Thoughts ...
the Forecaster 02/21/2003 Thinking about ColumbiaWith today’s disaster of the Columbia it gives me pause to reflect. When the infrequent times of national mourning come upon us, the President lowers the flag to half-staff over all federal buildings. I have a view from my windows of a flag at a local restaurant. Today it is flying at half-staff. I often gaze at this one flag for it always waves, tattered yet still unfurled, sometimes through weather that not even a postman will venture into. Although it seems shredded at the ends, it remains resilient as if it is the keeper of the American Spirit. This week it will be hang low, but like the Goddess Phoenix it will arise again. Dan Page
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Maine Sunday Telegram 01/19/2003 Many thoughts result from Lewiston rallyWhile watching the film “A Beautiful Mind,” recently, I was struck by the simplicity, clarity and brilliance in the lines that the character Alicia spoke as she looked at a piece of art.
She said softly, “God must be a painter. Why else would he have so many colors?”
Her spoken words extend beyond the palette, canvas and easel and into the realm of humanism. One hundred and forty-one years ago this past New Years Day, President Abraham Lincoln began the act of reversing years of oppression with the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Many generations have unfolded since the day that law went into effect. Yet, still we are confronted, time and time again, with ramblings from hate groups or, worse yet, dictators of entire countries. On Saturday, Jan 11, the misguided preaching of Jon Fox and his fellow fringe members of Matthew Hale’s so-called World Church of the Creator attempted to bend the minds of a city, state and country borne on the back of immigration.
Hale’s leanings toward ethnocentrism will continue to go forth via speeches, pamphlets, booklets and subsequent media coverage. Sadly enough, some will listen.
The people of Maine have clearly shown Hale and his followers that his ideas are not welcome in our town squares.
Our best bet is to continue to ignore the soapbox oratories of Hale and people like him and hope this ugly paragraph in Maine history is laid to rest.
Dan Page |
the Forecaster 01/03/2003 What becomes a legendWhen I read the headline, “Scarborough coaching legend Flynn says farewell” in the 12-20-2002 edition of your newspaper, I shook my head in disbelief, but then I consulted a dictionary for the true meaning of the word legend, and it all become clear. By the very intonation of the word legend, we have been taught to believe that the holder of the title has special powers and an aura that supersedes that of the commoner. We, in turn, accept it as Gospel. But you see legend, as defined by “Websters”, is really nothing more than the perpetuation of a myth. Folklore if you like. John Wolfgram did more for the Red Riots football team after he succeeded Jack Flynn, than Jack Flynn ever did. John Wolfgram won the class A’s more than once and nothing draws a crowd more than a winning team. Bob Brown accomplished more for the So Portland basketball system than either of those two football coaches combined did for the football program. His 1979 championship team is perhaps the best in the history of Maine basketball. It was taken for granted each game that year, that the Red Riots would score 100+ points per game. Just ask Bangor. And how about Al Livingston who coached Billy Swift onto the Orono baseball squad, where Billy followed-up with a stunning career in both the Olympics and Major League Baseball, culminating in runner-up for the Cy Young award. Where do you classify these coaches, perhaps standouts in the field? Dan Page
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Maine Sunday Telegram
11/03/2002Voter distressed by money spent on adsGod bless the remote control. With the pressure of one fingertip upon the “mute” button, I can instantly silence the negative ads coming from our current slate of political hopefuls. Their messages now fall upon deaf ears and may very well leave an equally blank check box in the voting booth. I don’t know what it costs to produce a 15- or 30-second advertisement for television airing, but I can imagine it isn’t cheap. So, I have to wonder, why are they spending so much money on something that, at least in my case, doesn’t produce the desired result – a vote? And if they do this so wastefully with their campaign money, which they spent so much time gathering, just what will they waste the taxpayers’ money on when they conduct the business of the government? This Tuesday, I will be walking into the polling booth knowing that my choice for some positions on the ballot will be the lesser of two evils. Dan Page |
Casco Bay Weekly 09/05/2002 Pulitzer envyDid I detect a note of envy in the News-O-Rama
sidebar within the 08-29-2002 issue of your newspaper? Your criticism of
the Blethen Newspapers reporter, Barbara Walsh, and the newspaper she
writes for was unwarranted. Rather than throwing punches at your reporter
colleagues, you should be happy that Portland Maine could attract a
journalist of such high caliber as Barbara Walsh. How can you as a
journalist, slight someone offhandedly, that has won the singular most
defining award in journalism, the Pulitzer Prize? You should be ashamed of
yourself and offer an apology to Ms. Walsh. Her public service reporting doesn’t involve sleaze
like a short stint masquerading as a voyeur in a porn shop or posing as a
panhandler as your reporters have done.
