“One if by land. Two if by sea,” was undoubtedly a vital message. Abraham Lincoln had to wait many hours to learn of his presidential victory after vote tallying by hand, with results relayed by Morse code telegraph.

Today, we have social networking that can pinpoint a wanted man in Uganda or instigate an Arab Spring in a flash. And we have teenagers dying behind the wheel as they receive and send instant text messages. They kill or are killed with messages displayed on their cells, messages like “How R U?” and “Where U at?”

Maybe the person behind the wheel isn’t totally at fault. Why do we need excess unnecessary communication? I’ve been without my cellphone for the past month. It’s been great. People should not bother friends and loved ones with unnecessary chatter just because they can. When that phone rings, it’s human nature to want to see who’s calling. It’s nice to feel needed and important.

People sending calls should ask themselves if the call they are making is truly vital. Even if it is, people receiving calls should at least turn off cellphones and do no text activities while driving. It seems that cars and cells are looked at as toys and status symbols these days. Results can be heartbreaking.

Heidi Chadbourne

Manchester

Candidates’ Iran talk is extremely dangerous

I am extremely troubled by the hawkish rhetoric regarding Iran that has become the party line in the GOP debates during the primary season. The ill-informed message being trumpeted by the Republican candidates is dangerous and overly simplistic, and it has no place in serious policy discussions.

Mitt Romney’s assertion in the Arizona debate that President Obama should communicate to Iran that military options are not just “on the table,” but are in fact, “in our hand” is no doubt a calculated move meant to drum up support from the Republican base. However, this statement demonstrates the failure by the Republican candidates to understand the dynamics of the situation in Iran.

A military solution to the nuclear crisis in Iran will produce neither a quick nor a satisfactory resolution to the issue. At best, Iran’s nuclear program will be set back a few years. It has not yet been determined that Iran has decided to seek a nuclear weapons program, though they have certainly taken steps to position themselves to make such a decision. Currently, all that is certain is that Iran has some civilian nuclear capability, and that program is a point of national pride. You can be certain that Iran’s decision to develop a nuclear weapon will be much easier as the drum beats for war become louder from the United States and Israel.

The U.S. should continue to focus on isolating Iran internationally but also remain open to diplomatic engagement between Iran and the P5+1 (U.N. Security Council plus Germany). Bold calls for a military strike against Iran may garner support in the GOP primary, but in the nuanced world of nuclear diplomacy they reveal only a failure by the GOP candidates to grasp the magnitude and complexity of the situation.

Benjamin Seel

Belgrade

Bill Nemitz’s columns have both fans and foes

Bravo to Bill Nemitz for promoting global ethics in his “eulogy” of Rush Kidder, founder of the Institute for Global Ethics. Nemitz complimented Rush’s communication skills not to “roil the currents of modern-day culture, but rather to calm them.” We could all take this advice to heart — our OWN heart — in thinking of the consequences before we speak, write or act in a judgmental way. Nemitz quotes Kidder’s definition of ethics in a mature democracy as “far more than simply discerning what’s right from what’s wrong.” It’s having the “moral courage” to choose the right thing and do it.

Yes, I have lied about my child’s age to save a few bucks on a movie ticket. Yes, Bill Nemitz has slammed Gov. LePage’s character for certain decisions that don’t align with Nemitz’s views. Yes, Rush Limbaugh has instigated firestorms with his divisive rhetoric on the airwaves. Exercising individual “moral courage,” as Kidder suggested, will eventually transform our culture into one of integrity, one for the collective good. My high school civics teacher (1968) made us memorize the following statement: “Democracy is based on the integrity of the individual.” Kidder would agree, and he was right — ethics are absolutely essential to our survival.

In his book “The New Earth, Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose,” Eckhart Tolle writes, “The greatest achievement of humanity is … the recognition of its own dysfunction.” It’s this recognition that will lead to the health and healing of creation. Tolle calls this process the evolution of, or shift in, consciousness. Kidder alluded to this shift. He saw the disgust arising in our nation with the outrage of the polarizers — the outrage over the outrage, as Nemitz puts it. Maybe this outrage will finally unite us if we can recognized our own dysfunctional egos. Ask yourself, “How will my obituary read?”

Susan Bauer

Scarborough

Message to Mr. Nemitz: Enough already! After reading a Bill Nemitz column you realize any and all objectivity goes out the window when he writes about the governor and his administration, which seems to be with regularity lately. OK, we get it — you don’t like the guy. How about you becoming the adult in the room?

I am sure many readers like myself are tired of you hammering the man and his actions at every turn in the road. I am no LePage fan but you have succeeded in making me want to defend him, which makes me question my sanity.

I have always read your column and enjoyed your take on the topics of the day. You made me see that there are many sides to a story and you have proved that you are a talented writer. But, and it’s a big but, with your one-sided take on the governor, you have lost your credibility with me.

While I am sure you won’t lose any sleep over it, here is one guy who will be taking a pass on reading your column until you calm down and become rational again.

Jim Brown

Edgecomb

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