Hey Jim, he described it as corruption because his mouth was moving 10 mph faster then his brain (as usual). This is why we have to pay for him to have a spokesperson. Someone has to explain what he REALLY meant to say.
In the business world I believe the Peter Principle also means, you start at the top and work your way down to your level of competency. Unfortunately when we elect a government official who is incompetent we can't assign him, or her, a less responsible job or simply fire them so think long and hard about who you vote for.
Jason, obviously you don't have a clue about flooring installations. After 20 years of doing it there isn't a single technique I didn't try.
Your asbestos comparison is also ridiculous. Asbestos workers were not told about the dangers of asbestos when the industry knew full well of the dangers. Call Joe Borntein! Football jocks knew about the dangers before their first game in high school.
And your final conclusion is the height of ridiculous.
Tom your comment is about as specific as Lepage's "corruption" comment. Before throwing the rock he should be sure to identify his target. Instead ,collateral damage is the results ,then his spokesperson has to minimize that damage.
Your right, Phyllis. And if our governing body would stop funding wars the money saved would easily support the social programs you mentioned, but I guess war is far more important then America's own.
I've been stating this very same thing in this forum for years and will continue to do so every time someone dies and cell phone use while driving is involved. It's a proven fact that that cell phone use while driving is as dangerous as a drunk driver. When will our lawmakers and governor realize this? Perhaps they think they're in that group of "experienced drivers" and banning cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle will cramp their style because they'd have to adhere to their own law.
Turning off my cell phone has become as automatic as fastening my seat belt. It's what I have to do so I can be alert to drivers who aren't paying attention.
Stay safe my friend.
If I do live to 86 years old my wife will be 68 and hopefully able to care for me, I have my VA medical benefits, extensive property holdings, royalties from my music and my books. so I really ain't worried about 21 years from now. I MAY BE FRENCH, BUT I AIN'T TUPID! -----Paul.
Your boy better be shi--ing and getting cause he ain't doin so well in the polls. I think there's going to be lots of Republicans in the Senate and House getting their walking papers. Perhaps "so long Boner" would be a more accurate ring tone.
Mark, I thought for myself for 50 years and now that I've earned my Medicare and Social Security benefits I don't have to think quite so much in my old age. Lovin it!
Well said Dr. Walworth, I couldn't agree more. Malpractice suits, obscene profits, more then obscene costs for medical procedures, health insurance company rip-offs and on and on describes what we have now. It's time for more then ObamaCare, it's time to overhaul our whole, out of control, healthcare situation.
Running for public office to serve the citizens of Maine one one hand and screwing the citizens of Maine on the other is either the height of hypocrisy or just another case of the fox guarding the chickens and thinking no one will notice. Well, Mr. Rhoades noticed as did lots of Maine voters like myself.
Go back to your precious patch of woods Mr. Poliquin and pay your fare share of taxes and while your at it, tell Mr. Nutting he still owes Maine tax payers millions in fraudulent overcharging with his pharmacy scheme.
As long as cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle is allowed, texting will continue and people will needlessly die.
Someday our lawmakers will realize that operating a vehicle is a full time job and not the time to be multitasking.
Three years ago I jumped into this marriage free for all and now I'm sick and tired of it, which is precisely what Gay Activist want.
When I go into the voting booth this fall I'm going to skip the box concerning this issue because frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn!
I've trained my beagle to bark twice then run away. Check out You Tube, search "Daisy welcomes" and the video showing a blue Ford Focus. You'll see my vicious Daisy Mae in action.
I don't walk around town with a piece in my belt trying to be a "wanna be cop" but I do keep a loaded 30-30 by my bed and I know how and when to use it. This is what I interpret as my right to bear arms.
Good for you, Mary Ann. To take a day, gas up your car, travel to Augusta and express your concerns to your local representative shows good civic involvement.
The issues you wrote about that impact our environment and issues that change tax policy have received less time in committee and study the the Woopie Pie bill.
Perhaps our legislatures think that if they simply rubber stamp a bill no one will notice. They're wrong--you did!
The point I was trying to make is that our health care costs are through the roof, example: the cost for a two hour procedure to repair a simple hernia $18,000. My health insurance premium was $4,004 a year with a $6,000 deductible with a 20% co-pay. Pharmaceutical suppliers and health care providers are making outrageous profits. Last but not least, insurance companies are holding us hostage with their "take it or leave it" way of doing business.
The whole system simply sucks and I don't think Obama Care will fix it. The entire system needs major surgery and not just a band aid.
I'm OK with the way Social Security and Medicare is handled. I get my SS check every month and on time since I turned 62 and my Medicare premium is $1,200 a year with a 20% co-pay on some procedures. I turn 65 tomorrow and all my retirement benefits have come through without a hitch. Not bad for "The Government".
I agree with Ed and Dan but I wish we would have gone one step further and nationalize health care just like Canada. By doing so there would be better control of obscene hospital charges and ridiculous hospital administrators salaries. We could totally cut out the incredible profit margins insurance companies generate on the backs of policy holders.
If the government can administrate Social Security and Medicare it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to administer national health care. Everyone would have to pay, but I believe, pay less and I really can't buy that it will lower the quality of health care.
If health care providers are paid an about average wage they'll continue to lead the world in quality health care.
You think we're going to get only the straight skinny and good investigative reporting from the PPH now that Sussman and Pingree own it? On the bright side, because the paper is now a democrat institution perhaps they'll focus a little more on your good buddy, Nutting. Yup, it pained me to hit the "agree" button too.
I'm no great fan of our sitting Governor either but remember, there are no special days honoring war protesters and draft dodgers. If he was one of them he has to live with it.
I know Ron is as proud to have served our country in Vietnam as I am. We answered when our country called.
It's now time to give our young returning war veterans the dignity, respect and opportunities they deserve.
Thanks for the great article, Mr. Rhoades and thanks for the kind words, Ron.
Just to set the record straight, Sheryl Briggs introduced this bill by the urging of one of her constituents name Dwight. When I heard this bill was going to committee I contacted Sheryl to see if I could help. Many Vietnam Veterans were there to speak on behalf of the bill. My part was to sing "The Wisdom That We Gained" a song I wrote and recorded about our Vietnam experience.
Today, Congressman Mike Michaud, is working to make this a national day of recognition.
Thanks America for welcoming us home.
Steve, At the ceremony Peter Ogden, who works tirelessly to get the recognition our Veterans deserve, pleaded to all who were there to let him know if they knew of any other Veterans deserving of this states recognition to get in touch with him. Please do so Steve, they deserve this recognition. Maine Dept. of Veterans Services Augusta Maine ( Peter Ogden ). I don't have the e-mail address but you can find it on line.
Thank you Eileen for doing such an excellent job in covering this event.
I was so proud to be a part of it and a special thanks to Rep. Sheryl Briggs for her hard work in making the dreams of Vietnam Veterans come true. Such a nice "welcome home".
This morning I gave the SJ a heads up on another associated issue I'm sure they will be eager to investigate and be the first to report. I don't want to reveal this information and steal their thunder. Much more to come--trust me!
Many important issues left before the end of the session and Lapage is off to Jamaica. His whole political agenda reads like a comic book. Missing mural, Kiss my Butt, Women with little beards, $40K Daughter, $68K Brother-in-law, and on and on. Hey, it least he gives me something to write about!
Dan, most of the time I'm pretty much on your political side of the fence, but frankly I don't care what party they're beholding to, if there is proven wrong doing, fire em! Remember when we had a system of checks and balances? Now all we have are two political parties, paid by us, digging up dirt against one another. God Bless America!
Larry, my friend, gas prices in the beginning of 2008 (just before Obama was sworn in) hit an all time high of $4.11 in many states. Under $2.00 a gallon?? Where do you get your facts from, the National Inquirer? Curious minds would like to know.
It's hard to believe that a person, such as this unpopular, controversial governor, would be stupid enough to open the door to such criticism. He must be the epitome of self destruction. If there is a "DAH" award, I'll nominate him.
The job is in the State Planning Office probably cleaning the latrines for $68,577 a year. As he was a general contractor, I can't see any real qualifications for the position ( kind of like the daughter ). What a farce!
Log on to the Portland Press Herald and SHAZZAAM! Fearless leader strikes again. "A" strait, he is creating jobs---for his family on our nickel. This guy is a true disaster.
Hey did you hear, your good buddy Lepage has put his brother in law on the state payroll in Augusta with a poultry salary of $68,000 a year. Bet that will fuel your fire!!
Go on line and check out the gas prices in 2007. $4.00 under the Bush? YUP! How soon we forget. And man, does Obama have a lot to blame the "previous administration" for (he's never used the BUSH word). $1.75 a gallon or so? You, the parrot and Breton must be passing around a bowl of weed. And if the current GOP candidates think they have a snow balls chance in hell, they're smoking weed too.
I could gag a when I hear the MITT, the NEWT, and the SANATORIUM respond to a question about what they would do to fix particular problems our country is now facing. All they can come up with is what Obama should have done. They live in hind sight instead of coming up with constructive ideas for the future. ( OOPS! the Newt is promising $2.50 a gallon gas---now that's a gas). God God Dr. Shields, your grand old party of losers have to come up with something better.
Of all places to take your eyes off the road,The Maine Turnpike. I applaud the good police work by the State Police, but I know how to make their job much simpler. (I'll say it again). Ban all cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle. We wouldn't need two cops and a van. One cop in a squad car could easily spot a driver with a cell phone attached to his or her head, then have it followed with a hefty fine.
Years ago when I was a Sherwin Williams store manager I had a test for perspective employees. Before the scheduled interview I would place a crumpled sheet of paper on the floor between the front door and my desk.
If that person presented him (or her) self as a person who would be an asset to my store, was neat, spoke well and especially had the self motivation to pick up that crumpled up paper and discard it in the trash can, they stood a darn good chance of getting hired.
These following comments are all very good advice, Christopher. Don't give up and make sure you pick up the paper!
What a great story and it reminded me of something. When I was in the Navy serving aboard a guided missile cruiser with 1,800 other sailors their was only one thing that mattered--our ship. She fed us, housed us, transported us and protected us. We were Caucasian, Native Americans, African Americans, light skinned, medium skinned, dark skinned, Catholics, Baptist, Jewish, Islamic, Republicans, Democrats, etc.
But what stands out most in my mind is that we left our differences at the gang plank before coming aboard, for without doing so the ship would have sunk.
True Dan, we all pretty much know the jet stream brings pollution our way, but I swear you amaze me.
If you walked through a field of roses the only thing you'd smell is one lone pile of dog poop.
This whole issue of lack of accountability for our tax dollars boggles my mind. Since becoming governor, Lepage has been very quick on the draw,
so quick in fact, that he's shot himself in the foot quite a few times.
This MSHA issue is one that required a Lepage quick draw for a complete audit by the Maine State Police. I don't believe he would have shot himself in the foot, but alas, he left his gun in the holster.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Thomas, I though you were going to write about this gay marriage issue, but you did make a good point.
And, Dan, if Nutting throws his hat in the ring I bet he's slick enough to win (don't you think?).
After the four or five years that this laptop program has been in place and costing us millions, is there some documented proof that our Maine High School graduates are turning in better SAT scores, more are going on to college, more are getting better paying jobs, more are make better incomes and more are staying in Maine to work.
This is what was touted as the logical reasons for the program.
Please don't give me crickets in the morning, I'd like to think my tax dollar for this brainstorm wasn't wasted.
I just had an epiphany! Why don't we let Frank, Claire and Dan pony up $100,000 each to pay for the three new computer task force detectives so that us folks who think the whole program stinks aren't footing the bill.
Monitor in class, the library and study halls--how about at home? Claire, I'm 65 and became fairly proficient with this laptop in two weeks at age 60. I maintain that kids should learn the 3 R's from good teachers and books, then teach them computer skills their senior year in a classroom environment and only with laptops they purchase and maintain themselves.
Dan, National Geographic Magazine can be found in libraries, news stands, waiting rooms etc. and are not purchased with my tax dollar so they can look at boobs all they want, plus I'm not paying for special cops to monitor the magazine. And your right, I don't like paying for it but, I don't have to search for a reason to justify my beliefs, Channel 13 news did the justifying for me.
And apparently they're not doing a very good job of monitoring if The State Police have to hire three new detectives to try to control the situation. The report also said that no matter what kinds of filters are used the kids will find a way around them.
Excellent editorial.
The two current front runners for the GOP presidential election are to busy thinking up one line zingers to belittle their opponents then coming up with solutions to THIS problem that would stand a chance of working.
If the GOP doesn't come up with a more believable candidate
they won't have a prayer in November, plus many of the "do nothing" Republican congress members will also be joining the ranks of the unemployed.
Have your coffee and doughnut at home or after arriving at work, not while your operating a 2 ton machine traveling at any speed. What if you spilled some boiling hot coffee on yourself? Would that distract you? What if a large piece of that yummy doughnut fell of and landed somewhere on, or around your lap? I bet anyone would take their eyes off the road in search of that yummy morsel.
I repeat, have your coffee and doughnut before or after your commute, but not while your operating a 2 ton machine traveling 60 miles an hour.
Have I been guilty of doing this? Absolutely! Until I rear ended a VW Beetle years ago when I took my eyes off the road for 2 seconds to look for a dropped cigarette. I have since quit smoking too.
This is how this useless texting law should be re-written. Any cell phone use or any observed distraction while driving not only violates the law of common sense, but violates the law--period.
$100.00 fine first offense.
Solution: If a deported person re-enters our borders, is caught and positively identified they're to be taken behind the court house and shot. Sounds pretty cruel but it would be one hell of a deterrent and a lot cheaper then housing and feeding them.
I've made this comment before and I'll say it again. If Maine is truly "open for business" any business that settles in Maine or any existing businesses that expand adding 10 employees and they provide goods and services requiring the use of our toll roads should get a toll exemption.
This would be far more effective to promote business growth then a sign in Kittery.
Perhaps the reason Poliquin hasn't come forward with an explanation is because he doesn't have one. Perhaps he thinks that going after McCormick and MSHA will draw attention away from his alleged tax swindle. For being such a small state we sure have a bunch of crooks in high places!
And how about Ms. Soloman who swindled us tax payers out of a few million with her scheme to defraud DHHS? Do the crime, pay the time!
I will side with you in one respect. If a person is in the U.S. but has not become a citizen and commits any crime that warrants prison time they should be immediately deported , not supported by us taxpayers. In all likely-hood they are treated better in our jails then in their country of origin.
When I grew up in Topsham the Brunswick Past Time or Cumberland theaters were our Saturday afternoon treat. We used to go up in the balcony of the Cumberland with some vegetable soup and, during some bloody scene, pour the soup on those below while making vomiting noises. You Norway kids never had such fun. Norway's Cottage Street now only has the Baptist Church and apartments.
Speaking of change, in the 60' Topsham had one blinking red light ( Main and Middlesex), one constable and dog catcher ( Frank Carver), one small grade school (John A. Cone) and I had the same teacher (Mrs. Cox) in the 3rd,4rth and 5th grade.
Yes, times sure have changed. Thanks for responding and I'm glad I live on North Pond . Al
Nutting used his own profit margin formula to overcharge the DHHS millions. His formula for establishing this ridiculously high profit margin would boggle the mind of any honest retail businessman but he was able to muddle his way through the swindle with double talk, pleading ignorance and having lots of cronies in high places. He did pay back some of the money when he got caught, but certainly not all. Had he not been caught I'm sure he'd still be ripping us taxpayers off, but alas, he's now the Speaker.
I'm from Topsham and live in Norway. Sipping my coffee while reading the Sun Journal and the Times record on line has been my morning ritual for years. I now read the Sun Journal and scan the front page of the Times Record because getting past the front page will cost $90.00 a year. For further reading I turn to the Portland Press and The Maine Wire News. Too bad us folks who now live away and are retired have to pay to read our home town newspaper. Shame on the Brunswick Times Record.
But I have been just as critical of Violette and McCormick as I have been Nutting and Poliquin and actually, I don't remember the Lamoine thing. I can't imagine I wouldn't have been critical of him too. And yes, there's plenty of rotting garbage on both sides of the isle. No wonder the state is broke.
Before I retired I gladly helped support many charities with generous donations. Now it breaks my heart to not be financially able to help every charity asking for a helping hand. I rarely carry cash as I do all my shopping with my debit card and it really bothers me to have to say "I sorry" to the folks at the Wall Mart entrance, many times I use a side entrance to avoid the embarrassment.
Most of us seniors have been giving for 50 years, now there's nothing left to give except an apology. So's life.
Hey Reggie, Bush gave Obama two wars to deal with, a housing and banking collapse, 10% unemployment, a Wall Street crisis, an auto industry disaster, and last but not least a deep recession. No wonder it's taken Obama 3 years to start turning this mess around. It took Bush 8 years to make the mess.
Electronics Techs for the non-navy folks. Sure am glad I was a radarman but sad to say that job is now done by ET's. Even Admiral Hyland took the beating the first time we crossed. We all admired him for his team spirit.
GO NAVY AND GO PATS, and lets give those Giant city boys a flogging-----one hour to go!
The first time was not so much fun but the second and third were a ball. I soaked my shallalee in salt water for 3 days for maximum effect. For non-navy folks, that's a canvas fire hose strap used to blister and make bleed the butts of the uninitiated. Talk about a hazing, it was the best!
Hey Ron, remember the flogging we took when we crossed the Equator in the Navy. Check out the official USS Providence web site and "on the line" folks and you'll see a real flogging. God, it was fun!!
If some Republican candidate really inspired me I'd vote for that person in a heartbeat over Obama, but sadly, your right, it's going to boil down to the lesser of two evils. If Ron Paul were the nominee I would probably take a second look, but alas, it ain't gonna happen. What's left is pretty sad.
GO PATS!!
The past four years are what interests me. Prior to that, others also have a lot of splanin to do Lucy. I loved that show. Lucy always tried to hide the truth but Ricky got to the heart of the matter. Now lets get to the heart of this matter. GO PATS!!
Years ago I was the business manager for someone known as Jolly, (prior to him going belly up). We used to drop ex-lax in his morning hot chocolate, by 10am he left to go back home. He hated the dealerships bathrooms. God, that was funny and is little known fact. Don't dehydrate the parrot!
I think the Pats are going to have one of those "can't do anything wrong kick ass games". 30 Pats--7 Giants.
I've got plenty of beer to drink if I'm right and aspirin if I'm not. GO PATS!!
Hope you've got some treats for the parrot.
Look up MSHA Statement of Revenues, Expenses and changes in Fund Balances.
The two biggest sources of revenues are from "Grants and The State". Where does the State get the money to give to MSHA? Perhaps from us taxpayers, you think?
Ms McCormick, when you were questioned by the members of your board of directors you should have offered them this explanation instead of your combative and evasive attitude. Perhaps your as clean as newly fallen snow, but it's this attitude instead of honest answers that has pissed everyone off and raised more questions.
I'm still stuck on "almost half the country is on food stamps". Paul, you keep coming up with numbers, statistics, percentages and facts that are straight out of the twilight zone.
Hey, can we come together on the Pats? So much more fun then politics.
Romney,"I don't care about the poor, they have a safety net". WOW! talk about abandoning ship for the 99%.
Your best hope for America is DITW. (dead in the water) if your not a navy man.
This issue will be brought to referendum every four years until it wears us down and we simply submit. Until then I believe that same sex couples should be able to enter into a civil union with all the pomp and ceremony they want and with all the benefits accorded to a man and a women's union, but neither two men nor two women are biologically capable of producing offspring. This is why the term "marriage" should remain sacred for a man and a women.
Is there a way we can all automatically post all our comments on this subject that we posted 3 years ago? Sure would save some time. I've already had practice at what box to check at the polls as has all other Maine voters and I don't think the outcome will be any different, but going out and getting all those signatures gives some folks something to do--I guess.
No, he hasn't broken the law because he can afford to hire fancy lawyers to safe guard his ever growing nest egg. PLEASE provide me proof that 87% of federal income taxpayers pay less then 15%. Even Newt and Obama pay a higher %. I think the parrot is going to be eating some crickets. Hell, all my working life I paid 22% plus and I was pretty shewed with my tax nickel.
Americans are flooding the streets and city parks to protest corporate greed. The Mitt is a documented corporate raider who has made millions with no regard for the 99%, pays less then 15% Federal Income Tax, gives 7 million to the Mormon Church for a tax write off, hides money in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, initiated Romney care is Massachusetts but says he'll eliminate Obama care nation wide and now stands at a podium saying he is the only legitimate candidate for president in the GOP. What a JOKE! Speaking of joke, how about that Newt!
Charlotte. When I went to Brunswick High School in the 60's it was a simple brick and mortar building with plain tiled floors and toilets that you had to flush yourself. It was my teachers who taught me math, English, Latin, civics, etc. My teacher were darn good at doing their jobs and my parents were darn good at instilling in me the things that made me honest, hard working, reliable, trustworthy and respectful. My parents gave me character and common sense, my teachers gave me the ability to use it and I have the greatest respect you for your chosen profession.
If Lepage is truly concerned about misappropriation of taxpayer dollars he should order the Maine National Guard to immediately seize all MSHA records and hard drives before they're shredded or destroyed and I mean RIGHT NOW!!
When I had to do the hiring as a retail store mgr. and owner you bet your ass I looked real close at the cover.
Usually the title of the book and the shape the cover was in said a lot about it's contents.
Mark, maybe what he means is that if they'd remove their hideous piercings and put some "looking for a job" cloths on instead of "ain't no point in looking for a job" cloths on they'd stand a chance of becoming productive members of society by getting a job instead of relying on the rest of us for a free lunch.
Claire, perhaps all that spending was perfectly innocent or perhaps it was as big a boondoggle as Violette and the whole Maine Turnpike Authority embezzlement thing.
I ran many businesses in my life time. When checks were written not only did they say who they were written to but what the funds were paying for and I kept those records for 5 years in case of an IRS audit. Ms McCormick has not been forthcoming with this information just as Violette tried to cover up his wrong doing. This is what's raising all the red flags.
I grew up living one mile from the B.N.A.S. runway. P3 Orions flew over our roof top 24/7 and at times shook the house and rattled our windows.
Raising our voices every time one flew over is the only inconvenience I can remember. A small price to pay for the defense of our country.
That's one hell of a tongue lashing. Go have a couple of whoopie pies and chill out. Have a nice weekend,Mr. Rhoades, and don't forget to eat your veggies.
That tax revenue would probably be replaced by an entertainment tax. That would be a tax charged every time we access the internet. OOPS! I bet I just gave some lawmaker an idea.
And you know what I get? If you leave the beer alone I might try and the operative words there are "might try"!
She simply loves it to much and I'm afraid that getting sick is the only thing that will convince her to give it up. Kind of like closing the barn door after the cows get loose.
P.S I do beer in moderation.
I too quit smoking 8 years ago with the great help I got from the Maine Tobacco Hot Line. It's an excellent program and without their help I'd probably still be huffing and puffing today.
We also have insurance with a major company through my wife's work place (Marden's). She tried to quit 5 years ago with no help from the insurance company but Marden's stepped up to the plate and paid for Chantix. She quit for six months and, you know the rest of the story.
Speaker Nutting defrauded us taxpayers by 1.6 million of which he still owes 1.2 million with his pharmaceutical gimmicks of overcharging DHHS for health care related items. He's very knowledgeable when it comes to "gimmicks".
Kristina will now be tormented for the rest of her life with the stupid decisions she made this weekend. The parents of the kids that died will never be the same for the rest of their lives.
I beg our lawmakers to do something to help stop this unnecessary loss of life and the incredible sadness we are all feeling.
I came very close to losing one of my daughters to Krohns disease. The thought of losing her was overwhelming and so hard to cope with. I know the pain these parents are experiencing. Thank God Kellie is alive and well today but if I would have lost her the pain would have never ended. Things just have to change but they will only change when our lawmakers earn their keep and act now.
If today you were overcome with grief while making funeral arrangements for your dead son or daughter I don't think you'd be disagreeing with my ideas. What a fool!
Something is horribly wrong when this type of tragedy happens over and over again. Young inexperienced drivers, booze, cell phones, excessive speed and parties are the five things that are causing such sadness and loss of life. This is what needs to be done:
1. Drivers permits can be issued at 16. Between 16 and 18 an adult must accompany the student driver. At 18 a conditional license is issued until the age 21. The condition being, one traffic infraction will cost you your license until your 21.
2. Anyone caught supplying booze to an underage person gets an automatic five years in the slammer and longer if loss of life involved.
3. Pass a law banning all cell phone use by anyone operating a motor vehicle. Fist time your caught $100.00 fine, second time you lose your license for 30 days and a $500.00 fine. Strike three, kiss your license away for life.
4. Fines doubled for any driver under 21 caught going 10 miles over the posted speed limit and loss of license.
5. Hard to stop parties but if the last four suggestion became reality the parties might drop in attendance.
Until such drastic steps are taken nothing will change, kids will needlessly die and we'll have to relive this sadness over and over again
Bob, if your asking me directly if I obey these traffic laws, yes I do and have been for 50 years. I know passing a law won't stop everyone from breaking it, but I do know that since the seat belt law was enacted compliance has become very good and many lives have been saved.
Dan, I can understand your outrage. As you know I have been tying to put a fire under some lawmakers ass to introduce a bill banning cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle. This tragic accident just might fan that fire.
I think the police may want to let the dust settle a little and do a thorough investigation, plus I understand the driver is in serious condition. If she is conscious and knows she killed two of her friends placing her under arrest at this very moment might hinder her recovery. I'm sure if she pulls through they'll throw the book at her as she truly deserves.
The fist six years of Baldacci's administration were prosperous times. Here in Oxford, new manufactured homes were flying off the lots, jobs were plentiful and the state was taking in millions in tax revenue. As all this money rolled in our law makers felt compelled to create new programs to spend it on. Obviously they never heard the expression, "save for a rainy day". Well the rainy day arrived at the beginning of Baldacci's sixth year in office and ,like a lame duck, he just rode it out.
I was never a fan of Baldacci and I see lots of faults in Lepage, but this whole mess is now on his lap.
I will continue to criticize some of his plans, but man, has he inherited a hell of a mess. A mess not created by Democrats or Republicans, a mess created by both parties who didn't have the foresight to plan for tough times ahead. Simple as that. What do you think?
Dan keeps writing that your putting words in his mouth. When did I ever write that I think your a stay at home welfare case? Mark, get away from that keyboard and seek some medical attention.
My point was that even back 18 years ago you needed some education and years of experience to get a 30K a year job, unless your Dad was the Governor.
I've thrown my cards on the table about my job history and education. What the hell did you do your entire life besides play with a keyboard. Did you ever make an honest living? C'mon there Mr. Elephant, what have you ever done in your life that makes you the expert on anything that is real? My rule #5--get a life!
My rule #6,7,8,9,10 is the same.
I was a business mgr. for 20 years, ran six big retail stores and had an associates in business administration before I became the manager of Marden's in Westbrook. My stating salary was 30K. Do you think Marden's would pay her 41K fresh out of college? How much do you think Lepage was making as the GM of Marden's? Marden's is very generous with their management personal but nothing compared to our state government.
I also read Rev. Taylor's letter but failed to notice your observation. It's a real interesting spin and something to think about the next time I feel generous. Thanks
Layoffs are necessary when your revenues can't pay for the help. Cuts are when you cut back on product production because nobody is buying. Generally most businesses in trouble attempt layoffs first to balance their books, Bath Iron works for example. Cut backs on providing services and products to your customers is different and a drastic step to stay afloat,(Sears and K-Mart). Maine taxpayers are those customers who have paid into the system all their lives and now the company ,(Maine), they have been devoted to for many years, chooses them to ax over layoffs.
Last year I spent quite a lot of time at the Capitol Building. When I ran my business if my employees walked around like zombies with no apparent direction they would be history in a second. I sure saw a lot of zombies in Augusta. No complaints, just the truth.
Start at the top and get rid of all the unnecessary dead wood. In government you don't need a reason to fire someone. If the tax revenue is not sufficient to support someone loitering at the water cooler, send them to the private sector where if a businesses revenue is not sufficient, layoffs are the results. That's why!!
Doesn't it seam like whenever there are cuts in government spending it's the ones who need the services the most that get targeted?
There are many state agencies that could be overhauled and streamlined to reduce the deficit but Maine Care is Lepage's primary target. Maine Care could certainly use plenty of scrutiny without eliminating it altogether. I know drastic times take drastic measures but the collateral damage could be devastating. Republican lawmakers are all starting to dance to Lepage's music. Many of them will not be dancing come election time.
My beagle is sweeter then your skull and cross bones and certainly cuter then Suzzy. DAISY SAYS HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE PARROT TOO.
Can't wait til 2012.----Hey, were did Riml go?
Wow Steve, we're on the same page and I can understand your post, what a plus! To answer your question about Suzzy. She's dumber then hake (Maine fish) and looks like one. Not much hope there for the GOP.
I Lived in your beautiful state on the big island before going to Nam and it was the most beautiful thing I'll ever remember in my life. Now it's 10 above zero here and I envy you.
A cold and hardy Ayuh from Norway Maine
He sure has done a lot more with constructive programs then Dubya did with his misguided war programs. I can't wait to see what the fat happy elephant is going to come up with for an opponent in 2012. Don't get me wrong, GOP lovers, I've been on your side plenty of times but this time, can't you find someone beside the Nute, the Mitt and the over the hill Ron Paul? And San (something) and Perry two are confused idiots.
Please give me something to vote for and I will swing your way. Til then, I'm still a jack ass.
I owned a commercial flooring business for many years. I never bought a new tool with credit. If I didn't have the available cash I'd wait to buy it until I did.
Going to war without the funds to pay for it is an example of exactly what your letter conveys. Dubya's poor management skills.
One of those stones have my name as serving in the Marine Corp in Korea. With due respect to my brothers in arms, I served in Vietnam and in the Navy. ALVEY R. PELLETIER VIETNAM US NAVY.
I would appreciate it if this was corrected.
I've got 3 daughters so I know what you mean.
What prompted me to write my letter was that several years ago I was leaving Welchville heading toward Mechanic
Falls. Right where the road narrowed for a bridge an SUV was heading straight at me in my lane and the driver had cell phone in hand. I had to take the ditch to avoid a head on. A month ago I was at the light leaving the Wall Mart parking lot. My light turned green to turn left on to RT 26. As I got in the middle of the intersection a van was going south through the red light and I was almost t-boned. Again the driver had a cell phone to her head.
Now multi-tasking is OK but when you have control of a 5,000 LB. machine, going at any speed, having total control of that machine should be your one and only priority.