Instead, she develops over months a genuine rapport with the
subjects she writes on and relates the interviews to the public in a way
that sparks community interest in the problem and hopefully a long-term
solution. Her last piece on castaway children in the mental
health system of our state took her six months to research and write. I
doubt anyone from your paper could remain detached from the children you
would meet during that time. Rather than debase her you should congratulate her and leave your Pulitzer envy behind you. Dan Page
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Maine Sunday Telegram
08/18/2002Editor's column offers rare insightI want to commend
editor Jeannine Guttman's Sunday column "Editor's Note".
Each week it offers readers
a rare and insightful view of the policies, procedures and practices
of journalism. I found the August 4th column on ethics in news reporting particularly enlightening. The media have a powerful influence on the public. Their reporting can sway opinion polls in favor of their endorsed candidates, perhaps cause juries to lean toward conviction or acquittal, and make or break a movie, book, or restaurant. These are just a few of the many areas that they touch. The power they hold should not be taken lightly. We take it for granted
that we will be afforded access to reliable information on news events. It
was not always this way. Bill Clinton faced removal from office in the
90's for womanizing. Yet three decades earlier JFK's philandering was
kept from the public by the press. In between, the investigative reporting of The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein took down the presidency of Richard Nixon with their account of the Watergate break-in. We are
incredibly fortunate to live in a society where information is
freely exchanged. Unfortunately, this climate and a rush-to-deadline
atmosphere prevalent in this information age can lead to inaccurate
reporting. Dan Page |
South Portland Sentry
05/31/2002
Page Disagrees with Larson on trash issues
While I applaud Nancy Larson's efforts to save the South Portland
taxpayers money, ("Pay-per-bag trash is NOT a solution",
5-24-2002), I feel she is on the wrong track in regards to her
suggestion of every other week trash collection. Implementing her
plan would reduce property taxes only by eliminating jobs, but as a
consequence pad the welfare rolls. Only through recycling will we reduce
the tipping fees and keep this aspect of the budget down (we pay by
tonnage not visits). When I pay my taxes I want results not a wasteful
plan of action.
A second point to consider is that apartment dwellers and some home
owners have limited space in which to store trash. Keeping
trash within the environs of a home for two weeks is both odorous and
unhealthy. I am old enough to remember the days when a household was
without a garbage disposal. Table scraps went into a can outside and
maggots bred upon the fodder. Under her proposal, what will happen
is that those with limited space will be forced to place their trash
outside, well before pickup day, where vermin, insects, and
seagulls will have a field day.
Thirdly, is it correct to charge business owners for the consumption of
individuals? The city states that the business community pays
60% of the tab on trash pickup. Most businesses have
dumpsters, tipping fees paid for by the company and not the residents.
Because it is a price of doing business we end up paying for it anyway
in the form of higher prices. In addition, the State of Maine long ago mandated
recycling of paper products for some companies operating within Maine. I
know that the company I work for abides by this tenet. The desire
of a pay-per-bag principle is to encourage recycling while still
retaining jobs. In fact, recycling actually creates jobs. Call it
force fed, but pay-per-bag is not a terrible concept to
accept. After all, you do want to preserve the environment for your
great-great-great-grandchildren, don't you?
It is important to note that our school budget is rising and this is due
in part to increased medical insurance costs. Maine leads the
nation in attempting to curb the rising price of prescription
medicine. We would do better to focus our efforts on reducing this budget
item rather than diminishing necessary services. Therefore, if you
choose to call anyone regarding your taxes, call them about
supporting a cap on drug prices; our seniors deserve a break.
Oh, and finally, please use your recycling bin. No one loses.
