Mainers we have an upcoming ballot (Lewiston, Bangor: how much, buy, casino)

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaine

I agree with you Maineah. I don't have an issue with people who are gay, I have an issue with legislators subverting our right to vote on an issue as they did in Mass. Disgusting. Not gay people. Politicians! It looks like your legislature took a page from the same book ours used!!! And shame on all of them!!!

That's really all I was saying. I appreciate another berating from Broad(minded) Bill. I'm used to it. I have gay family members who choose to remain single and not marry. That's their choice. They could drive 40 minutes and get married in Massachusetts if they really wanted to. Even though voting yes would nullify the gay marriage law THEY agree with me that the legislature has NO BUSINESS passing laws against the will of the populace regardless of what the liberals in the city want. (and my family members ARE liberal!) It's the "we know better than most" attitude from Augusta that we don't like.
I don't care if the church doesn't like gay marriage and I'll stand my ground with those who believe I'm the uninformed one here. I find it appalling the legislature would disregard previous votes and pass trendy legislation to be IN with the liberal crowd without letting the people as a whole decide. Regardless of the Presidential swing, outside of the major population centers, Maine is not as "blue" as the papers would lead one to believe. If that was the case they would not have been able to VERY EASILY collect enough signatures to put the question on the ballot in the first place. As I said before, if gays want to marry... fine. If MAINERS vote to let them marry FINE. Just don't pass backroom legislation against established dissent and think the people are just willing to let it slide.

[lawmom]

What if it was against the will of the majority for black people to marry? What would you say then?

[Maineah]

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

I'm looking a a painting of our founding fathers in Philadelphia as they consider establishing our government. They drafted our Constitution, the most remarkable document ever created by man. I'm wondering what the reaction would have been if a member drafting that document had wanted to include special rights for those who enjoy sodomy. Those men probably knew such things happen, but I do not believe such behavior would have merited protection under the law. It still doesn't. This has been defeated by the voters twice in Maine and like gambling casino referendums it will keep coming back. I wonder if Maine will be the first state in the nation where voters approve homosexual marriage.

sigh.

I am in a unique position. I am subject to the UCMJ, so sodomy is a felony for me.

The military did not decide on this law, the miltary does not write laws. Only Congress writes laws. So dont blame the military.

Congress has not rescinded article 125, and to my knowledge has never even debated rescinding article 125.

You can say that nobody is being charged with violations of article 125, but I assure you, every command I have ever been stationed at, had Captians' Masts weekly. They are not published, they are private. Folks do get charged with violating Article 125.

At my last 2 commands, someone could be written up initially for Article 125, but it would be changed to Article 134 for the written proceedings. This way when an ex-sailor wanted to try and sue, his documentation all said that he was charged with violating Article 134.

Our society is changing. But we are not changing together. We still have laws that forbid sodomy, and we still enforce those laws. And yet some jurisdictions want to make homosexual marriages legal.

To me, if this is truly the direction that our society wants to go in, we need to first get congress to make it legal.

Or at least to debate making it legal.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by lawmom

What if it was against the will of the majority for black people to marry? What would you say then?

Apples and Oranges. It is not the same thing. If it were then the whole South would have voted on black marriage eons ago. Hasn't happened ....never will.
I guess I have not made my points clear enough for some. I DON'T CARE IF GAYS MARRY IN MAINE I just think it should be up to the people in MAINE to decide, not a left-leaning, trend following, biased legislature. Especially when similar referrenda have been voted down by the populace TWICE before! If they didn't think the voters would flatly reject the idea why wouldn't they WANT the people to vote on the issue?
Is it OK to ignore previous refferenda if the legislature doesn't agree with it??? If it were,there would already be a casino in Oxford County! I have always lived by the sentiment that WHAT PEOPLE DO IN THEIR OWN BEDROOM IS THEIR BUSINESS AND THEIR BUSINESS ALONE. When the legislature starts telling the populace they MUST embrace another type of marriage that was rejected by the voters TWICE it then becomes my business.

[Acadianlion]

I'm voting against the bond issue. To be consistent I am voting FOR TABOR. I think it is pretty important that the politicians that we have elected get the message that we need to stop spending money that we don't have. A bond issue is BORROWING money the cost of which will be passed along to another generation.

Augusta continues to spend money that we do not have, so i will vote NOT to do so.

What's left? Oh, yeah. Schools. I really don't care what schools cost so long as the kids are taught how to read, write, and think without the use of electronic dodads, and that they learn something more than how to feel good about themselves. In the town that I live in we have a school budget that is totally out of control and the children are really learning at about the rate that kids in Somalia are learning. How that can be fixed, I have no idea, but if consolidation is one method that has a chance, then perhaps it is a good idea. I think I will save my ink on this question, too, since I have no children in schools anywhere in Maine.

Seeing all the ads on television makes me think that the upcoming election is a local version of a mid-day tv soap opera. The disinformation that is being spread around by foes and proponents of all the "issues" speaks volumes about how ignorant they all think the electorate really is.

Maybe they're right.

In the end, if Tabor is passed, it will be repealed because the cuts in services throughout the state will be so odius that the majority of Mainers will say, "Oh, I didn't mean THAT," but the truth remains that we cannot afford to spend the money that is spent in Maine unless we find new forms of non-residential property taxes to support the state as it needs to be.

The excise tax is a non-starter and should never have made the ballot. This money is retained for the towns and used for such things as plowing town roads that the state doesn't plow. If the auto excise tax is limited or repealed it will mean that the money that was originally raised by the excise tax will be paid by the people who own property. That means that the people who do NOT own property will still drive their cars on town roads but pay nothing to support those roads. Seems like an unjust and unnecessary extention of welfare to me.