And I agree with many posts on this subject about other distractions while your driving but when cell phone use is compared to be equal to drunk driving and when common sense doesn't work, what you need is a law.
At the end of WWII our countries economy was in dire straits. When my Dad came home from the war he apprenticed and learned a trade as a machinist at Bath Iron Works. The G.I. bill helped fund his training but BIW kicked in with a livable wage. He went on to give the company 20 years before starting his own machine shop.
Today the only" on the job training" you can get is two weeks to be a telemarketer or three days to sling hamburgers. All other jobs require specialized schools, tuition and no income while your learning (unless paid by us tax payers).
Sure makes those good old days look pretty good.
I also know a good place to make cuts. Eliminate Lepages daughter's
$40K tax payer paid job and to make a few bucks for the state, put a certain hidden mural up for sale.
Lets not forget all the mud slinging that came out of the Hillary camp prior to the last presidential election. Today I think Obama and Hillary have made one hell of a good team regarding foreign policy.
Sure hope Macdonald reads your editorial and these post before he opens his mouth and makes an a-- out of himself.
Many of the folks in that income bracket are in the state, educational, or health care payroll systems. The cost to run this state is too high, the cost for higher education is too high and the cost of health care is too high. Poetic justice I say.
A housing collapse, a banking collapse, an auto industry collapse and 2 wars. If your splitting hairs on the timing, so be it. Obama still inherited Dubya's mess and if you don't comprehend that you need to seek medical attention, and fast!
Ron, It must be the same 4 or 5 that push the disagree button before they even read our posts. Guess what? I don't care who disagrees or agrees with me and I hope you don't either so just keep em coming. Your usually dead on brother!
Which leads me to ask, wouldn't it be a good idea for municipalities to examine what kind of area employment is available before opening up the flood gates to a bunch of people who will not be able to find gainful employment? By not doing so we are becoming a welfare poor state, and very quickly I might add.
Mr.Morgan, When my grandfather and his family came down from Canada this is how they did it. My grandfather came down first and stayed with relatives until he secured gainful employment working in a lumber mill then found a house for the his wife and eight children. Being Catholic the kids all went to Catholic school. My grandfather quickly mastered English so he could find better employment which he did at Bath Iron Works. My dad and uncles went on to serve our country in WWII.
By the way "French spoken here" was commonly used to attract French speaking patrons.
What I'm getting at is that their migration here was done in an orderly way that didn't put a burden on the surrounding community. They knew there would be no free ride waiting for them when they got here and made the move accordingly.
Get ready for 4 more years of Obama and tell me I'm wrong next November.
GOOD NIGHT PARROT BOY, ELLIOT BOY AND ALL YOU OTHER CLOSE MINDED BOYS,
AND YOU TOO---SWEET FERN BOY
How can you take 8 years of Dubya screwing up our country and blame it on Clinton and Obama? I would consider voting for a GOP candidate if someone running looked like the greatest hope for our country besides Obama. Right now your party sucks.
You and the Pirate would not vote Democrat if the candidate was George Washington, Abe Lincoln and FDR. rolled in to one. Your such a bunch of close minded DAHS!
3 pirates shot dead by Navy Seals with the presidents split second order. Osama taken out by Navy Seals with a split second presidential order. The auto industry and banks are back doing business as usual thanks to the presidential bail out that saved millions of jobs. The war in Iraq is over and our troops are coming home. The war in Afghanistan is winding down. The unemployment figures and new job figures are finally improving after eight years of Dubya screwing up America and three years of Obama trying to fix his mess.
Can the parrot hear the cricket?
Dubya screwed up on weapons of mass destruction , 9-11 happened on his watch and he was fighting terrorists in other countries?--OH PALLEASE!!
As of right now the Nute is the GOP's flavor of the week--talk about a corrupt, immoral Washington insider.
If this is the best the GOP has, Obama looks like a saint.
Good luck next November.
I can't say how many times I've sat in my car in the Oxford Wal-Mart parking lot waiting for my wife to finish her shopping when my attention focuses on folks walking in and out of the store.
You don't need some fancy foundation to tell you what is obvious. Hardly a single person walking in or out looks physically fit and many are either snuffing out their cigarette butts before going in or lighting up when they come out.
Finally my wife walks out of the store, fit, trim and looking great,then she lights up---what a bummer!
And as long as hospital, insurance company, bank and college administrators think they should get paid more then the president of the United States things will only get worse. Can you blame folks for protesting? We can assess blame on bull headed, self serving, misguided republicans AND democrats. If they can't work together to solve our problems lets vote the bums out for the good of America.
I've always maintained that the health care system is basically black mailing us. They hold our health hostage and demand much more money then the service they provide is worth, but we pay it because they call all the shots. In turn our insurance premiums are going through the roof and if we can't pay the premiums and the huge deductibles our only recourse is putting off the needed care or filing bankruptcy.
Our health care industry needs immediate retooling and government oversight to regulate the run away cost of surgical procedures and general health care prices.
Requiring all Americans to have health care insurance doesn't prevent this nonstop run away health care cost, if anything it will fuel it.
Remember the good old days when "Made in America" meant something? Then Americans started not caring about where things are made and only about buying cheap our manufacturing base went away. Now instead of blaming ourselves for high unemployment we're blaming politicians and yes, perhaps when we hit rock bottom we'll all wake up to the fact that "Made in America" means more jobs here on the home front.
NEW ENGLAND'S BIGGEST INDOOR YEAR ROUND YARD SALE.
The city owns the building so it could rent or sell stalls to hundreds of vendors. People are always attracted to yard sales. The big yard sale in Cumberland attracted thousand and thousand of people. Admission to get in could be used for heat,lights up keep and maybe contribute to the city tax base. A casino was a crap shoot, why not try this and you DON'T need a referendum.
Even though I voted no on 2 and 3 I believe Gilbert's intentions may have been genuine. It is regretful that after the defeat he simply didn't say,"the people of Maine have spoken, now lets put our heads together and come up with another use for old #5."
It's nice to see the SJ is doing what Gilbert should have done, that is, appealing to the public for constructive ideas for the building and (or) the location. CHEERS for the Sun Journal!
The Lewiston casino idea was not well thought out. If the Biddeford casino would have passed folks from southern Maine, NH. and Mass. would not have bothered to travel to Lewiston to throw their money away. Folks from northern and eastern Maine would have gone no further then Bangor. The rest would go to Oxford leaving the Lewiston casino to survive on recycling and sucking out the money from locals.
Too many, too soon convinced Mainers to say no.
I can see need for excessive speed if he was in pursuit or responding to an emergency but if he was just joy riding he should be charged with criminal speeding and damage to public property (the cruiser). A stiff fine, loss of license and restitution would be the same punishment as you and I would get for breaking the law. A day off--that's a joke!
And your guy sticks his foot in his mouth one foot at a time---I'll extricate myself from this forum and go to bed---good night John Boy. OOPS, Mark Boy
Mark, perhaps he's not out to piss people off, but when I take to the road I'm not out to create a ten car pile up. I know of one he pissed off for sure, his last name is Gilbert.
Lepage just made his views public about casinos. He said 5 won't work in Maine. For once I agree with him but he sure has pissed off a lot of people in Biddeford, Lewiston and Calais, but what's new?
In other words a "Yes" vote on Question 3 will create a casino FREE FOR ALL in Maine. Even a better reason to vote NO on 3. It's the fine print that always gets you (kind of like pork in federal legislation.)
Lots of women on welfare, in these wonder years, are going to be propositioned by gamblers from away and get WONDER BREAD! More welfare. I'm still wondering-----hum.
Have you ever wondered how many Mainers surviving on welfare and unemployment are going to squander their means for feeding their kids in a gambling parlor hoping to hit it big?
Ever wonder how many folks leaving a gambling parlor are going to drive home drunk and pissed off because they just blew their paycheck?
Ever wonder why gambling in Vegas goes hand in hand with brothels?
Ever wonder why Nevada and Mississippi are in horrible financial shape despite all their gambling parlors and have the highest unemployment rates in the country?
Ever wonder if gambling parlors will enhance "Vacation land"?
Ever wonder if gambling parlors will effect the millions of dollars raked in by the Maine Lottery?
John says to Sam," Sam how did you do at the casino last night"?
Sam replies, " not so good, John, I lost a hundred bucks but I did have one hell of a good buzz when I drove home.
What about those unfortunate Mainers who are on welfare or collecting unemployment. Gambling parlors are not going to provide all these folks jobs but they sure will help take away the money us tax payers provide them depriving their children of those benefits.
I haven't been in a casino in ten years but remember a river boat casino in Mississippi providing free beer and cocktails as long as you were feeding their machines. How many folks are going to use their welfare and unemployment benefits to, not only gamble that money away, but also get drunk in the process and ta hell with the kids? NO, NO ,NO
What we should have done to regulate the expansion of casinos is hind site at best. We now have Bangor and soon Oxford. Perhaps now is the time to propose gambling expansion legislation, regulation and licensing
and with more enforcement and oversight then that useless 100 mile law.
I've spent money foolishly gambling on Mississippi river boats only to leave the casino to be approached by panhandlers, kind of like being on lower Lisbon Street years ago. Mississippi and Nevada hitched their economic wagon on casinos and are in horrible financial shape.
I just don't believe a casino on every street corner is the answer to Maine's (as a whole) financial salvation, just a quick fix with long term repercussions. NO, NO, NO.
Good point Harold and thank God for school lunches and the Salvation Army.
At least the kids will get fed and clothed while their parents are in the gambling parlor squandering their welfare and unemployment subsidies hoping to hit it big.
I'll be interested in knowing if Lepage's daughter gets a bigger then 3.6% raise this year. Between the act of keeping a $42,000 a year Maine government job in the family and hiding a publicly owned mural he created his own honeymoon misery. And Scott, he was not a CEO, he was a GM. Big difference. Although his first few months garnished unpopular attention I wish him well and hope his last few months will be productive for the people of Maine.
Most of the time Snowe and Collins have voted for what is best for Mainers but voting against this jobs bill shows their true colors. Like the rest of their tea bag buddies making Obama a one term president is their priority and ta hell with the country.
Voting day can't get here soon enough and I hope the people who run against these two remind the voters of Maine about their jobs bill vote.
I know I'll remember!
I'm not a champion of windmill construction, although I think they're pretty neat looking and just might help the air we breath but OMG, those poor birds. I wonder how many of the little woopers are brought down by airplane props and jet turbines, collisions with cars and trucks, banging into windows plus 1000 more ways for a bird to die? Oh, I have four cats and lots of feathers in my car port. And "Chucky" (that's right my cat "Chucky") has taken down bats, red and gray squirals , chipmunks, birds of all feathers, mice, rats, moles, voles, small rabbits, snakes and last but not least, a weasel.
Now that's some compatition for a bird eating windmill!!
My sister lives next door to my Dad who lives 40 miles away and knows his physician. I'll discuss your idea with her. This is the kind of advice I was looking for. Thanks again.
Julie, I knew my post would bring on comments such as yours, cruel and without understanding of my situation. All you could read is that I am concerned about cash in my bank account. Guess what girly girl, I have enough cash reserves to live very well the rest of my life. My Dad never speaking to me again and hating me is what is tearing me apart, so take your well meaning comment and shove it!
My Dad is 92 and still drives. It's really scary but he's a stubborn old Frenchmen who thinks he's as sharp as a 20 year old. To even mention he give up driving would piss him off to no end. He's very proud of the fact that he still lives in his home, has his pick-up truck and comes and goes as he pleases. He's as deaf as a door nail, has glaucoma and the early on set of dementia. I would love to see the state order he take a road test. Perhaps if he failed he'd realize he shouldn't be driving anymore. If I told him his driving scares me he'd write me out of his will and would disown me. It's an horrible situation.
"It's been said that when you act in haste, you often regret in leisure.
An over-sized, poorly planned project would have haunted Maine and local residents for a century or longer."
I get sad every time I see a cell phone tower and Ron is right, I would rather see a few windmills then live with such bad air pollution I can't see the top of the mountain.
And Maine voters have voted them down year after year after year. Finally the backers of the Bangor casino did a good enough publicity blitz to sway Maine voters their way. A law was then created requiring any new casino to be 100 miles from Bangor. Along came the Oxford casino and another great publicity blitz. Once again Maine voters were swayed their way, then came the great air vs road mile debate. The law was amended to reflect road miles as the official measure of the original law which leads me to believe this whole Biddeford-Lewiston casino referendum is bull----. This sneaky way to by pass the 100 mile law and skirt around that law is just that-SNEAKY.
Oh, by the way Bob, what state has the highest unemployment rate? You guessed it, the one with the most casinos in the country--Nevada. Los Wages with all it's casinos is not creating the jobs needed to get Nevada out of their unemployment quagmire.
I can't believe that during this recession the people of Maine would put their future hopes for good jobs in a crap shoot. Casinos are just that, a crap shoot and two in this state is still plenty for now.
As I have previously stated, Brunswick has done a bang up job of revitalizing the, now closed, Naval Air Station without the mention of a casino. If those backers of the proposed Lewiston gambling parlor and beer joint put their collective brains together I'm sure they could come up with another creative use for old mill #5 .
The latest NBC poll shows 2/3 of Americans favor Obama's job bill. By voting against it, along with their teabag cronies, Snowe and Collins are showing their true colors and ta hell with their constituents. Time for new representation in D.C. that vote for the betterment of common men and women and not millionaires.
Bring on all those casinos! Lets turn Maine into a northern Mississippi. Oh, by the way, Miss. is in worse financial shape then Maine and they have tons of casinos. And while we're at it, guys, lets open up whore houses in every community in Maine. After all it's free enterprise and employs lots of pimps and prostitutes making great incomes. After all, if we're going to make Maine the Mississippi of the north, lets bring on prostitution too and we can become "Miss. Los Vegas" of the north and ta hell with "Maine, the way life should be".
Two is plenty!!
That's right TWO is plenty. I voted for the Oxford casino and figured that would be the end of casino referendums. One in northern Maine and one in southern Maine would be plenty to satisfy Maine folks who have money to throw away gambling. I understand Lewiston and Biddeford wanting to jump on the band wagon to get all that extra change floating around out there but as I said in a previous post, "every time a bigger shopping center opens the smaller older one closes". Every time a Lowes opens next to a Home Depot they end up splitting the pie.
The backers of ALL these casinos make it sound like all this money will be coming in from folks from away and it will all benefit Mainers.
Mass. and N.H. are now considering casinos, so much for the money from folks from away. As it is now the Bangor casino will feel the loss of southern Maine gambler revenues as soon as Oxford opens for business.
Also, it's pretty clever how the lawyers for Lew. and Bid. tip toed around the 100 mile law especially when their the ones who made such a stink about road miles vs air miles.
I urge voters to think this one out and not have tunnel vision based on all the pro-casino adds. TWO casinos, plus Maine Lottery games are plenty for Maine.
It's the old "fine print thing" that skirts the existing laws. I really did not understand why this issue was even on the table. Why didn't the backers of the Oxford casino write this clause in their bid for a casino?
Sure would have saved us a lot of money in legislative debate. Backers of the Lewiston and Biddeford casinos have thought this out real good. Why was this a law enacted in the first place if a tricky referendum vote would nullify it? As the other writer wrote, I sure have to do some research,but I'm still baffled.
Why isn't anybody commenting on my other post about casinos? I guess it made too much sense.
O.K. I'm still waiting for someone to answer my question about the 100 mile between casinos law from another post. AND, remember the old days when a thing called "payola" was outlawed in the music industry. Now a slot maker is offering the Lewiston casino backers one million dollars to use their machines exclusively. Smacks of payola to me, AND all this great money that's coming in is coming from somewhere like folks on taxpayer assistance, the unemployed hoping to make a big score with their unemployment checks, folks not feeding their kids to appease their gambling addiction, drug addicts hoping to score for their next fix, alcoholics who find the gambling environment irresistible, never mind the hookers, pimps and pickpockets.
2 that's TWO casinos 100 miles apart is plenty for this sparsely populated state with one of the lowest income levels in the country.
Isn't it enough that Maine has lottery tickets (gambling) in every mom-pop store on every street corner, pick three, pick four,megabucks, plus too many more to mention here?
There must be something else Lewiston can do with that old mill. The now closed Brunswick Naval Air Station is being redeveloped nicely without a mention of a casino. Is gambling Lewiston and Biddefords great financial savior as some would imply? I doubt it.
What was all that crap about setting the 100 mile law between casinos at air miles vs road miles?? Am I missing something? I thought it was settled that road miles would be the law so how come these new casinos have made it to the ballot box? Can someone please answer my questions?
I'm totally baffled. If no one has an answer then why are we wasting taxpayer money debating such nonsense? That's got me baffled too.
Gees Dan, what's up with your early morning posts lately. I simply do not find any correlation between Lepage's role as Gov.vs the GM (not the CEO) at Mardens. Bash Lapage all you want I'm with you Bro. but let Mardens keep operating with their no questions asked money back guarantee, certainly not Lepage's idea.
Thank you.
Na Pirate, not getting screwed at all. National average price for propane is $3.12. Just had my tank filled here in Norway by a local company run be honest hard working folks $3.55 cash, $3.65 charge. I switched from Dead River last year to this local company. D.R. filled my tank and sent me a bill, $4.12 when the average price was $2.98. When I called them to see if this was an oversight I was told that because my tank took less then 100 gallons I didn't qualify for their "preferred price". (they delivered 98 gallons and I always pay cash). I told them to come get their tank. I'm sure they were happy to put their tank in some more lucrative location. Really, really nice folks to do business with. NO SARCASM HERE!
Where did that 100 mile between casino law go? Oxford is approximately 30 miles from Lewiston and 50 miles from Biddeford, ( maybe closer as the crow flies), so this should not even be on the Nov. ballot,
Plenty of time to take a vacation, pull a mural off a wall and hide it, attend party functions, etc.,etc. but precious little time to address a legitimate problem facing Maine loggers. It only makes sense for large logging operations like Pelletier Loggers to hire Canadians so they don't have to pay workers comp. and health insurance while claiming Americans don't want these low paying jobs. Although it's the American way of doing business it does deserve some of the Govs. precious time.
I spent a lot of time in Fort Kent this summer and Mr. Jackson's
concerns are shared by enough of our northern neighbors to command a little attention from Augusta. Hey! John Martin (D) Eagle Lake has a lot of clout in Augusta. Oh forget it, Lepage wouldn't give him ten minutes either.
I think jumbling this whole drivers license, vehicle registration, residency and voting right thing in one box and making any sense of it was a tough call for Summers but the laws,as written, seem to be clear.
I personally think that if a student lives here nine months out of the year he or she should have the right to participate in state elections without the whole drivers license, vehicle registration thing, after all, as soon as they graduate they'll be booking it out of Maine to find decent jobs. I do think that if they register here to vote they should forfeit their right to vote in their home state. Perhaps it's time for these laws to be amended to address this particular situation.
If that untrained person were pointing a gun or a knife at you in a threatening way should you shoot him in the foot because he is untrained? Because he is untrained makes him more dangerous and unstable. Dan, give it up, this is getting dumb and dumber.
After a traumatic event like killing another human I, you, and anybody else, besides Superman, would be a basket case never mind going back to work until the emotional stress has been dealt with. And can you define justifiable homicide vs murder? Dan, you made a dumb, spur of the moment, comment in the wee hours of the morning. Defending it is pointless. I enjoy reading most of your early morning posts, but come on, this one was a stinker.
For your clarification of your police experience and thank you for your Navy and Police service. Your insight from being there goes far beyond what I or anybody else could expand on.
Dan, saying that a cop killing someone is a win win situation for him sounded like motive to me. A cop continuing to get paid after such a tragic event while a review is being conducted by the A.G. is our societies way of saying "your innocent until proven guilty". And in my many years living in Maine I've never heard of the A.G.s office being anything but thorough in their investigation of these tragic events.
Your assertion that this is the motive for a cop to kill is ridiculous at best. Most cops who have taken another humans life experience a life time emotions that have lead to some taking their own lives.
I'm really surprised at your post. You usually show more common sense.
I'm sure Riml will chime in on this one as he was a cop a has seen more blood shed on the streets of S. Chicago then I could ever imagine.
When the Oxford casino opens we will have two quality gaming resorts in Maine, one for the northern part of the state, Bangor, and one for the south, Oxford. That should be sufficient for those Mainers who like to throw their money away. The rest of us who "play responsibly" are happy to buy a two dollar scratch ticket once a week, where most of the money goes directly into the state coffers and not gaming promoters.
And as more and more of these things pop up they'll all receive a smaller slice of the pie. Ever see an old shopping center go belly up shortly after a new and bigger one opens near by?
It just seems to me that their must be other types of businesses that are attracted by Maine's ready work force and the work ethic of most Mainers besides businesses that do nothing but take money and contribute so little to the gross national product.
The Gov. should create a planning board that scours the country searching for any business that is thinking about expanding and try to convince them that Maine is where they should locate. Doesn't it seem like every time a new business opens in Maine we have some polatition
at the grand opening taking credit for it? They like to take the credit when,in fact, they had nothing to do with it and where are they when a company folds up? The Gov. was a business man and as such has the background to act in bringing new business to Maine and a planning board of business "go getters" would show that, at the very least, he's making the effort.
Jeanne, please disregard all the crap discussed in this post.
Please continue to be proud of your two grandsons and kudos to the kindness and generosity to this fellow passenger.
When I came back from Vietnam if someone would have done something nice like that for me it would stick in my mind till the day I died.
God bless you grateful grandmother.
Our health care system has become the cat chasing it's tail. Medical charges keep going up because more and more people can't pay for their health care so higher rates have to be paid by those with insurance. Insurance companies have to charge higher premiums with higher deductibles to offset these higher hospital charges and it goes on and on.
I hate Big Brother stepping in to intervene but sometime when things are out of control it's time for something to be done. Obama's plan has made an attempt to do this but Big Brother has to go a little further.
If I could hear one of these republican candidate say,"when I'm elected I will freeze all medical charges and insurance rates until we have recovered from this recession and the unemployment rate drops to under 7%". I think I'd change my party affiliation and vote for this person, but so far all they do is bash each other and Obama Care and they don't have a clue of how to stop the cat from chasing it's tail.
I'm not impressed with any of them.
All great comments and all in agreement,how refreshing. Let me jump on this band wagon with you. Banning texting and our laughable distracted driver law only scratch the surface in preventing injury and death caused by idiots using a cell while driving. I too have almost been creamed several times by people in la la land while driving. And Mark is so right. Laws are introduced by legislatures with back bone and, so far, they're all tip toeing around the real problem and not addressing it head on. When one is killed by a cell driving idiot perhaps they might act. You know, the old "closing the barn door after".
Cathy, I,m so sorry for what you and your family are going through. Many years ago people moved to L.A for employment and a better life. Now they move there for a free ride at tax payers expense. Norway Maine has it,s problems but our crime level is very low so get a job in our area (if that's possible) and get out of L.A and come here before you lose a love one in a stupid drug related crime.
These pant challenged idiots come to Maine and commit a crime that will earn them some serious jail time. Who pays for their incarceration, their legal defense, their trial. Yup, we Maine taxpayers.
IDEA ! Why can't these idiots be tried in Maine and but sent to New York to serve their sentence? Why can't every convicted criminal, here in Maine, be deported to where they came from instead of us paying for their incarceration? If we don't smarten up, we're going to fill our jails with every other countries garbage and we'll be supporting them.
Bring us your poor ,etc. today has a new meaning. It's bring us your human garbage, we'll house them, feed them, support them, and pay their legal fees and incarceration. God this pisses me off!!
Paul, I'm sorry sorry! Please tell the Brotherhood that in the future I promise to "AARRGHH" correctly even though my spell check says "no such word". But what does it know? Pleasure chatting with you also.
Al Sweet Fern Pelletier Oh, by the way, I own a small herbal tea business called "Sweet Fern of Oxford Maine",
hence "Sweet Fern" Have a good weekend.
Golden Retriever 1-----Pitt Bull-----20 Boxer----2 Pitt Bull wins!!!
No thanks, Roger, I don't care to make nice nice with your loving dog and my cats catch and eat mice everyday. That's what they do and were bred for.
But every time republicans shoot down a plan that Obama puts forward to get the country moving again they shoot themselves in the foot. If they keep it up for another year while we go steadily down the toilet, never mind shooting themselves in the foot, they may not have a leg left to stand on come election time and Obama might get a second term and every pig headed republican will be in the unemployment line. This threat of the government shutting down every few months comes from inaction by a republican controlled congress and I think the average American is getting sick of it. Another 12 months of this and we'll all be totally fed up with the whole lot of them and it will be good by to bad rubbish, especially Boehner and McConnel!
Not all Pit Bulls are bad? Why is it that every story you hear or read about a dog mauling involves a Pit Bull or a bread with Pit Bull mix?
In my life time I've never read a story about a Golden Retriever or a Beagle mauling a child.
How do you know when a teenager is lying? When their mouths are moving.
I think those lap tops are going to create more problems then their worth.
I hope I'm wrong.
It sure would be poetic justice if some very studly inmate inflicted the same pain on this jerk as he inflicted on this child. Those 10 years better be loaded with mental counseling and lots of conditions after his release because if he had the urge to do these things at 35 he'll have an even stronger urge at 45 after 10 years of incarceration.
How about another one on the forehead that says "Manson Rules". Yup, your hired!
I saw a good one today. As I drove into the Oxford Wal Mart there was a pan handler with a sign that said "homeless please help" written on his collection box. I guess the Wal Mart folks asked him to leave and he refused so they called the Oxford P.D.. On my way out I noticed this poor broke homeless pan handler , while being questioned by the cops, take out a pack of Marlboro's and light up.
I quit smoking years ago because my mortgage was more important then smokes. And even worst, this jerk was so scroungy looking he couldn't get through the door anywhere for a job interview---but he sure the hell can afford cigs. GO FIGURE? Pan handling must be pretty lucrative in Oxford County.
It's bad enough to show up for a job interview knowing your criminal past will make getting that job very unlikely, but showing up dressed up like your "trick or treating", plastered with piercing holes, offensive tattoos and you just used a branch to comb your hair will pretty well seal your fate.
The only commenter in this forum (including myself) that backs his statements with facts and sources for his comments is Riml. We should all learn by his example to do a little research before we start printing crap. HAVE YOU ALL NOTICED?, I like that word-Crap, Crap, Crap!
It suits all those unsubstantiated elephant rants.
Mark my post was my opinion and I was not looking to getting a written pissing contest, but if you want specifics listen to Obama's speech tonight when he'll explain and outline HIS bill. It will save me a lot of wasted time. I can't wait to hear the republican rebuttal. No ideas, no bills, just rebuttals.
Another post that does nothing to solve this countries problems. Just another bunch of name calling and references to historical radicals who I don't think Oboma has and ever could become, our system would not allow it. As I said in an earlier post, don't look back, but to the future, and Glen, your so far back in the past, your as dead and buried as Stalin, Hitler and Mao. I served in Nam for almost 3 years and I've looked at history in real life and not through the internet. Rest well, my friend, your president, the Great Divider, gave us a safe day on this 9/11----Better then Bush did, but that's in the past.
David, it's your kind of crap about days gone by that's preventing us from moving forward and yes at this point with the republicans in control of congress all I can do is dream of better days to come for America.
Big oil has held us hostage ever since the auto industry has produced gas engines and we've heated our houses with oil. The medical industry has held us hostage ever since health insurance companies have given them a blank check to charge outrageous prices only to pass it on with outrageous premiums. All we do today is survive, hoping we won't freeze this winter, wondering how we'll afford gas for our car, hoping and praying we don't get sick as we could loose our homes.
Randall, your so right and we are self destructing--I'm sorry to say.
In my 64 years I've never seen a president appeal to both houses of congress so committed to help chart America's future. His initiatives are bold and his ideas have job creating initiatives. McConnel came on after the speech and said it had nothing to do with creating jobs and only a reelection speech. This is the kind of crap republicans have to offer. Nothing about creating jobs, JUST CRAP!! Good God--when is this CRAP going to end? Obama said unemployed folks can't wait 14 more months for the next election and he's right but do the republicans care? Hell no! They simply want to see him fail so they can get another party member in there and the hell with suffering Americans. Makes me want to puke on somebody, where's Frost proof?
I've known Mike Michaud for many years and have never known a congressman who has been more in touch with his constituents and certainly NOT just before election time. Last time I checked I think he was a democrat.
John, I've seen TV court cases where someone, who was accused of wrong doing and were guilty as sin, hired some hot shot lawyer and beat the charges then sued their accuser in civil court for defamation and won $5000.00. like I said DHS can't be sued for such things so I'll rest quietly in the shade. I'm quite done on this issue, enjoy the rain my righteous friend.
I all but nailed these people to the cross with the information I divulged. DHS can not be found guilty of slander or defamation of character, but I sure can so for now I'll rest quietly in the shade, but I think public stoning is not a bad concept, as you implied.
John and Dan your absolutely right but for your information I reported this activity to DHS last year with the town and places of employment of these friends of my wife. I also wrote about this activity last year in the SJ with the proposal that anyone using a state issued food card should show a valid ID at POS to curb this misuse of our tax dollars. Nothings came of it and it still pisses me that this is going on so please don't consider me a groupie. Thank you.
A couple I know and who are quite well off (both have jobs) pay some friends of theirs $50.00 cash for their $100.00 state issued food card.
The $50.00 cash goes towards booze and smokes and the recipients of the food card double their money for groceries. They call this a win-win arrangement. If they weren't such close personal friends of my wife I'd rat them out in a heart beat. I believe this fraud happens all too much but being a "win-win" situation they're not going to rat on each other.
This really irks me!
After hearing about the dismal job report last week it was very uplifting to get some good news about local jobs, thank you. A good cup of coffee along with good news is hard to come by lately.
Yes Ron, lets bring back the good old days like when my Dad was 9 years old and was molested by a Catholic Priest. He is now 92 and hates anything that smacks of religion and I can't blame him as a similar thing happened to me. It's taken fifty years to catch these perverts and bring them to justice. The good old days and religion ? Crap !!
Well said, Toni. I too am proud to live in Oxford County despite the economic hardships we've had to endure since the bank and housing collapse. I believe we share the same hardships as the rest of the great folks of the Second District and that organizations such as yours will be successful in bringing recognition to the great activities this area has to offer. Do you think this republican redistricting plan may have something to do with Oxford County getting a casino and republicans wanting this industry in the first district? I say leave Oxford County alone as we seek our own identity and destiny.
