Comments by lfreeman
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Posted on June 11 at 8:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Political blogs and comment threads are only as good as the as the writers that are identified. Most of your users remain unidentifiable, and their comments are frequently, at best, mis-informed rants. Newsminer editorial staff, I suggest that you modify the user agreement such that only verifiable identities are used; the rules of commenting should be the same as those for letters to the editor, a real name and a general place of residence should be identified and verified before a user gets an account. Rod Boyce, you have stated yourself in one of the blogs that you regret the choice to allow "anonymous style" user names. Please change the rules of engagement.
Thanks,
Larry Freeman, Happy, Alaska
Posted on June 6 at 5:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think we all ought to akmommy alone. Predictably there have been several racial innuendos referring to Barack Obama in the Newsminer online forum, all by anonymous users. It's clear why those users choose to be anonymous; their comments reflect more on the writer than on their subject.
We and many of the world's people do owe our freedom to those that landed on beaches on D-Day and all the other bloody battles through Europe and the Pacific in the 1940's. We also owe our freedom to those who have died by refusing to live in fear of oppression, intolerance, crime, and poverty of spirit.
DistantThunder, give your pal Ray a pat on the back, tell him thanks and congratulations for a long life and have a great ride!
Posted on May 31 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks g'less, I'm not holier than thou, just a heathen that could see the fuel oil wasn't going to stay at $.90 for ever.
It's a sunny day out there, think I'll go enjoy it. Suggest you do to.
Posted on May 31 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Fbksgas: Ain't nothin' yet, look down the road a couple of years. Even if ANWR opened, when would we see the oil? When is the gasline going to be built? Do you really think either of these things will provide us with energy security?
Yeah, I feel the pain of those on fixed incomes, and they probably do need assistance. But, I hear about people burning in excess of 1000 gallons a month...I don't think $100/month is going to make a much of a dent. We've been subsidizing diesel burning in the bush communities for decades, it was the stupidest program we've ever had. We should have been helping those communities find local, sustainable sources of energy.
$100/month will not fix the problem, at best it's like a band-aid on an arterial bleed-out (on a self-inflicted wound).
Posted on May 31 at 9:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Holy Moly! I am on Mike Kelly's side?!
I say this every time this issue is discussed, a $100/month relief program is like giving money to heroin addicts to provide relief for their disease, the only beneficiaries will be the drug lords.
For every disaster that needs government relief you can point to warning signs screaming to the victims: "CHANGE"! It was clear that the 9th Ward was below water level, that Chinese buildings are just stacks of bricks ready to collapse, that the Juneau power line was in an avalanche path, that Alaska villages needed to find other energy sources, and that soccer moms should quit driving <15 mpg SUVs.
What we can do with the windfall is to:
Provide assistance to install small scale alternative energy in the bush NOW, don't eliminate the diesel generators but save them for those days that the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow.
State funding for the SNAP programs,
Change the payment structure in utilities so that small scale producers get the market rate for energy production.
Provide assistance to get gas hogs off the road.
Provide real mass transit with more routes and more frequent buses.
Paint bike lanes on the roads.
More money for energy efficiency assistance.
Long term planning, design, and change the way and types of energy we use.
In the 1970's we went through an energy crisis, there were gas lines, people stealing fuel and gas, we were all in a panic! Nixon instituted nation-wide daylight savings time to save energy, we all bought more fuel efficient cars, started car-pooling, reduced the speed-limit to 55, turned down our thermostats, added more insulation to our houses, turned off unneeded lights, etc. Guess what? Demand went down, prices went down...then we all forgot.
In the '80s and '90s. We started buying gas hogs again, we drive said hogs like maniacs, built huge trophy homes miles away from where we work and play, we bought snow machines, ATVs, jet skis, Motor homes, flew south 10 times a year, provided fuel assistance to villages so they could burn diesel like there was no tomorrow.
Assistance? Sure, we need assistance for our own stupidity and shortsightedness! We ONLY have ourselves to blame!
Whew...sorry, end of rant.
If you think fuel prices are high now, just wait, they will drop again, but not for long, that's when the REAL crisis comes.
Posted on May 31 at 8:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How the heck do you vote against promiscuity? Do we castrate philandering men? Require chastity belts for women of child-bearing age until they are married?
The point is was being made in the letter is that society says "gays sure can sing and play the piano but we don't want them in our state government or teaching our children". It's not too different from the early part of the 20th century when black musicians were all the rage, but could they get a seat on a bus, a decent education, or a chance to vote?
On Acceptance?
Posted on May 31 at 8:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
tank, I sort of agree with your sentiment, I hate it when people do stupid things. I try not to take it personally and try to not hate the person.
I think that this discussion horse is dead, have a good weekend all.
Posted on May 30 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Garbage Cops? Hmmmm, not a bad idea, Deputize the Dumpster Divers!
Kind of like volunteers in policing (VIP), they could make sure that people are not leaving junk cars, dead animals, toxic waste, and that only residential users from outside the City of Fairbanks are using the dumpsters. Make sure that Borough Ordinance is followed.
They would make sure that waste oil, aluminum cans, and lead-acid batteries are all left in the appropriate bins, and they would get paid in reusable stuff that the rest of us cast off when we get tired of it.
Posted on May 30 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
tank83: If you saw a pick-up truck come up to a stop sign, not stop, and turn into your lane 100 yards in front of you, would you do the same thing that you did to the bicyclist?
If so, then your rage might have been about failing to stop.
If not, then I don't think that the rage was about failing to stop; was it the red spandex?
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Posted on June 13 at 7:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Lesson 1: Avoid obvious avalanche paths.
On Juneau avalanche response under review