I have to respectfully disagree with Forum contributor Rich Acker and say most of us don’t win when we buy online; in fact, we actually lose a lot (“We All Win With Online Shopping,” Jan. 17).
First of all, by shopping locally we are actually supporting the stores that support and employ the very people of our community. This helps our community prosper and grow into a more viable area for us all to enjoy.
Acker mentions that if he clicks “buy now,” it saves the cost of propelling a 2,500-pound machine to the local store and back. Well, you must consider the cost of a million-pound airplane hauling the cargo from some other country to the U.S., trucking it to your local UPS or FedEx warehouse, and then having a half-ton truck deliver it to your house.
Acker writes that, with all the savings, he then contributes to local nonprofits, helping those not making a living wage.
I say buy local, support our community and maybe those people will have a job to support themselves, which enables them to not have to depend on charity for a living. Please see the Local First Alliance, which is a program of Vital Communities, for more information.
BRIAN HORAN
Hanover
Many reasons
to oppose the wall
In a recent letter, Barry Wenig opined that $5.7 billion should be allocated for a border wall (“Compromise is the only way,” Jan. 26). The pain that the shutdown inflicted on dedicated government employees and contractors, not to mention the corollary damage to our economy and all of the functions of government, was huge.
Though my heart agrees with Wenig, my head says the myriad reasons against this wall are stronger. First, environmentally and culturally sensitive areas of the U.S.-Mexico border have been already despoiled more than enough by the physical barriers previously installed. President George W. Bush’s Secure Fence Act of 2006 quickly waived environmental protections, thus fragmenting fragile habitat and ruining important wildlife corridors. Truncated by President Donald Trump’s folly, even the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, would be a tiny fragment of its former self.
Second, the Trump wall plan continues the Republican-based “wrecking ball” government-destruction tactics initiated under President Ronald Reagan, sending disillusioned and distrustful public servants looking for steadier, more financially rewarding jobs in the public sector.
Third, we know that the demands of an adult throwing an infantile tantrum ought not be rewarded — such appeasement would lead only to more mayhem.
PEGGY RICHARDSON
Hartford
This letter is to thank the residents on Neil Road, Rustic Road, Clay Hill Road and Hartland-Quechee Road for their kindness and patience during the closure of Route 5 from November to January. We appreciate your understanding. We understand how much traffic Route 5 receives because we live on Route 5. When Interstate 91 North or South closes, we get traffic from Interstate 91.
We also want to thank Bazin Bros. for their excellent work and dedication to getting Route 5 open in a timely manner.
We own a business, White’s Dairy Supply, which was effected a lot by the closure. Allowing our customers to take short cuts was important to them, and to us.
Thank you again.
DEBORAH AND DAVID WHITE AND FAMILY
North Hartland
February is “Love My Library” month at the Etna Library. When you sponsor a book from our display, a bookplate will be placed in the item with your name or the name of someone you wish to honor. If you are not able to visit the library, we would be happy to talk with you and to help you pick a book to be inscribed. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 207, Etna N.H. 03750.
We invite you to visit our webpage at hanovernh.org/etna-library for upcoming programs, including Stories and Art, valentine-making, games in Spanish for children, the needlecraft group for teens and adults, the Etna Library book group, a green onion pancakes program, “History of the Town Gardens,” and two programs co-sponsored with the Hanover Conservancy — a mindful winter walk on the Hayes Farm Park land and “A Half Century of Skiing on Moose Mountain” at Trumbull Hall.
For more information, please call 643-3116 or email etna.library@hanovernh.org.
BARBARA PRINCE
Hanover
The writer is the librarian at the Etna Library.
In 2016, Washington Post columnist Christine Emba wrote “socialism (has) become the political orientation du jour among voters of a certain (read: young) age.” Eight months later, MarketWatch noted that, “Millennials are increasingly turning away from capitalism and toward socialism and even communism as a viable alternative.”
If that’s not enough, the New York magazine newsletter Intelligencer published a column under the headline “Milton Friedman Predicted Socialism Would Kill Democracy. Instead, Trump Is.”
“Lord, help us,” is one appropriate response.
By soft landing a probe on the far side of the moon, Communist China achieved a milestone that could benefit astrophysics, providing a clearer view of the cosmos by shielding signals from the chatty world we broadcast from. China’s lander communicates with Earth through a relay satellite, which could compromise specific radio frequencies, perhaps frustrating to astrophysicists. This is not a deal-breaker: We could build telescopes, observatories and a network of fiber-optics (to observe radio silence) on the far side, and on the other side, transmit to Earth and beyond.
Heck, we could use robots to do the work of laying and maintaining cable, perhaps someday even mining the raw materials and fabricating the waveguides. Other robots could build structures for human habitation. Such an enterprise would make the Apollo moon missions look like a walk in the park, but what an economic stimulus that could be for development and industry!
Who knows, with at least two nations on the moon, and a low-gravity site for rocketeering, capitalists could move off-planet for purposes of galactic domination (leaving the green activists on our native planet to help Mother Nature recover from the millennia of abuse).
KEVIN MCEVOY LEVERET
White River Junction