The Republican plan is totally idiotic and based totally on the party's best interest and not the will of the people. Take Mike Michaud away from my district and I'll never vote again!
And I'll bet Mr. and Mrs. Grungy Shorts spent three hours looking for bargains them chose the speed line hoping to get one over on the clerk. After 25 years managing retail stores I've seen it all and your depiction of the Grungy's is way to common place.
Judy, I know it seems that way, but in my 64 years I've lived through so many crises nothing surprises me anymore. We've had crises after crises with either party in control starting with the American revolution right up to today. Every morning when I wake up I ask myself, what are we going to have to deal with today? Waking up to another great day with no crises is non-existent and won't be in my lifetime. You just have to get used to it as it's the American way.
Seven years ago my wife and I quit smoking cold turkey. A few weeks later I realized our house reeked of stale cigarette smoke. I had to paint the ceilings, shampoo the carpets, wash all the walls and every article of clothing in the house and on and on. It took two weeks of work to get rid of the stink. Three years ago my wife picked up that awful habit again but out of respect for my health and knowing the house would stink again, keeps it outdoors. Too bad laws have to be enacted when common sense is all that's needed.
But as Ron Riml pointed out in a previous post, the Tea Toddlers are flexing their elected muscles, drawing attention to themselves to the point of disrupting our government. Boehner is not my hero either but I think he is being held hostage by a party hell bent on destroying itself and the country.
I would love to see Obama issue an executive order to hold back all congressional paychecks and benefits until both houses pass a bill we can live with and he can sign. Perhaps they would spend more time solving the problem then causing the problem.
Your right, Ron, but if he doesn't get his way I'll bet he'll start bawling like a little girl to get more press attention. Do you think many in this freshman class of tea toddlers are more interested in making a name for themselves then taking care of the countries business? I'm ashamed to say I may have supported one or two of those inmates based on their pre-election bull.
I too am very independent when deciding on the right candidate with the right pre-election points of view. The problem we have time and time again is the post-election positions they take. Once they're in office they bow down to the more senior members of their party and--shazaam--all pre-election promises turn out to be bull droppings.
Look at the financial mess we're in and here we are, down to hours before a national default. If Boehner and Reid can't agree on a solution to this mess they are not acting in the best interest of America and should be voted out of office. Getting this dangerously close to default is unacceptable and Obama can not be held blameless either. This issue should have been resolved months ago but I think they wanted to stall knowing this mess would get them lots of pre-election press and to hell with the countries business.
Mr. Fogg, come to the sunshine and open your eyes. All this crap we're in came about on the Bushwackers watch. Ron may be from away but he ain't way out there in Otisfield picking dingleberries.
Bill, many people think the same way you do but few have the gonads to say it and Ron's comment about the boat is priceless! It was a real hoot when those TV preachers, preached about the virtues of being a good Christian then spent the rest of the week in a brothel cheating on their wives and how about those Catholic Priests? I think I'll keep bailing my boat.
Giving your unqualified daughter a 41K a year government job, taking a vacation within the first few months in office, depriving Mainers of art in a state building, using "kiss my ass" as his by-line and "go to hell" as his theme song and so on. Yup, he needs to pray for a little humility and not just one day a year.
What's going on in Washington today? The repugs (thanks Ron) are trying to get their bill through which will cut social security and medicaid benefits to seniors. If Snow and Collins support this measure we will all know that they care more about siding with their cronies then their poor retired constituents here in Maine. Mike and Ron, your on opposite sides of the fence on most political issues but lets all keep tabs on Collins and Snow. If they vote for this cut I hope our voices will all come together in the next election and send a strong message to Washington and our congressional deligation. Don't screw with America's old folks!
A pay cut for elected leaders is just for starters, Lynne. Every time they put our country in this situation the first things they talk about are cuts to social security and both parties use this to frighten us seniors. You don't hear about cutting war funds, space program cuts, cutting billions in aid to other countries, cutting billions in subsidies to profitable corporations and on and on. The first thing they think of is to cut the benefits we've paid for all our lives. Look closely at voting records in the next elections and, Dan, there's plenty of blame to go around both parties.
When I was a young man working at a paint and flooring store in Rockland I had about every phone number in the Rockland phone book in my head.
Last month my truck broke down and I didn't have my cell phone with me. I kind gentleman stopped and offered to lend me his to call a friend or relative. I could not remember a single phone number except my own.
The phone numbers of everyone I know are stored in my cell phone, not my head. Lends credence to this study.
And, as the TV commercial regarding social security states, we are 50 million strong with one hell of a loud voice when the next elections rolls around. I would urge all seniors to check the voting records of their elected officials regarding social security and vote them out of office, republican or democrat, if they tried to monkey with our hard earned benefits. And yes, after three years we're long overdue for a cost of living adjustment.
First it was ripping off toll money from the Turnpike Authority by it's longtime chief and now someone in Augusta is giving away state property. Whoever authorized this shady deal should start looking for another job, at the very least. No wonder this state is broke!
Linda,
Ask J.C.Dugart about sicko straight males. I have three grown daughters and 5 grand daughters. Opening the out house door to all comers, when my kids don't have a stun gun, is unrealistic. We may share the same last name but were not on the same planet. If you'll check any penal system records, many of those sicko's like to entrap
and posses their female victims. I'm no Bubba, baby--I'm a down to earth Mainer who's been around for 64 years and nothing surprises me. I can kid about this issue but this is serious sh-t about anything that goes on in the privacy of a men,s and women,s restroom. I'll see you in Denny's restroom ( male or female )?
Cool beans Ron, After the initiation I'll meat you at Denny's for lunch and a romp in the lady's room, just don't piss on a toilet seat---the door knob works better!
One day, and not in the distant future, some sicko (straight male) is going to see a great looking chick entering the lady's room and seize the opportunity to follow her in to get a closer look or even more. I wonder how that law suit will read.
I want to thank Dennis Richardson for all his hard work to make this such a special day. I was so incredibly proud to honor my fallen Navy brother and to pay my respects to Phillips' brothers, Dale and Marshall.
Thanks to all the wonderful folks in Turner who ignored the rain to give a belated "Thank You for your service in Vietnam" to Phillip Bryant. A true American hero and never to be forgotten.
Wouldn't it be great if this idiot would serve his prison time in his country of origin instead of us tax payers paying for his room and board for 25 years.
I'm sure glad I live in Norway where the school budget is reviewed and approved by folks with priorities in mind. I avoid Auburn as much as possible because the streets are so poorly maintained and it seams like the city council is constantly looking for ways to raise revenues just to break even with necessary spending.
Perhaps the school committee should have approached Steve Dosh and Whitney Houston for some magic money to buy toys for tots.
Perhaps if we came up with great ideas on how to create jobs in Maine it would happen. I came up with one in my previous post, now lets hear yours. I'm waiting-------. Lets quit being critics and come up with ideas. Think out of the box. How about a five year sales and business tax deferment to new businesses in Maine who employ 10 or more with above minimum wage income and good STATE, backed health benefits. Just ideas, Governor.
Kaileigh,
Your right on the money. Where are specific plans or even an idea on how to create jobs in Maine?
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but do know sometimes you have to give up a little to gain allot. How about making our toll highways toll free to all commercial vehicles who's business is headquartered here in Maine. Sure we would lose some highway revenue but it would put us on the same business playing field as New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. I'm sure this would improve the pro-business climate more then hiding a mural. Our lawmakers and governor have to start thinking about giving up a little, get creative to get back allot.
Excellent point,Peter.
I believe a lawyer should represent the accused even at tax payer expense, but in a case such as this, defrauding us tax payers, I would suggest that beyond a fine ,jail time and restitution the guilty should be ordered to reimburse the state for the lawyer fee. This would put to rest the insult after the injury.
What do you readers think of this idea?
PS. Just a correction to the SNAFU in my last post.
Excellent point,Peter.
I believe a lawyer should represent the accused even at tax payer expense, but in a case such as this, defrauding us tax payers, I would suggest that beyond a fine ,jail time and restitution the guilty should be ordered to reimburse the state for the lawyer fee. This would put at ease to the insult after the injury.
What do you readers think of this idea?
Mr. Rhoades hit the ball out of the park with this editorial. It is incredible to think the president would fabricate a story like this. What good would it possibly serve him our our country? Dead is dead and may Bin Forgotten rest in utter torment as are the survivors and family members of 9/11 until they can finally rest in peace.
Jump on you iPod and ride the waves with another volcano in your hand. Glad to have you back, we here in Maine all need a good laugh after a tough winter.
The hard part about ratting on people who abuse the system is because they are friends and who rats on a friend? Only a friend would trust you enough to share their little secret.
How about a person who gets a DHHS food stamp debit card monthly for $100.00 and sells it to a friend for $50.00 so they can buy cigarettes, booze or drugs? Will that friend making a quick $50.00 rat on both of them? And I'll bet there are plenty of them out there doing just that.
Shouldn't the State require anyone using this card to also show a picture ID?
Thank God I live in Norway and my property taxes are not being used for an educational crap shoot. I would recommend to the folks who make the iPads to supply them at no charge as a pilot program to this kindergarten class. When these student reach grade three test their aptitude, general knowledge, math and social skills then compare the results against third graders who had no iPads.
After this testing, it wouldn't be such a crap shoot at taxpayers expense.
Thank God I live in Norway and am my property taxes are not being used for an educational crap shoot. I would recommend to the folks who make the iPads to supply them at no charge as a pilot program to this kindergarten class. When these student reach grade three test their aptitude, general knowledge, math and social skills then compare the results against third graders who had no iPads.
After this testing, it wouldn't be such a crap shoot at taxpayers expense.
Amy and Jason, I'm with you 100% on your comments. I would strongly suggest to Mr. Davis that he sends a copy of his letter to "The Donald" as it might put him back on the path of total stupidity! That way he can continue to avoid the important issues.
Jason, I've read your post 6 times. I can't make sense of it and your wording. If your sober in the morning read it again. Your post and your logic, (with all due respect) makes no sense.
I appreciate your thanks for my service.
Al
Jason, did you serve in Vietnam? I did. Did you find 19 of your classmates had died there when you came home after 2 1/2 year? I did. Vietnam started small but went on for over 10 horrible years. Are you old enough to remember? Go visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall in D.C and gaze at the 58,256 names on the Wall and remember, when it began there was only 1,563 and look where it went.
If we had been more vigilant on the home front your so called, uncivilized people, could not have commandeered planes to fly into buildings. By the way, please define "civilized people". I'm sure the new population in Lewiston, Auburn would like to know.
Jason, if your so gungho about building a civilization, shoulder an M-16, go to Afghanistan and get your ass shot up! I'd appreciate that.
This Afghan situation is identical to our Vietnam situation where you can't recognize the good guys from the bad. By day they're your buddy and at night your their prey. The only way out of this "no win" situation is to pull the plug, bring our troops home and protect our own borders and citizens.
Do we have to wait for 58,256 to die before we smarten up? I strongly agree with this editorial and, yes, we should tell our congressional delegation to get us the hell out of there---NOW!
There must be a breakdown in communication between President Obama's birthplace and Maine or you drank one too many volcanoes as most of us Mainers don't know what the hell your talking about! Howdy Do to you too from Norway Maine.
Oh yes we do! Ron, I've got one hell of a great 7th Flt cruise book I'd like to share with you. If we don't connect please look up USS Providence CLG6 on line for some glimpses. No one else e-mail me, please!! Ron, my E-address is pelletier2319@roadrunner.com.
There with you, Ron. When Kerry testified on the hill, I had been back for a couple of years and knew that everything he was telling the committee was correct. I had a great deal of respect for his dealing with the truth, as difficult as it was. I have a great picture of Kerry, Michaud and me introducing him to a Legion gathering for his run for the White House. I think his honesty would have been good for America.
Good God Ron, I think I have a picture of me and a bar honey just like this. At the end of the night, and with a little exploration, I discovered it was a cross dresser. I puked !! I remember crossing the shit river bridge and stopping to deck a native over the rail. He had ripped my dixie off my head and was stomping it into the mud. I hope he had a nice landing. I was able to run through the gate before a small mob caught up with me.
Oh, those were the days!
Fern, I couldn't agree with you more! There are thousands of places in this state where high yielding hydro dams can be built. It's clean, non-polluting, not dangerous, and with an endless supply of propellant (water). How complicated is a fish ladder? The hydro dam in Brunswick -Topsham has one and it seems to work pretty good. I don't understand why people today look at this method of providing electricity as out dated. It has worked fine many years without one single melt down. I don't say "Drill baby Drill" I say, "Dam it up baby, Dam it up"!
For sure, many a party on Grande Island and beautiful down town Olongapo. Hey Ron, Do you remember "Tiger Tops" in Singapore? The beer was so bad it had to be topped off with lemonade. Those were some of the fun times.
Ron, please enlighten me. We both know Hyland went on to CincPavFlt then to Cinc Pac then to Joint Chiefs. What's your point? I can't understand if you like the man or hate him. I either case he was simply my boss. Oh, F.Y.I.,I also worked for Adm.Thomas Moorer too.
Ron, thanks for the history and your facts are correct. Among my other duties in Vietnam with Admiral John Highland, Com 7th Fleet, was as a French interpreter. French was the second most spoken language in the South and their French slang was very similar to our Canadian French.
I think Mr. Rhoades and I were using a general example without writing a book.
Been there, done that, and my choice would be neither. One is now shooting from the hip and the other one shot from the hip and either could have hit me as well as the enemy. Pirate, we might disagree sometimes but I'd choose you. Be it as it may, I think you'd make your shot count.
Ms. Burns, I too would like to see entry level jobs pay a little bit more, who wouldn't? I would also like to see my social security check get a little bit bigger, this would improve MY quality of life and increase MY spending which would help business.
Well my little check, after paying in to the system for 45 years, has not gone up one penny in almost three years and I don't see any cost of living raise in the future.
Fresh out of the Navy in 1969 the only job I could find was pumping gas at Landry's Shell in Brunswick at $1.25 an hour. I didn't like getting paid so little but it actually gave me the incentive to better myself and look for a better paying job. If I thought that the government would intervene and increase my pay, I might have stayed at Landry's.
If someone is in a dead end ,entry level job, but continues to get forced raises, why look for something better?
I've been harping on this issue for years. Augusta passed a useless distracted driver law and is now working on a useless texting while driving law, neither of which can be enforced. It is a proven fact that people using cell phones are as big a danger to the public as drunk drivers.
If a cop sees you holding a cell phone to your head he should pull you over and give you a ticket for driving while distracted. A drunk driver has to pay a serious fine and lose their license, so should someone with the same coordination and concentration as someone with a .08 blood alcohol level, not because of booze but because of talking on a cell phone.
This situation is extremely disturbing and scary. As I have said in previous posts," the United States should not and cannot be the world police". This is the scary part, because we brought in air support and spent billions, the mind set was established and now is, how can we spend all that money and still see Ghadaffy Duck win? How can we walk away now? Mr. Rhoades is dead on with his comparison with Vietnam. How about Cuba, didn't we help Castro over through that evil dictator, Batista, only to have Cuba become a puppet of the Soviet Union? Who knows who's in charge of the Libyan rebels, perhaps it's the Taliban.
I agree with Mark , Bush didn't start this one, but then Obama didn't start the Iraq one. At this point I don't think one president is much better then the other.
The only way our government will take care of the needs of it's own people is to stay out of places we don't belong.
The hundreds of billions of dollars we have spent on wars in the past 10 years could have been spent on national health care, finding a cure for cancer, feeding our own poor, improving education, fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, and on and on .
Instead we're spending it on killing people, how sad it that?
Ron, it looks like the new title of this bill will make it law. As a brother I invite you to the bill signing, ( I'll keep you posted ). Sheryl Briggs has asked me to sing my tribute to Vietnam Vets, "The Wisdom That We Gained" at the ceremony. I will do it for the last time.
To you and all who served, God Bless.
That one idiot who came along and threw gas on your fire was probably the same idiot who complained about the mural. The fire then spread to your house and the neighborhood when the Lepage wind started blowing. A fire of this magnitude would certainly get the press's attention and they would continue to report about it until the fire was put out.
I'm proud to be one of you guys and perhaps next year there will be an official Maine Vietnam Remembrance Day. Send letters and e-mails to Rep. Sheryl Briggs of Mexico at sheryljbriggs@gmail.com, she has sponsored the bill and will be bringing it to the Senate floor
soon. Thank you for publicly honoring our brothers and sisters who served.
This stupid issue really makes me wonder.
Lepage drops this mural bomb shell on us Mainers. He calls those opposed, "Idiots". Hides OUR stolen mural and heads for Tahiti. Wass up??
Why didn't he simply" man up", state his intentions and reasoning , take the heat, endure and defend the criticism, then act on logical input?
His action was kind of like putting dog poop in a paper bag on us Mainers front porch and setting it on fire, then running away leaving us to stomp on the fire. WHAT A GOVERNOR!
Robert, I think you have an excellent point and perhaps Mr. Cotta had other commitments, but after giving my testimony I was so emotionally stressed I told Rep. Briggs that I could never go through that again. Myself and a dozen Vietnam Vets had tears streaming down for three hours recounting what we went through and how we were received when we came home.
How could we possibly relive this pain especially for Mr. Cotta? Please read part of my testimony:
After serving 2 1/2 years in Vietnam with Commander 7th Fleet Operations I came home to a totally different country. My work had been top secret so I couldn't speak of it and, after living the horror of being spit on and called a pot smoking baby killer, I felt like I just didn't belong in the country I love. My 6 years of Naval service was never to be mentioned again.
I tried to put those years behind me and go on with my life but the memories wouldn't go away. Three years after the fall of Saigon I was in a bad mental state. I sat down with my guitar and tried to make sense, in song, of my existence for those 2 1/2 years.
Suddenly the words were there, I had lived them, and the music just went with the words. At that moment I knew us Vietnam Vets were not forsaken and God was intervening to help me and all Vietnam Vets to cope with their feelings.
30 years after writing the song and with help from my brother I recorded the, "Wisdom That We Gained"
And in 2007 I was invited to sing my song in the opening ceremony of the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.
I pray my 58,256 fallen comrades heard my song that cold November day at the Wall.
I then proceeded with the song.
For myself and all the other Vets who gave equally and more compelling testimony, doing it again especially for Mr. Cotta is not an option.
Good news---The point of contention for the opposition is having the word Veteran in the title so the bill will be amended to call the day,"Vietnam Rememberrance Day". What do you all think ??
I never cared too much for Buldacci and how he ran this state, but this B------t has gotten way out of control. How can Lepage do his job effectively when this situation is looming over him day after day? Who started this whole mess? Where are is the mural hidden? Where and when will it re-appear? Until we know, this will be what Maine and the country is talking about,,, now is this business friendly? Perhaps we'll attract a movie production company.
The show's name, "Blaine House Supremacy". WoW, Steven King--- jump on this one!!!
Guys, my letter was not meant to chastise Republicans or Democrats regarding their military service. If Rep. Cotta would have a (D) and Rep. Briggs would have an (R) my letter would have been the same. My point is, as a state policy maker if you do not sit in chambers and listen to testimony, how can you render an educated opinion. Rep. Cotta chose not hear testimony because his mind was already made up and that just ain't right. Myself and many other Vets traveled to Augusta from all over the state, spent 5 hours in the morning listening to whoopie pie crap bill, paid for our dinners and when it was our turn (and there was virtually no opposition to Rep. Brigg's bill ) the Chairman and most important decision maker was absent. That is not fair, it's not right and that is the crux of my letter.
Weather you a a Vietnam Vet or not, contact Rep. Cotta from Albion and express your opinion. The bill is going back to the floor next month and Rep. Briggs needs all the help she can get. Guys and Gals, if you have,(or had), a Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister, Friend and if You served in Vietnam please express your support for this bill.
Thank you Joe for understanding the meaning of my letter. I appreciate Ron's enthusiasm and support, but your response is a little more of what I had in mind regarding this issue. Thanks again.
Mark, my retail store management jobs included VIP Automotive Discount, Parts America ( now Advance Auto ), and Pep Boys. When I hired entry level people to wok for me in that venue they were paid the same as department store, grocery store and fast food employees. I also managed two Sherwin Williams stores, owned my grocery store , owned my own paint, carpet and wallpaper store, managed Marden's of Westbrook,owned my own commercial flooring business and my own herbal tea business. I know what entry level pay is in virtually all areas of retail and that is ,minimum wage fits all. Your still a flip flop artist and you've run out of gas but I'll be gracious and give you the last word, as I know you need to have.
Mark, in your first post you wrote," when I searched for my first job, the three places I would not work at were: department stores,grocery stores and fast food". After my post you write,"I spent quite a few years in retail too, I started at the bottom and worked my way up to management".
You and Lepage are a couple of flip flop artist. Have a nice day.
I worked retail for 27 years and managed 12 retail stores including a Marden"s store. My wife started working for Marden's 27 years ago as a stock clerk and cashier. She now has a great job with Marden's with professional pay and great benefits. Mark, I've been most polite, but I have to suggest you quit blowing smoke out your ass (or keyboard) when you don't have a clue about working your way up in retail.
And Lepage never worked retail until he looked down his nose at all the little people he presided over and it made him feel powerful. He never would have had that job without Mickey Marden who started his retail chain out of the back of an old station wagon selling shoes.
Lepage never would have hired his "green behind the ears" daughter to work at Marden's as it would be far below her aspirations ,so he hired her to do a " do nothing job " for $41K on the taxpayer dollar in Augusta. Sorry to be so blunt, but I feel you need some education on the subject of "retail". Don't forget, without Mardens, and retail Lepage would still be shining shoes. Now go kiss your Governors BUTT!
Well then I guess I don't get to sign a recall petition, but I just had a thought, why doesn't Lepage work on trying to enact such a useful law instead of playing hide and seek with property that belongs to Maine and bringing shameful national attention to our state.
This art work belongs to the people of Maine and the fact that it was stolen in the safety of darkness is nothing but simple thievery. He stole candy as a kid and now art from the people of Maine. But, as he said, we critics of this dumb move are all idiots so what does it matter. Well this idiot is smart enough to know how to sign a recall petition!
Susan, if you were here in Maine, I'd hunt you down and give you the blue ribbon for the best post on this subject to date as your letter indicates, this would satisfy those want to keep the mural and the few who want it gone. And by the way, creating a whole new set of murals would give some struggling Maine artist a job and isn't that what Lepage tells us he is trying to create---jobs? You go girl.
Now that this P------ contest of words is almost over, I've concluded that in our next presidential election, Ron should run for the job and Mark would make an excellent vice president and I would love the press secretaries job. What a team!!
Gary, you forgot about all those cell towers that have popped up everywhere giving our country side that New Jersey look. By the way, was cell phone tower construction ever put before the voters? And perhaps those towers should be featured in Maine Invites You to show people from away that they can keep on texting while they're driving throughout our beautiful state.
In a previous post about this mural fiasco I said Lepage will tell his critics to "Kiss his butt" or "go to hell", well I was wrong. Instead he has simply referred to his critics as "idiots". Now that shows real class and respect for your constituents , Governor!!
I agree with your editorial , but if Lepage would have explained his reasoning for this "little dumb thing" prior to doing it and did it as well as you did, he would not have drawn all this negative attention . He really needs better political advisers and quit shooting from the hip.
Mark, I'll beat you to the punch on this one.
Why such a big hoopla, he'll just give his critics their choice, "kiss my butt or go to hell".
Little dumb things like this really make Mainers look stupid!
Thanks for quoting my post from yesterday, Mark and I understand your confusion, but if Lepage were a Democrat and Obama a Republican my comments would have been the same. I am trying to give Lapage a chance but he keeps doing dumb little things that I love to pounce on. Obama just did a dumb BIG thing and I pounced on him too. Equal pouncing for all !!!
Mr Rhoades, I'm totally with you on this one. I've been a great advocate of Mr. Obama since he was elected continually saying, "give him a chance to fix things", but this is one giant step backwards. As I've said many times, the United States can not and should not be the world police and continuing down this path will be our downfall.
Good post Alan, but common sense will not prevail as long as cell phone lobbyist are in Augusta making sure their cell phone towers are paying for themselves by cell phone users on our highways and ta hell with common sense, keep the money coming.
I forgot those two-- positive or negative political spectrum. His post was just plain filthy and that's my last word. Time for a cold one so I can endure one more snow storm.
Dan, Leon's post that was removed was not leftist, right wing, moderate or progressive. It was just plain in the potty and if this is his every day use of vulgarity he's bound to do it again and I'll report it again. It did take a while for Patty to remove the post but she can't monitor this forum 24-7.
He's been given 3 strikes and he's on his second, 2 more strikes and his garbage will go away.
I sure hope Dr. Shields's letter disappears tomorrow. We've beat this thing to death!
And the bad news, we'll see another one next month and we can do it all over again.
Hey Jason, I'd be happy to buy the second round. You, me , Veritas, Pirate, Dr. Shields, Bush and Obama, ( leave Jonathan out). Holy smoke! sounds like a bar room brawl, but when all is said and done, we'd all leave the bar shaking hands, that's what civil gentlemen do.
Good points, Mr. Albrecht, and I am always at odds with Dr. Shields's one sided republican view too, but come on, he has the age to be addressed as Mr. and the education to be addressed as Dr.. If he has given you permission to call him Tommie, I'll repent.
Pirate, I just checked your facts and your correct for a 7 year period prior to Obama taking office, but the key word here is "inherited" and it is this. When Obama took office he inherited an annual inflation rate of 3.85% and an unemployment rate of 9.4% . This month it finally fell to 8.8%.
No dog poop here!
Wow! Dr. Shields is finally a happy camper now that we have a republican governor or he's prescribed himself some chill pills.
I hate to dissolve his warm fuzzy feeling by asking, what did the Obama administration inherit from eight years of Bush and his cronies? Wars on two fronts, runaway inflation, crooks on wall street, banking collapses, high unemployment, bailouts galore , dog poop on the White House lawn (wouldn't surprise me) and on and on. Hell, Lepage's got it easy especially with his overpaid , (by us tax payers), daughter by his side. Yup, Maine tax payers deserve a break. I can't wait!
Since the SJ went to an open forum I've seen posts by Ron and Paul that have been 10 feet short of a fist fight, but I don't recall any sanctions against either. At least since the open forum, the discussions have become more civil with good dialog.
The subject was "Pit Stop". How the hell did we get to this post? Man do we digress and ain't it fun!
Veritas and Pirate, You guys are smoken! Makes reading this fun.
Mr. Larson, move here to Norway and read only to what is written in the Agonizer Democrat.
You'll find life is really simple and a great place to live. My 2 cents.
Why didn't these anti-Oxford casino lobbyist bring up their idiotic mileage issue before the voter referendum? Could it be they're sore losers or just plain greedy? The votes have been cast and the people have spoken, now let the Oxford casino proceed as planned.
Ron, your info. on the Bragdon gig was enlightening. The point I was trying to make on my post is that allowing youngsters to work 32 hours a week while in school may promote their want for the almighty buck over the want for an education. Also, the post about all the gadgets available that occupy a youngsters time makes a good point. Perhaps what is good for the student should be left up to the parents instead of the state, but then there are so many parents today disconnected from what is right for their kids, that wouldn't work either. Go figure.
As many readers know, I've been harping about this dangerous practice for years and nothing is being done to stop it. The current law is useless in preventing loss of life caused by distracted drivers and taking your eyes off the road for one second to write down the description of the driver, the car and the plate number is as dangerous as the person texting and driving.
To stop this dangerous practice will take a law with teeth. The same teeth our drunk driving law has. I would like to see roadside signs changed to," Maine has a tough drunk driving and distracted driver law. Don't drink and drive and turn off all hand held devices. IT'S THE LAW!"
Nobody in Augusta seams to get it. How many injuries and deaths will it take until they do?
I couldn't agree more. Our military is so stretched out now we simply can't get involved in another conflict. The people of Libya are now realizing that Gadhafi is a tyrant who cares more about his personal wealth then his people. Freedom means more when you earn it and freedom loving Libyans are beginning to understand this.
I agree with some of Rep. Carey's logic about raising the minimum wage, but I simply do not think now is the time. We are still in a full blown recession and increasing the minimum wage at this time will do the same thing that high fuel prices are doing, that is, making the cost of goods and services go up, and up and up again!
My social security check has not gone up in two years so I have had to adjust my lifestyle. No restaurant meals, using my car when absolutely necessary, heating with wood I cut, split and pile for the winter, forgoing a hernia operation, Cool Aid instead of Pepsi and on and on. If we learn to live within our means and adjust our lifestyles accordingly right now, perhaps in a few years we can start enjoying life again. Bite the bullet now and things will get better, history has proven this.
Yes, Ron, you just reminded me about Corey Dan's funeral here in South Paris. The Sarasons made it clear that they would be guarding the funeral route. That was enough to keep the nuts away.
It sure would be nice to see an organization formed that would keep track of every member of the nut case church and all their family members. If there is a death of a church member or anyone in their family, I would gladly volunteer to go to their funeral and heckle them as per the subject of this post. We have free speech too.
Yes, it sure will be interesting to find out who else was behind this hanky-panky paid for by us folks who are tolled to death and are told it's for highway maintenance. As Gregg wrote, it's time for DOT to take over.
Renee, Do you think Marden's should pay an entry level stock clerk $41,000 a year? I think not. Marden's pay scale and benefits package is at a par with any other retail store in Maine and in many cases--Better, so lighten up a little.
Other then that, this is a great piece.
Brenda, automobile operators need all this protection and new laws so they can safely text while driving. Most bike riders know the importance of keeping both hands on the handlebars, although helmets sure would save a lot of lives.
I totally agree that truck manufactures could do better, but I kind of wonder if any of the 432 that got killed when they rear ended a truck might have been killed because the driver of the car was distracted? After all 5,474 people died in 2009 and 448,000 were injured by distracted drivers, 995 of those deaths or 18% was distraction by cell phone use.
Using a cell phone while driving is the same as having .08 blood alcohol concentration.
As I said in a previous post, this is the most pressing, dangerous issue we should be addressing. Our current Maine Distracted Driver Law is totally useless--period!
Your view reflects my feelings exactly, especially after serving 30 months in Vietnam. Speaking of which, it looks like a law making March 29th the Maine Vietnam Veterans Day is well on it's way. Perhaps this day of remembrance will also remind our leaders that the United States cannot , and should not be the world police.
Great article and all our leaders in D.C. should have a copy
Thank you!
The Today Show is running a piece about schools giving parents rank cards scoring their involvement in their child's education. Kinda like what I just suggested in my previous post.
