“We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws.”

G.K. Chesterton, dominating figure of the London literary scene

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in politics and it leaves far too much for me to write about. I will stick to just a few, like the Windham Town Council turning down allowing construction services in the so-called C-3 Zone, which was surprising.

What I find disgusting about this discussion is that it lasted for so long. Town councilors held lengthy debates with public participation. It was passed on to the Windham Planning Board. Then it returned to the Town Council for its ultimate failure. What makes it even more ironic is that amendments were made, some of them rather stupid, which may have very well been the reason for its downfall. What a tremendous waste of time, effort and probably tax dollars as well. It makes me wonder how the decision will go as far as hiring a new town manager.

I now understand after some discussion that a possible illegal addition to a subdivision happened in Windham some time ago. Building permits were issued even though the lots were illegal. It appears a solution has been found, but what I wonder about is why and how it happened in the first place. As one who always inquires when government does wrong and a coverup occurs, I certainly believe citizens of the town should know who in town hall allowed it to happen. With this incident I think I have figured it out, which makes me wonder what else could have happened at the same time. The problem with keeping problems hidden allows a mindset that even more problems could occur, something I think did happen.

I have mixed thoughts on the Maine Death with Dignity Act, which last I knew is awaiting Governor Mills’ signature to put it into law. I really do mean I have mixed thoughts. I have seen so many cases of where people were supposed to die and yet recovered. How does this act take into account serious depression when someone is really ill and the quick solution is a dose of medications to end it? And worse yet, there is already a problem with elder abuse and as crafty as people can be, I can see some greedy family member seeking their inheritance quicker than normal. Then there’s the question as to what happens if the medications aren’t used. My thoughts are based on the fact of how many soldiers I saw die in Vietnam giving their lives so others could live. There certainly are two sides to this issue, and I suspect even more sides as well.

I hate to say it, but it is time for the silver bullet recycling bins to go. I recently brought some materials to those bins and was shocked at the amount of junk and garbage inside of them. I suspect some of it is coming from outside of Windham.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham wonders if the cameras located at the recycling bins have resulted in catching the scofflaws misusing them.