application.” The pesticide I’ve used on my certified organic wild blueberries is Entrust SC, produced for Dow AgroSciences LLC.
I am pro-organics but also anti-misinformation.
Cary A. Nash
Camden
Fight the heroin blight
I can’t help but laugh (with a bit of sadness) about the heroin summit, the round table discussion by various professional politicians and the meager sentences passed down by our judicial system on those found guilty of drug offenses.
Until there is a large enough public outcry, with serious politicians ready to take a stand and judges ready to give meaningful sentences, nothing is going to happen. I applaud Gov. Paul LePage’s attempts to secure much needed funding to fight this insidious blight on our society.
Fred Carey
St. George
LePage should resign
Maine residents, regardless of political persuasion, are tired of the ineffectual governance, the rancor, the meanness, the endless vetoes, the personal attacks, the threats, the belligerence and the embarrassment that have been the hallmarks of Gov. Paul LePage’s term in office.
LePage has brought governance to a standstill, holding legislation, citizen-approved bonds and public funding hostage. He has insulted, threatened and alienated his colleagues — even those from his party — and he has fostered an environment of rancorous confrontation. The governor has demonstrated a lack of understanding of the Maine Constitution and the basic workings of a three-branch government. In fact, he has repeatedly insulted Maine residents, the poor, the sick and the underprivileged, the very people he was elected to serve.
He has embarrassed the people of Maine and the office of governor through his boorish, vulgar, bellicose taunting and tactless rhetoric. Under his dictatorial “leadership,” Maine has gained renown, not for its rugged beauty, its quality of place or the independence and industry of its people. Rather, Maine has become known as the state with a buffoon as its governor.
The people of Maine deserve a governor who is able to conduct the business of state effectively, with dignity and honor, with respect for colleagues and for the people that he or she serves. It’s time for LePage to restore the dignity and honor of Maine residents and the office of governor by tendering his resignation.
Julie A. Krasne
Yarmouth
Shaming the obese
I’m surprised the BDN printed Jackie Conn’s offensive and misinformed Aug. 20 blog post, “Should cupcakes be allowed in school?” Despite being the general manager of Weight Watchers of Maine Inc., Conn’s language perpetuates the stigmatization of obesity.
As someone with a doctorate in nutrition who has published about parent feeding styles and child weight status, I can write with complete certainty that zero peer-reviewed “studies suggest that children whose parents enforce rigid guidelines over what their children eat often become absolute, out-of-control monsters when the parent isn’t there to enforce the rules.”
Conn’s offensive language continues. She writes, “[Banning cupcakes in schools is] not going to solve the problem and worse, it punishes the kids who aren’t overweight.” Following her asterisk to the bottom of the commentary, Conn adds, “On second thought, ‘no cupcakes allowed’ punishes all the children.” Why are children “punished” if there aren’t cupcakes in schools? Why does she need an asterisk to clarify that “on second thought” all the children would be “punished,” not just those considered to have a healthy weight?
The likelihood of being bullied is 63 percent higher for obese children than their healthy weight peers. The contents of this blog post represent the kind of attitude that leads to bullying and shaming (“Now we can’t have cupcakes because you’re fat!”). Conn possesses credibility solely because of her professional title, which I hope she remembers the next time she shares her opinion.
In the future, I hope the BDN expects better journalism from its contributors.
Rebecca Boulos
Cape Elizabeth
Climate change reversal
Among several pie-in-the-sky ideas Connie Potvin put forth in her Aug. 21 letter to the editor is the “rapid migration of sugar maples northwards,” which is an actual fact. Some time ago there was an opinion piece bemoaning the fact that the Maine moose were losing their habitat and would suffer as a result.
I suggest that the forest service should tie the moose to the sugar maples and they would then be pulled along as the maples move north.
Potvin wants to reverse climate change. Seems like this past winter is enough reversal for me.
Jim Miller
Pittsfield
Use pot revenue for treatment
People smoke pot. This is regrettable. If pot became legal, there is a chance more people might start smoking pot. That too would be regrettable.
Unfortunately, people buy marijuana from drug dealers, who get it from multinational drug cartels because pot is illegal. If we could, even for a short time, take money away from drug dealers and cartels, that would be a good thing.
If we could use all the tax revenues from marijuana sales to fund substance abuse treatment programs, that would be a wonderful thing.
Jim Alciere
East Machias
Opportunity for Millinocket
Have people heard about the meth lab in East Millinocket? How about the hundreds of homes that just had tax liens placed on them in Millinocket? Or the fact that our communities can’t balance their school budgets?
I’m tired of all the negative headlines, and I’m tired of the leaders in our government turning their backs on our region.
The economy in southern Maine and along the coast is booming. But we’re hurting.
We need jobs and new opportunity for our towns.
I think a national park offers just that, and I’m asking U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins get involved.
If not a national park, then what? I don’t see anyone else proposing a $100 million investment. I just see headlines about drugs and communities in decline.
Paul Renaud
Millinocket