Readers write: Letters to the editor, May 14, 2016

There are two items in the weather section which I believe need to be changed and added.

In Anchorage Almanac: You need to change the listing “Snowfall” to “Rainfall” for this time of year.

Weather map ins for local area: There is no black dot for Girdwood along Turnagain Arm.

Thanks for the weather section, which I use to plan my days.

— Paula Krebs

Anchorage

I’ve been lucky enough to use some of the bike trails and walking paths that I and many others fought to get, and I want to thank our government officials and road crews for getting the job done.

Everywhere I love, I clean the road I’m on. It’s not a labor of Hercules by any means. It’s not rocket science, and it’s no solution to littering, but it makes me feel better and it’s good exercise. It’s also something the family can do that’s free. Maybe that doesn’t appeal to many folks but I think it gives kids a sense of stewardship and pride.

One thing that gets to me are the cigarette butts. No matter how breathtaking the scenery is, there’s cigarette butts. I’m addicted to the wretched things still, but I don’t share that visual feast with every innocent sightseer. Pick ’em up, jerks!

And last but not least, I’m calling all fatties (like me) to get out there and use those trails: I feel like a schooner amidst kayaks — a little moral support sure would help!

— Lillian K. Staats

Wasilla

Do you think this definition from the Mayo Clinic describes Donald Trump?

“Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultra confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that is vulnerable to the slightest criticism.”

— Jan Wyland

Seldovia

Most Alaskans know that climate change is real; they can see it and experience its effects in their everyday lives. These changes are taking place now in our lifetimes, in the lifetimes of our children. It doesn’t take a NASA scientist to point out the obvious. Unfortunately there are still those who deny that climate change is real. Theirs is a case of willful ignorance, a kind of cognitive dissonance that makes one want to believe something is untrue even though they know it to be true.

Meanwhile the science of climate change is being proved stronger every day. Its predictions are coming fast and its evidence is all around.

— Larry Turner

Big Lake

The oil tax debate in the Legislature forgets two things. First, the oil companies have made record profits for years, many years. Second, the oil companies are going to drill where they know there is oil. We do not need to give them any tax breaks. They will drill, if not now when the price is down, then later. Why would they drill someplace that may not have oil, when they can drill on the Slope where they know there is oil? Don’t give them a dime. They will come back and drill at some point. We need the money now; they don’t.

— Louis Dupree

Homer