Parents must be more involved.
I simply don't believe that 5 more instructional days taught by teachers who don't really care and students who aren't listening is the answer to our educational woes. If a teacher who has charge of a student for 8 hours a day maintains good communication with the students parents about the other 16 hours of the students life, together a partnership will form that will lead to a student's better study habits. Continual student testing to monitor educational progress and problems. A monthly appraisal of teacher, parent involvement in cases of students with less then expected grades to identify and resolve problems. Reward those teachers who get good results through good teaching, involvement and dedication.
Through attrition bad teachers will fade away to other professions and the good teachers will advance and prosper and schools will turn out smarter kids.
Judy, what causes more accidents and deaths, a pooch on your lap, snow on your car, no headlights on in broad daylight or text messaging while driving? Lets get some real life saving laws on the books. Do you use a cell phone while driving? I'll bet you do so you can report a pooch on a drivers lap. I'd like to know.
But Lepage's brain expiration date came to fruition after we bought him and is no longer returnable. And as for his daughter, she couldn't accept less then $41,000 a year to stock shelves so that ain't happening either.
Lepage bashing doesn't bother me a bit, but please lighten up a little with your Marden's bashing. And your right, Lepage was the GM, not an owner or the CEO and Marden's will continue to do just fine without him. Oh, if you buy anything at Marden's that is defective, torn, expired or simply not what you expected it to be you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked. I wish we could do the same with certain elected officials.
Lepage bashing doesn't bother me a bit, but please lighten up a little with your Marden's bashing. And your right, Lepage was the GM, not an owner or the CEO and Marden's will continue to do just fine without him. Oh, if you buy anything at Marden's that is defective, torn, expired or simply not what you expected it to be you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked. I wish we could do the same with certain elected officials.
I guess your statement about digesting anything to do with science is not that far fetch.
As I wrote on a previous post, testosterone, not estrogen, would grow little beards on women.
If these representatives are so safety conscious why don't they introduce a bill banning the use of hand held devices while operating a motor vehicle. This would save many more lives then snow on the roof and headlights on. Could it be that the cell phone lobby has them in their back pocket?
I'm old enough to remember crossing the bridge between Brunswick and Topsham in the 50's and holding my nose all the way across due to the stench from the Andy. I sure would hate to see those good old days again.
Years ago many of my ancestors come to our area from Quebec and New Brunswick Canada. They were coming here seeking employment in shoe shops, woolen mills or any factoy that was hiring. As I've been told, the head of the family would come here for a week or two to find a job. If he ,or she, found gainful employment they would then comit to bringing their family knowing they had an income with a future. Most learned English and they hungered to become American citizens.
Now they cross the border, mostly from the south, skirting the law for our welfare benefits, don't care much about learning English and becoming an American citizen is hardly a priority. I'm not saying all do this, but I believe way too many do. Yup, times have changed.
A bill to make whoopie pies the State desert, a bill to repeal the seat belt law and now this idiotic bill. We have too many law makers with too much time on their hands and THIS is what Lepage should be trying to fix.
Good points, Len,
When you and I were in Augusta last week we sat through the whoopie pie thing all morning before we could testify in favor of the Vietnam Veteran Bill. During the lunch break Rep. Sheryl Briggs was kind enough to give some of us a tour of the State Capital. As we stood in the Capitol Rotunda, ( I believe it was Ron ), and I were scratching our heads and both wondering at the same time, "are we really paying to heat these cold granite walls and all this vacant space when we can hardly afford to heat our homes? Do we really need all these paid legislators who make up and introduce dump proposals when so many Maine folks are struggling with everyday financial survival?
Your right Len, but do you think anyone in government has the gonads to attack a problem that effects their welfare? Ain't happening!
Frances, let us not forget the repeal of the seatbelt law. I hope Lepage has the gonads to stand before the legislative bodies and say,"please give me something for my legacy", so far your just not cutting it!
As I stated in an earlier post, I was at the whoopie hearing in Augusta. All the bakers and sellers of whoopie pies were there and very well organized, enough so they attracted the press. The point they were trying to make is that if the whoopie pie were made the official state desert it would help boost sales of the pies and we would beat Pennsylvania to the punch. If you can't label this group as a special interest, self serving coalition I don't know how you could label them. I couldn't agree with you more, Michael. As I sat there for three hours listening to testimony all that kept going on in my head was,"is this really my tax dollar at work"?
Jeff, point taken, so perhaps we should legislate that all those folks who love to put themselves in harms way be required, by law, to show poof of health insurance before buying an off road vehicle, before being allowed on a ski slope, before being allowed by a park ranger to climb a mountain? These risk takers without health insurance are what help drive our insurance premiums through the roof and health care out of control, but I would never support such a bill as this would be to intrusive. But think about it, and I'll bet one of our Augusta legislators with lots of time on his hands might take my comments seriously and write such a bill, scary huh ?
As Ron wrote, public roads are publicly controlled and the activities you listed are not. Sounds like you were a pretty darn good cop, Ron.
Paul , I couldn't agree with you more! Why should legislation be passed to make automobile occupants safer with a seat belt law but allow motorcyclists to kill themselves all day long when a helmet law would save many lives. Go figure? I advocate any law that is not drastically
intrusive in our individual freedoms and will save lives. I don't think seat belts and helmets are that intrusive when you consider the lives that could be saved and increased medical expenses incurred by those who like taking risks.
Dan, I disagree with you, he did do something positive. He gave his daughter a $41,000 entry level job to prevent her from standing in an unemployment line.
Seat belts save lives, plain and simple. How hard is it to buckle up ? Is 2 seconds of your precious time worth your life ? Keep that law on the books and work on a law banning the use of any device in a moving vehicle that takes your attention away from the road. Cell phone use in vehicles has been totally proven to be as, if not more, dangerous then drunk drivers.
If Senator Thomas wants to do something productive with his time in Augusta, this is the kind of legislation he should be working on. This type of legislation would save many lives. His bill only encourages foolishness. PERIOD !
Yes Gail, we really need 8 more years of the Bush, Cheney mentality running our country again.
You said it yourself, the Democrats walked into bad economic conditions. It really seams doubtful that the current administration could make it worse then a banking collapse, bankrupt industries, ponzi schemes on Wall Street, housing markets down the tubes and unemployment through the roof. This is what President Obama walked into and is trying to fix.
Please lighten up a little and lets give Obamacare a shot. Perhaps if people are required to have health insurance your premiums would go down as you would not be paying for their medical care. I am also a retired senior citizen and Obamacare doesn't scare me a bit.
Dan, good point but I have carried a certified copy of my birth certificate in my wallet for at least 40 years and still do, it's no big deal. My Dad and I frequently went into New Brunswick Canada to visit relatives. Showing a birth certificate to cross the border was far more convenient then the time and expense involved in getting a passport, as you need now.
M. Rhoades,
I realize that the press can't be in 20 places at the same time and certainly the SJ is not different. I appreciate it more that the SJ was not there to cover both the whoopie bill and the Vietnam Veteran bill then the Portland Press and channel 8 for being there and choosing whoopie pies over Maine's Vietnam Veterans. This bill is proceeding and any press coverage would be greatly appreciated by all us Vietnam Vets. Now lets all eat a whoopie and put on 5 lbs.
Kevin, F.Y.I I sat through the whoopie pie hearing in Augusta yesterday. The folks who bake and sell whoopie pies throughout this state made some very good points to sway the committee to their point of view. In fact the hearing room was filled with so many whoopie pies I could see clogged arteries without even eating one. The room was filled with press folks and it was a real entertaining circus for all. OH, I THINK THE WHOOPIE PIE HAS IT'S PLACE AS THE MAINE STATE FAT SNACK AND THE BLUEBERRY PIE THE STATE DESERT.
The afternoon hearing was LD20 a days set aside to give thanks and a welcome home to Vietnam Veterans. As to be expected, no press was present and the hearing turned serious and genuine.
Al Pelletier
For the kind words. The old man actually was asking if we had any ice cream. Can you imagine, his entire family wiped out and he is asking for ice cream. I'll never understand this. I speak French very well but sure don't write it as well as you do. Thanks again and thank a Veteran.
Best regards,
Al
Kudos and kudos Mark, what a bunch of great stories by local folks. Please do this again. It really tells about the strength and endurance our community and the great folks within it.
Al Pelletier
Madeleine,
Donnie needs AA as bad as I need a vasectomy. I know him and he is not an alcoholic, a socially responsible drinker--yes, but not a drunk needing help. And when you say he was wrong, were you there? I wasn't so I will not prejudge, but please don't render your verdict until the trial has been held.
Al
After reading all these posts regarding this unfortunate situation, it sure would be nice to see it resolved with Donnie Cummings and Officers Daily and Cook sitting in the rose garden with President Obama, sipping a beer together and letting bygones be bygones. Please, court system, spare us tax payers the expense of a trial and Donnie the expense of an attorney for an unfortunate misunderstanding.
Al Pelletier
I've lived in the next house up our camp road from Donny Cummings for 11 years. On hot summer days Donny occasionally stops by my house and we'll have a cold beer or two and swap stories about our military days, but never in these past 11 years have I seen Donny intoxicated. I have no idea either about what lead Donny to act as they say he did. It just seems totally out of character for a man I consider a close friend and who has always conducted himself like a gentleman and a good neighbor.
Al Pelletier
As A Marden's store manager 20 years ago I enjoyed a good paycheck and benifits, but never in my wildest dream could I, or would I, have given a fresh out of college kid with a B.D. a job that paid more then I was getting. Only state officials can do this, not the private sector. Only government officials have health insurance, life insurance and benefits we, in the private sector can't even imagine and we as voters tolerate it. What a country !!
My wife drives 64 miles every day to work at Marden;s and the weather has to be really nasty to keep her from her job, but if she can't make it in she is given a paid day off from her 5 weeks annual vacation pay. Not such a bad company to work for huh?
I was a Marden's store manager years ago and my wife has worked for Marden's 27 years.
As a store manager I had an excellent salary, 401K, good health insurance, a great vacation package, great Christmas bonuses and a very generous store discount. My wife started working for Marden's stocking shelves. She now has an excellent position with Marden's and is rewarded generously.
Sometimes Marden's merchandise buyers have to buy the good with bad to get a good deal for their customers. They are not a Wall Mart, they are a surplus and salvage store. Sorting out good salable merchandise from trash is a constant challenge to deal with. Ever see anything sexually offensive on their shelves? They buy that too to get the good stuff and throw offensive stuff away as not to offend their customers and Marden's return policy is the best in the retail market. A lot more to Marden's then some folks, who love to shop there, give them credit for.
Al Pelletier
After they squander legislative time and taxpayer money on this useless issue, lets propose a bill to make "Making Whoopie" out states favorite pastime. How numb is that!!
Yup, Lil and George ----- crickets, what's new? Destructive criticism without providing an alternative answer does nothing. Constructive ideas that may change things for the better ( or worst ) are part of our American heritage. Sometime we have to gamble and see how the chips fall. If we hadn't gambled in 1776 we would still be, well , you know.
Veritas, I couldn't agree with you more ! I couldn't care what party she belongs to, every time she opens her mouth 20 acres get fertilized, but I really don't think her mouth had much to do with this tragic event. I think when the evidence comes out at Loughners trial it will show that he was a totally deranged looser who was seeking notoriety, and he sure got it !
Pirate, lets hear some of your ideas on how to fix this health care mess? Please don't simply tell us it's to do away with Obama care, that's not trying to fix the mess, it's perpetuating the mess.
No American, especially me, wants the government imposing more and more infringements on our individual freedoms, but here's the deal.
Hospital charges are out of control, insurance costs are out of control, and uninsured citizens continue to increase. Something has to short circuit this vicious cycle. If state government didn't require automobile drivers to have, at the least, liability insurance how many drivers out there would rather spend their premium money on, lets say, lottery tickets and the hell with the prospect of causing an accident. Think about it.
This is not a Democrat, Republican, Tea Party or what ever issue. This is attempting to fix a national problem that won't go away and repealing it before it is tested is lunacy.
Al Pelletier
A lot of the posts I have read in this forum got nasty, mean spirited , and down right threatening when it comes down to political issues. I applaud SJ for this move that makes those who post accountable for the content of their contribution.
Hi Jim,
Yes there is a message and I received it 42 years age and that was,"thank you for your service to your country, here's your discharge papers."
Alvey P
Rock on sthistle !! Nicely written and based on fact, good for you.
When I joined in this forum several months ago, I scrolled through many ridiculous post until I found some decent dialog that pertained to the original letter and when I joined in with a comment always signed my real name trusting that my comments did not offend, insult or embarrass anybody, something called common courtesy . Now perhaps I won't have to waste time and what little energy I have left trying to avoid junk.
Wow! I can't wait to read all the posts in the morning. If they are nasty I hope they identify themselves and "preaves" get ready to push the "banned" button.
Al Pelletier
Pirate, I agree with you that if Big Brother ran the entire show they'd probably do a miserable job. I should have explained that perhaps Brother's involvement might be to put a cap on administrative salaries, establish set prices on most common surgical procedures, encourage and support the formation of "not for profit" insurance companies, kind of like credit unions, to give the major insurers a little competition which may effect their obscene profits, look into the run away prices of medications and if you do not have health insurance, bankruptcy will not wipe away your obligation to health care providers.
Perhaps some of these ideas are a little outlandish, and then again some might have some merit. Pirate, you have to agree that hospitals will not act, insurance companies will not act and the uninsured will not act. What are the options?
David, your common sense letter certainly brought out the best and the worst in people. It's unfortunate some people can't join into an honest discussion about this subject without getting just plain nasty. Pity the source.
Al
Have any of you screaming about the injustice of health care reform had an operation for a small hernia lately? In and out of CMMC in three hours $18,000.00. Health care administrators
paid $3,000,000.00 a year. Health insurance with a $6,000.00 deductible plus a co-pay. And your calling those who can't afford health care insurance " dead beats"! Talk about a mess and here's Obama trying to improve the situation and now republicans want to undo any gains to remedy this mess while offering no other options. Although Canada's national health care has it's own problems, and their working to fix those problems, it has managed to controlled the three the $$$$$ things I just mentioned and there are no "dead beats". I absolutely hate big brother's intrusiveness in my life but when things get out of control it's time for big brother to step in and health care got, and still is, out of control.
In the spring of 1967 my cruiser, USS Providence, pulled along side an aircraft carrier in the Tonkin Gulf off Vietnam so we could catch a USO show featuring Bob Hope, Ann Margarite and many other stars of the day. Now that was a morale builder and, oh ya, the carrier was the Enterprise!
Al
I served 30 months in combat waters in Vietnam aboard 2 light cruisers. We needed morale boosters too. Our Captain and officer staff organized regular "smokers" on the ships fan tail.
A smoker, for those who don't speak navy, is a great barbi, steak and seafood followed by musicians, boxing and wrestling matches, and performances by any sailor that would amuse and entertain. We crossed the Equator 4 times and had polywog to shellback activities that were pretty gross but fun non the less. We had baseball, touch football and vollyball teams where officers and enlisted could blow pent up steam. But never, in my wildest dream, could I believe my old C.O. would conduct himself like Captain Honors for the sake of "morale" when there are so many other morale building activities and especially aboard a carrier! Perhaps he wants to be a youtube star. He's certainly getting great publicity.
Al Pelletier
David, I'm so sorry to hear bad news from another victim of this recession. I have just read 31 comments, which is typical when Dr. Thomas Shield's name and his opinion is mentioned. Most were foolish and a few were good dialog. Like you I owned a small business. A commercial flooring business that catered to the manufactured housing industry in the Oxford area. In 2007 I had seven major accounts and was grossing 70 to 80k annually and employed one person. In 2008 six of these accounts had closed and the 7th decided to keep the work in house to save money. I thank God I hit retirement age in 2008. So many, including Dr Shields,
don't seem to remember about the banking collapse, which killed my business, and everything else bad that happened on Bush's watch. Go figure?
Good luck my friend,
Al Pelletier
You posted the type of discussion that makes sense and is thought provoking. Good for you!
I'll read it again in the morning and decide if I should be pro or con on your post. Either way I'll be polite and civil.
Best regards and a Happy New Year.
Al Pelletier
Freeman, you wrote a perfectly fine letter with your opinion stated clearly, then you got all these idiotic comments, ( notice I said idiotic comments without calling anyone an idiot), that range from calling people bigots, to who won the Civil War, to who and what is a Red Neck and on and on. Pretty silly don't you think?
Al Pelletier
Ed, I agree with you 100%. Just reading the responses to your letter convinces my that ID-ing
the author will help stop some of the useless discussion I have just read. But Ed, stop having a war of wits with unarmed writers. I think your above that.
Al Pelletier
By sweetfern, unverified — Sun, 12/26/2010 - 08:37
Yup, Freeman, their trying to get rid of us and they want to do it as painfully as possible by not giving us folks ,who have worked all their lives and have paid more and more every year into the social security pool, a little benefit increase for two years! The fat cats in Washington live high on the hog with our tax dollars and deny us common folks a little increase based on some formula that makes sense only to them. This formula includes the price of homes which have gone down but most of us retired people already own our own homes and are struggling to pay the property taxes, which have not dropped and many have gone up as has the price of gas, K-1, propane, milk, bread, eggs and all food, lights, phones, cars, clothing, State fees, trash disposal, water, sewage charges and everything else. Just look around and try to find one thing that cost less two years ago. The only thing you'll find are houses that we, through years and years of hard work, now own and , in our "Golden Years", are struggling to keep.
Every post I have read about my comments are honest and heart felt and I understand, but If your an American and you have the courage to say the words John Hancock, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson said ,and identified themselves in our Constitution under fear of execution , then the Sun Journal forum is kids play. Good night
Hi there Armymom, This is Al Pelletier telling you that I have been a contributer to Letters to the Editor for over 15 years. Some like what I write and others don't, but speaking my mind and telling you who these typing hands are connected to has never frightened me. I always try to keep my letters civil and have, on occasion, complimented the SJ staff for slapping my around when I get really mouthy. Please keep in mind, this web site belongs to
the Sun Journal as does their newspaper. If you want to jump in the playpen and play, you have to play by their rules or stay out.
You go SJ. I've read so many stupid posts in the past 6 months written by idiots who write crap knowing they can publish anything without accountability it was beginning to destroy my desire to join in the discussion.
Al Pelletier Norway Maine
Having to pay back 4 million means she will break even. Not much punishment there and the proposed short jail term will only encourage others to try and get away with similar despicable acts. I hope the sentencing judge will read these posts.
Stealing from needy children. Stealing from the community, tax payers and the State. How bad can it get? The 4 million in restitution and a little jail time is not enough. What about the cost to us tax payers for the police team that took them down, the cost for the State prosecuting attorneys and the cost for her incarceration. The care that children were deprived of is a crime by itself. If you over bill the State 4 million for services for mentally challenged children, you also deprive them of that amount of care. 4 million in restitution is the amount that was over charged and 4 million is amount of child care that was never provided. Adds up to 8 million to me and 5 years in the big house to think about the rip off sounds right to me also. I hope the judge handing down the sentence reads this post and many more that will follow
Smelling fumes at the gas pump, cell phones near the brain (and while driving), transmission towers, power lines, smart meters and so much more. Hell, through in a few wind turbines in the pool of hazards so we have something else to worry about and cause us ulcers.
In the late sixties,while in the Navy, I served with Commander 7th Fleet in the Operations Division and as such was cleared to hold a crypto top-secret security clearance. I was advised of the sensitive nature of the highly classified documents I would be viewing and handling and the punishments available to me for divulging anything about my job and what I knew.
They put the fear of God in us and we did our jobs and protected our country's secrets. What's going on in the military these days is beyond me.
I just got back home in Noway from Auburn and I really had to laugh about that crooked sidewalk. Best I can figure it was designed to help staggering drunks look sober.
Gil, regarding "Envy is a terrible thing". It's funny you would have me as a bagger at Mardens. Fact is one of my many positions in business management was the manager of a Mardens store with 60 plus employees. I am now comfortably retired having managed and owned businesses for 45 years. I would guess by your detailed description of a college presidents duties and your defense of the "obscene paycheck" you are the one receiving this paycheck or on that persons payroll. The President of The United States gets $400,000 and our Governor gets $70,000 a year and your to tell us a college presidents job is more demanding? Bull----!! $695,000.00 is still obscene.
Recent Comments
Corruption?
Hey Jim, he described it as corruption because his mouth was moving 10 mph faster then his brain (as usual). This is why we have to pay for him to have a spokesperson. Someone has to explain what he REALLY meant to say.
Peter Principle?
In the business world I believe the Peter Principle also means, you start at the top and work your way down to your level of competency. Unfortunately when we elect a government official who is incompetent we can't assign him, or her, a less responsible job or simply fire them so think long and hard about who you vote for.
Not using the correct equipement?
Jason, obviously you don't have a clue about flooring installations. After 20 years of doing it there isn't a single technique I didn't try.
Your asbestos comparison is also ridiculous. Asbestos workers were not told about the dangers of asbestos when the industry knew full well of the dangers. Call Joe Borntein! Football jocks knew about the dangers before their first game in high school.
And your final conclusion is the height of ridiculous.
In my letter
Paul, as I said in my letter, "they squandered their money". For some it takes ten years to go broke and others only two.
specifics?
Tom your comment is about as specific as Lepage's "corruption" comment. Before throwing the rock he should be sure to identify his target. Instead ,collateral damage is the results ,then his spokesperson has to minimize that damage.
Spokeperson
Madeleine, that's why he needs a spokesperson to explain what he meant to say. Must be the toughest job in Augusta.
Budget cuts?
Your right, Phyllis. And if our governing body would stop funding wars the money saved would easily support the social programs you mentioned, but I guess war is far more important then America's own.
Right on Richard
I've been stating this very same thing in this forum for years and will continue to do so every time someone dies and cell phone use while driving is involved. It's a proven fact that that cell phone use while driving is as dangerous as a drunk driver. When will our lawmakers and governor realize this? Perhaps they think they're in that group of "experienced drivers" and banning cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle will cramp their style because they'd have to adhere to their own law.
Turning off my cell phone has become as automatic as fastening my seat belt. It's what I have to do so I can be alert to drivers who aren't paying attention.
Stay safe my friend.
Ha!
If I do live to 86 years old my wife will be 68 and hopefully able to care for me, I have my VA medical benefits, extensive property holdings, royalties from my music and my books. so I really ain't worried about 21 years from now. I MAY BE FRENCH, BUT I AIN'T TUPID! -----Paul.
2033 ?
I ' ll be dead and cremated by then, Paul so once again, frankly Scarlet I don't give a damn!
good ring tone, Paul
But I kinda like "thegongbewithromney".
Don't install it yet there parrot
Your boy better be shi--ing and getting cause he ain't doin so well in the polls. I think there's going to be lots of Republicans in the Senate and House getting their walking papers. Perhaps "so long Boner" would be a more accurate ring tone.
Thinking for one's self?
Mark, I thought for myself for 50 years and now that I've earned my Medicare and Social Security benefits I don't have to think quite so much in my old age. Lovin it!
National Health Care
Well said Dr. Walworth, I couldn't agree more. Malpractice suits, obscene profits, more then obscene costs for medical procedures, health insurance company rip-offs and on and on describes what we have now. It's time for more then ObamaCare, it's time to overhaul our whole, out of control, healthcare situation.
Hypocricy
Running for public office to serve the citizens of Maine one one hand and screwing the citizens of Maine on the other is either the height of hypocrisy or just another case of the fox guarding the chickens and thinking no one will notice. Well, Mr. Rhoades noticed as did lots of Maine voters like myself.
Go back to your precious patch of woods Mr. Poliquin and pay your fare share of taxes and while your at it, tell Mr. Nutting he still owes Maine tax payers millions in fraudulent overcharging with his pharmacy scheme.
Good letter Camren
As long as cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle is allowed, texting will continue and people will needlessly die.
Someday our lawmakers will realize that operating a vehicle is a full time job and not the time to be multitasking.
Reliving posts from the past.
Three years ago I jumped into this marriage free for all and now I'm sick and tired of it, which is precisely what Gay Activist want.
When I go into the voting booth this fall I'm going to skip the box concerning this issue because frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn!
Attack Beagle
I've trained my beagle to bark twice then run away. Check out You Tube, search "Daisy welcomes" and the video showing a blue Ford Focus. You'll see my vicious Daisy Mae in action.
Great idea, Ron
I know I must have a picture of my ex somewhere around here.Now where would I have hid it?
Same here Pirate
I don't walk around town with a piece in my belt trying to be a "wanna be cop" but I do keep a loaded 30-30 by my bed and I know how and when to use it. This is what I interpret as my right to bear arms.
Martians are coming
Hey Paul, do you remember the Orson Wells broadcast called "The War of The Worlds?
How true, Vickie
You'd think this "stand your ground law" was drafted in Tombstone Arizona in 1880.
His Majesty.
Good letter Robert. This convoluted logic is what will make him "King for a Day".
Civic minded
Good for you, Mary Ann. To take a day, gas up your car, travel to Augusta and express your concerns to your local representative shows good civic involvement.
The issues you wrote about that impact our environment and issues that change tax policy have received less time in committee and study the the Woopie Pie bill.
Perhaps our legislatures think that if they simply rubber stamp a bill no one will notice. They're wrong--you did!
Thanks!
Thanks for Birthday greetings, fellow posters and Mike, I agree with your suggestions 100%.
Points well taken, Jeff
The point I was trying to make is that our health care costs are through the roof, example: the cost for a two hour procedure to repair a simple hernia $18,000. My health insurance premium was $4,004 a year with a $6,000 deductible with a 20% co-pay. Pharmaceutical suppliers and health care providers are making outrageous profits. Last but not least, insurance companies are holding us hostage with their "take it or leave it" way of doing business.
The whole system simply sucks and I don't think Obama Care will fix it. The entire system needs major surgery and not just a band aid.
I'm OK with the way Social Security and Medicare is handled. I get my SS check every month and on time since I turned 62 and my Medicare premium is $1,200 a year with a 20% co-pay on some procedures. I turn 65 tomorrow and all my retirement benefits have come through without a hitch. Not bad for "The Government".
Cut out the profit.
I agree with Ed and Dan but I wish we would have gone one step further and nationalize health care just like Canada. By doing so there would be better control of obscene hospital charges and ridiculous hospital administrators salaries. We could totally cut out the incredible profit margins insurance companies generate on the backs of policy holders.
If the government can administrate Social Security and Medicare it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to administer national health care. Everyone would have to pay, but I believe, pay less and I really can't buy that it will lower the quality of health care.
If health care providers are paid an about average wage they'll continue to lead the world in quality health care.
Same corner alright!
But he keeps getting up on the wrong side of the bed. Major shoulder chip problem.
Good God, Dan
Please accuse me of being bias. If the shoe fits---. Quit being so defensive, I was trying to defend your point of view.
Hey Dan
You think we're going to get only the straight skinny and good investigative reporting from the PPH now that Sussman and Pingree own it? On the bright side, because the paper is now a democrat institution perhaps they'll focus a little more on your good buddy, Nutting. Yup, it pained me to hit the "agree" button too.
The Lepage legacy
I'm no great fan of our sitting Governor either but remember, there are no special days honoring war protesters and draft dodgers. If he was one of them he has to live with it.
I know Ron is as proud to have served our country in Vietnam as I am. We answered when our country called.
It's now time to give our young returning war veterans the dignity, respect and opportunities they deserve.
An important day in my life
Thanks for the great article, Mr. Rhoades and thanks for the kind words, Ron.
Just to set the record straight, Sheryl Briggs introduced this bill by the urging of one of her constituents name Dwight. When I heard this bill was going to committee I contacted Sheryl to see if I could help. Many Vietnam Veterans were there to speak on behalf of the bill. My part was to sing "The Wisdom That We Gained" a song I wrote and recorded about our Vietnam experience.
Today, Congressman Mike Michaud, is working to make this a national day of recognition.
Thanks America for welcoming us home.
Omitted
Steve, At the ceremony Peter Ogden, who works tirelessly to get the recognition our Veterans deserve, pleaded to all who were there to let him know if they knew of any other Veterans deserving of this states recognition to get in touch with him. Please do so Steve, they deserve this recognition. Maine Dept. of Veterans Services Augusta Maine ( Peter Ogden ). I don't have the e-mail address but you can find it on line.
Excellent Job
Thank you Eileen for doing such an excellent job in covering this event.
I was so proud to be a part of it and a special thanks to Rep. Sheryl Briggs for her hard work in making the dreams of Vietnam Veterans come true. Such a nice "welcome home".
WoW Joanne!!
YOU GO GIRL. THE REV. BROUGHT A BIBLE AND A COLLECTION PLATE TO THE GUNFIGHT. WRONG CHOICE!
more to come
This morning I gave the SJ a heads up on another associated issue I'm sure they will be eager to investigate and be the first to report. I don't want to reveal this information and steal their thunder. Much more to come--trust me!
Case in point, Frank
Many important issues left before the end of the session and Lapage is off to Jamaica. His whole political agenda reads like a comic book. Missing mural, Kiss my Butt, Women with little beards, $40K Daughter, $68K Brother-in-law, and on and on. Hey, it least he gives me something to write about!
If the shoe fits-----
Dan, most of the time I'm pretty much on your political side of the fence, but frankly I don't care what party they're beholding to, if there is proven wrong doing, fire em! Remember when we had a system of checks and balances? Now all we have are two political parties, paid by us, digging up dirt against one another. God Bless America!
YUP MIKE
My keyboard (and spell check) is screwed up too. Thanks for correcting my time line but my message remains the same.
And Joseph,
lets throw McCormick in to the firing and replacement pool.
Crazy facts
Larry, my friend, gas prices in the beginning of 2008 (just before Obama was sworn in) hit an all time high of $4.11 in many states. Under $2.00 a gallon?? Where do you get your facts from, the National Inquirer? Curious minds would like to know.
Openning the door for critism.
It's hard to believe that a person, such as this unpopular, controversial governor, would be stupid enough to open the door to such criticism. He must be the epitome of self destruction. If there is a "DAH" award, I'll nominate him.
Hi Tina
The job is in the State Planning Office probably cleaning the latrines for $68,577 a year. As he was a general contractor, I can't see any real qualifications for the position ( kind of like the daughter ). What a farce!
PPH
Log on to the Portland Press Herald and SHAZZAAM! Fearless leader strikes again. "A" strait, he is creating jobs---for his family on our nickel. This guy is a true disaster.
Good morning Dan
Hey did you hear, your good buddy Lepage has put his brother in law on the state payroll in Augusta with a poultry salary of $68,000 a year. Bet that will fuel your fire!!
