Having served 20 years in the U.S. military (submarines), I find the editorial stance of the BDN on Oct. 10 concerning the “Syria withdrawal” troubling. The BDN’s position seems to be in agreement with most of Maine’s congressional delegation that considers the withdrawal to be an abandonment of the Kurds and a dangerous signal to our allies.

On two separate occasions this week, Americans have offended China, and prompted the country to react.

Outrage is in right now. And there’s plenty to be outraged about: The president has asked other countries to help him smear a political opponent, he’s abandoning Kurdish allies in Syria and he continues his relentless attacks against LGBTQ people.

Is there ever a time to stop working on your genealogy and declare it done? The answer is, it depends.

The Maine Legislature recently passed a bill allowing abortions to be labeled a health care issue and covered under taxpayer insurance. I will state right off that I do not believe in abortion, but even if I did, my common sense would tell me that pregnancy should be covered by private or taxpayer insurance.

(In his Oct. 2 letter) Jeffrey Weatherbee has little understanding of American health care or its costs.

If 97 percent of mechanics told you that the plane your family was boarding was unsafe, would you stop them? Ninety seven percent of climate scientists are warning us of the impacts of human-caused climate change. Let’s switch planes.

I recently visited Red Hill, Patrick Henry’s last home in Virginia, and was surprised to learn Mr. Henry left me a note. Written not long before his death, Patrick Henry tucked the letter into a small bin on his writing desk.

As hard as it is to look away from impeachment drama, I hope Mainers will consider the latest numbers from the U.S. Census, showing that 13 percent of Americans live below the poverty line. In Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, the statistic is worse: nearly 15 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Letter-writer Alan Boone is correct that the climate has changed before. However, it's the pace of the current change that is most troubling.

Congratulations and thanks to Matthew Gagnon for his column, “Why climate change skeptics still exist.” It’s remarkable that all the apocalyptic predictions of climate doom (Al Gore and many others) over the past 30 years have come to naught. Now they must make predictions for many decades in the future so we naysayers won’t be around to criticize.

Let's be honest, this was always the way this was going to happen. As we all know by now, on Aug. 12, a whistleblower complaint was filed with the inspector general of the intelligence community by a CIA officer who had worked at the White House. The complaint, as we now know, alleged wrongdoing by President Donald Trump.

I’m nervous about next week. Really anxious. The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on three cases that have the potential to upend the lives of LGBTQ people across the country.

The Land Use Planning Commission continues deliberation of New England Clean Energy Connect corridor at the Oct. 9 commission meeting in Greenville. For the exact time, the agenda for the meeting will be posted on the commission’s calendar and meetings page.

Matt Gagnon speaks for climate change skeptics in his Sept. 6 column. His argument points more to the fact that he and his fellow skeptics are basing their knowledge on climate outliers’ articles from nearly a half century ago than the way things are now.

An OpEd was published by Matthew Gagnon where he placed doubt on current climate science by identifying examples of some past climate predictions which never happened. If all of us had a dime for every economic forecast, or political science poll or sports prediction that didn’t happen in the past we would all be rich.

My kudos go to Matthew Gagnon whose column clearly states one reason that I am a staunch denier of the so-called climate scientist predictions. I am 80-years-old and have lived through every one of these dire predictions mentioned in the column.

Matthew Gagnon’s opinion column suggested that past predictions made by various scientists have failed to come true, and this causes skepticism of some current climate predictions. He cited predictions by Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich who thought mass starvation would occur in the 1970s due to overpopulation. Gagnon also referred to predictions made in the 1970s and 1980s regarding air pollution. In part, these predictions didn’t come true because steps were taken toward solving the problems