The United Nations Convention Against Torture was ratified by the United States in 1994. Thus, Americans who torture prisoners violate international law and the laws of the United States.

By now, we are almost seven years into what historians will probably end up calling the Great Recession, the historic contraction of the global economy that rivals anything else on record.

To the Editor:

The Ecumenical Food Pantry wishes to thank the many volunteers, local farms and businesses, and donors of food and money who made it possible to pack and distribute Thanksgiving Food Baskets to 225 families in 10 towns in Lincoln County.

The massive public reaction to the tragic deaths of three black teens at the hand of white police officers has led to a national call for use of body cameras to record and prevent any future mistreatment of suspects.

A happy Veterans Day to all our men and women who have served and those who are now serving all over this volatile world.

Let me see if I have this right: the Bowdoin Christian Fellowship was told by Bowdoin’s Administration the group could no longer meet on campus because it has not adhered to the college’s “non-discrimination policy.”

Therefore the Christian Fellowship moved off-campus into its own building.

While this is the 2014 election issue, it is also our annual Veterans’ Day issue and this year, for the first time literally in decades, we do not have a feature story on a local veteran ready for our front page.

I have read a lot of post election analysis over the last two weeks. Many pundits who clearly haven’t liked Governor LePage over the last four years have written pieces that express befuddlement as to how he got re-elected. There is one fact which has gotten very little attention and that is that our current governor got the highest vote total for that office in Maine history (291,937).

As we sift through the rubble of last week’s election, two things are apparent to us.

The hysteria sweeping the country about Ebola is completely unwarranted. It’s just bald, unknowing fear. Ebola is almost as difficult to contract as AIDS, and for the same reason.

We’re off to a great start with thousands of homes without power due to our first winter storm of the year. Hats off to Central Maine Power crews for doing the very best job they could restoring power.

We are just about to hit prime time for the retail season and as we do, we urge you to remember our local businesses.

We have days on our calendar, and rightfully so, that specify times to honor certain groups of people.

I would like to thank all of the people that attended Neil’s celebration of life held on Oct. 18, 2014. I always knew that Neil was a kind and gentle man, but I was overwhelmed by all the people he touched, which was obvious by all the tributes, as well as people in attendance paying their respects.