Boycott greedy Black Friday
Black Friday (aka, buy nothing day) the recent capitalist scheme to push Christmas shopping forward a month, thereby threatening the planet with massive resource and energy waste to import cheap junk from China, is a fool's errand. Unnecessary, debt incurring spending, driven by corporate advertising does not satisfy consumers need for quality goods, but it increases the gap between the richest 1 percent (two families, Koch brothers and Waltons now have the combined wealth of the bottom 44 percent of Americans). And the American working class, once the middle class, is now struggling to stay at the bottom with $15 an hour.
Show working middle class support on Black Friday, Buy nothing that day.
— William Bartee
Anchorage
Legislature sets up for taxes
Have seen some "energetic" complaints about road maintenance (or lack thereof) lately. Normally there is an "adjustment" for newcomers unacquainted with winter-driving conditions and reeducation for those who forgot how to navigate slick roads not to mention procrastination installing winter tires. And then there are those who are overly aggressive and impatient who never get it.
It occurs to me we might underestimate the devious nature of government officials. Given the known budget challenges, and our good fortune not having some forms of taxation besides property, I wonder if the relevant officials are attempting to weaken our resolve against new or increased taxes by impacting us directly with reduced road services? Is the sewage system next?
— William Ahrens
Eagle River
JAMA shows legal marijuana lowers opioid, alcohol abuse
California physicians documented the substitution effect long before the JAMA research. Legal marijuana access is correlated with a reduction in alcohol and opioid abuse. Marijuana is incapable of causing an overdose death. Not even aspirin can make the same claim, much less alcohol or opioids. The phrase if it saves one life has been used to justify all manner of drug war abuses. Legal marijuana access has the potential to save thousands of lives.
Robert Sharpe, MPA
Policy Analyst
To honor or not honor a pledge
Wiley Brooks
Anchorage
Pitch in to help Covenant House youth combat the cold
As you know, winter is upon us here in Alaska, and we are in for several long, dark, and cold months. In order to help the youth at Covenant House combat the cold, we are gathering as many socks as possible before Thanksgiving. Our goal is to collect at least 400 pairs of clean socks by Nov. 20. Thus far we have collected 58 pairs of socks from students at West High School, and are reaching out to our community to help us obtain our goal.
If you would like to donate socks, drop them in the West High School front office by Nov. 20. If you have questions, our club sponsor is John Ruhlin, ruhlin_john@asdk12.org.
West Interact Club greatly appreciates your consideration of helping us reach our goal of donating 400 pairs of socks for Covenant House youth by Thanksgiving!
Madison Shewman
The West High Interact Club
Anchorage
Alaskans must act responsibly, given days of free lunch are over
If we want decent services from the state of Alaska, we need to start paying for them, like folks do Outside. I recently tried Gov. Walkers Revenue and Expenditure model. (See his home page or go directly to http://gov.alaska.gov/Walker/priorities/transition-2014/sustainable-future/the-conversation.html.) I was able to balance the state budget with a combination of modest revenue sources and small budget cuts. I encourage readers to work with the model and write their legislators with specific solutions, so they will make necessary changes in the upcoming session. State House and Senate representatives, please listen to your constituents before our state credit and quality of life are ruined.
Cheryl Lovegreen
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.