Meil for Legislature
I was driving through Rockport village last week, listening to national elections coverage on the radio. I have found it hard to get excited about any of our prospects on the national stage. That’s why I feel so grateful and hopeful for our region, knowing I have a chance to elect Democrat Kathleen Meil as my state representative in Augusta.
I have seen Meil working in our communities for years, volunteering in our schools, on our library committee and as an advocate for energy efficiency. Her leadership is about hard work, friendliness and a desire to find common ground on difficult issues. Our next state representative is going to need to vote on important, complicated problems that affect our lives. Meil is the candidate I trust most to do the work, listen to the details and make the reasoned decisions that are needed to improve our communities.
We need more than good intentions in Augusta. Meil has the energy and the willingness to put her skills into action. Meil is the one who will work to protect the interests of residents of District 94 — Rockport, Islesboro and Camden — at the State House.
I’m not sure my political opinion is any more informed than anyone else’s. But I know character. Meil has character, and she is the best candidate to represent District 94. That’s why I will be voting for Meil in the June 14 Democratic primary and why I hope other Democrats in District 94 will, too.
Rick Thackeray
Camden
Family caregivers need support
I recently held a caregiver conversation in Wells, and I’m hoping others in Maine may wish to do the same. More than a caregiver support group — though we did touch on some of our shared experiences — these conversations help to raise awareness about the needs of caregivers and start to examine the supports and services caregivers need in their communities.
There are 178,000 family caregivers in Maine who take care of a loved one every day. These unsung heroes make daily sacrifices as they juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Many of the caregivers we hear from report feeling overwhelmed. We want to work with family caregivers across Maine to ensure the supports needed to care for their loved one and for themselves are in place.
I worked with AARP Maine to organize my small event of about a dozen people. I hope others will send a note to me@aarp.org to organize their own caregiver conversation. Together, we hope to bring voice to the challenges of family caregivers and start to draft a plan to effectively address them.
AARP Maine also has a new caregiver resource guide available for family caregivers. No matter where you are in the continuum of caregiving — starting to plan, helping to coordinate a big move or taking care of a family member in your home — having resources at your fingertips will make the process easier. You can order this free guide at me@aarp.org.
Amy Madge
Volunteer
AARP Maine
Wells
Maine can close ‘gun show loophole’
Maine voters this fall can adopt a common-sense improvement of Maine’s gun regulations. The data are very clear that states with better background check laws have less gun violence, which is pretty much what one would expect. This is not rocket science.
By and large Maine gun owners are responsible. Closing the “gun show loophole” will ensure that Maine guns remain in responsible hands and will not change anyone’s right to buy, sell or own a gun. It will simply enforce existing law that denies guns to felons, domestic abusers and the severely mentally ill.
When background checks by gun dealers were first required more than 20 years ago, there were few gun shows. But they have became popular because not all states require private sellers at guns shows to conduct background checks. About 40 percent of all gun acquisitions, including sales, gifts and inheritances, did not involve a background check, according to a 1997 study by the National Institutes of Justice.
Better background checks are not being foisted on Maine by anyone. They have been broadly supported by more than 80 percent of Mainers. But there is no question they are opposed by powerful interests from outside Maine.
Extending background checks to all gun sales is an opportunity for Maine voters to make a simple, common sense and inexpensive improvement to Maine gun laws that will save lives, continue Maine’s traditions of responsible gun ownership and use and discourage criminals and drug dealers from coming to Maine to buy guns.
Tom Franklin
President
Maine Gun Safety Coalition
Portland
Home sales in occupied Palestine
Americans ought to care about what is happening in Israel. After all, the country is most favored by our generosity, receiving more than $124.3 billion in aid since 1948, almost all in the form of military assistance. Now President Barack Obama proposes a $3.1 billion per year aid package for the next decade.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee claims the U.S. and Israel share a common commitment to democracy, the rule of law, freedom of religion and speech and human rights.
Strange, then, that Adalah, the legal center for Arab minority rights, reports that more than 50 laws in Israel discriminate against Palestinian Arabs.
Stranger, too, that since 1967, Israel, recognized as the “occupying power” of the Palestinian territories by the United Nations, has established more than 237 settlements in the West Bank. Inasmuch as occupying powers are prohibited from “transferring citizens onto occupied territory,” the settlements and their more than 500,000 Jewish residents are illegal.
In January 2016, a Human Rights Watch report “Occupation, Inc.: How Settlement Businesses Contribute to Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights” indicted RE/MAX LLC, the international real estate company, for the sales of homes in the illegal settlements.
Just as we all ought to take stock of what our tax dollars subsidize, every RE/MAX agent should consider what the company is selling in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. They may want to send a letter of conscience to RE/MAX International Chairman Dave Liniger telling him to stop the illegal sales.
Dud Hendrick
Deer Isle