With all due respect, Paul
Go on line and check out the gas prices in 2007. $4.00 under the Bush? YUP! How soon we forget. And man, does Obama have a lot to blame the "previous administration" for (he's never used the BUSH word). $1.75 a gallon or so? You, the parrot and Breton must be passing around a bowl of weed. And if the current GOP candidates think they have a snow balls chance in hell, they're smoking weed too.
Bob, you hit the nail on the head.
I could gag a when I hear the MITT, the NEWT, and the SANATORIUM respond to a question about what they would do to fix particular problems our country is now facing. All they can come up with is what Obama should have done. They live in hind sight instead of coming up with constructive ideas for the future. ( OOPS! the Newt is promising $2.50 a gallon gas---now that's a gas). God God Dr. Shields, your grand old party of losers have to come up with something better.
Get with it SJ
Spring forward one hour.
Lots and Lots
of splainin to do there Lucy McCormick.
Hold your applause!
Dan got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
70 MPH and NO BRAINS
Of all places to take your eyes off the road,The Maine Turnpike. I applaud the good police work by the State Police, but I know how to make their job much simpler. (I'll say it again). Ban all cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle. We wouldn't need two cops and a van. One cop in a squad car could easily spot a driver with a cell phone attached to his or her head, then have it followed with a hefty fine.
give him a hand
Lets all give it up for Dan, he got up on the right side of the bed this morning. You got an "agree" from me.
How true, Steve
Never thought of it that way, but I sure will in our next exchange. THANKS!
as I said
a mountain out of a mole hill
Pass my test.
Years ago when I was a Sherwin Williams store manager I had a test for perspective employees. Before the scheduled interview I would place a crumpled sheet of paper on the floor between the front door and my desk.
If that person presented him (or her) self as a person who would be an asset to my store, was neat, spoke well and especially had the self motivation to pick up that crumpled up paper and discard it in the trash can, they stood a darn good chance of getting hired.
These following comments are all very good advice, Christopher. Don't give up and make sure you pick up the paper!
Here you go again, Dan
Making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Leave it at the gang plank.
What a great story and it reminded me of something. When I was in the Navy serving aboard a guided missile cruiser with 1,800 other sailors their was only one thing that mattered--our ship. She fed us, housed us, transported us and protected us. We were Caucasian, Native Americans, African Americans, light skinned, medium skinned, dark skinned, Catholics, Baptist, Jewish, Islamic, Republicans, Democrats, etc.
But what stands out most in my mind is that we left our differences at the gang plank before coming aboard, for without doing so the ship would have sunk.
West to East
True Dan, we all pretty much know the jet stream brings pollution our way, but I swear you amaze me.
If you walked through a field of roses the only thing you'd smell is one lone pile of dog poop.
The crickets are deafening!
So I did some research this morning:
SAT Average Scores Critical reading Mathematics Writing
2006 503 515 494
2011 469 469 446
So much for the laptop experiment. Should we keep paying for it?
No-No-No !!
Mr. Anastos
This whole issue of lack of accountability for our tax dollars boggles my mind. Since becoming governor, Lepage has been very quick on the draw,
so quick in fact, that he's shot himself in the foot quite a few times.
This MSHA issue is one that required a Lepage quick draw for a complete audit by the Maine State Police. I don't believe he would have shot himself in the foot, but alas, he left his gun in the holster.
Applies well to this too.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Thomas, I though you were going to write about this gay marriage issue, but you did make a good point.
And, Dan, if Nutting throws his hat in the ring I bet he's slick enough to win (don't you think?).
Chirp, Chirp, Chirp
All I hear are crickets. Get back to laptops Joanne. Good God, I thought I had gone to bed
One more thought. tonight, Good Night!
After the four or five years that this laptop program has been in place and costing us millions, is there some documented proof that our Maine High School graduates are turning in better SAT scores, more are going on to college, more are getting better paying jobs, more are make better incomes and more are staying in Maine to work.
This is what was touted as the logical reasons for the program.
Please don't give me crickets in the morning, I'd like to think my tax dollar for this brainstorm wasn't wasted.
Dan Breton
and his abstract mind strikes again. Keep with the topic, Dan.
Hey Mark,Mike and Joanne
I just had an epiphany! Why don't we let Frank, Claire and Dan pony up $100,000 each to pay for the three new computer task force detectives so that us folks who think the whole program stinks aren't footing the bill.
Dan,
You know perfectly well what point I'm trying to make. Please don't muddy up the waters with your piddly, whimsical quips.
Great post, Mike!
And coming from a pretty darn computer savvy guy, you make lots of sense. Thanks.
Good post there teach!
Monitor in class, the library and study halls--how about at home? Claire, I'm 65 and became fairly proficient with this laptop in two weeks at age 60. I maintain that kids should learn the 3 R's from good teachers and books, then teach them computer skills their senior year in a classroom environment and only with laptops they purchase and maintain themselves.
Magazine
Dan, National Geographic Magazine can be found in libraries, news stands, waiting rooms etc. and are not purchased with my tax dollar so they can look at boobs all they want, plus I'm not paying for special cops to monitor the magazine. And your right, I don't like paying for it but, I don't have to search for a reason to justify my beliefs, Channel 13 news did the justifying for me.
Edirors Note:
And apparently they're not doing a very good job of monitoring if The State Police have to hire three new detectives to try to control the situation. The report also said that no matter what kinds of filters are used the kids will find a way around them.
No plans to fix anything.
Excellent editorial.
The two current front runners for the GOP presidential election are to busy thinking up one line zingers to belittle their opponents then coming up with solutions to THIS problem that would stand a chance of working.
If the GOP doesn't come up with a more believable candidate
they won't have a prayer in November, plus many of the "do nothing" Republican congress members will also be joining the ranks of the unemployed.
You betcha Dave!
Have your coffee and doughnut at home or after arriving at work, not while your operating a 2 ton machine traveling at any speed. What if you spilled some boiling hot coffee on yourself? Would that distract you? What if a large piece of that yummy doughnut fell of and landed somewhere on, or around your lap? I bet anyone would take their eyes off the road in search of that yummy morsel.
I repeat, have your coffee and doughnut before or after your commute, but not while your operating a 2 ton machine traveling 60 miles an hour.
Have I been guilty of doing this? Absolutely! Until I rear ended a VW Beetle years ago when I took my eyes off the road for 2 seconds to look for a dropped cigarette. I have since quit smoking too.
Tinkering with the law?
This is how this useless texting law should be re-written. Any cell phone use or any observed distraction while driving not only violates the law of common sense, but violates the law--period.
$100.00 fine first offense.
Goes to show ya
Paul, I swing both ways and I ain't talking sex. They're crooked on both sides of the fence. Weed em out and fire em! aarg, aarg me pretty parrot!
OOPS!
My dyslexia just popped up.
Your, Mark right
Solution: If a deported person re-enters our borders, is caught and positively identified they're to be taken behind the court house and shot. Sounds pretty cruel but it would be one hell of a deterrent and a lot cheaper then housing and feeding them.
Hey Ron
Do you remember the change of rules when we enlisted in the Navy? You can now eat meat on Friday. Go figure.
speaking of tolls
I've made this comment before and I'll say it again. If Maine is truly "open for business" any business that settles in Maine or any existing businesses that expand adding 10 employees and they provide goods and services requiring the use of our toll roads should get a toll exemption.
This would be far more effective to promote business growth then a sign in Kittery.
Explanation
Perhaps the reason Poliquin hasn't come forward with an explanation is because he doesn't have one. Perhaps he thinks that going after McCormick and MSHA will draw attention away from his alleged tax swindle. For being such a small state we sure have a bunch of crooks in high places!
True Bob
We brought wild turkeys into Maine a few years back and now they're as thick as tics. Perhaps Mother Nature is turning the tables on us.
Ron and Kris
Get you minds out of the gutter, speaking of which, there once was a man from Calcuttah!
Not in this case, Robert
And how about Ms. Soloman who swindled us tax payers out of a few million with her scheme to defraud DHHS? Do the crime, pay the time!
I will side with you in one respect. If a person is in the U.S. but has not become a citizen and commits any crime that warrants prison time they should be immediately deported , not supported by us taxpayers. In all likely-hood they are treated better in our jails then in their country of origin.
Too Funny Joanne
When I grew up in Topsham the Brunswick Past Time or Cumberland theaters were our Saturday afternoon treat. We used to go up in the balcony of the Cumberland with some vegetable soup and, during some bloody scene, pour the soup on those below while making vomiting noises. You Norway kids never had such fun. Norway's Cottage Street now only has the Baptist Church and apartments.
Speaking of change, in the 60' Topsham had one blinking red light ( Main and Middlesex), one constable and dog catcher ( Frank Carver), one small grade school (John A. Cone) and I had the same teacher (Mrs. Cox) in the 3rd,4rth and 5th grade.
Yes, times sure have changed. Thanks for responding and I'm glad I live on North Pond . Al
No because he's smarter then the average Boo Boo Bear
Nutting used his own profit margin formula to overcharge the DHHS millions. His formula for establishing this ridiculously high profit margin would boggle the mind of any honest retail businessman but he was able to muddle his way through the swindle with double talk, pleading ignorance and having lots of cronies in high places. He did pay back some of the money when he got caught, but certainly not all. Had he not been caught I'm sure he'd still be ripping us taxpayers off, but alas, he's now the Speaker.
You Betcha!
There Paul.
Good post Joanne
I'm from Topsham and live in Norway. Sipping my coffee while reading the Sun Journal and the Times record on line has been my morning ritual for years. I now read the Sun Journal and scan the front page of the Times Record because getting past the front page will cost $90.00 a year. For further reading I turn to the Portland Press and The Maine Wire News. Too bad us folks who now live away and are retired have to pay to read our home town newspaper. Shame on the Brunswick Times Record.
I agee, Gary
But I have been just as critical of Violette and McCormick as I have been Nutting and Poliquin and actually, I don't remember the Lamoine thing. I can't imagine I wouldn't have been critical of him too. And yes, there's plenty of rotting garbage on both sides of the isle. No wonder the state is broke.
Denyal
Because they can't stand the truth if it bit them in the azz!
And othes.
Lets not forget Mr. Nutting who swindled the state out of a cool million or so. Dr. Shield's, your foxes are now guarding the chickens.
Ernest, more to be curious about.
How about a cell phone tower on every hill higher then a gopher mound?
True Shirley.
Before I retired I gladly helped support many charities with generous donations. Now it breaks my heart to not be financially able to help every charity asking for a helping hand. I rarely carry cash as I do all my shopping with my debit card and it really bothers me to have to say "I sorry" to the folks at the Wall Mart entrance, many times I use a side entrance to avoid the embarrassment.
Most of us seniors have been giving for 50 years, now there's nothing left to give except an apology. So's life.
Finally getting better.
Hey Reggie, Bush gave Obama two wars to deal with, a housing and banking collapse, 10% unemployment, a Wall Street crisis, an auto industry disaster, and last but not least a deep recession. No wonder it's taken Obama 3 years to start turning this mess around. It took Bush 8 years to make the mess.
ET's huh?
Electronics Techs for the non-navy folks. Sure am glad I was a radarman but sad to say that job is now done by ET's. Even Admiral Hyland took the beating the first time we crossed. We all admired him for his team spirit.
GO NAVY AND GO PATS, and lets give those Giant city boys a flogging-----one hour to go!
3 times
The first time was not so much fun but the second and third were a ball. I soaked my shallalee in salt water for 3 days for maximum effect. For non-navy folks, that's a canvas fire hose strap used to blister and make bleed the butts of the uninitiated. Talk about a hazing, it was the best!
Equator
Hey Ron, remember the flogging we took when we crossed the Equator in the Navy. Check out the official USS Providence web site and "on the line" folks and you'll see a real flogging. God, it was fun!!
I'm afraid it's going to be the same choice.
If some Republican candidate really inspired me I'd vote for that person in a heartbeat over Obama, but sadly, your right, it's going to boil down to the lesser of two evils. If Ron Paul were the nominee I would probably take a second look, but alas, it ain't gonna happen. What's left is pretty sad.
GO PATS!!
WOW! I beat Bretton this morning.
If marriage is only "a sacrament of the churches in their communities" why do you have to go to city hall for a marriage license?
I'm confused.
So am I, Gordon
Especially when a photo-op with "the Donald" steals the headlines.
Tina, I agree
The past four years are what interests me. Prior to that, others also have a lot of splanin to do Lucy. I loved that show. Lucy always tried to hide the truth but Ricky got to the heart of the matter. Now lets get to the heart of this matter. GO PATS!!
Sorry to get off subject folks
Years ago I was the business manager for someone known as Jolly, (prior to him going belly up). We used to drop ex-lax in his morning hot chocolate, by 10am he left to go back home. He hated the dealerships bathrooms. God, that was funny and is little known fact. Don't dehydrate the parrot!
No OT
I think the Pats are going to have one of those "can't do anything wrong kick ass games". 30 Pats--7 Giants.
I've got plenty of beer to drink if I'm right and aspirin if I'm not. GO PATS!!
Hope you've got some treats for the parrot.
Well said, Steve
But a tax is a tax by any definition. If there is a tax on real estate transfers someone is losing money and some entity is gaining.
Not funded by state money?
Look up MSHA Statement of Revenues, Expenses and changes in Fund Balances.
The two biggest sources of revenues are from "Grants and The State". Where does the State get the money to give to MSHA? Perhaps from us taxpayers, you think?
Groundless and partisan?
My post was neither, it was an honest assessment of the committee meeting as I saw it.
Well thoughtout explanation.
Ms McCormick, when you were questioned by the members of your board of directors you should have offered them this explanation instead of your combative and evasive attitude. Perhaps your as clean as newly fallen snow, but it's this attitude instead of honest answers that has pissed everyone off and raised more questions.
Almost half
I'm still stuck on "almost half the country is on food stamps". Paul, you keep coming up with numbers, statistics, percentages and facts that are straight out of the twilight zone.
Hey, can we come together on the Pats? So much more fun then politics.
hoky-smokey there pirate
We're on the same page!
cute
Romney,"I don't care about the poor, they have a safety net". WOW! talk about abandoning ship for the 99%.
Your best hope for America is DITW. (dead in the water) if your not a navy man.
dumb
More facts, figures, quotes and % you can't substantiate. Good night parrot.
Jason,your right
This issue will be brought to referendum every four years until it wears us down and we simply submit. Until then I believe that same sex couples should be able to enter into a civil union with all the pomp and ceremony they want and with all the benefits accorded to a man and a women's union, but neither two men nor two women are biologically capable of producing offspring. This is why the term "marriage" should remain sacred for a man and a women.
Say it again
Is there a way we can all automatically post all our comments on this subject that we posted 3 years ago? Sure would save some time. I've already had practice at what box to check at the polls as has all other Maine voters and I don't think the outcome will be any different, but going out and getting all those signatures gives some folks something to do--I guess.
Politics
Jimmy, get back into politics. We need people with good ideas and the experience to carry them out. GO CLASS OF 65!
YOU
BETCHA!
all I get is "disagree" from your groopies.
I hear crickets. Go find a snail for the parrot.
%
Where the F#*&^ do you get all those percentages? I here crickets.
The Mitt
No, he hasn't broken the law because he can afford to hire fancy lawyers to safe guard his ever growing nest egg. PLEASE provide me proof that 87% of federal income taxpayers pay less then 15%. Even Newt and Obama pay a higher %. I think the parrot is going to be eating some crickets. Hell, all my working life I paid 22% plus and I was pretty shewed with my tax nickel.
And how about that Mitt?
Americans are flooding the streets and city parks to protest corporate greed. The Mitt is a documented corporate raider who has made millions with no regard for the 99%, pays less then 15% Federal Income Tax, gives 7 million to the Mormon Church for a tax write off, hides money in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, initiated Romney care is Massachusetts but says he'll eliminate Obama care nation wide and now stands at a podium saying he is the only legitimate candidate for president in the GOP. What a JOKE! Speaking of joke, how about that Newt!
OOPS!
Give me a "B+" for teacher, please.
So true
Charlotte. When I went to Brunswick High School in the 60's it was a simple brick and mortar building with plain tiled floors and toilets that you had to flush yourself. It was my teachers who taught me math, English, Latin, civics, etc. My teacher were darn good at doing their jobs and my parents were darn good at instilling in me the things that made me honest, hard working, reliable, trustworthy and respectful. My parents gave me character and common sense, my teachers gave me the ability to use it and I have the greatest respect you for your chosen profession.
What next?
He hasn't removed the flag has he? Did Lepage remove a mural? And, I am a little psychic and I predict four more year of Obama so suck it up, John.
RIGHT NOW--TONIGHT!!!
If Lepage is truly concerned about misappropriation of taxpayer dollars he should order the Maine National Guard to immediately seize all MSHA records and hard drives before they're shredded or destroyed and I mean RIGHT NOW!!
Hiring
When I had to do the hiring as a retail store mgr. and owner you bet your ass I looked real close at the cover.
Usually the title of the book and the shape the cover was in said a lot about it's contents.
Job hunting
Mark, maybe what he means is that if they'd remove their hideous piercings and put some "looking for a job" cloths on instead of "ain't no point in looking for a job" cloths on they'd stand a chance of becoming productive members of society by getting a job instead of relying on the rest of us for a free lunch.
Hey Paul
Want to smell some more limburger cheese? Click on to todays issue of www.themainewire/2012/01/editorial-bad-government/. Man, is this beginning to stink!
40 oz.
Tell the parrot they used to call me 40 back in the good old days, now it's just 12 with a twist of lime.
record keeping
Claire, perhaps all that spending was perfectly innocent or perhaps it was as big a boondoggle as Violette and the whole Maine Turnpike Authority embezzlement thing.
I ran many businesses in my life time. When checks were written not only did they say who they were written to but what the funds were paying for and I kept those records for 5 years in case of an IRS audit. Ms McCormick has not been forthcoming with this information just as Violette tried to cover up his wrong doing. This is what's raising all the red flags.
More information
Please check out www.themainewire.com for a partial list of the vendors that the MSHA threw money at. IT'S OBSCENE!!
How true Richard
I grew up living one mile from the B.N.A.S. runway. P3 Orions flew over our roof top 24/7 and at times shook the house and rattled our windows.
Raising our voices every time one flew over is the only inconvenience I can remember. A small price to pay for the defense of our country.
Ya man
Old Swill Ice !!
Hey gang!! News break.
Now us tax payers have to pay a federal judge to decide what to do about the missing mural. GREAT USE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS THERE GOV.
No thanks Andrew
I'll just have a couple of beers and some salty pretzels. The Lepage diet.
Holy Smoke, Andrew
That's one hell of a tongue lashing. Go have a couple of whoopie pies and chill out. Have a nice weekend,Mr. Rhoades, and don't forget to eat your veggies.
more taxes
That tax revenue would probably be replaced by an entertainment tax. That would be a tax charged every time we access the internet. OOPS! I bet I just gave some lawmaker an idea.
I've tried Paul
And you know what I get? If you leave the beer alone I might try and the operative words there are "might try"!
She simply loves it to much and I'm afraid that getting sick is the only thing that will convince her to give it up. Kind of like closing the barn door after the cows get loose.
P.S I do beer in moderation.
Good for you Frank
I too quit smoking 8 years ago with the great help I got from the Maine Tobacco Hot Line. It's an excellent program and without their help I'd probably still be huffing and puffing today.
We also have insurance with a major company through my wife's work place (Marden's). She tried to quit 5 years ago with no help from the insurance company but Marden's stepped up to the plate and paid for Chantix. She quit for six months and, you know the rest of the story.
Gimmick
Speaker Nutting defrauded us taxpayers by 1.6 million of which he still owes 1.2 million with his pharmaceutical gimmicks of overcharging DHHS for health care related items. He's very knowledgeable when it comes to "gimmicks".
Jason
I hear crickets too.
Such a beautiful child.
Kristina will now be tormented for the rest of her life with the stupid decisions she made this weekend. The parents of the kids that died will never be the same for the rest of their lives.
I beg our lawmakers to do something to help stop this unnecessary loss of life and the incredible sadness we are all feeling.
Thanks Heather
I came very close to losing one of my daughters to Krohns disease. The thought of losing her was overwhelming and so hard to cope with. I know the pain these parents are experiencing. Thank God Kellie is alive and well today but if I would have lost her the pain would have never ended. Things just have to change but they will only change when our lawmakers earn their keep and act now.
Disagree?
If today you were overcome with grief while making funeral arrangements for your dead son or daughter I don't think you'd be disagreeing with my ideas. What a fool!
Just ain't right.
Something is horribly wrong when this type of tragedy happens over and over again. Young inexperienced drivers, booze, cell phones, excessive speed and parties are the five things that are causing such sadness and loss of life. This is what needs to be done:
1. Drivers permits can be issued at 16. Between 16 and 18 an adult must accompany the student driver. At 18 a conditional license is issued until the age 21. The condition being, one traffic infraction will cost you your license until your 21.
2. Anyone caught supplying booze to an underage person gets an automatic five years in the slammer and longer if loss of life involved.
3. Pass a law banning all cell phone use by anyone operating a motor vehicle. Fist time your caught $100.00 fine, second time you lose your license for 30 days and a $500.00 fine. Strike three, kiss your license away for life.
4. Fines doubled for any driver under 21 caught going 10 miles over the posted speed limit and loss of license.
5. Hard to stop parties but if the last four suggestion became reality the parties might drop in attendance.
Until such drastic steps are taken nothing will change, kids will needlessly die and we'll have to relive this sadness over and over again
Laws
Bob, if your asking me directly if I obey these traffic laws, yes I do and have been for 50 years. I know passing a law won't stop everyone from breaking it, but I do know that since the seat belt law was enacted compliance has become very good and many lives have been saved.
Outrage
Dan, I can understand your outrage. As you know I have been tying to put a fire under some lawmakers ass to introduce a bill banning cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle. This tragic accident just might fan that fire.
I think the police may want to let the dust settle a little and do a thorough investigation, plus I understand the driver is in serious condition. If she is conscious and knows she killed two of her friends placing her under arrest at this very moment might hinder her recovery. I'm sure if she pulls through they'll throw the book at her as she truly deserves.
WOW!
Your Houdini too? Stick a fork in your a--, your done. Good night, rule #5.
Good question, Jason
The fist six years of Baldacci's administration were prosperous times. Here in Oxford, new manufactured homes were flying off the lots, jobs were plentiful and the state was taking in millions in tax revenue. As all this money rolled in our law makers felt compelled to create new programs to spend it on. Obviously they never heard the expression, "save for a rainy day". Well the rainy day arrived at the beginning of Baldacci's sixth year in office and ,like a lame duck, he just rode it out.
I was never a fan of Baldacci and I see lots of faults in Lepage, but this whole mess is now on his lap.
I will continue to criticize some of his plans, but man, has he inherited a hell of a mess. A mess not created by Democrats or Republicans, a mess created by both parties who didn't have the foresight to plan for tough times ahead. Simple as that. What do you think?
Dah
Implying and saying it are two different things. You like reading between the lines anyway.
Research my posts.
Dan keeps writing that your putting words in his mouth. When did I ever write that I think your a stay at home welfare case? Mark, get away from that keyboard and seek some medical attention.
look again, Dan
I think he's cleaning a dingle berry out of his fingernail.
Good God, you such an idiot, Elliot
My point was that even back 18 years ago you needed some education and years of experience to get a 30K a year job, unless your Dad was the Governor.
I've thrown my cards on the table about my job history and education. What the hell did you do your entire life besides play with a keyboard. Did you ever make an honest living? C'mon there Mr. Elephant, what have you ever done in your life that makes you the expert on anything that is real? My rule #5--get a life!
My rule #6,7,8,9,10 is the same.
41K
I was a business mgr. for 20 years, ran six big retail stores and had an associates in business administration before I became the manager of Marden's in Westbrook. My stating salary was 30K. Do you think Marden's would pay her 41K fresh out of college? How much do you think Lepage was making as the GM of Marden's? Marden's is very generous with their management personal but nothing compared to our state government.
OOPS!
That's "well taken".
How true
Pat,I know it sounds like I'm flip flopping but your point is well too.
interesting spin
I also read Rev. Taylor's letter but failed to notice your observation. It's a real interesting spin and something to think about the next time I feel generous. Thanks
Right on Jason
You took the words right off my key board!
does it exist
Good God, I wish I had stayed in bed! Where the hell can I buy that rule book that you just dreamed up? Dah!
catching on
Tina, having a war of wit with an an unarmed man is pointless. glad your catching on.
Your ignorance amazes me
If I said white is white and black is black you'd disagree. Mummer then a hake! Good Night.
busuness
Layoffs are necessary when your revenues can't pay for the help. Cuts are when you cut back on product production because nobody is buying. Generally most businesses in trouble attempt layoffs first to balance their books, Bath Iron works for example. Cut backs on providing services and products to your customers is different and a drastic step to stay afloat,(Sears and K-Mart). Maine taxpayers are those customers who have paid into the system all their lives and now the company ,(Maine), they have been devoted to for many years, chooses them to ax over layoffs.
Last year I spent quite a lot of time at the Capitol Building. When I ran my business if my employees walked around like zombies with no apparent direction they would be history in a second. I sure saw a lot of zombies in Augusta. No complaints, just the truth.
As I wrote, start at the top.
Start at the top and get rid of all the unnecessary dead wood. In government you don't need a reason to fire someone. If the tax revenue is not sufficient to support someone loitering at the water cooler, send them to the private sector where if a businesses revenue is not sufficient, layoffs are the results. That's why!!
Wanna Bet!!
Wanna Bet!!
Start at the top, Mark
And fire Lepage's daughter!
Where to make the cuts?
Doesn't it seam like whenever there are cuts in government spending it's the ones who need the services the most that get targeted?
There are many state agencies that could be overhauled and streamlined to reduce the deficit but Maine Care is Lepage's primary target. Maine Care could certainly use plenty of scrutiny without eliminating it altogether. I know drastic times take drastic measures but the collateral damage could be devastating. Republican lawmakers are all starting to dance to Lepage's music. Many of them will not be dancing come election time.
and the beagle sez
My beagle is sweeter then your skull and cross bones and certainly cuter then Suzzy. DAISY SAYS HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE PARROT TOO.
Can't wait til 2012.----Hey, were did Riml go?
agree
Couldn't agree more on both points, Mark.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU FOLKS WHO POST COMMENTS IN THIS FORUM, THOSE I AGREE WITH AND THOSE I DON'T!
Holy Kilauea Steve
Wow Steve, we're on the same page and I can understand your post, what a plus! To answer your question about Suzzy. She's dumber then hake (Maine fish) and looks like one. Not much hope there for the GOP.
I Lived in your beautiful state on the big island before going to Nam and it was the most beautiful thing I'll ever remember in my life. Now it's 10 above zero here and I envy you.
A cold and hardy Ayuh from Norway Maine
Yup Jonathan
He sure has done a lot more with constructive programs then Dubya did with his misguided war programs. I can't wait to see what the fat happy elephant is going to come up with for an opponent in 2012. Don't get me wrong, GOP lovers, I've been on your side plenty of times but this time, can't you find someone beside the Nute, the Mitt and the over the hill Ron Paul? And San (something) and Perry two are confused idiots.
Please give me something to vote for and I will swing your way. Til then, I'm still a jack ass.
good management points
I owned a commercial flooring business for many years. I never bought a new tool with credit. If I didn't have the available cash I'd wait to buy it until I did.
Going to war without the funds to pay for it is an example of exactly what your letter conveys. Dubya's poor management skills.
Elephant looks fat and happy!
Lots of compassion there Mark. Try to have a nice Christmas Bobbi.
Slight correction
One of those stones have my name as serving in the Marine Corp in Korea. With due respect to my brothers in arms, I served in Vietnam and in the Navy. ALVEY R. PELLETIER VIETNAM US NAVY.
I would appreciate it if this was corrected.
Wow!!
Good candidate for governor.
God Bless you Ernest
I've got 3 daughters so I know what you mean.
What prompted me to write my letter was that several years ago I was leaving Welchville heading toward Mechanic
Falls. Right where the road narrowed for a bridge an SUV was heading straight at me in my lane and the driver had cell phone in hand. I had to take the ditch to avoid a head on. A month ago I was at the light leaving the Wall Mart parking lot. My light turned green to turn left on to RT 26. As I got in the middle of the intersection a van was going south through the red light and I was almost t-boned. Again the driver had a cell phone to her head.
Now multi-tasking is OK but when you have control of a 5,000 LB. machine, going at any speed, having total control of that machine should be your one and only priority.
And I agree with many posts on this subject about other distractions while your driving but when cell phone use is compared to be equal to drunk driving and when common sense doesn't work, what you need is a law.
Awesome letter Doug
At the end of WWII our countries economy was in dire straits. When my Dad came home from the war he apprenticed and learned a trade as a machinist at Bath Iron Works. The G.I. bill helped fund his training but BIW kicked in with a livable wage. He went on to give the company 20 years before starting his own machine shop.
Today the only" on the job training" you can get is two weeks to be a telemarketer or three days to sling hamburgers. All other jobs require specialized schools, tuition and no income while your learning (unless paid by us tax payers).
Sure makes those good old days look pretty good.
SHAZZAM!!
3 disagree. Hum--wonder who they could be??
Good points, Nancy
I also know a good place to make cuts. Eliminate Lepages daughter's
$40K tax payer paid job and to make a few bucks for the state, put a certain hidden mural up for sale.
Good points Mr. Rhoades
Lets not forget all the mud slinging that came out of the Hillary camp prior to the last presidential election. Today I think Obama and Hillary have made one hell of a good team regarding foreign policy.
Sure hope Macdonald reads your editorial and these post before he opens his mouth and makes an a-- out of himself.
Rock on Jonathan!!
Many of the folks in that income bracket are in the state, educational, or health care payroll systems. The cost to run this state is too high, the cost for higher education is too high and the cost of health care is too high. Poetic justice I say.
perhaps you are
It wouldn't matter to me but you'd confuse the parrot.
O.M.G
MARK, GET MEDICAL HELP QUICKLY!!!
Plus a lot more, Mark
A housing collapse, a banking collapse, an auto industry collapse and 2 wars. If your splitting hairs on the timing, so be it. Obama still inherited Dubya's mess and if you don't comprehend that you need to seek medical attention, and fast!
Class?
I have enough class to call Japanese, Japanese and not Japs. Do you still use the "N" word too there pirate?
Now how cool and hip is that?
