Letters

Published
December 21, 2015

Letter to the editor: Display obscures sculpture, suggests Portland is a backwater

On behalf of all artists, but more specifically my father, Cabot Lyford, I must strongly object to the display that obscures his work “Life Force,” the dolphin sculpture in front of the Regency Hotel. It is an insult not only to him as an artist, but also to the work itself, which was created as […]
Published
December 21, 2015

Letter to the editor: Bill conceived by asbestos industry should be opposed

The heavy use of asbestos in shipbuilding is likely one of the reasons Maine has the nation’s highest annual asbestos mortality rate, with 10.2 out of every 100,000 deaths attributable to asbestos exposure. The nationwide average is 4.9. In fact, the rates of asbestos-triggered deaths throughout New England are all higher than the national average, […]
Published
December 21, 2015

Letter to the editor: Maine history holds lesson on intolerance

The headline “A century ago, the anti-Catholics raged” (Dec. 12) jarred recollections of the same rage against Catholics in Maine over 150 years ago. The anti-immigrant American Nativist party, the “Know-Nothings,” had taken over many local and state governments from the 1830s to 1860s. The coded language of those decades, “America for Americans,” resonates in […]
Published
December 20, 2015

Letter to the editor: Criticism of ranked-choice voting was off the mark

Gordon Weil’s arguments against ranked-choice voting in Maine (Maine Voices, Dec. 13) are not convincing. Furthermore, his gratuitously snide comments (calling the concept a “flavor of the month” and comparing it to a TV game show) insult the Mainers who have thought long and hard about the problem of minority-elected officials and the potential for […]
Published
December 20, 2015

Letter to the editor: Trump is legally correct on restricting Muslims

Donald Trump’s idea of restricting Muslim immigrants is dead on and totally legal. In 1952, the Democratic U.S. House and Senate passed the McCarren-Walter Act over President Harry S. Truman’s veto. The law says in part: “Whenever the president finds that the entry of any alien or any class of aliens into the United States […]

Published
December 20, 2015

Letter to the editor: Vetting process will work as refugees seek U.S. entry

As the first-generation offspring of a refugee mother and an immigrant father, I find our society’s current response to the international refugee crisis disturbing. In elementary school, we were taught to understand the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty – “give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” My mother […]
Published
December 20, 2015

Letter to the editor: Maine needs a pro-business climate, not a new national park

So a national park in our North Woods would be the economic savior to Maine’s business and employment struggles? Maybe not. The National Park Service is a government agency. Its funding through appropriations of taxpayer dollars is annually subject to change. NPS is funded at $3.1 billion for 2014 and is forecast to take in […]
Published
December 20, 2015

Letter to the editor: Federal no-fly list removes rights without due process

Much has been written about the “insanity” of terrorists on the no-fly list still being allowed to purchase guns in the United States. Let’s think about this. Foreigners are not allowed to purchase guns – period. Any American can be placed on the no-fly list for many different and vague reasons. The famous folk singer […]
Published
December 19, 2015

Letter to the editor: Marijuana creates complex risk for drivers

The use of cannabis is not without potential risk (“Maine study group recommends THC blood level-limit for marijuana-using drivers,” Dec. 15). But such risks need to be placed in proper context. A recent National Highway Transportation Safety Administration study assessed whether those who are THC-positive possess an elevated risk of motor vehicle accident compared to […]
Published
December 19, 2015

Letter to the editor: Front page juxtaposes cheap gas and climate change

Reading the front page of the paper Dec. 12 was a truly surreal experience. Above the fold was the headline “Small nations swaying fight for a tougher climate goal” (which included the points that rising seas are slated to swallow entire island nations, and that the nations of the world are failing to make progress […]

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Letters