What’s next?
In regard to the Dec. 17 Bangor Daily News story, “Belfast council renames Columbus holiday Indigenous Peoples Day,” having lived in Maine for 75 years, I am no longer surprised when the out-of-staters come to Maine to “give back” by running for office in order to change how we do things here. But I was shocked to learn that it only took 250 petitioners and four city councilors to abolish Columbus Day.
I am sure that Columbus and his men did terrible things to the natives, but you cannot compare the times then and now. You can’t change history, folks. What is next for this band of do-gooders, abolish Presidents’ Day because George Washington owned slaves? And the Fourth of July, shouldn’t we all go back to the Old World and let the Native Americans have the whole country? After all, they were here first.
Richard F. Dinsmore
Belfast
Ideology over common sense
I am writing because of my concern about the Maine Department of Transportation favoring an out-of-state private contractor over Maine government workers for maintenance of the Casco Bay Bridge.
As a retired government worker, who witnessed downsizing of the government workforce in favor of private contractors, my experience confirms that privatization does not necessarily save money or improve services.
Private contractors often have a stronger bargaining position than government workers and are subject to less rigorous oversight. In fact, in many areas there is evidence that privatization results in increased costs and decreased services.
As a Maine resident, I think there is sufficient evidence that this is one of many decisions by our current administration that are driven more by commitment to ideology than by concerns with well-being, safety, efficiency, fiscal responsibility or common sense.
Annlinn Kruger
Bar Harbor
Setting the record straight
In a letter to the editor published on Nov. 17, I incorrectly wrote that Rep. Lawrence Lockman broke his pledge to abide by the Maine Council of Churches’ Covenant on Civil Discourse when he described a Lewiston mayoral candidate on social media as anti-Christian. In truth, the candidate is a well-respected and devout Episcopalian.
I erred by saying Lockman broke his pledge. Actually, he never signed the Covenant in 2014 when he was a candidate for the Legislature. I misread the list on the council’s website of candidates who had signed the Covenant, which requires candidates, among other things, “to value honesty, truth and civility.”
I recently discovered the mistake inadvertently and felt it was important to set the record straight.
Bonny Rodden
Board member
Maine Council of Churches
Falmouth
Preservation of the world
There were two items in the BDN on Dec. 30 supporting the national park — one a letter from Susan C. Jones and the other an OpEd. I would like to carry their thoughts one step further and quote Henry David Thoreau: “The west of which I speak is but another name for the Wild, and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the world. Every tree sends it fibers forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind.”
Stephen Porter
Searsmont
Safe connection
Staying connected on your cellphone, in the world we live in today, is a great thing.
However, staying connected while driving or walking could cause you serious injury or even
death.
I was prompted to write this letter because someone walked in front of my vehicle while I
was leaving my parking space, and that person was on her cellphone, unaware of her surroundings.
You may have a smartphone, but it is not very smart to make choices that put you or others in danger. So, please, stay connected in a safe way. It is not the end of the world if you can’t talk on your cellphone while you’re driving or walking, but it might just be the end of your world if you do.
Take control of your life and don’t let your cellphone control you!
Mary-alice Curtis
Hampden
Moral compass in combat
The fact that women can successfully implement the duties associated with combat at the same level of expertise as men is understood, especially within the milieu of technological advances. Additionally, the legal tags attached to equal responsibility and military obligations is duly noted throughout.
However, despite these attachments to contemporary service, it seems sad and incongruous that the gender responsible for birth, raising populations from nursing to independence, and serving as the moral compass for our society is being asked to kill.
The spiritual and moral instruction of any killing notwithstanding, the role of women as purveyors for life being asked to join in the fray begs a disclaimer preceding the initiation of carnage.
If those entrusted with the very essence of life are being asked to take away from which they have given, then how do we answer our children who ask where their mothers have gone and what they are doing in their absence?
It speaks ominously for us on different levels within our society that all share in the obligation of carnage, not the least of which is the search for explanations regarding the future of all of our aspirations and what roads we select to pursue them on.
Ken Fogelman
Franklin