Disagree button
Ron, It must be the same 4 or 5 that push the disagree button before they even read our posts. Guess what? I don't care who disagrees or agrees with me and I hope you don't either so just keep em coming. Your usually dead on brother!
And your point
Hum---9.3 when Obama took office. Goes to show you what he inherited from Dubya.
Excellent point, Ernest
Which leads me to ask, wouldn't it be a good idea for municipalities to examine what kind of area employment is available before opening up the flood gates to a bunch of people who will not be able to find gainful employment? By not doing so we are becoming a welfare poor state, and very quickly I might add.
French Canadians?
Mr.Morgan, When my grandfather and his family came down from Canada this is how they did it. My grandfather came down first and stayed with relatives until he secured gainful employment working in a lumber mill then found a house for the his wife and eight children. Being Catholic the kids all went to Catholic school. My grandfather quickly mastered English so he could find better employment which he did at Bath Iron Works. My dad and uncles went on to serve our country in WWII.
By the way "French spoken here" was commonly used to attract French speaking patrons.
What I'm getting at is that their migration here was done in an orderly way that didn't put a burden on the surrounding community. They knew there would be no free ride waiting for them when they got here and made the move accordingly.
Blah, Blah,Blah
Get ready for 4 more years of Obama and tell me I'm wrong next November.
GOOD NIGHT PARROT BOY, ELLIOT BOY AND ALL YOU OTHER CLOSE MINDED BOYS,
AND YOU TOO---SWEET FERN BOY
Good God Mark
How can you take 8 years of Dubya screwing up our country and blame it on Clinton and Obama? I would consider voting for a GOP candidate if someone running looked like the greatest hope for our country besides Obama. Right now your party sucks.
You and the Pirate would not vote Democrat if the candidate was George Washington, Abe Lincoln and FDR. rolled in to one. Your such a bunch of close minded DAHS!
Hey Dan
What idiot, do you think, is pushing the Disagree button? I suggest looking for someone with parrot s--- on his shoulder.
Here's a cricket
3 pirates shot dead by Navy Seals with the presidents split second order. Osama taken out by Navy Seals with a split second presidential order. The auto industry and banks are back doing business as usual thanks to the presidential bail out that saved millions of jobs. The war in Iraq is over and our troops are coming home. The war in Afghanistan is winding down. The unemployment figures and new job figures are finally improving after eight years of Dubya screwing up America and three years of Obama trying to fix his mess.
Can the parrot hear the cricket?
Frank, how about 9-11
Dubya screwed up on weapons of mass destruction , 9-11 happened on his watch and he was fighting terrorists in other countries?--OH PALLEASE!!
As of right now the Nute is the GOP's flavor of the week--talk about a corrupt, immoral Washington insider.
If this is the best the GOP has, Obama looks like a saint.
Good luck next November.
Right!!!
I didn't hear you screaming impeachment when George Dubya was screwing up the country.
I couldn't agree more, Ms. Ford
It's time for these two partisan Washington insiders to go!
My own observations
I can't say how many times I've sat in my car in the Oxford Wal-Mart parking lot waiting for my wife to finish her shopping when my attention focuses on folks walking in and out of the store.
You don't need some fancy foundation to tell you what is obvious. Hardly a single person walking in or out looks physically fit and many are either snuffing out their cigarette butts before going in or lighting up when they come out.
Finally my wife walks out of the store, fit, trim and looking great,then she lights up---what a bummer!
True Pirate
And as long as hospital, insurance company, bank and college administrators think they should get paid more then the president of the United States things will only get worse. Can you blame folks for protesting? We can assess blame on bull headed, self serving, misguided republicans AND democrats. If they can't work together to solve our problems lets vote the bums out for the good of America.
held hostage
I've always maintained that the health care system is basically black mailing us. They hold our health hostage and demand much more money then the service they provide is worth, but we pay it because they call all the shots. In turn our insurance premiums are going through the roof and if we can't pay the premiums and the huge deductibles our only recourse is putting off the needed care or filing bankruptcy.
Our health care industry needs immediate retooling and government oversight to regulate the run away cost of surgical procedures and general health care prices.
Requiring all Americans to have health care insurance doesn't prevent this nonstop run away health care cost, if anything it will fuel it.
"Derar Al's response"
#1 Tell Mr Right that if he doesn't wear orange you'll turn off the sex.
#2 Don't write to Abby about this situation, you woosie, just move out!
#3 Ta heck with heaven, if you want to have fun come join me and my
buddies in hell.
Strike three
This jerk must be close to approaching the "strike three your out" law, that is if Maine has one.
Good post, David
I drink 40 oz.ers!
Good post, Ed
Remember the good old days when "Made in America" meant something? Then Americans started not caring about where things are made and only about buying cheap our manufacturing base went away. Now instead of blaming ourselves for high unemployment we're blaming politicians and yes, perhaps when we hit rock bottom we'll all wake up to the fact that "Made in America" means more jobs here on the home front.
Good idea, Cathy
But it would be another burden to the tax payers. Something has to be done with old #5 that makes the city money and doesn't hurt tax payers.
Think of this.
NEW ENGLAND'S BIGGEST INDOOR YEAR ROUND YARD SALE.
The city owns the building so it could rent or sell stalls to hundreds of vendors. People are always attracted to yard sales. The big yard sale in Cumberland attracted thousand and thousand of people. Admission to get in could be used for heat,lights up keep and maybe contribute to the city tax base. A casino was a crap shoot, why not try this and you DON'T need a referendum.
Pretty tough on him, Alan
Even though I voted no on 2 and 3 I believe Gilbert's intentions may have been genuine. It is regretful that after the defeat he simply didn't say,"the people of Maine have spoken, now lets put our heads together and come up with another use for old #5."
It's nice to see the SJ is doing what Gilbert should have done, that is, appealing to the public for constructive ideas for the building and (or) the location. CHEERS for the Sun Journal!
thanks David
I didn't know why you were beating me up.
"otherfor"
How's that for a pissing contest?
Right on Gary
The Lewiston casino idea was not well thought out. If the Biddeford casino would have passed folks from southern Maine, NH. and Mass. would not have bothered to travel to Lewiston to throw their money away. Folks from northern and eastern Maine would have gone no further then Bangor. The rest would go to Oxford leaving the Lewiston casino to survive on recycling and sucking out the money from locals.
Too many, too soon convinced Mainers to say no.
"ours"
Spell check didn't help you out on this one, David. By the way, you sound a little like Gilbert when his casino bombed.
Slap on the wrist.
I can see need for excessive speed if he was in pursuit or responding to an emergency but if he was just joy riding he should be charged with criminal speeding and damage to public property (the cruiser). A stiff fine, loss of license and restitution would be the same punishment as you and I would get for breaking the law. A day off--that's a joke!
tip of the iceberg
You can bet your bottom dollar that if 3 more casinos are approved many more companies from away will get their piece of the pie too.
pants
And your guy sticks his foot in his mouth one foot at a time---I'll extricate myself from this forum and go to bed---good night John Boy. OOPS, Mark Boy
common sense?
Mark, perhaps he's not out to piss people off, but when I take to the road I'm not out to create a ten car pile up. I know of one he pissed off for sure, his last name is Gilbert.
Speaking of your boy sucks
Lepage just made his views public about casinos. He said 5 won't work in Maine. For once I agree with him but he sure has pissed off a lot of people in Biddeford, Lewiston and Calais, but what's new?
Editor's note
In other words a "Yes" vote on Question 3 will create a casino FREE FOR ALL in Maine. Even a better reason to vote NO on 3. It's the fine print that always gets you (kind of like pork in federal legislation.)
Yup Parrot
Lots of women on welfare, in these wonder years, are going to be propositioned by gamblers from away and get WONDER BREAD! More welfare. I'm still wondering-----hum.
And more
Have you ever wondered how many Mainers surviving on welfare and unemployment are going to squander their means for feeding their kids in a gambling parlor hoping to hit it big?
Ever wonder how many folks leaving a gambling parlor are going to drive home drunk and pissed off because they just blew their paycheck?
Ever wonder why gambling in Vegas goes hand in hand with brothels?
Ever wonder why Nevada and Mississippi are in horrible financial shape despite all their gambling parlors and have the highest unemployment rates in the country?
Ever wonder if gambling parlors will enhance "Vacation land"?
Ever wonder if gambling parlors will effect the millions of dollars raked in by the Maine Lottery?
Ever wonder why, if, how--------?
FOOT NOTE
John says to Sam," Sam how did you do at the casino last night"?
Sam replies, " not so good, John, I lost a hundred bucks but I did have one hell of a good buzz when I drove home.
Dennis, not just embezzlers
What about those unfortunate Mainers who are on welfare or collecting unemployment. Gambling parlors are not going to provide all these folks jobs but they sure will help take away the money us tax payers provide them depriving their children of those benefits.
I haven't been in a casino in ten years but remember a river boat casino in Mississippi providing free beer and cocktails as long as you were feeding their machines. How many folks are going to use their welfare and unemployment benefits to, not only gamble that money away, but also get drunk in the process and ta hell with the kids? NO, NO ,NO
Good one Ron,
I haven't heard that term since Nam.
I wouldn't gamble on it.
What we should have done to regulate the expansion of casinos is hind site at best. We now have Bangor and soon Oxford. Perhaps now is the time to propose gambling expansion legislation, regulation and licensing
and with more enforcement and oversight then that useless 100 mile law.
I've spent money foolishly gambling on Mississippi river boats only to leave the casino to be approached by panhandlers, kind of like being on lower Lisbon Street years ago. Mississippi and Nevada hitched their economic wagon on casinos and are in horrible financial shape.
I just don't believe a casino on every street corner is the answer to Maine's (as a whole) financial salvation, just a quick fix with long term repercussions. NO, NO, NO.
Only the wealthy gamble?
Good point Harold and thank God for school lunches and the Salvation Army.
At least the kids will get fed and clothed while their parents are in the gambling parlor squandering their welfare and unemployment subsidies hoping to hit it big.
two is enough for now
Mary, I have suggested a 10 year moratorium several times but 5 would be good too.
raises
I'll be interested in knowing if Lepage's daughter gets a bigger then 3.6% raise this year. Between the act of keeping a $42,000 a year Maine government job in the family and hiding a publicly owned mural he created his own honeymoon misery. And Scott, he was not a CEO, he was a GM. Big difference. Although his first few months garnished unpopular attention I wish him well and hope his last few months will be productive for the people of Maine.
Me too
Most of the time Snowe and Collins have voted for what is best for Mainers but voting against this jobs bill shows their true colors. Like the rest of their tea bag buddies making Obama a one term president is their priority and ta hell with the country.
Voting day can't get here soon enough and I hope the people who run against these two remind the voters of Maine about their jobs bill vote.
I know I'll remember!
Bye Bye Birdie
I'm not a champion of windmill construction, although I think they're pretty neat looking and just might help the air we breath but OMG, those poor birds. I wonder how many of the little woopers are brought down by airplane props and jet turbines, collisions with cars and trucks, banging into windows plus 1000 more ways for a bird to die? Oh, I have four cats and lots of feathers in my car port. And "Chucky" (that's right my cat "Chucky") has taken down bats, red and gray squirals , chipmunks, birds of all feathers, mice, rats, moles, voles, small rabbits, snakes and last but not least, a weasel.
Now that's some compatition for a bird eating windmill!!
Thanks Martha
My sister lives next door to my Dad who lives 40 miles away and knows his physician. I'll discuss your idea with her. This is the kind of advice I was looking for. Thanks again.
Horrible situation
Julie, I knew my post would bring on comments such as yours, cruel and without understanding of my situation. All you could read is that I am concerned about cash in my bank account. Guess what girly girl, I have enough cash reserves to live very well the rest of my life. My Dad never speaking to me again and hating me is what is tearing me apart, so take your well meaning comment and shove it!
How true, Gary
My Dad is 92 and still drives. It's really scary but he's a stubborn old Frenchmen who thinks he's as sharp as a 20 year old. To even mention he give up driving would piss him off to no end. He's very proud of the fact that he still lives in his home, has his pick-up truck and comes and goes as he pleases. He's as deaf as a door nail, has glaucoma and the early on set of dementia. I would love to see the state order he take a road test. Perhaps if he failed he'd realize he shouldn't be driving anymore. If I told him his driving scares me he'd write me out of his will and would disown me. It's an horrible situation.
Good letter, Mark
As I have previously stated, one in northern Maine and one in southern Maine is plenty to separate cash strapped Mainers from their money.
Same goes for Biddeford
Weren't they the ones who made a big stink about the 100 mile law?
explosive devices
When I was a kid I remember my cousin loosing an index finger when he picked up a cherry bomb thinking the fuse had gone out.
Good letter, Marc.
Good logic for "Casinos No"
"It's been said that when you act in haste, you often regret in leisure.
An over-sized, poorly planned project would have haunted Maine and local residents for a century or longer."
sorry your sad
I get sad every time I see a cell phone tower and Ron is right, I would rather see a few windmills then live with such bad air pollution I can't see the top of the mountain.
in your wildest dreams
Bet I get more "Agrees" then you do.
Thanks Dan
My sentiment exactly!
true Bob
And Maine voters have voted them down year after year after year. Finally the backers of the Bangor casino did a good enough publicity blitz to sway Maine voters their way. A law was then created requiring any new casino to be 100 miles from Bangor. Along came the Oxford casino and another great publicity blitz. Once again Maine voters were swayed their way, then came the great air vs road mile debate. The law was amended to reflect road miles as the official measure of the original law which leads me to believe this whole Biddeford-Lewiston casino referendum is bull----. This sneaky way to by pass the 100 mile law and skirt around that law is just that-SNEAKY.
Oh, by the way Bob, what state has the highest unemployment rate? You guessed it, the one with the most casinos in the country--Nevada. Los Wages with all it's casinos is not creating the jobs needed to get Nevada out of their unemployment quagmire.
I can't believe that during this recession the people of Maine would put their future hopes for good jobs in a crap shoot. Casinos are just that, a crap shoot and two in this state is still plenty for now.
Go on line
Michael, check out "Brunswick Landing" on line then get your facts right.
Well stated Deborah
As I have previously stated, Brunswick has done a bang up job of revitalizing the, now closed, Naval Air Station without the mention of a casino. If those backers of the proposed Lewiston gambling parlor and beer joint put their collective brains together I'm sure they could come up with another creative use for old mill #5 .
Good morning Dan
I can't understand how someone could be so hard on this newspaper but is eager to read it at 00:26. Take a chill pill and have a great day.
Congrats SJ!!!!
True colors
The latest NBC poll shows 2/3 of Americans favor Obama's job bill. By voting against it, along with their teabag cronies, Snowe and Collins are showing their true colors and ta hell with their constituents. Time for new representation in D.C. that vote for the betterment of common men and women and not millionaires.
Mike and Gary, your right!
Bring on all those casinos! Lets turn Maine into a northern Mississippi. Oh, by the way, Miss. is in worse financial shape then Maine and they have tons of casinos. And while we're at it, guys, lets open up whore houses in every community in Maine. After all it's free enterprise and employs lots of pimps and prostitutes making great incomes. After all, if we're going to make Maine the Mississippi of the north, lets bring on prostitution too and we can become "Miss. Los Vegas" of the north and ta hell with "Maine, the way life should be".
Two is plenty!!
Two many Two quick
That's right TWO is plenty. I voted for the Oxford casino and figured that would be the end of casino referendums. One in northern Maine and one in southern Maine would be plenty to satisfy Maine folks who have money to throw away gambling. I understand Lewiston and Biddeford wanting to jump on the band wagon to get all that extra change floating around out there but as I said in a previous post, "every time a bigger shopping center opens the smaller older one closes". Every time a Lowes opens next to a Home Depot they end up splitting the pie.
The backers of ALL these casinos make it sound like all this money will be coming in from folks from away and it will all benefit Mainers.
Mass. and N.H. are now considering casinos, so much for the money from folks from away. As it is now the Bangor casino will feel the loss of southern Maine gambler revenues as soon as Oxford opens for business.
Also, it's pretty clever how the lawyers for Lew. and Bid. tip toed around the 100 mile law especially when their the ones who made such a stink about road miles vs air miles.
I urge voters to think this one out and not have tunnel vision based on all the pro-casino adds. TWO casinos, plus Maine Lottery games are plenty for Maine.
as the crow flies
Yup Dan, you've got to hand it to those slick lawyers. They're perfect candidates for elected office.
Thanks Dan
It's the old "fine print thing" that skirts the existing laws. I really did not understand why this issue was even on the table. Why didn't the backers of the Oxford casino write this clause in their bid for a casino?
Sure would have saved us a lot of money in legislative debate. Backers of the Lewiston and Biddeford casinos have thought this out real good. Why was this a law enacted in the first place if a tricky referendum vote would nullify it? As the other writer wrote, I sure have to do some research,but I'm still baffled.
Why isn't anybody commenting on my other post about casinos? I guess it made too much sense.
divvy up
O.K. I'm still waiting for someone to answer my question about the 100 mile between casinos law from another post. AND, remember the old days when a thing called "payola" was outlawed in the music industry. Now a slot maker is offering the Lewiston casino backers one million dollars to use their machines exclusively. Smacks of payola to me, AND all this great money that's coming in is coming from somewhere like folks on taxpayer assistance, the unemployed hoping to make a big score with their unemployment checks, folks not feeding their kids to appease their gambling addiction, drug addicts hoping to score for their next fix, alcoholics who find the gambling environment irresistible, never mind the hookers, pimps and pickpockets.
2 that's TWO casinos 100 miles apart is plenty for this sparsely populated state with one of the lowest income levels in the country.
Isn't it enough that Maine has lottery tickets (gambling) in every mom-pop store on every street corner, pick three, pick four,megabucks, plus too many more to mention here?
There must be something else Lewiston can do with that old mill. The now closed Brunswick Naval Air Station is being redeveloped nicely without a mention of a casino. Is gambling Lewiston and Biddefords great financial savior as some would imply? I doubt it.
100 miles
What was all that crap about setting the 100 mile law between casinos at air miles vs road miles?? Am I missing something? I thought it was settled that road miles would be the law so how come these new casinos have made it to the ballot box? Can someone please answer my questions?
I'm totally baffled. If no one has an answer then why are we wasting taxpayer money debating such nonsense? That's got me baffled too.
well thought out
Gees Dan, what's up with your early morning posts lately. I simply do not find any correlation between Lepage's role as Gov.vs the GM (not the CEO) at Mardens. Bash Lapage all you want I'm with you Bro. but let Mardens keep operating with their no questions asked money back guarantee, certainly not Lepage's idea.
Thank you.
propane
Na Pirate, not getting screwed at all. National average price for propane is $3.12. Just had my tank filled here in Norway by a local company run be honest hard working folks $3.55 cash, $3.65 charge. I switched from Dead River last year to this local company. D.R. filled my tank and sent me a bill, $4.12 when the average price was $2.98. When I called them to see if this was an oversight I was told that because my tank took less then 100 gallons I didn't qualify for their "preferred price". (they delivered 98 gallons and I always pay cash). I told them to come get their tank. I'm sure they were happy to put their tank in some more lucrative location. Really, really nice folks to do business with. NO SARCASM HERE!
Where did it go?
Where did that 100 mile between casino law go? Oxford is approximately 30 miles from Lewiston and 50 miles from Biddeford, ( maybe closer as the crow flies), so this should not even be on the Nov. ballot,
Simply increadable!
Plenty of time to take a vacation, pull a mural off a wall and hide it, attend party functions, etc.,etc. but precious little time to address a legitimate problem facing Maine loggers. It only makes sense for large logging operations like Pelletier Loggers to hire Canadians so they don't have to pay workers comp. and health insurance while claiming Americans don't want these low paying jobs. Although it's the American way of doing business it does deserve some of the Govs. precious time.
I spent a lot of time in Fort Kent this summer and Mr. Jackson's
concerns are shared by enough of our northern neighbors to command a little attention from Augusta. Hey! John Martin (D) Eagle Lake has a lot of clout in Augusta. Oh forget it, Lepage wouldn't give him ten minutes either.
Tough call
I think jumbling this whole drivers license, vehicle registration, residency and voting right thing in one box and making any sense of it was a tough call for Summers but the laws,as written, seem to be clear.
I personally think that if a student lives here nine months out of the year he or she should have the right to participate in state elections without the whole drivers license, vehicle registration thing, after all, as soon as they graduate they'll be booking it out of Maine to find decent jobs. I do think that if they register here to vote they should forfeit their right to vote in their home state. Perhaps it's time for these laws to be amended to address this particular situation.
question
If that untrained person were pointing a gun or a knife at you in a threatening way should you shoot him in the foot because he is untrained? Because he is untrained makes him more dangerous and unstable. Dan, give it up, this is getting dumb and dumber.
Good God Dan!
After a traumatic event like killing another human I, you, and anybody else, besides Superman, would be a basket case never mind going back to work until the emotional stress has been dealt with. And can you define justifiable homicide vs murder? Dan, you made a dumb, spur of the moment, comment in the wee hours of the morning. Defending it is pointless. I enjoy reading most of your early morning posts, but come on, this one was a stinker.
Thanks Ron
For your clarification of your police experience and thank you for your Navy and Police service. Your insight from being there goes far beyond what I or anybody else could expand on.
win win
Dan, saying that a cop killing someone is a win win situation for him sounded like motive to me. A cop continuing to get paid after such a tragic event while a review is being conducted by the A.G. is our societies way of saying "your innocent until proven guilty". And in my many years living in Maine I've never heard of the A.G.s office being anything but thorough in their investigation of these tragic events.
Ain't right, Dan
Your assertion that this is the motive for a cop to kill is ridiculous at best. Most cops who have taken another humans life experience a life time emotions that have lead to some taking their own lives.
I'm really surprised at your post. You usually show more common sense.
I'm sure Riml will chime in on this one as he was a cop a has seen more blood shed on the streets of S. Chicago then I could ever imagine.
Two is sufficient.
When the Oxford casino opens we will have two quality gaming resorts in Maine, one for the northern part of the state, Bangor, and one for the south, Oxford. That should be sufficient for those Mainers who like to throw their money away. The rest of us who "play responsibly" are happy to buy a two dollar scratch ticket once a week, where most of the money goes directly into the state coffers and not gaming promoters.
And as more and more of these things pop up they'll all receive a smaller slice of the pie. Ever see an old shopping center go belly up shortly after a new and bigger one opens near by?
It just seems to me that their must be other types of businesses that are attracted by Maine's ready work force and the work ethic of most Mainers besides businesses that do nothing but take money and contribute so little to the gross national product.
The Gov. should create a planning board that scours the country searching for any business that is thinking about expanding and try to convince them that Maine is where they should locate. Doesn't it seem like every time a new business opens in Maine we have some polatition
at the grand opening taking credit for it? They like to take the credit when,in fact, they had nothing to do with it and where are they when a company folds up? The Gov. was a business man and as such has the background to act in bringing new business to Maine and a planning board of business "go getters" would show that, at the very least, he's making the effort.
Lets keep say it!
Dan, thank you for restating my sentiment from a past recent post. If our law makers keep hearing it perhaps they might do something about it.
Safety training courses
can't cure stupid and lack of common sense, and that includes the parents.
disregard
Jeanne, please disregard all the crap discussed in this post.
Please continue to be proud of your two grandsons and kudos to the kindness and generosity to this fellow passenger.
When I came back from Vietnam if someone would have done something nice like that for me it would stick in my mind till the day I died.
God bless you grateful grandmother.
Good Editorial
Our health care system has become the cat chasing it's tail. Medical charges keep going up because more and more people can't pay for their health care so higher rates have to be paid by those with insurance. Insurance companies have to charge higher premiums with higher deductibles to offset these higher hospital charges and it goes on and on.
I hate Big Brother stepping in to intervene but sometime when things are out of control it's time for something to be done. Obama's plan has made an attempt to do this but Big Brother has to go a little further.
If I could hear one of these republican candidate say,"when I'm elected I will freeze all medical charges and insurance rates until we have recovered from this recession and the unemployment rate drops to under 7%". I think I'd change my party affiliation and vote for this person, but so far all they do is bash each other and Obama Care and they don't have a clue of how to stop the cat from chasing it's tail.
I'm not impressed with any of them.
and as Judge Judy says
If your telling the truth the story won't change.
good question
Does the Sun Journal allow and encourage their reporters on the road to use their cell phones while doing their jobs? Curious minds want to know.
wow!
All great comments and all in agreement,how refreshing. Let me jump on this band wagon with you. Banning texting and our laughable distracted driver law only scratch the surface in preventing injury and death caused by idiots using a cell while driving. I too have almost been creamed several times by people in la la land while driving. And Mark is so right. Laws are introduced by legislatures with back bone and, so far, they're all tip toeing around the real problem and not addressing it head on. When one is killed by a cell driving idiot perhaps they might act. You know, the old "closing the barn door after".
Maine, The way life should be.
Cathy, I,m so sorry for what you and your family are going through. Many years ago people moved to L.A for employment and a better life. Now they move there for a free ride at tax payers expense. Norway Maine has it,s problems but our crime level is very low so get a job in our area (if that's possible) and get out of L.A and come here before you lose a love one in a stupid drug related crime.
And here we go again.
These pant challenged idiots come to Maine and commit a crime that will earn them some serious jail time. Who pays for their incarceration, their legal defense, their trial. Yup, we Maine taxpayers.
IDEA ! Why can't these idiots be tried in Maine and but sent to New York to serve their sentence? Why can't every convicted criminal, here in Maine, be deported to where they came from instead of us paying for their incarceration? If we don't smarten up, we're going to fill our jails with every other countries garbage and we'll be supporting them.
Bring us your poor ,etc. today has a new meaning. It's bring us your human garbage, we'll house them, feed them, support them, and pay their legal fees and incarceration. God this pisses me off!!
OMG
Paul, I'm sorry sorry! Please tell the Brotherhood that in the future I promise to "AARRGHH" correctly even though my spell check says "no such word". But what does it know? Pleasure chatting with you also.
Al Sweet Fern Pelletier Oh, by the way, I own a small herbal tea business called "Sweet Fern of Oxford Maine",
hence "Sweet Fern" Have a good weekend.
kind of lopsided Roger
Golden Retriever 1-----Pitt Bull-----20 Boxer----2 Pitt Bull wins!!!
No thanks, Roger, I don't care to make nice nice with your loving dog and my cats catch and eat mice everyday. That's what they do and were bred for.
Nope
But maybe a parrot head. Argh Argh.
I agree Dan
But every time republicans shoot down a plan that Obama puts forward to get the country moving again they shoot themselves in the foot. If they keep it up for another year while we go steadily down the toilet, never mind shooting themselves in the foot, they may not have a leg left to stand on come election time and Obama might get a second term and every pig headed republican will be in the unemployment line. This threat of the government shutting down every few months comes from inaction by a republican controlled congress and I think the average American is getting sick of it. Another 12 months of this and we'll all be totally fed up with the whole lot of them and it will be good by to bad rubbish, especially Boehner and McConnel!
Are you nuts?
A one hour procedure to repair a small hernia at CMMC costs $18,000. I can't even imagine the cost for a knee replacement!
The Vet is wrong.
Not all Pit Bulls are bad? Why is it that every story you hear or read about a dog mauling involves a Pit Bull or a bread with Pit Bull mix?
In my life time I've never read a story about a Golden Retriever or a Beagle mauling a child.
Listen to Judge Judy
How do you know when a teenager is lying? When their mouths are moving.
I think those lap tops are going to create more problems then their worth.
I hope I'm wrong.
justice
It sure would be poetic justice if some very studly inmate inflicted the same pain on this jerk as he inflicted on this child. Those 10 years better be loaded with mental counseling and lots of conditions after his release because if he had the urge to do these things at 35 he'll have an even stronger urge at 45 after 10 years of incarceration.
Good one pirate
How about another one on the forehead that says "Manson Rules". Yup, your hired!
I saw a good one today. As I drove into the Oxford Wal Mart there was a pan handler with a sign that said "homeless please help" written on his collection box. I guess the Wal Mart folks asked him to leave and he refused so they called the Oxford P.D.. On my way out I noticed this poor broke homeless pan handler , while being questioned by the cops, take out a pack of Marlboro's and light up.
I quit smoking years ago because my mortgage was more important then smokes. And even worst, this jerk was so scroungy looking he couldn't get through the door anywhere for a job interview---but he sure the hell can afford cigs. GO FIGURE? Pan handling must be pretty lucrative in Oxford County.
I forgot
What about the gals with spiked purple hair? That would have certainly have impressed me when I was a store manager.
agree
Nice to agree with you on something Mike and yup, I forgot the old, "look at my boxers"! Good one.
Don't judge a boom by it's cover.
It's bad enough to show up for a job interview knowing your criminal past will make getting that job very unlikely, but showing up dressed up like your "trick or treating", plastered with piercing holes, offensive tattoos and you just used a branch to comb your hair will pretty well seal your fate.
Ya Man
Keep it coming. Shows what your made of. Actually Frosty, sometimes I like your excrement, sometimes called CRAP. Nothing personal( really ).
and to he who likes cliche's
Opinions are like-------oh ya, it's where crap comes from.
Proof
The only commenter in this forum (including myself) that backs his statements with facts and sources for his comments is Riml. We should all learn by his example to do a little research before we start printing crap. HAVE YOU ALL NOTICED?, I like that word-Crap, Crap, Crap!
It suits all those unsubstantiated elephant rants.
Cry Baby
OMG, a cry baby as our president. Hmmmm.
just an opinion
Mark my post was my opinion and I was not looking to getting a written pissing contest, but if you want specifics listen to Obama's speech tonight when he'll explain and outline HIS bill. It will save me a lot of wasted time. I can't wait to hear the republican rebuttal. No ideas, no bills, just rebuttals.
one on one
O.K. Mark give me one of Mitch McConnel's or NoBainer's first and I'll play-----Oh God, forget it, this is useless--Good night!
It's too bad
Another post that does nothing to solve this countries problems. Just another bunch of name calling and references to historical radicals who I don't think Oboma has and ever could become, our system would not allow it. As I said in an earlier post, don't look back, but to the future, and Glen, your so far back in the past, your as dead and buried as Stalin, Hitler and Mao. I served in Nam for almost 3 years and I've looked at history in real life and not through the internet. Rest well, my friend, your president, the Great Divider, gave us a safe day on this 9/11----Better then Bush did, but that's in the past.
living in the past
David, it's your kind of crap about days gone by that's preventing us from moving forward and yes at this point with the republicans in control of congress all I can do is dream of better days to come for America.
Randall, your so right.