Dan Page
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Casco Bay Weekly 05/23/2002Innocent 'til proven ...I think Doug Vanderweide missed the point of my missive (Letters, "Down with Morgan's hissy fits," 5.16.02). To publish names of the accused, victims, or arrestees in a publication and provide only the barest of facts is asking for a slander suit. The district attorney throws out many cases each year because the grounds upon which the person was arrested were pointless. Small town newspapers, which highlight the arrests, never follow up with a visit to the courthouse to report on the outcome, should it ever make it that far.* [Vanderweide's] suggestion that I was bastardizing the Constitution in some way is ludicrous. A newspaper should be held accountable for the information they report. If they say someone was arrested for a crime or infraction, then they should follow through on the story. This never happens, nor do retractions take place when the information is wrong. A friend of mine went into our local police station fairly recently for a permit to move an unregistered auto. This was reported in a local newspaper with his name, age and city of residence as violation of bail conditions. Despite a visit to the newspaper office and the police station, no retraction was ever published. So given that, can you honestly tell me that the rights of the press overrule the rights of the people? You suggest I take a civics course. Well, I suggest you take an ethics course. Dan Page * In the 5.30.02 issue the editor agreed with my statement and vowed to follow through on any arrests made. |
Casco Bay Weekly 05/09/2002Waaa...stop whining
A new feature article, Cop Beat, has appeared weekly in your
paper since the change of editors from Chris Busby to Lael Morgan. In
the few weeks that it has been printed the only thing I have gotten out of
it is, "Mike won't let us play in the sandbox with him.",
all because the Portland Police department removes names from the beat
report that they provide you.
Why is it necessary for you to know the names of victims, accused, and
police officers? Don't you realize that by publishing any of the
names you could cause an innocent-until-proven-guilty suspect to
lose his job, shame to be cast on a crime victim or worse,
endanger a police officer's life. You surely won't show up in court on
trial day to see the verdict of any of these cases, so why do you really
care? Is it just a case of voyeurism?
Freedom of the press is a right of this country passed by the people in
Article I of the Bill of Rights, but personal freedom comes first and
foremost. This is evidenced by the founding fathers statement in the
Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Don't tread on
these rights in order to ensure your own.
Dan Page
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South Portland Sentry
04/13/2002
Reader Dismayed with SentryI just finished reading and rereading your April 12th issue and it left
me flabbergasted. Dan Page |
Casco Bay Weekly 01/10/2002 My Dog's LifeThe article "Mill mutts" seemed to be written solely to promote yet another group, Mainers Against the Exploitation of Pets (MAEP), whose real purpose is to deal with their own psychological problem: "We have too much time on our hands."Nowhere in the article did I find a statement, either positive or negative, from any owner of a dog or puppy purchased through one of the pet stores that you mention in the article. I offer you my statement here. I am the proud caretaker of an AKC-registered cocker spaniel purchased from the Dog House in Portland in April of 2000. This dog has not exhibited any of the signs that your article attributed to those dogs coming from the so-called puppy mills. He came to me free of any ailments; his pedigree, markings, and behavior show no sign of any inbreeding; and his socialization skills with humans are more advanced than many humans that I know. All of this counters the claims that MAEP puts forth in your article that suggest my dog is a surly mutt because he began life in a professional breeding operation in the state of Missouri. The truth of the matter is, he is the friendliest, best-looking and best-natured dog that I have ever met. I have nothing but kudos for the breeder and the Dog House, and suggest that the members of MAEP take up a more relaxing pastime, such as tiddlywinks, to pass thier time. Dan Page
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Portland Press Herald 01/02/2002George Mitchell's Greatest ChallengeGeorge Mitchell, former Maine judge, U.S. senator and secretary of state, brokered the Irish peace accord and worked on a peace attempt in the Mideast. Mitchell, who was at one time a frontrunner for the position of major league baseball commissioner, now co-owns one of New England's most revered landmarks, Fenway Park, and the team that comes packaged with it, the Boston Red Sox. George is regarded around the world as a noted statesman and bargainer. This new partnership will test both his resolve and his negotiating skills when he goes head to head with the Red Sox's nemesis, New York Yankee's owner George Steinbrenner. Can he talk Steinbrenner out of the American League East championship? Can he bring a World Series ring back to Boston? If history is any guide, it will be George Mitchell's greatest challenge and, if he succeeds, his greatest feat. Dan Page
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South Portland Sentry 12/21/2001Just One QuestionI was unable to attend the meeting that multi-millionaire, New York developer John Cacoulidis recently had with several South Portland groups to discuss his elaborate $900 million convention center, marina, hospital and Fore River cable car operation that he sees destined for the South Portland shores. This was unfortunate for me because I have one burning question for him. I am hoping that he can answer it in a later issue of this newspaper. Mr. Cacoulidis, at what point did you lose your mind? Dan Page
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Casco Bay Weekly 10/11/2001 Never mind the BullocksYour article entitled, "Blue Collar Rock", (Edge, 9.27.01) unfairly mentioned a South Portland neighborhood bar, Clyde's Pub, in a negative light by trying to categorize it as "rough and rowdy". Your reporter, Joe S. Harrington, based his assumptions, and is forcing them upon the readership, solely on the basis of "several [patrons] looked at us askance". He ends this diatribe by saying "to our relief, we survived unmolested". In a later paragraph, the author alludes to a large number of drunken people in the bar, when in fact the bar barely holds 50. Here's the phrase: "[the band] elicited drunken whoops and foot stomps from the sizeable crowd". Well, Joe, that inflated crowd may have been rooting for America. Clyde's Pub has been in existence since 1994. The current ownership and management of the club maintain an orderly and friendly, sports-oriented environment. Bouncers are on duty whenever there is a band. In all fairness, your articles should stay with the subject. A music critic should stick to the music and not stray to the venue. Dan Page |
Portland Press Herald 9/17/2001America's Darkest Hour
The terrorist attack that occurred on our soil may be America's darkest hour,
but it is also proving to be a turning point in global human relations. Our
country is receiving unprecedented support from virtually all races and
creeds in every country of the world; countries who have previously shown
animosity are now showing helpfulness.