As far as the rest of the stuff is concerned, I really have no dog in any of the fights. The medical marijuana issue is a joke: MEDICAL merijuana? PUHleeeeze! I feel about this the same way that I feel about cigarettes: I don't mind people smoking so long as they don't exhale.

Gay marriage? This is not about marriage or about two people being together, it is about the financial benefits of being married to someone, period, all dressed up in a lot of pseudoreligiopolitical gobbledegook. Makes for great morning television on the women's shows, but is not something that anyone should allow themselves to get into a twist about. The gay population is substantial, often wealthy, and seeks not to limit the rights or privileges of anyone else. Trying to ignore the realities of American culture as it exists now is much like trying to stand in the path of a tidal wave saying that it shouldn't move so fast. I don't think I am going to waste the ink needed to vote on the issue, one way or another.

This is very strange. This is not the way I wrote it out at all. Must be Hallowe'en early.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by flycessna

I tend to vote against anything that means more goverment or gives certain groups of people extra protection just for being part of that group.. I think this country has gone way overboard on goup identity! And we have lost our individualism.

I tend to lean libertarian and I realy dont care who smokes pot and for what reasons. However as a Landlord I don't want ANYONE smoking anything in MY apartments. I do not allow cigarette smoking so WHY would I allow Marijuana Smoking. This law GIVES people "Special" rights to SMOKE MARAJUANA in my apartments. I can be punished for refusing to rent to this special "group" of people who decide they need to smoke pot to feel better.

I was recently reading an article that said how preparing a tincture from marijuana will actually increase it's effectiveness. Then the patient would take his dose by adding 4 to 6 drops in his coffee.

On the other hand, the heat of burning a joint is too high and destroys some percentage of the THC.

Also apparently the effects of the dose lasts longer when ingested too.

So there seem to be multiple reasons to suggest that a long-term user might want to avoid smoking it.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

I'm voting against the bond issue. To be consistent I am voting FOR TABOR. I think it is pretty important that the politicians that we have elected get the message that we need to stop spending money that we don't have. A bond issue is BORROWING money the cost of which will be passed along to another generation.

Augusta continues to spend money that we do not have, so i will vote NOT to do so.

What's left? Oh, yeah. Schools. I really don't care what schools cost so long as the kids are taught how to read, write, and think without the use of electronic dodads, and that they learn something more than how to feel good about themselves. In the town that I live in we have a school budget that is totally out of control and the children are really learning at about the rate that kids in Somalia are learning. How that can be fixed, I have no idea, but if consolidation is one method that has a chance, then perhaps it is a good idea. I think I will save my ink on this question, too, since I have no children in schools anywhere in Maine.

Seeing all the ads on television makes me think that the upcoming election is a local version of a mid-day tv soap opera. The disinformation that is being spread around by foes and proponents of all the "issues" speaks volumes about how ignorant they all think the electorate really is.

Maybe they're right.

In the end, if Tabor is passed, it will be repealed because the cuts in services throughout the state will be so odius that the majority of Mainers will say, "Oh, I didn't mean THAT," but the truth remains that we cannot afford to spend the money that is spent in Maine unless we find new forms of non-residential property taxes to support the state as it needs to be.

The excise tax is a non-starter and should never have made the ballot. This money is retained for the towns and used for such things as plowing town roads that the state doesn't plow. If the auto excise tax is limited or repealed it will mean that the money that was originally raised by the excise tax will be paid by the people who own property. That means that the people who do NOT own property will still drive their cars on town roads but pay nothing to support those roads. Seems like an unjust and unnecessary extention of welfare to me.

As far as the rest of the stuff is concerned, I really have no dog in any of the fights. The medical marijuana issue is a joke: MEDICAL merijuana? PUHleeeeze! I feel about this the same way that I feel about cigarettes: I don't mind people smoking so long as they don't exhale.

Gay marriage? This is not about marriage or about two people being together, it is about the financial benefits of being married to someone, period, all dressed up in a lot of pseudoreligiopolitical gobbledegook. Makes for great morning television on the women's shows, but is not something that anyone should allow themselves to get into a twist about. The gay population is substantial, often wealthy, and seeks not to limit the rights or privileges of anyone else. Trying to ignore the realities of American culture as it exists now is much like trying to stand in the path of a tidal wave saying that it shouldn't move so fast. I don't think I am going to waste the ink needed to vote on the issue, one way or another.

This is very strange. This is not the way I wrote it out at all. Must be Hallowe'en early.

I love your writing style but in the end, I (as usual ) agree with nothing you have stated in a practical, political or philosophical way Acadianlion. The fact that I can say that to you and not be-little your very valid opinions is what makes the process work! I love to disagree with people! If we all agreed we'd be no better then Model A Fords falling off the assembly line. I like an occasional Porsche to shake things up!
Vote for what you believe and believe in what you vote for. No one could ask more of ANY citizen.

[genmomto5]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

What about law suits?

If someone wanted to get married, but their priest refused, would this protect the priest from being sued?

There are a few cases of lawsuits brought up in this debate but as I understand it from reading this mike desjardins » Blog Archive » Maine Republican Gubernetorial Candidate Matt Jacobson, Twitter, and Question 1 they are not related to the law in question.

[dmyankee]

Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes

TABOR NOW! This should be the first shot across the bow for our public SERVANTS!

Medical weed is a waste of time. You can pretty much get all the pot you want, anywhere you want. We have enough welfare lay abouts as it is.