Big oil has held us hostage ever since the auto industry has produced gas engines and we've heated our houses with oil. The medical industry has held us hostage ever since health insurance companies have given them a blank check to charge outrageous prices only to pass it on with outrageous premiums. All we do today is survive, hoping we won't freeze this winter, wondering how we'll afford gas for our car, hoping and praying we don't get sick as we could loose our homes.
Randall, your so right and we are self destructing--I'm sorry to say.
George and Joan, You rock!
In my 64 years I've never seen a president appeal to both houses of congress so committed to help chart America's future. His initiatives are bold and his ideas have job creating initiatives. McConnel came on after the speech and said it had nothing to do with creating jobs and only a reelection speech. This is the kind of crap republicans have to offer. Nothing about creating jobs, JUST CRAP!! Good God--when is this CRAP going to end? Obama said unemployed folks can't wait 14 more months for the next election and he's right but do the republicans care? Hell no! They simply want to see him fail so they can get another party member in there and the hell with suffering Americans. Makes me want to puke on somebody, where's Frost proof?
Thanks Jason
My sentiment exactly and well said!
meaningful interaction?
I've known Mike Michaud for many years and have never known a congressman who has been more in touch with his constituents and certainly NOT just before election time. Last time I checked I think he was a democrat.
Watch Judge Judy
John, I've seen TV court cases where someone, who was accused of wrong doing and were guilty as sin, hired some hot shot lawyer and beat the charges then sued their accuser in civil court for defamation and won $5000.00. like I said DHS can't be sued for such things so I'll rest quietly in the shade. I'm quite done on this issue, enjoy the rain my righteous friend.
You want blood John ?
I all but nailed these people to the cross with the information I divulged. DHS can not be found guilty of slander or defamation of character, but I sure can so for now I'll rest quietly in the shade, but I think public stoning is not a bad concept, as you implied.
More info.
John and Dan your absolutely right but for your information I reported this activity to DHS last year with the town and places of employment of these friends of my wife. I also wrote about this activity last year in the SJ with the proposal that anyone using a state issued food card should show a valid ID at POS to curb this misuse of our tax dollars. Nothings came of it and it still pisses me that this is going on so please don't consider me a groupie. Thank you.
Want proof ?
A couple I know and who are quite well off (both have jobs) pay some friends of theirs $50.00 cash for their $100.00 state issued food card.
The $50.00 cash goes towards booze and smokes and the recipients of the food card double their money for groceries. They call this a win-win arrangement. If they weren't such close personal friends of my wife I'd rat them out in a heart beat. I believe this fraud happens all too much but being a "win-win" situation they're not going to rat on each other.
This really irks me!
Thank you, Mr. Rhoades
After hearing about the dismal job report last week it was very uplifting to get some good news about local jobs, thank you. A good cup of coffee along with good news is hard to come by lately.
Nice point and wishful thinking
Yes Ron, lets bring back the good old days like when my Dad was 9 years old and was molested by a Catholic Priest. He is now 92 and hates anything that smacks of religion and I can't blame him as a similar thing happened to me. It's taken fifty years to catch these perverts and bring them to justice. The good old days and religion ? Crap !!
I have to chime in !
I've got a beagle that's as dumb as a box of rocks. No wonder, she was born on Dubwa's watch!
2nd District
Well said, Toni. I too am proud to live in Oxford County despite the economic hardships we've had to endure since the bank and housing collapse. I believe we share the same hardships as the rest of the great folks of the Second District and that organizations such as yours will be successful in bringing recognition to the great activities this area has to offer. Do you think this republican redistricting plan may have something to do with Oxford County getting a casino and republicans wanting this industry in the first district? I say leave Oxford County alone as we seek our own identity and destiny.
priceless
Amedeo, your comment is right on and priceless--thanks for the chuckle.
Idiotic
The Republican plan is totally idiotic and based totally on the party's best interest and not the will of the people. Take Mike Michaud away from my district and I'll never vote again!
How true
And I'll bet Mr. and Mrs. Grungy Shorts spent three hours looking for bargains them chose the speed line hoping to get one over on the clerk. After 25 years managing retail stores I've seen it all and your depiction of the Grungy's is way to common place.
Good guestion
How about, forgive them Father for they know not what they do.
Everyday is a crises
Judy, I know it seems that way, but in my 64 years I've lived through so many crises nothing surprises me anymore. We've had crises after crises with either party in control starting with the American revolution right up to today. Every morning when I wake up I ask myself, what are we going to have to deal with today? Waking up to another great day with no crises is non-existent and won't be in my lifetime. You just have to get used to it as it's the American way.
answer
When pigs fly and hell freezes over!
I agree with three cheers!
Seven years ago my wife and I quit smoking cold turkey. A few weeks later I realized our house reeked of stale cigarette smoke. I had to paint the ceilings, shampoo the carpets, wash all the walls and every article of clothing in the house and on and on. It took two weeks of work to get rid of the stink. Three years ago my wife picked up that awful habit again but out of respect for my health and knowing the house would stink again, keeps it outdoors. Too bad laws have to be enacted when common sense is all that's needed.
Well said, Donald
But as Ron Riml pointed out in a previous post, the Tea Toddlers are flexing their elected muscles, drawing attention to themselves to the point of disrupting our government. Boehner is not my hero either but I think he is being held hostage by a party hell bent on destroying itself and the country.
I would love to see Obama issue an executive order to hold back all congressional paychecks and benefits until both houses pass a bill we can live with and he can sign. Perhaps they would spend more time solving the problem then causing the problem.
Hey, Parot
This just proves that we're not all dumb Frenchman!
Boehner
Your right, Ron, but if he doesn't get his way I'll bet he'll start bawling like a little girl to get more press attention. Do you think many in this freshman class of tea toddlers are more interested in making a name for themselves then taking care of the countries business? I'm ashamed to say I may have supported one or two of those inmates based on their pre-election bull.
good point, Ed
I too am very independent when deciding on the right candidate with the right pre-election points of view. The problem we have time and time again is the post-election positions they take. Once they're in office they bow down to the more senior members of their party and--shazaam--all pre-election promises turn out to be bull droppings.
Look at the financial mess we're in and here we are, down to hours before a national default. If Boehner and Reid can't agree on a solution to this mess they are not acting in the best interest of America and should be voted out of office. Getting this dangerously close to default is unacceptable and Obama can not be held blameless either. This issue should have been resolved months ago but I think they wanted to stall knowing this mess would get them lots of pre-election press and to hell with the countries business.
crapppppp
Mr. Fogg, come to the sunshine and open your eyes. All this crap we're in came about on the Bushwackers watch. Ron may be from away but he ain't way out there in Otisfield picking dingleberries.
test
George Jones-Too much idle time in Otisfield.
think it
Bill, many people think the same way you do but few have the gonads to say it and Ron's comment about the boat is priceless! It was a real hoot when those TV preachers, preached about the virtues of being a good Christian then spent the rest of the week in a brothel cheating on their wives and how about those Catholic Priests? I think I'll keep bailing my boat.
humility
Giving your unqualified daughter a 41K a year government job, taking a vacation within the first few months in office, depriving Mainers of art in a state building, using "kiss my ass" as his by-line and "go to hell" as his theme song and so on. Yup, he needs to pray for a little humility and not just one day a year.
cuts
What's going on in Washington today? The repugs (thanks Ron) are trying to get their bill through which will cut social security and medicaid benefits to seniors. If Snow and Collins support this measure we will all know that they care more about siding with their cronies then their poor retired constituents here in Maine. Mike and Ron, your on opposite sides of the fence on most political issues but lets all keep tabs on Collins and Snow. If they vote for this cut I hope our voices will all come together in the next election and send a strong message to Washington and our congressional deligation. Don't screw with America's old folks!
social security
A pay cut for elected leaders is just for starters, Lynne. Every time they put our country in this situation the first things they talk about are cuts to social security and both parties use this to frighten us seniors. You don't hear about cutting war funds, space program cuts, cutting billions in aid to other countries, cutting billions in subsidies to profitable corporations and on and on. The first thing they think of is to cut the benefits we've paid for all our lives. Look closely at voting records in the next elections and, Dan, there's plenty of blame to go around both parties.
remembering phone numbers
When I was a young man working at a paint and flooring store in Rockland I had about every phone number in the Rockland phone book in my head.
Last month my truck broke down and I didn't have my cell phone with me. I kind gentleman stopped and offered to lend me his to call a friend or relative. I could not remember a single phone number except my own.
The phone numbers of everyone I know are stored in my cell phone, not my head. Lends credence to this study.
Well said, Diane
And, as the TV commercial regarding social security states, we are 50 million strong with one hell of a loud voice when the next elections rolls around. I would urge all seniors to check the voting records of their elected officials regarding social security and vote them out of office, republican or democrat, if they tried to monkey with our hard earned benefits. And yes, after three years we're long overdue for a cost of living adjustment.
Who's guarding the hen house?
First it was ripping off toll money from the Turnpike Authority by it's longtime chief and now someone in Augusta is giving away state property. Whoever authorized this shady deal should start looking for another job, at the very least. No wonder this state is broke!
ask
Linda,
Ask J.C.Dugart about sicko straight males. I have three grown daughters and 5 grand daughters. Opening the out house door to all comers, when my kids don't have a stun gun, is unrealistic. We may share the same last name but were not on the same planet. If you'll check any penal system records, many of those sicko's like to entrap
and posses their female victims. I'm no Bubba, baby--I'm a down to earth Mainer who's been around for 64 years and nothing surprises me. I can kid about this issue but this is serious sh-t about anything that goes on in the privacy of a men,s and women,s restroom. I'll see you in Denny's restroom ( male or female )?
Denny's
Cool beans Ron, After the initiation I'll meat you at Denny's for lunch and a romp in the lady's room, just don't piss on a toilet seat---the door knob works better!
law suit
c'mon Ron, I may be a little wacked out at times but I don't think I'm in the sicko club yet (but it does sound like good old Navy fun). LOL !!
just a matter of time
One day, and not in the distant future, some sicko (straight male) is going to see a great looking chick entering the lady's room and seize the opportunity to follow her in to get a closer look or even more. I wonder how that law suit will read.
language
Mike, our illustrious governor is setting the trend for this fowl language. No wonder Pattie won't step in.
You go Ron!!
Calming down
Ho Ha Hee Hee Chuckle LOL. OK, I'm done----Go to church and pray to get get saved, no help here. I'm not looking for new clients especially you.
ha ha
Ha Ha Ha, Ho Ho Ho, chuckle chuckle chuckle, LOL LOL LOL---I can't help myself!
Again, I say
I won't engage in a duel of useless verbal wit against an unarmed Lepage lover. Have a great holiday, I have better things to do.
answer
The ability to be respected by the majority because he pisses them off, Mark.
Thank you
I want to thank Dennis Richardson for all his hard work to make this such a special day. I was so incredibly proud to honor my fallen Navy brother and to pay my respects to Phillips' brothers, Dale and Marshall.
Thanks to all the wonderful folks in Turner who ignored the rain to give a belated "Thank You for your service in Vietnam" to Phillip Bryant. A true American hero and never to be forgotten.
Didn't want to what??
So much for all that bull about transparency. It's enough to piss you off!
send him back
Wouldn't it be great if this idiot would serve his prison time in his country of origin instead of us tax payers paying for his room and board for 25 years.
magic money
I'm sure glad I live in Norway where the school budget is reviewed and approved by folks with priorities in mind. I avoid Auburn as much as possible because the streets are so poorly maintained and it seams like the city council is constantly looking for ways to raise revenues just to break even with necessary spending.
Perhaps the school committee should have approached Steve Dosh and Whitney Houston for some magic money to buy toys for tots.
cell phones
Smart move but as long as cell phone use while driving continues people will continue to be injured and killed by distracted drivers.
missing
Missing sign, missing mural. "Maine, the way life should be"
Come on folks
Perhaps if we came up with great ideas on how to create jobs in Maine it would happen. I came up with one in my previous post, now lets hear yours. I'm waiting-------. Lets quit being critics and come up with ideas. Think out of the box. How about a five year sales and business tax deferment to new businesses in Maine who employ 10 or more with above minimum wage income and good STATE, backed health benefits. Just ideas, Governor.
job creation
Kaileigh,
Your right on the money. Where are specific plans or even an idea on how to create jobs in Maine?
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but do know sometimes you have to give up a little to gain allot. How about making our toll highways toll free to all commercial vehicles who's business is headquartered here in Maine. Sure we would lose some highway revenue but it would put us on the same business playing field as New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. I'm sure this would improve the pro-business climate more then hiding a mural. Our lawmakers and governor have to start thinking about giving up a little, get creative to get back allot.
jobs
Dan, his daughter got one and we're paying her pretty darn good too!
Court appointed
Excellent point,Peter.
I believe a lawyer should represent the accused even at tax payer expense, but in a case such as this, defrauding us tax payers, I would suggest that beyond a fine ,jail time and restitution the guilty should be ordered to reimburse the state for the lawyer fee. This would put to rest the insult after the injury.
What do you readers think of this idea?
PS. Just a correction to the SNAFU in my last post.
Court appointed
Excellent point,Peter.
I believe a lawyer should represent the accused even at tax payer expense, but in a case such as this, defrauding us tax payers, I would suggest that beyond a fine ,jail time and restitution the guilty should be ordered to reimburse the state for the lawyer fee. This would put at ease to the insult after the injury.
What do you readers think of this idea?
well stated
Mr. Rhoades hit the ball out of the park with this editorial. It is incredible to think the president would fabricate a story like this. What good would it possibly serve him our our country? Dead is dead and may Bin Forgotten rest in utter torment as are the survivors and family members of 9/11 until they can finally rest in peace.
Yup Steve,
Jump on you iPod and ride the waves with another volcano in your hand. Glad to have you back, we here in Maine all need a good laugh after a tough winter.
How true Allisa
The hard part about ratting on people who abuse the system is because they are friends and who rats on a friend? Only a friend would trust you enough to share their little secret.
How about a person who gets a DHHS food stamp debit card monthly for $100.00 and sells it to a friend for $50.00 so they can buy cigarettes, booze or drugs? Will that friend making a quick $50.00 rat on both of them? And I'll bet there are plenty of them out there doing just that.
Shouldn't the State require anyone using this card to also show a picture ID?
OOPS !
Double post. Perhaps I should have been iPod trained.
iPads
Thank God I live in Norway and my property taxes are not being used for an educational crap shoot. I would recommend to the folks who make the iPads to supply them at no charge as a pilot program to this kindergarten class. When these student reach grade three test their aptitude, general knowledge, math and social skills then compare the results against third graders who had no iPads.
After this testing, it wouldn't be such a crap shoot at taxpayers expense.
iPads
Thank God I live in Norway and am my property taxes are not being used for an educational crap shoot. I would recommend to the folks who make the iPads to supply them at no charge as a pilot program to this kindergarten class. When these student reach grade three test their aptitude, general knowledge, math and social skills then compare the results against third graders who had no iPads.
After this testing, it wouldn't be such a crap shoot at taxpayers expense.
Agree
Amy and Jason, I'm with you 100% on your comments. I would strongly suggest to Mr. Davis that he sends a copy of his letter to "The Donald" as it might put him back on the path of total stupidity! That way he can continue to avoid the important issues.
B.S.
Jason, I've read your post 6 times. I can't make sense of it and your wording. If your sober in the morning read it again. Your post and your logic, (with all due respect) makes no sense.
I appreciate your thanks for my service.
Al
Hello--Hello--Hello
Jason, where are you? Oops, you must be playing video games, sorry.
The righteous are back
YOU GO RON !!
Jason certainly is in some kind of La La land. I think he plays too many video war games where only his fingers do the fighting.
I was there
Jason, did you serve in Vietnam? I did. Did you find 19 of your classmates had died there when you came home after 2 1/2 year? I did. Vietnam started small but went on for over 10 horrible years. Are you old enough to remember? Go visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall in D.C and gaze at the 58,256 names on the Wall and remember, when it began there was only 1,563 and look where it went.
If we had been more vigilant on the home front your so called, uncivilized people, could not have commandeered planes to fly into buildings. By the way, please define "civilized people". I'm sure the new population in Lewiston, Auburn would like to know.
Jason, if your so gungho about building a civilization, shoulder an M-16, go to Afghanistan and get your ass shot up! I'd appreciate that.
Pull The Plug
This Afghan situation is identical to our Vietnam situation where you can't recognize the good guys from the bad. By day they're your buddy and at night your their prey. The only way out of this "no win" situation is to pull the plug, bring our troops home and protect our own borders and citizens.
Do we have to wait for 58,256 to die before we smarten up? I strongly agree with this editorial and, yes, we should tell our congressional delegation to get us the hell out of there---NOW!
Dear Dr. Dosh
There must be a breakdown in communication between President Obama's birthplace and Maine or you drank one too many volcanoes as most of us Mainers don't know what the hell your talking about! Howdy Do to you too from Norway Maine.
If it works----
It amazes me how policy on a particular issue is tried and proven, but our law makers have nothing better to do then trying to fix it.
digress
Oh yes we do! Ron, I've got one hell of a great 7th Flt cruise book I'd like to share with you. If we don't connect please look up USS Providence CLG6 on line for some glimpses. No one else e-mail me, please!! Ron, my E-address is pelletier2319@roadrunner.com.
same feelings
There with you, Ron. When Kerry testified on the hill, I had been back for a couple of years and knew that everything he was telling the committee was correct. I had a great deal of respect for his dealing with the truth, as difficult as it was. I have a great picture of Kerry, Michaud and me introducing him to a Legion gathering for his run for the White House. I think his honesty would have been good for America.
too funny
Good God Ron, I think I have a picture of me and a bar honey just like this. At the end of the night, and with a little exploration, I discovered it was a cross dresser. I puked !! I remember crossing the shit river bridge and stopping to deck a native over the rail. He had ripped my dixie off my head and was stomping it into the mud. I hope he had a nice landing. I was able to run through the gate before a small mob caught up with me.
Oh, those were the days!
hydro
Fern, I couldn't agree with you more! There are thousands of places in this state where high yielding hydro dams can be built. It's clean, non-polluting, not dangerous, and with an endless supply of propellant (water). How complicated is a fish ladder? The hydro dam in Brunswick -Topsham has one and it seems to work pretty good. I don't understand why people today look at this method of providing electricity as out dated. It has worked fine many years without one single melt down. I don't say "Drill baby Drill" I say, "Dam it up baby, Dam it up"!
subic
For sure, many a party on Grande Island and beautiful down town Olongapo. Hey Ron, Do you remember "Tiger Tops" in Singapore? The beer was so bad it had to be topped off with lemonade. Those were some of the fun times.
woops
Ron, I just read my post again and I did spell "Hyland's name wrong. I stand corrected, thank you.
I don't understand
Ron, please enlighten me. We both know Hyland went on to CincPavFlt then to Cinc Pac then to Joint Chiefs. What's your point? I can't understand if you like the man or hate him. I either case he was simply my boss. Oh, F.Y.I.,I also worked for Adm.Thomas Moorer too.
Vietnam
Ron, thanks for the history and your facts are correct. Among my other duties in Vietnam with Admiral John Highland, Com 7th Fleet, was as a French interpreter. French was the second most spoken language in the South and their French slang was very similar to our Canadian French.
I think Mr. Rhoades and I were using a general example without writing a book.
foxhole?
Been there, done that, and my choice would be neither. One is now shooting from the hip and the other one shot from the hip and either could have hit me as well as the enemy. Pirate, we might disagree sometimes but I'd choose you. Be it as it may, I think you'd make your shot count.
raises
Ms. Burns, I too would like to see entry level jobs pay a little bit more, who wouldn't? I would also like to see my social security check get a little bit bigger, this would improve MY quality of life and increase MY spending which would help business.
Well my little check, after paying in to the system for 45 years, has not gone up one penny in almost three years and I don't see any cost of living raise in the future.
Fresh out of the Navy in 1969 the only job I could find was pumping gas at Landry's Shell in Brunswick at $1.25 an hour. I didn't like getting paid so little but it actually gave me the incentive to better myself and look for a better paying job. If I thought that the government would intervene and increase my pay, I might have stayed at Landry's.
If someone is in a dead end ,entry level job, but continues to get forced raises, why look for something better?
Thank you Frances
I've been harping on this issue for years. Augusta passed a useless distracted driver law and is now working on a useless texting while driving law, neither of which can be enforced. It is a proven fact that people using cell phones are as big a danger to the public as drunk drivers.
If a cop sees you holding a cell phone to your head he should pull you over and give you a ticket for driving while distracted. A drunk driver has to pay a serious fine and lose their license, so should someone with the same coordination and concentration as someone with a .08 blood alcohol level, not because of booze but because of talking on a cell phone.
disturbing
This situation is extremely disturbing and scary. As I have said in previous posts," the United States should not and cannot be the world police". This is the scary part, because we brought in air support and spent billions, the mind set was established and now is, how can we spend all that money and still see Ghadaffy Duck win? How can we walk away now? Mr. Rhoades is dead on with his comparison with Vietnam. How about Cuba, didn't we help Castro over through that evil dictator, Batista, only to have Cuba become a puppet of the Soviet Union? Who knows who's in charge of the Libyan rebels, perhaps it's the Taliban.
I agree with Mark , Bush didn't start this one, but then Obama didn't start the Iraq one. At this point I don't think one president is much better then the other.
The only way our government will take care of the needs of it's own people is to stay out of places we don't belong.
The hundreds of billions of dollars we have spent on wars in the past 10 years could have been spent on national health care, finding a cure for cancer, feeding our own poor, improving education, fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, and on and on .
Instead we're spending it on killing people, how sad it that?
@$#&* Liberal)*%#@
<<<
get some sleep
Hey Chris, your invited too. Please give yourself a break and get some sleep.
LD20
Ron, it looks like the new title of this bill will make it law. As a brother I invite you to the bill signing, ( I'll keep you posted ). Sheryl Briggs has asked me to sing my tribute to Vietnam Vets, "The Wisdom That We Gained" at the ceremony. I will do it for the last time.
To you and all who served, God Bless.
fire
That one idiot who came along and threw gas on your fire was probably the same idiot who complained about the mural. The fire then spread to your house and the neighborhood when the Lepage wind started blowing. A fire of this magnitude would certainly get the press's attention and they would continue to report about it until the fire was put out.
nice picture
I'm proud to be one of you guys and perhaps next year there will be an official Maine Vietnam Remembrance Day. Send letters and e-mails to Rep. Sheryl Briggs of Mexico at sheryljbriggs@gmail.com, she has sponsored the bill and will be bringing it to the Senate floor
soon. Thank you for publicly honoring our brothers and sisters who served.
a distraction bomb
This stupid issue really makes me wonder.
Lepage drops this mural bomb shell on us Mainers. He calls those opposed, "Idiots". Hides OUR stolen mural and heads for Tahiti. Wass up??
Why didn't he simply" man up", state his intentions and reasoning , take the heat, endure and defend the criticism, then act on logical input?
His action was kind of like putting dog poop in a paper bag on us Mainers front porch and setting it on fire, then running away leaving us to stomp on the fire. WHAT A GOVERNOR!
good thought
Robert, I think you have an excellent point and perhaps Mr. Cotta had other commitments, but after giving my testimony I was so emotionally stressed I told Rep. Briggs that I could never go through that again. Myself and a dozen Vietnam Vets had tears streaming down for three hours recounting what we went through and how we were received when we came home.
How could we possibly relive this pain especially for Mr. Cotta? Please read part of my testimony:
After serving 2 1/2 years in Vietnam with Commander 7th Fleet Operations I came home to a totally different country. My work had been top secret so I couldn't speak of it and, after living the horror of being spit on and called a pot smoking baby killer, I felt like I just didn't belong in the country I love. My 6 years of Naval service was never to be mentioned again.
I tried to put those years behind me and go on with my life but the memories wouldn't go away. Three years after the fall of Saigon I was in a bad mental state. I sat down with my guitar and tried to make sense, in song, of my existence for those 2 1/2 years.
Suddenly the words were there, I had lived them, and the music just went with the words. At that moment I knew us Vietnam Vets were not forsaken and God was intervening to help me and all Vietnam Vets to cope with their feelings.
30 years after writing the song and with help from my brother I recorded the, "Wisdom That We Gained"
And in 2007 I was invited to sing my song in the opening ceremony of the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.
I pray my 58,256 fallen comrades heard my song that cold November day at the Wall.
I then proceeded with the song.
For myself and all the other Vets who gave equally and more compelling testimony, doing it again especially for Mr. Cotta is not an option.
Good news---The point of contention for the opposition is having the word Veteran in the title so the bill will be amended to call the day,"Vietnam Rememberrance Day". What do you all think ??
what a mess
I never cared too much for Buldacci and how he ran this state, but this B------t has gotten way out of control. How can Lepage do his job effectively when this situation is looming over him day after day? Who started this whole mess? Where are is the mural hidden? Where and when will it re-appear? Until we know, this will be what Maine and the country is talking about,,, now is this business friendly? Perhaps we'll attract a movie production company.
The show's name, "Blaine House Supremacy". WoW, Steven King--- jump on this one!!!
damaged goods
Fred, I don't think they'll show up in a Marden's ad as they are now such damaged goods they can't be repaired and sold, much like Lepage.
not a party issue
Guys, my letter was not meant to chastise Republicans or Democrats regarding their military service. If Rep. Cotta would have a (D) and Rep. Briggs would have an (R) my letter would have been the same. My point is, as a state policy maker if you do not sit in chambers and listen to testimony, how can you render an educated opinion. Rep. Cotta chose not hear testimony because his mind was already made up and that just ain't right. Myself and many other Vets traveled to Augusta from all over the state, spent 5 hours in the morning listening to whoopie pie crap bill, paid for our dinners and when it was our turn (and there was virtually no opposition to Rep. Brigg's bill ) the Chairman and most important decision maker was absent. That is not fair, it's not right and that is the crux of my letter.
Weather you a a Vietnam Vet or not, contact Rep. Cotta from Albion and express your opinion. The bill is going back to the floor next month and Rep. Briggs needs all the help she can get. Guys and Gals, if you have,(or had), a Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister, Friend and if You served in Vietnam please express your support for this bill.
issue
Thank you Joe for understanding the meaning of my letter. I appreciate Ron's enthusiasm and support, but your response is a little more of what I had in mind regarding this issue. Thanks again.
done
Continuing to have a battle of wit against an unarmed man is pointless. It's your turn, Ron. I'm done.
retail
Mark, my retail store management jobs included VIP Automotive Discount, Parts America ( now Advance Auto ), and Pep Boys. When I hired entry level people to wok for me in that venue they were paid the same as department store, grocery store and fast food employees. I also managed two Sherwin Williams stores, owned my grocery store , owned my own paint, carpet and wallpaper store, managed Marden's of Westbrook,owned my own commercial flooring business and my own herbal tea business. I know what entry level pay is in virtually all areas of retail and that is ,minimum wage fits all. Your still a flip flop artist and you've run out of gas but I'll be gracious and give you the last word, as I know you need to have.
flip flop
Mark, in your first post you wrote," when I searched for my first job, the three places I would not work at were: department stores,grocery stores and fast food". After my post you write,"I spent quite a few years in retail too, I started at the bottom and worked my way up to management".
You and Lepage are a couple of flip flop artist. Have a nice day.
Mark your wrong!
I worked retail for 27 years and managed 12 retail stores including a Marden"s store. My wife started working for Marden's 27 years ago as a stock clerk and cashier. She now has a great job with Marden's with professional pay and great benefits. Mark, I've been most polite, but I have to suggest you quit blowing smoke out your ass (or keyboard) when you don't have a clue about working your way up in retail.
And Lepage never worked retail until he looked down his nose at all the little people he presided over and it made him feel powerful. He never would have had that job without Mickey Marden who started his retail chain out of the back of an old station wagon selling shoes.
Lepage never would have hired his "green behind the ears" daughter to work at Marden's as it would be far below her aspirations ,so he hired her to do a " do nothing job " for $41K on the taxpayer dollar in Augusta. Sorry to be so blunt, but I feel you need some education on the subject of "retail". Don't forget, without Mardens, and retail Lepage would still be shining shoes. Now go kiss your Governors BUTT!
new law
Well then I guess I don't get to sign a recall petition, but I just had a thought, why doesn't Lepage work on trying to enact such a useful law instead of playing hide and seek with property that belongs to Maine and bringing shameful national attention to our state.
smart guy
Mark, I always pictured you as a pretty smart guy. Too smart, in fact, to be a glutton for punishment. Oh well.
stealing our art
This art work belongs to the people of Maine and the fact that it was stolen in the safety of darkness is nothing but simple thievery. He stole candy as a kid and now art from the people of Maine. But, as he said, we critics of this dumb move are all idiots so what does it matter. Well this idiot is smart enough to know how to sign a recall petition!
Sadie, I'll fill in the balnks
absolutely incredible governor! How's that response for an open ended statement ? We've offended nobody and we all know what you mean.
Good post.
coment to date
Susan, if you were here in Maine, I'd hunt you down and give you the blue ribbon for the best post on this subject to date as your letter indicates, this would satisfy those want to keep the mural and the few who want it gone. And by the way, creating a whole new set of murals would give some struggling Maine artist a job and isn't that what Lepage tells us he is trying to create---jobs? You go girl.
contest
Now that this P------ contest of words is almost over, I've concluded that in our next presidential election, Ron should run for the job and Mark would make an excellent vice president and I would love the press secretaries job. What a team!!
other points of interest
Gary, you forgot about all those cell towers that have popped up everywhere giving our country side that New Jersey look. By the way, was cell phone tower construction ever put before the voters? And perhaps those towers should be featured in Maine Invites You to show people from away that they can keep on texting while they're driving throughout our beautiful state.
good one Dan
Good one ,Dan but you better run and take cover because Mark is going to start hurling the word "liberal" at you (and Clair).
I was wrong
In a previous post about this mural fiasco I said Lepage will tell his critics to "Kiss his butt" or "go to hell", well I was wrong. Instead he has simply referred to his critics as "idiots". Now that shows real class and respect for your constituents , Governor!!
good points
I agree with your editorial , but if Lepage would have explained his reasoning for this "little dumb thing" prior to doing it and did it as well as you did, he would not have drawn all this negative attention . He really needs better political advisers and quit shooting from the hip.
Wow, let me be the first !
Mark, I'll beat you to the punch on this one.
Why such a big hoopla, he'll just give his critics their choice, "kiss my butt or go to hell".
