At least I had one week when my old, ravaged body let me make some real headway at my senior fitness session. Sometime late yesterday afternoon that body began telling me that a low front was approaching and we’d probably get some rain.
Instead of setting my sights a little higher this morning, I set them on getting through my normal routine. That was successful, sort of, but I didn’t go any further this day. Last Thursday, for example, I set the bike to a programmed exercise mode. Today I just completed a bicycle mode, which is much less strenuous. It’s not looking too good for Thursday, either, if one believes today’s forecast.
The governor took no action yesterday on the Democratic proposal to increases taxes. It is a terrible tax that will cost you a whole lot more money than the Democrats say will save you. The Governor has promised not to support increasing or introducing any new broad based taxes and needs to veto this bill. A poster on As Maine Goes political discussion forum, Mark Turek, has broken down what new taxes you’ll be paying if the governor does not veto the bill. You can read his list here (scroll down) and see what needs to be done to encourage the governor to veto the bill.
It is just a little early, like about a year, but the race to be the next Maine governor is already underway. It is way, way too early to make an endorsement of any kind, but I heard one announced candidate speak yesterday on a local morning talk show. What Republican Matt Jacobson had to say was very heartwarming as he says he wants to bring opportunity to Mainers. I can’t tell you all he said because I wasn’t taking any notes and I couldn’t find a way to link to a recording of the broadcast.
However, he is apparently still building a web site and you can check in there periodically to learn more about him. He’s the first I’ve heard running for the position and I honestly liked what he had to say yesterday. If you get a chance to hear him on the airwaves or in person, I hope you’ll at least give him a listen.
Now this isn’t an endorsement this early in the game, but it is the beginning now of learning about candidates to replace Governor John Baldacci whose term is limited out next year so he cannot run again this time around. When Jacobson announced a while back, I said here at the time that I’d never heard of him. Now I have and he made, at least for me, an excellent good first impression. We’ll see how it lasts and who else gets into the fray.
I took a quick peek at his website and, I’m sorry to say, didn’t find it very exciting or informative. I’m sure that’s just because it’s early and he’s just getting started, but I’ll check later and I urge you to do so, too. Matt Jacobson for Governor.
The Portland papers are undergoing a sale which could be finalized as early as next week. It’s a process that began many months ago and only culminated when unions representing workers at the paper agreed to revise their contracts. The Blethen family in Seattle had owned the paper for several years and has sold it to a group of many local investors.
The axe apparently fell in the last couple of days of many management people who are not unionized and news department heads. That will probably mean the newspaper will try to become more in tune with local news and the needs of its readers. It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a truly investigative hard news article on decisions being made by our politicians. If my observation is correct, perhaps we’ll start seeing the newspaper working harder to keep the pols on their toes.
There is one item in the news today that will cause me to do a little reading and research before I form an opinion. A local group is starting a petition drive today to get fluoride out of the Cumberland County drinking water. The group will have to gather just under nine thousand verifiable signatures to get the measure on an upcoming ballot.
Fluoride was voted in by the county’s voters in the late 1990s after four failed earlier attempts. I was on the losing side of that last vote because I didn’t believe the government should be dictating any type of medication for everyone to have to use. The argument then for the fluoride was it would build healthier bones and teeth for our children and seniors. I’ll need to see how successful that was before I decide this time. Speaking totally on a personal level, it did absolutely nothing for either my bones or my teeth. But then that’s a selfish point of view so I’ll be looking for statistics on the whole county.
GiM
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