Collins should support Iran deal
Decision days for the Iran agreement approach. Sen. Angus King and Rep. Chellie Pingree have declared their support. The senator has helped by calling for civil debate before votes are cast and by bringing together himself, George Mitchell and former Ambassador Nicholas Burns for an Aug. 19 discussion, which should be required for those deciding the agreement’s fate. It is available on YouTube and the University of Southern Maine’s website.
New 2nd District Rep. Bruce Poliquin has acted differently. Apparently convinced that ignorance and inexperience are best for quick if not sound decision making, he rejected the agreement as soon as it was announced. Whether he had read it is unclear. Though some might say Poliquin was only parroting his party’s line, he also accompanied his denunciation with a declaration that “Mainers don’t want a bad deal.” It seems not to have occurred to him that some Mainers might see no deal as worst of all.
Sen. Susan Collins has not yet declared herself. Those who count such things have her in the negative column, and her history suggests that is her inclination. However, she has been willing to hear varied perspectives and, when justified, she has left her party’s line.
Her website emphasizes her as compromiser and longtime member of the Defense and Intelligence committees. Her record allows for hope she will see the agreement as reasonable and better than any alternative. Her departure on Iran from kneejerk Republican oppositionism would be a welcome and responsible contribution.
Ed McCarthy
Vienna
Share the road
Having just read Hank Garfield’s Aug. 29 blog post about angry drivers and bicyclists, I was moved to chime in on a similar issue. I am a runner, and as often as possible I try to run on roads where there is minimal traffic, not only for my own safety and health but because I enjoy nature and solitude. My eyes are always ahead, facing traffic and watching for obstacles in the road.
I wish I could say I have never encountered a dangerous situation while out running from drivers that happen by. I literally have been run off the road, honked at, given that famous middle finger gesture, called names and passed dangerously close by drivers traveling at an absurdly high a rate of speed.
I feel we as a society have lost all sense of respect and decorum for one another and these examples confirm it for me. I implore folks who do encounter a runner — or bicyclist or walker — to please just slow down, look up and pay attention to who is in front of you.
Better yet, park the car and get out there running, walking or bicycling. Not only can we work to solve the obesity epidemic, but we might just say “hello” and “how are you?” to each other.
Pam Tremblay
Hampden
Egg confusion
Eggs are good for you. No, they’re bad. Yes, they are. No, they’re not. One thing for sure, they’re a vital component to stretching a low-income food budget as a staple food ingredient for stretching those food dollars by preparing meals at home and when not the eggs themselves being the actual meal itself.
But now eggs, practically overnight, are at $3.50 per dozen? How long is that one going to last? Until it catches up with its “perfect food” designation and becomes the new norm?
Thank you so much to another “industry” for taking away any questioning of whether or not you’ll buy the product and leaving you only with how much you will pay for it, whether it’s feasible for you or not.
Audrey Spence
Portland