No need for civilians to own assault weapons
I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We all have the right to bear arms to protect ourselves or our property. If people can’t protect themselves with a shotgun or rifle, then they ought not to have a weapon.
It is not a constitutional right to bear assault weapons or any automatic-style weapon. What is the necessity in civilians owning a weapon of mass destruction? If people feel the need to discharge these weapons of war, why not have a controlled area at the shooting range with a fee that is then donated to victims and families of horrific crime.
Carol Henderson
Dexter
The scoop on pet food
Julia Bayly, in her June 18 Bangor Daily News article about raw diets for pets, quoted a Fort Kent veterinarian who said that dogs and cats “need carbohydrates like those from grains just like anyone else.” I think she needs to do a lot more research.
The pet food industry funds schools of veterinary medicine and pushes their own products. Carbohydrates are cheap, and it’s impossible to make kibble without them. Even the alternative carbohydrates — usually potato or sweet potato — found in “grain-free” pet products are unnatural foods for dogs and cats. Cats especially, as highly specialized obligate carnivores, are suffering from obesity, diabetes, urinary tract problems and other diseases because of carbohydrate-laden commercial diets. The “prescription diets” are highly problematic but they are making a lot of money for somebody. I’ve seen animals that were languishing on these prescription diets regain their health once they were switched to species-appropriate raw food.
Making pet food requires some care. People need to follow clean kitchen practices and educate themselves about what their animals need, as there are some wacko recipes out there on the internet. But generations before us managed fine without commercial pet foods, and many of today’s diseases didn’t even exist until grocery stores started stocking aisles of kibble.
Most of us have budget constraints, but people do the best they can. But people should do research and not count on the giant pet food manufacturers to give them the real scoop. It’s a multibillion dollar industry.
Jamila Levasseur
Waldo
Time to support national monument
The tide has turned in the Katahdin region. I was proud to see my neighbors stand up and speak passionately in support of the proposed national monument at the congressional field hearing in East Millinocket requested by Rep. Bruce Poliquin in June.
I also was overwhelmed by the statewide support for the national monument at the meeting in Orono requested by Sen. Angus King. A nearly full house of 1,400 people attended. Standing ovations were given to King, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis and Lucas St. Clair, the representative of the family that wants to donate 87,500 acres to the American people for the national monument. It was clear that the vast majority of people attending were in support.
I am a native of Millinocket and have lived and taught in East Millinocket for 40 years. When my students graduate, they leave their hometown and do not return because there are very few jobs for them. Although the paper mill sustained my family and hundreds of other families for 100 years, those days are gone.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. President Barack Obama could designate the land east of Katahdin as a national monument and give the Katahdin region a reason to be hopeful for the next 100 years and forever because the jobs associated with a national monument cannot be exported to other countries.
I urge King and Poliquin to work with the president to make this national monument happen as soon as possible.
Nancy A. Moscone
East Millinocket
Carr’s offense to Native Americans
Howie Carr’s introduction of Donald Trump at the Cross Insurance Center on Wednesday was symptomatic of the Trump campaign’s low mentality and social consciousness. The vocal calls associated with the name of Sen. Elizabeth Warren serve to stereotype and stigmatize Maine’s Native American population.
I worked with Maine’s Indian tribes for 20 years. It is deplorable that the governor of this great state, given the sensitivity of the relationship between the state and Maine’s honorable tribes, would tolerate this on that stage. I am hoping that Gov. Paul LePage has within him an apology. But if he does not, I would like my friends in Maine’s Native American communities to know that the racism in the Trump campaign is noted. It is not just the Muslim-American and Mexican-American communities that are targeted, it also is them.
Sadly, the historically great Republican Party that played such an early predominate role in the struggles of oppressed populations has disintegrated to the opposite of heroic. And the fact that Trump does not comment on these things — except to promote himself — should cause all of us here in Maine to reflect.
John Yasenchak
Bangor
Cruelty to animals
A few years ago, I forced myself to learn about farm animal abuse. If these animals could endure such brutality, the least I could do was bear witness to their suffering and take responsibility for my role in it. And once I knew better, I could do better.
Nobody wants to see a pig or sheep beaten with a crowbar, slammed head first into concrete, or dragged bleeding and bleating to its death. Nobody wants to see a calf torn away from his or her mother at birth and slaughtered so we can drink his or her mother’s milk. Nobody wants to watch male or female chicks being stomped to death or tossed into meat grinders or garbage bags while they’re still alive, simply because they will never produce eggs. Nobody wants to watch a goose be boiled or plucked alive for our cushy coats and comforters. Nobody wants to acknowledge the thousands of shelter animals who are killed every day because no one adopted them. And so we continue to support the horrors we cannot find the courage to confront.
In a world in which we are torturing and slaughtering billions of the most innocent among us, we cannot hope for a world of peace and nonviolence.
Rebecca Tripp
Searsport