Views of addiction
The difference between Gov. Paul LePage‘s view of drug addiction and that of U.S. Sen. Angus King reminds one of a difference once cited between ancient Athens and Rome.
Leonard Woolf, husband of Virginia, said that from Athens we got the idea of truth and justice and from Rome, the idea of crime and punishment.
Patricia Schroth
Sedgwick
Collins should support Iran deal
The U.S. Senate soon will vote on the deal negotiated by various nations to restrict Iran’s development of nuclear capacities and restructure their relationships with the international community.
This deal will shrink Iran’s nuclear program dramatically and would give inspectors the access they need to verify compliance. It provides meaningful steps to delay the development of Iranian nuclear weapons by years.
Further, the deal offers the opportunity to use trade, cultural exchange and diplomacy to bring Iran into the network of nations that are too interconnected to ever want to go to war with each other.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others who would hold out for a better deal ignore this one’s hard-won strengths. Worse, they live in a fantasy if they believe at this point the many parties involved can enter a new round of negotiations and win more concessions. The alternative to this deal is no deal and a rapid, dangerous escalation in Iran’s nuclear program and its tensions with the world community.
This deal is supported by former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell, U.S. Sen. Angus King, the military establishments’ current and former leaders, the United Nation’s Security Council and General Assembly, and the vast majority of the arms control community. Contact and urge Sen. Susan Collins to lift her voice in favor of it as well.
J. Gray Cox
Bar Harbor
Let’s end the violence
Many of us are concerned about the culture of violence in our country, which threatens the future of our children. As individuals, we may feel there is little we can do. But together we can be a force for positive change.
End Violence Together is a part of Campaign Nonviolence, a national movement to build a culture of peace through the power of active, effective nonviolence as an alternative to permanent war, global poverty, environmental destruction and systemic violence in all its forms.
Campaign Nonviolence was launched last September during a week of 239 nonviolent events across the nation: rallies, marches, vigils, prayer services, fasts and festivals. Here in Bangor, 200 people came together for the first End Violence Together rally and march, which was cosponsored by 37 Maine community organizations.
The second annual End Violence Together rally will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, in West Market Square. Forty local organizations are cosponsoring this event, which includes drumming, speakers, music, children’s activities and information tables. The rally will be followed by a march through downtown Bangor.
End Violence Together invites us to connect the dots between war, poverty and the climate crisis and then to work collaboratively to create a more peaceful, just, sustainable world.
Connie Jenkins
Pax Christi Maine
Orono
Driving the limit
I do something every day that most people don’t seem to bother with any more: I drive the speed limit or a bit above.
Perhaps people need to learn better time management, because they seem to be late for wherever they’re going. Maybe they need to go to bed earlier. Or, if they have a 20-minute drive from work, they should leave earlier.
Lawrence Grant
Levant