Little dumb things like this really make Mainers look stupid!
thank you, Mark
Thanks for quoting my post from yesterday, Mark and I understand your confusion, but if Lepage were a Democrat and Obama a Republican my comments would have been the same. I am trying to give Lapage a chance but he keeps doing dumb little things that I love to pounce on. Obama just did a dumb BIG thing and I pounced on him too. Equal pouncing for all !!!
hit the nail on the head
Mr Rhoades, I'm totally with you on this one. I've been a great advocate of Mr. Obama since he was elected continually saying, "give him a chance to fix things", but this is one giant step backwards. As I've said many times, the United States can not and should not be the world police and continuing down this path will be our downfall.
you go Ron
Great investigating and your remedy for this stupid mural thing, that is distracting our law makers, makes perfect sense. Good for you!
progress
Create jobs--yup, he hired his daughter. Streamline Augusta--yup, he took down a mural.
Now that's progress!
common sense
Good post Alan, but common sense will not prevail as long as cell phone lobbyist are in Augusta making sure their cell phone towers are paying for themselves by cell phone users on our highways and ta hell with common sense, keep the money coming.
oops!
I forgot those two-- positive or negative political spectrum. His post was just plain filthy and that's my last word. Time for a cold one so I can endure one more snow storm.
In the potty
Dan, Leon's post that was removed was not leftist, right wing, moderate or progressive. It was just plain in the potty and if this is his every day use of vulgarity he's bound to do it again and I'll report it again. It did take a while for Patty to remove the post but she can't monitor this forum 24-7.
He's been given 3 strikes and he's on his second, 2 more strikes and his garbage will go away.
jerk
How true ,Mike, and I've reported him and asked that the idiot be banned from this forum.
beat this one to death
I sure hope Dr. Shields's letter disappears tomorrow. We've beat this thing to death!
And the bad news, we'll see another one next month and we can do it all over again.
11th
Hell Ron, I prop you up so I could read your next post!
good post
Hey Jason, I'd be happy to buy the second round. You, me , Veritas, Pirate, Dr. Shields, Bush and Obama, ( leave Jonathan out). Holy smoke! sounds like a bar room brawl, but when all is said and done, we'd all leave the bar shaking hands, that's what civil gentlemen do.
no respect
Good points, Mr. Albrecht, and I am always at odds with Dr. Shields's one sided republican view too, but come on, he has the age to be addressed as Mr. and the education to be addressed as Dr.. If he has given you permission to call him Tommie, I'll repent.
logic
Yes pirate, I'll buy into that logic.
inherited when taking office
Pirate, I just checked your facts and your correct for a 7 year period prior to Obama taking office, but the key word here is "inherited" and it is this. When Obama took office he inherited an annual inflation rate of 3.85% and an unemployment rate of 9.4% . This month it finally fell to 8.8%.
No dog poop here!
happy camper
Wow! Dr. Shields is finally a happy camper now that we have a republican governor or he's prescribed himself some chill pills.
I hate to dissolve his warm fuzzy feeling by asking, what did the Obama administration inherit from eight years of Bush and his cronies? Wars on two fronts, runaway inflation, crooks on wall street, banking collapses, high unemployment, bailouts galore , dog poop on the White House lawn (wouldn't surprise me) and on and on. Hell, Lepage's got it easy especially with his overpaid , (by us tax payers), daughter by his side. Yup, Maine tax payers deserve a break. I can't wait!
Geez Dan
Since the SJ went to an open forum I've seen posts by Ron and Paul that have been 10 feet short of a fist fight, but I don't recall any sanctions against either. At least since the open forum, the discussions have become more civil with good dialog.
The subject was "Pit Stop". How the hell did we get to this post? Man do we digress and ain't it fun!
HOT!
Veritas and Pirate, You guys are smoken! Makes reading this fun.
Mr. Larson, move here to Norway and read only to what is written in the Agonizer Democrat.
You'll find life is really simple and a great place to live. My 2 cents.
casino
Why didn't these anti-Oxford casino lobbyist bring up their idiotic mileage issue before the voter referendum? Could it be they're sore losers or just plain greedy? The votes have been cast and the people have spoken, now let the Oxford casino proceed as planned.
good research
Ron, your info. on the Bragdon gig was enlightening. The point I was trying to make on my post is that allowing youngsters to work 32 hours a week while in school may promote their want for the almighty buck over the want for an education. Also, the post about all the gadgets available that occupy a youngsters time makes a good point. Perhaps what is good for the student should be left up to the parents instead of the state, but then there are so many parents today disconnected from what is right for their kids, that wouldn't work either. Go figure.
distracted drivers
As many readers know, I've been harping about this dangerous practice for years and nothing is being done to stop it. The current law is useless in preventing loss of life caused by distracted drivers and taking your eyes off the road for one second to write down the description of the driver, the car and the plate number is as dangerous as the person texting and driving.
To stop this dangerous practice will take a law with teeth. The same teeth our drunk driving law has. I would like to see roadside signs changed to," Maine has a tough drunk driving and distracted driver law. Don't drink and drive and turn off all hand held devices. IT'S THE LAW!"
Nobody in Augusta seams to get it. How many injuries and deaths will it take until they do?
one point overlooked
At 16 and 17 years of age some youngsters may favor money over knowledge and the job may take precedence leading to more drop outs.
wage
Right on, Pirate! and I do spike my Cool Aid occasionally.
right on
I couldn't agree more. Our military is so stretched out now we simply can't get involved in another conflict. The people of Libya are now realizing that Gadhafi is a tyrant who cares more about his personal wealth then his people. Freedom means more when you earn it and freedom loving Libyans are beginning to understand this.
more leads to more
I agree with some of Rep. Carey's logic about raising the minimum wage, but I simply do not think now is the time. We are still in a full blown recession and increasing the minimum wage at this time will do the same thing that high fuel prices are doing, that is, making the cost of goods and services go up, and up and up again!
My social security check has not gone up in two years so I have had to adjust my lifestyle. No restaurant meals, using my car when absolutely necessary, heating with wood I cut, split and pile for the winter, forgoing a hernia operation, Cool Aid instead of Pepsi and on and on. If we learn to live within our means and adjust our lifestyles accordingly right now, perhaps in a few years we can start enjoying life again. Bite the bullet now and things will get better, history has proven this.
your right
Yes, Ron, you just reminded me about Corey Dan's funeral here in South Paris. The Sarasons made it clear that they would be guarding the funeral route. That was enough to keep the nuts away.
tit for tat
It sure would be nice to see an organization formed that would keep track of every member of the nut case church and all their family members. If there is a death of a church member or anyone in their family, I would gladly volunteer to go to their funeral and heckle them as per the subject of this post. We have free speech too.
interesting
Yes, it sure will be interesting to find out who else was behind this hanky-panky paid for by us folks who are tolled to death and are told it's for highway maintenance. As Gregg wrote, it's time for DOT to take over.
Too funny
Priceless, Ron, but if you would have put his daughter in tow it would have been hilarious!
Marden's
Renee, Do you think Marden's should pay an entry level stock clerk $41,000 a year? I think not. Marden's pay scale and benefits package is at a par with any other retail store in Maine and in many cases--Better, so lighten up a little.
Other then that, this is a great piece.
protection
Brenda, automobile operators need all this protection and new laws so they can safely text while driving. Most bike riders know the importance of keeping both hands on the handlebars, although helmets sure would save a lot of lives.
NHTSA
I totally agree that truck manufactures could do better, but I kind of wonder if any of the 432 that got killed when they rear ended a truck might have been killed because the driver of the car was distracted? After all 5,474 people died in 2009 and 448,000 were injured by distracted drivers, 995 of those deaths or 18% was distraction by cell phone use.
Using a cell phone while driving is the same as having .08 blood alcohol concentration.
As I said in a previous post, this is the most pressing, dangerous issue we should be addressing. Our current Maine Distracted Driver Law is totally useless--period!
great editorial
Your view reflects my feelings exactly, especially after serving 30 months in Vietnam. Speaking of which, it looks like a law making March 29th the Maine Vietnam Veterans Day is well on it's way. Perhaps this day of remembrance will also remind our leaders that the United States cannot , and should not be the world police.
Great article and all our leaders in D.C. should have a copy
Thank you!
good night
Steve, have another cocktail and Aloha.
schools
Aloha Steve,
Go drink another volcano cocktail and stay away from the keyboard.
wow!
The Today Show is running a piece about schools giving parents rank cards scoring their involvement in their child's education. Kinda like what I just suggested in my previous post.
Parents must be more involved.
180-185
I simply don't believe that 5 more instructional days taught by teachers who don't really care and students who aren't listening is the answer to our educational woes. If a teacher who has charge of a student for 8 hours a day maintains good communication with the students parents about the other 16 hours of the students life, together a partnership will form that will lead to a student's better study habits. Continual student testing to monitor educational progress and problems. A monthly appraisal of teacher, parent involvement in cases of students with less then expected grades to identify and resolve problems. Reward those teachers who get good results through good teaching, involvement and dedication.
Through attrition bad teachers will fade away to other professions and the good teachers will advance and prosper and schools will turn out smarter kids.
common sense
Judy, what causes more accidents and deaths, a pooch on your lap, snow on your car, no headlights on in broad daylight or text messaging while driving? Lets get some real life saving laws on the books. Do you use a cell phone while driving? I'll bet you do so you can report a pooch on a drivers lap. I'd like to know.
great idea, Terry
But Lepage's brain expiration date came to fruition after we bought him and is no longer returnable. And as for his daughter, she couldn't accept less then $41,000 a year to stock shelves so that ain't happening either.
Terry, lighten up
Lepage bashing doesn't bother me a bit, but please lighten up a little with your Marden's bashing. And your right, Lepage was the GM, not an owner or the CEO and Marden's will continue to do just fine without him. Oh, if you buy anything at Marden's that is defective, torn, expired or simply not what you expected it to be you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked. I wish we could do the same with certain elected officials.
Terry, lighten up
Lepage bashing doesn't bother me a bit, but please lighten up a little with your Marden's bashing. And your right, Lepage was the GM, not an owner or the CEO and Marden's will continue to do just fine without him. Oh, if you buy anything at Marden's that is defective, torn, expired or simply not what you expected it to be you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked. I wish we could do the same with certain elected officials.
Doreen
I guess your statement about digesting anything to do with science is not that far fetch.
As I wrote on a previous post, testosterone, not estrogen, would grow little beards on women.
Aloha Steve
Wow ! Guess I'm a little slow. Please give me a week to figure out what you wrote.
safety
If these representatives are so safety conscious why don't they introduce a bill banning the use of hand held devices while operating a motor vehicle. This would save many more lives then snow on the roof and headlights on. Could it be that the cell phone lobby has them in their back pocket?
Am I right?
Isn't it testosterone, not estrogen that would give women "little beards" ?
Am I right?
Isn't it testosterone, not estrogen that would give women little beards?
run BAMBI run!!
The Mainiacs are coming. This brings a new meaning to the term "over kill".
river quality
I'm old enough to remember crossing the bridge between Brunswick and Topsham in the 50's and holding my nose all the way across due to the stench from the Andy. I sure would hate to see those good old days again.
changing times
Years ago many of my ancestors come to our area from Quebec and New Brunswick Canada. They were coming here seeking employment in shoe shops, woolen mills or any factoy that was hiring. As I've been told, the head of the family would come here for a week or two to find a job. If he ,or she, found gainful employment they would then comit to bringing their family knowing they had an income with a future. Most learned English and they hungered to become American citizens.
Now they cross the border, mostly from the south, skirting the law for our welfare benefits, don't care much about learning English and becoming an American citizen is hardly a priority. I'm not saying all do this, but I believe way too many do. Yup, times have changed.
Augusta as usual
A bill to make whoopie pies the State desert, a bill to repeal the seat belt law and now this idiotic bill. We have too many law makers with too much time on their hands and THIS is what Lepage should be trying to fix.
All Government
Good points, Len,
When you and I were in Augusta last week we sat through the whoopie pie thing all morning before we could testify in favor of the Vietnam Veteran Bill. During the lunch break Rep. Sheryl Briggs was kind enough to give some of us a tour of the State Capital. As we stood in the Capitol Rotunda, ( I believe it was Ron ), and I were scratching our heads and both wondering at the same time, "are we really paying to heat these cold granite walls and all this vacant space when we can hardly afford to heat our homes? Do we really need all these paid legislators who make up and introduce dump proposals when so many Maine folks are struggling with everyday financial survival?
Your right Len, but do you think anyone in government has the gonads to attack a problem that effects their welfare? Ain't happening!
whoopie
Frances, let us not forget the repeal of the seatbelt law. I hope Lepage has the gonads to stand before the legislative bodies and say,"please give me something for my legacy", so far your just not cutting it!
testify
Paul, if I wouldn't have been waiting to testify on the Vietnam Veteran Bill I would have walked out!!
whoopie
As I stated in an earlier post, I was at the whoopie hearing in Augusta. All the bakers and sellers of whoopie pies were there and very well organized, enough so they attracted the press. The point they were trying to make is that if the whoopie pie were made the official state desert it would help boost sales of the pies and we would beat Pennsylvania to the punch. If you can't label this group as a special interest, self serving coalition I don't know how you could label them. I couldn't agree with you more, Michael. As I sat there for three hours listening to testimony all that kept going on in my head was,"is this really my tax dollar at work"?
insurance
Jeff, point taken, so perhaps we should legislate that all those folks who love to put themselves in harms way be required, by law, to show poof of health insurance before buying an off road vehicle, before being allowed on a ski slope, before being allowed by a park ranger to climb a mountain? These risk takers without health insurance are what help drive our insurance premiums through the roof and health care out of control, but I would never support such a bill as this would be to intrusive. But think about it, and I'll bet one of our Augusta legislators with lots of time on his hands might take my comments seriously and write such a bill, scary huh ?
As Ron wrote, public roads are publicly controlled and the activities you listed are not. Sounds like you were a pretty darn good cop, Ron.
your right
Paul , I couldn't agree with you more! Why should legislation be passed to make automobile occupants safer with a seat belt law but allow motorcyclists to kill themselves all day long when a helmet law would save many lives. Go figure? I advocate any law that is not drastically
intrusive in our individual freedoms and will save lives. I don't think seat belts and helmets are that intrusive when you consider the lives that could be saved and increased medical expenses incurred by those who like taking risks.
oops
I should have said Senator Collins R-Wells and not Senator Thomas on my post. Senator Thomas has better things to do like dealing with whoopie pies.
new leadership
Dan, I disagree with you, he did do something positive. He gave his daughter a $41,000 entry level job to prevent her from standing in an unemployment line.
seat belts
Seat belts save lives, plain and simple. How hard is it to buckle up ? Is 2 seconds of your precious time worth your life ? Keep that law on the books and work on a law banning the use of any device in a moving vehicle that takes your attention away from the road. Cell phone use in vehicles has been totally proven to be as, if not more, dangerous then drunk drivers.
If Senator Thomas wants to do something productive with his time in Augusta, this is the kind of legislation he should be working on. This type of legislation would save many lives. His bill only encourages foolishness. PERIOD !
thank heaven
Yes Gail, we really need 8 more years of the Bush, Cheney mentality running our country again.
You said it yourself, the Democrats walked into bad economic conditions. It really seams doubtful that the current administration could make it worse then a banking collapse, bankrupt industries, ponzi schemes on Wall Street, housing markets down the tubes and unemployment through the roof. This is what President Obama walked into and is trying to fix.
Please lighten up a little and lets give Obamacare a shot. Perhaps if people are required to have health insurance your premiums would go down as you would not be paying for their medical care. I am also a retired senior citizen and Obamacare doesn't scare me a bit.
papers
Dan, good point but I have carried a certified copy of my birth certificate in my wallet for at least 40 years and still do, it's no big deal. My Dad and I frequently went into New Brunswick Canada to visit relatives. Showing a birth certificate to cross the border was far more convenient then the time and expense involved in getting a passport, as you need now.
whoopie
M. Rhoades,
I realize that the press can't be in 20 places at the same time and certainly the SJ is not different. I appreciate it more that the SJ was not there to cover both the whoopie bill and the Vietnam Veteran bill then the Portland Press and channel 8 for being there and choosing whoopie pies over Maine's Vietnam Veterans. This bill is proceeding and any press coverage would be greatly appreciated by all us Vietnam Vets. Now lets all eat a whoopie and put on 5 lbs.
whoopie
Kevin, F.Y.I I sat through the whoopie pie hearing in Augusta yesterday. The folks who bake and sell whoopie pies throughout this state made some very good points to sway the committee to their point of view. In fact the hearing room was filled with so many whoopie pies I could see clogged arteries without even eating one. The room was filled with press folks and it was a real entertaining circus for all. OH, I THINK THE WHOOPIE PIE HAS IT'S PLACE AS THE MAINE STATE FAT SNACK AND THE BLUEBERRY PIE THE STATE DESERT.
The afternoon hearing was LD20 a days set aside to give thanks and a welcome home to Vietnam Veterans. As to be expected, no press was present and the hearing turned serious and genuine.
Al Pelletier
thank you Madeleine
For the kind words. The old man actually was asking if we had any ice cream. Can you imagine, his entire family wiped out and he is asking for ice cream. I'll never understand this. I speak French very well but sure don't write it as well as you do. Thanks again and thank a Veteran.
Best regards,
Al
stories
Kudos and kudos Mark, what a bunch of great stories by local folks. Please do this again. It really tells about the strength and endurance our community and the great folks within it.
Al Pelletier
health care
Well said Mary Ann and I totally agree.
thanks Wayne
It's nice to wake up and read something nice about the human spirit.
Donnie
Madeleine,
Donnie needs AA as bad as I need a vasectomy. I know him and he is not an alcoholic, a socially responsible drinker--yes, but not a drunk needing help. And when you say he was wrong, were you there? I wasn't so I will not prejudge, but please don't render your verdict until the trial has been held.
Al
he said, he said
After reading all these posts regarding this unfortunate situation, it sure would be nice to see it resolved with Donnie Cummings and Officers Daily and Cook sitting in the rose garden with President Obama, sipping a beer together and letting bygones be bygones. Please, court system, spare us tax payers the expense of a trial and Donnie the expense of an attorney for an unfortunate misunderstanding.
Al Pelletier
not a drunk
I've lived in the next house up our camp road from Donny Cummings for 11 years. On hot summer days Donny occasionally stops by my house and we'll have a cold beer or two and swap stories about our military days, but never in these past 11 years have I seen Donny intoxicated. I have no idea either about what lead Donny to act as they say he did. It just seems totally out of character for a man I consider a close friend and who has always conducted himself like a gentleman and a good neighbor.
Al Pelletier
Entry level salaries
As A Marden's store manager 20 years ago I enjoyed a good paycheck and benifits, but never in my wildest dream could I, or would I, have given a fresh out of college kid with a B.D. a job that paid more then I was getting. Only state officials can do this, not the private sector. Only government officials have health insurance, life insurance and benefits we, in the private sector can't even imagine and we as voters tolerate it. What a country !!
drive to work
My wife drives 64 miles every day to work at Marden;s and the weather has to be really nasty to keep her from her job, but if she can't make it in she is given a paid day off from her 5 weeks annual vacation pay. Not such a bad company to work for huh?
Misconceptions about Mardens
I was a Marden's store manager years ago and my wife has worked for Marden's 27 years.
As a store manager I had an excellent salary, 401K, good health insurance, a great vacation package, great Christmas bonuses and a very generous store discount. My wife started working for Marden's stocking shelves. She now has an excellent position with Marden's and is rewarded generously.
Sometimes Marden's merchandise buyers have to buy the good with bad to get a good deal for their customers. They are not a Wall Mart, they are a surplus and salvage store. Sorting out good salable merchandise from trash is a constant challenge to deal with. Ever see anything sexually offensive on their shelves? They buy that too to get the good stuff and throw offensive stuff away as not to offend their customers and Marden's return policy is the best in the retail market. A lot more to Marden's then some folks, who love to shop there, give them credit for.
Al Pelletier
important, urgent bill
After they squander legislative time and taxpayer money on this useless issue, lets propose a bill to make "Making Whoopie" out states favorite pastime. How numb is that!!
I thought so
Yup, Lil and George ----- crickets, what's new? Destructive criticism without providing an alternative answer does nothing. Constructive ideas that may change things for the better ( or worst ) are part of our American heritage. Sometime we have to gamble and see how the chips fall. If we hadn't gambled in 1776 we would still be, well , you know.
Palin Poop
Veritas, I couldn't agree with you more ! I couldn't care what party she belongs to, every time she opens her mouth 20 acres get fertilized, but I really don't think her mouth had much to do with this tragic event. I think when the evidence comes out at Loughners trial it will show that he was a totally deranged looser who was seeking notoriety, and he sure got it !
ideas
Pirate, lets hear some of your ideas on how to fix this health care mess? Please don't simply tell us it's to do away with Obama care, that's not trying to fix the mess, it's perpetuating the mess.
required health insurance
No American, especially me, wants the government imposing more and more infringements on our individual freedoms, but here's the deal.
Hospital charges are out of control, insurance costs are out of control, and uninsured citizens continue to increase. Something has to short circuit this vicious cycle. If state government didn't require automobile drivers to have, at the least, liability insurance how many drivers out there would rather spend their premium money on, lets say, lottery tickets and the hell with the prospect of causing an accident. Think about it.
This is not a Democrat, Republican, Tea Party or what ever issue. This is attempting to fix a national problem that won't go away and repealing it before it is tested is lunacy.
Al Pelletier
accountability
A lot of the posts I have read in this forum got nasty, mean spirited , and down right threatening when it comes down to political issues. I applaud SJ for this move that makes those who post accountable for the content of their contribution.
message
Hi Jim,
Yes there is a message and I received it 42 years age and that was,"thank you for your service to your country, here's your discharge papers."
Alvey P
bad word
Ya Fern, thats really something to brag about! Your fortunate you did not see the driver, a person without a cranium is not a pretty sight.
Al
harp
Sorry Angelo, the "Harp" comment I posted went under Jeff's letter.
Al
harp
Thanks Jeff,
After reading about the shooting in Arizona, reading about this act of kindness starts my day on a brighter note.
Al Pelletier
honest, accountable posts
Rock on sthistle !! Nicely written and based on fact, good for you.
When I joined in this forum several months ago, I scrolled through many ridiculous post until I found some decent dialog that pertained to the original letter and when I joined in with a comment always signed my real name trusting that my comments did not offend, insult or embarrass anybody, something called common courtesy . Now perhaps I won't have to waste time and what little energy I have left trying to avoid junk.
great move staff
Wow! I can't wait to read all the posts in the morning. If they are nasty I hope they identify themselves and "preaves" get ready to push the "banned" button.
Al Pelletier
Big Brother
Pirate, I agree with you that if Big Brother ran the entire show they'd probably do a miserable job. I should have explained that perhaps Brother's involvement might be to put a cap on administrative salaries, establish set prices on most common surgical procedures, encourage and support the formation of "not for profit" insurance companies, kind of like credit unions, to give the major insurers a little competition which may effect their obscene profits, look into the run away prices of medications and if you do not have health insurance, bankruptcy will not wipe away your obligation to health care providers.
Perhaps some of these ideas are a little outlandish, and then again some might have some merit. Pirate, you have to agree that hospitals will not act, insurance companies will not act and the uninsured will not act. What are the options?
congratulations
David, your common sense letter certainly brought out the best and the worst in people. It's unfortunate some people can't join into an honest discussion about this subject without getting just plain nasty. Pity the source.
Al
health reform
Have any of you screaming about the injustice of health care reform had an operation for a small hernia lately? In and out of CMMC in three hours $18,000.00. Health care administrators
paid $3,000,000.00 a year. Health insurance with a $6,000.00 deductible plus a co-pay. And your calling those who can't afford health care insurance " dead beats"! Talk about a mess and here's Obama trying to improve the situation and now republicans want to undo any gains to remedy this mess while offering no other options. Although Canada's national health care has it's own problems, and their working to fix those problems, it has managed to controlled the three the $$$$$ things I just mentioned and there are no "dead beats". I absolutely hate big brother's intrusiveness in my life but when things get out of control it's time for big brother to step in and health care got, and still is, out of control.
one more thing
In the spring of 1967 my cruiser, USS Providence, pulled along side an aircraft carrier in the Tonkin Gulf off Vietnam so we could catch a USO show featuring Bob Hope, Ann Margarite and many other stars of the day. Now that was a morale builder and, oh ya, the carrier was the Enterprise!
Al
not my kind of Navy
I served 30 months in combat waters in Vietnam aboard 2 light cruisers. We needed morale boosters too. Our Captain and officer staff organized regular "smokers" on the ships fan tail.
A smoker, for those who don't speak navy, is a great barbi, steak and seafood followed by musicians, boxing and wrestling matches, and performances by any sailor that would amuse and entertain. We crossed the Equator 4 times and had polywog to shellback activities that were pretty gross but fun non the less. We had baseball, touch football and vollyball teams where officers and enlisted could blow pent up steam. But never, in my wildest dream, could I believe my old C.O. would conduct himself like Captain Honors for the sake of "morale" when there are so many other morale building activities and especially aboard a carrier! Perhaps he wants to be a youtube star. He's certainly getting great publicity.
Al Pelletier
loss of your home
David, I'm so sorry to hear bad news from another victim of this recession. I have just read 31 comments, which is typical when Dr. Thomas Shield's name and his opinion is mentioned. Most were foolish and a few were good dialog. Like you I owned a small business. A commercial flooring business that catered to the manufactured housing industry in the Oxford area. In 2007 I had seven major accounts and was grossing 70 to 80k annually and employed one person. In 2008 six of these accounts had closed and the 7th decided to keep the work in house to save money. I thank God I hit retirement age in 2008. So many, including Dr Shields,
don't seem to remember about the banking collapse, which killed my business, and everything else bad that happened on Bush's watch. Go figure?
Good luck my friend,
Al Pelletier
these coments
Do you all think Lepage cares about these comments? Considering he said he would tell Obama to go to hell, I think not.
to common sense
You posted the type of discussion that makes sense and is thought provoking. Good for you!
I'll read it again in the morning and decide if I should be pro or con on your post. Either way I'll be polite and civil.
Best regards and a Happy New Year.
Al Pelletier
comments
Freeman, you wrote a perfectly fine letter with your opinion stated clearly, then you got all these idiotic comments, ( notice I said idiotic comments without calling anyone an idiot), that range from calling people bigots, to who won the Civil War, to who and what is a Red Neck and on and on. Pretty silly don't you think?
Al Pelletier
Ed,s letter
Ed, I agree with you 100%. Just reading the responses to your letter convinces my that ID-ing
the author will help stop some of the useless discussion I have just read. But Ed, stop having a war of wits with unarmed writers. I think your above that.
Al Pelletier
Getting rid of us
Yup, Freeman, their trying to get rid of us and they want to do it as painfully as possible by not giving us folks ,who have worked all their lives and have paid more and more every year into the social security pool, a little benefit increase for two years! The fat cats in Washington live high on the hog with our tax dollars and deny us common folks a little increase based on some formula that makes sense only to them. This formula includes the price of homes which have gone down but most of us retired people already own our own homes and are struggling to pay the property taxes, which have not dropped and many have gone up as has the price of gas, K-1, propane, milk, bread, eggs and all food, lights, phones, cars, clothing, State fees, trash disposal, water, sewage charges and everything else. Just look around and try to find one thing that cost less two years ago. The only thing you'll find are houses that we, through years and years of hard work, now own and , in our "Golden Years", are struggling to keep.
honest discussion
Every post I have read about my comments are honest and heart felt and I understand, but If your an American and you have the courage to say the words John Hancock, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson said ,and identified themselves in our Constitution under fear of execution , then the Sun Journal forum is kids play. Good night
Yup, Crap
Get a job and a life, Al Pelletier
time on line
Hi there Armymom, This is Al Pelletier telling you that I have been a contributer to Letters to the Editor for over 15 years. Some like what I write and others don't, but speaking my mind and telling you who these typing hands are connected to has never frightened me. I always try to keep my letters civil and have, on occasion, complimented the SJ staff for slapping my around when I get really mouthy. Please keep in mind, this web site belongs to
the Sun Journal as does their newspaper. If you want to jump in the playpen and play, you have to play by their rules or stay out.
ID the writer
You go SJ. I've read so many stupid posts in the past 6 months written by idiots who write crap knowing they can publish anything without accountability it was beginning to destroy my desire to join in the discussion.
Al Pelletier Norway Maine
no punishment at all
Having to pay back 4 million means she will break even. Not much punishment there and the proposed short jail term will only encourage others to try and get away with similar despicable acts. I hope the sentencing judge will read these posts.
mentally III
Is obviously MENTALLY ILL!! Please disregard this mysterious idiot.
as low as it gets
Stealing from needy children. Stealing from the community, tax payers and the State. How bad can it get? The 4 million in restitution and a little jail time is not enough. What about the cost to us tax payers for the police team that took them down, the cost for the State prosecuting attorneys and the cost for her incarceration. The care that children were deprived of is a crime by itself. If you over bill the State 4 million for services for mentally challenged children, you also deprive them of that amount of care. 4 million in restitution is the amount that was over charged and 4 million is amount of child care that was never provided. Adds up to 8 million to me and 5 years in the big house to think about the rip off sounds right to me also. I hope the judge handing down the sentence reads this post and many more that will follow
being alive is a hazard
Smelling fumes at the gas pump, cell phones near the brain (and while driving), transmission towers, power lines, smart meters and so much more. Hell, through in a few wind turbines in the pool of hazards so we have something else to worry about and cause us ulcers.
yup, I can read it now!
In the late sixties,while in the Navy, I served with Commander 7th Fleet in the Operations Division and as such was cleared to hold a crypto top-secret security clearance. I was advised of the sensitive nature of the highly classified documents I would be viewing and handling and the punishments available to me for divulging anything about my job and what I knew.
They put the fear of God in us and we did our jobs and protected our country's secrets. What's going on in the military these days is beyond me.
sidewalk
I just got back home in Noway from Auburn and I really had to laugh about that crooked sidewalk. Best I can figure it was designed to help staggering drunks look sober.
envy
Gil, regarding "Envy is a terrible thing". It's funny you would have me as a bagger at Mardens. Fact is one of my many positions in business management was the manager of a Mardens store with 60 plus employees. I am now comfortably retired having managed and owned businesses for 45 years. I would guess by your detailed description of a college presidents duties and your defense of the "obscene paycheck" you are the one receiving this paycheck or on that persons payroll. The President of The United States gets $400,000 and our Governor gets $70,000 a year and your to tell us a college presidents job is more demanding? Bull----!! $695,000.00 is still obscene.