The outpouring of support for the victims, broadcast minute by minute on all television stations, brings warmth to this heart-rending tragedy. Although we grieve, we can take comfort in that we will come out of this horrific nightmare closer to all of our world-wide neighbors. Everyone, please, support ours and every allied government in their attempt to eradicate terrorism. Dan Page |
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Casco Bay Weekly 7/29/1999 Bad bloodWhy, oh why is this newspaper, which heralds itself as "Greater Portland's weekly journal of news, arts and opinion," intent on lambasting the city of South Portland? It was innocent enough at first with the occasional dribble from Liz Peavey's pen in her column "Outta My Way," but the latest article by Chris Busby ("Goin' south," 7.22.99) takes the cake. I'm sorry that Chris didn't find what he was looking for when he took his excursion into our city, but I'm not sorry to see him go. If Chris had opened his eyes while visiting us he would have found exactly what the Old Port lacks, a mature environment [in which] to socialize. One that affords you the opportunity to actually hear the person you're talking to, where a fight on the street corner isn't a nightly occurrence, where drinks are reasonably priced. If he was looking for a bunch of college yahoos hell-bent on a night of drinking themselves into a stupor, well, he was on the wrong side of the bridge. I'd like to give Chris a bit of social advice. For one, DON'T play AC/DC while a Red Sox game is on. It may explain the reception you got trying to talk to those "jocks" at Clyde's, which, by the way, is a SPORTS BAR. It's supposed to have sports memorabilia on the wall. Its softball, darts, pool and football teams have also regularly kicked the ass of Portland bar teams, but you guys don't cover that. Chris, one other small tidbit, if you want to be a muckraking journalist, target the real villains. An off-duty bartender in a small city where everyone knows your name doesn't need you to attach a nickname to him and then attribute disparaging remarks about another bar's clientele to him. Makes for bad blood where bad blood doesn't exist. By the way, his employer made a personal apology. How about you? I did not see a disclaimer attached to the article, therefore I must hold that it is also the newspaper's opinion that was published. With that in mind, I look forward to the first edition of your new competitor, The Phoenix. Dan Page
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Portland Press Herald 7/18/1996 Although I have long known, through past media reporting, of the deplorable working conditions at DeCoster Egg Farms, I was appalled at the state of living arrangements endured by the migrant workers, as evidenced by the text and accompanying photos of your Saturday, July 13, article. Not only does this man operate a sweatshop described by Labor Secretary Robert Reich as abominable, but he permits the habitation of buildings left in deplorable condition (i.e., he's a slumlord). I wonder how he's gotten away with it all these years. He's been in the business since 1956. Before he began, the National Labor Relations Board was established (July 1935) to put the reins on people like him. Then in 1970 OSHA further strengthened the fair treatment of workers. The Whistle-blowing Act of 1978 protected accusing workers from retaliation. This act was bolstered in 1989. Yet, throughout his whole career he has continually abused the rights and lives of his workers. What these workers need is another Cesar Chavez. What Jack DeCoster needs is a serious look at Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." He could surely take top billing in any reprise of that classic. If that doesn't work, let's make him and his managers spend a glorious, fun-filled month living in his squalid trailers and see how he likes it. And if that doesn't work, well, St. Peter won't be welcoming him someday, will he? Dan Page
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