Take our country back
There are three issues on my mind. First, our nongoverning governor should do the job he was elected to do. For someone who grew up poor, he sure doesn’t show any empathy for his fellow Mainers. Must be all that out-of-state money.
Second, America was built on immigrants, which I don’t have a problem with as long as they are here legally. Illegal immigrants get welfare benefits and are robbing American citizens of jobs. I worked with an immigrant from Luxembourg and he was unhappy because he took the time to get his citizenship and the illegals were getting more than him even though he is a citizen.
Last, we need to take our country back. Our politicians are getting rich off us and being controlled by the rich and big business. I love my country; I just don’t trust my government.
Gary King
Howland
RIP Yogi Berra
We often hear the refrain of better times in the past from folks of my generation. That was brought home to me again when I heard of the passing of one of the greatest ballplayers ever, Yogi Berra. I say ballplayers because in that day (1950s and ‘60s) that is what they were, ballplayers. Some made big money, but most had regular jobs in the offseason. There were only eight teams in each league, so you had to be really good to play.
I was, possibly, the only Yankee fan in Bucksport; I always rooted for winners. The World Series was an afternoon event. We were so excited when transistor radios came on the market and we could listen to World Series games with an ear plug, the radio hidden in a pocket from the teacher. I think they knew but let it go if we were not too obvious about it.
Yogi was a great ballplayer. He often caught both ends of doubleheaders, could hit anything pitched, called all his own pitches and played ball hard all the time. I remember when Jackie Robinson stole home in the 1955 World Series. To his last days, Yogi swore he was out; he was always the competitor. He was in 14 World Series and the Yankees won 10 of them. He still holds a number of World Series records.
Thanks to Yogi for all the memories and reflections back to a simpler time when ballplayers were just that, ballplayers.
Bob Mercer
Bucksport
Human sacrifices, end times
First, the Neanderthals disappeared. As hunters and gatherers, did they simply run out of wild game? Some anthropologists have found evidence they turned to cannibalism.
Next, human civilizations gathered up steam, but many fell by the wayside. The Mayans, with a city as large as New York City, suffered seven years of drought. No corn, no food, case closed. A strange thing about some of these great-gone societies is that many had “human sacrifices” to a god-in-the-sky. Maybe this god-in-the-sky spit them out because of their distasteful sacrifices.
Fast-forward and we may be watching another civilization disappearing. That might be a society in the Middle East that has championed suicide-sacrifice of their young male virgins. What difference does it make, if a civilization creates atomic weapons, uses them, and is totally destroyed by a superior force? Their leaders are awarded in heaven with 10 virgins?
Do we sit by and ignore this worldwide threatening problem? What about the refugees? Is there a seven-year drought in their future by a discouraged god? The problem, as many might see it, is that the innocent allowed their future doomed because they did nothing to halt the coming of ISIS. Compassionate humans will aid the victims, but they might be off course if the religious thing does not wane. Who needs next-door neighbors who believe in “killing all infidels”?
Robert Fournier
Bangor
Water quality threats
On behalf of my tribe, I want to express profound gratitude to all who worked to defeat proposed weak mining rules that came before the Legislature earlier this year. These rules would have seriously threatened water quality in Maine. I also want to thank the many members of the Legislature who voted against this bill.
Since first proposed, these rules have been of great concern to our entire community. These rules presented the high likelihood of extensive, irreversible damage to Maine’s waters from acid mine drainage. Such damage would likely have occurred first at a project already proposed for Bald Mountain, in Aroostook County, where we live.
Bald Mountain is also located in the St. John River watershed. We call it “Wolastoq,” which means “beautiful river.” We call ourselves “Wolastoqiwik,” people of that river. Water is sacred to us. Maliseets have fished in the waters of the Wolastoq/St. John for thousands of years. We want to continue our cultural traditions in this, our ancestral homeland for thousands more.
As an elected leader of my tribe, I am charged with the responsibility of protecting the health and welfare of our community and sustaining and renewing our traditional ways and ancient cultural ties to the environment. We, too, testified in person and in writing against these weak mining rules. We know the health and welfare of all Maine people depends on clean water, now and for generations to come.
It was heartening to hear many citizens and legislators of our state agree.
Brenda Commander
Houlton
Lion outrage misplaced
There was uproar in this nation, indeed much of the world, because some American big-game hunter shot and killed a “favorite” African lion. The hunter was hounded, his practice was beset by demonstrators, and he was condemned by most of the media, along with the usual complement of shallow politicians.
Generally concurrent with this incident, a group purported to disclose how at many Planned Parenthood clinics, not only were little, unborn children destroyed, but additionally, their little body parts were harvested and sold. We saw the cavalier attitude of the body-part harvesters explaining how they exercised their skill.
Instead of a great roar from every quarter protesting this savagery, we witnessed a massive condemnation by the media of the group that exposed these moral crimes. This newspaper published articles exonerating Planned Parenthood but castigating those brave folks that exposed this horrible truth. Some even tried to advance the principle that harvesting aided medical research.
When the death of a wild beast elicits more outrage than trading in little body parts, we are on the verge of moral bankruptcy in this nation.
William D. Duddy
Dedham