Sisolak proposes abdication
Our illustrious governor has reached a new level of insanity with his recent proposal that Nevada allow large tech companies to form their own governments here in our state. Amid all the handwringing and doomsday cries of a state with no funds, brought on by the way primarily by our governor’s unwarranted shutdown of our economy, now he wants to abdicate our citizens’ right for self-government and allow huge corporate entities to form their own governments on large tracks of land they own here in Nevada.
These same large tech companies, such as Tesla, already openly violate state law and jeopardize worker safety by refusing to allow Nevada OSHA inspectors to enter their sites, and now Gov. Sisolak proposes to allow them to form their own governments and collect taxes, and write their own rules and laws? This preposterous idea is far more than just opening the gate to the henhouse for the fox, this is inviting the fox to rule and govern the henhouse. Gee, what could go wrong?
Large tech giants already control our communications, tell us what we can say, and attempt to shape our beliefs. Now the governor is asking us to abdicate our sovereign rights and let tech companies do whatever they want just because they may bring dollars to our state. We already give them millions of dollars in tax credits with highly questionable benefits. Are we really that stupid? I certainly hope not!
Richard Martin
Carson City
More vaccine help
Your article in Feb. 6 paper for 70-year-old or older people to get the COVID vaccine is very helpful. However, if people still have a hard time getting scheduled, as we did, they might find it helpful to do what we were told by a neighbor to do, and call Immunize Nevada at 775-624-7117. Worked great for us. Good luck.
A. M. Smith
Carson City
Leave vengeance in God’s hands
One of the great ironies of wisdom, lessons of history and Santayana wasn't that they were wrong, it is that they are ignored. Their guidelines live on in hallow canyons of truth for everyone to revel in the echo and ignore the advice.
Hitler did not come to power because he was a fearless solder, great orator or because people loved him. He came to be out of the ancient Hammurabi's Code, and both old Christian and Muslim laws of morality, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!"
Following World War I, all powers felt it was good and just to punish every German especially those who had not yet been born. It created, in the Deutschland, decades of unbearable poverty, privation, hunger and death. It created the fertile soil for a dictator and a seedling Nazi Party. The Fuhrer and World War II sprung out of the Versailles Treaty, and actions and covenants, all felt were just and unalterable. The result was The Great Depression and 70 million graves.
The enigma of Sandy Hook and Auschwitz is that there is no lesser of two evils. Both are abominations and to be hated. Neither is diminished by claiming one is worse than the other.
At the conclusion of World War II the world powers, especially the western democracies, did learn from history and refused to make the same mistake of crucifixion of entire races and countries with vindictive and intolerable pacts. Through the Marshall Plan they rebuilt both of our mortal enemies into strong allies who to this day are examples that you can learn from the lessons of war.
Vengeance is best left to the hands of God. In humans it is often fraught with horrible unintended consequences.
Right now Trump is disgraced, displaced and dispatched. If America cares about its future it is best to take lessons from George Marshall and Douglas MacArthur, from Deutschland and the rising sun. Going after Trump is going back into the abyss.
Peter Sinnott
Carson City
Wildfires, fossil fuel subsidies, and Nevada public lands
In Nevada, we have seen more intense wildfires, dangerous drought resulting in unsafe air quality taking a toll on our health, economy, and environment.
In July 2018, the Martin Fire burned 439,230 acres, or 686 square miles of Northern Nevada. In September 2018 the Range 2 fire burned 9,000 acres of Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains. Just in the last few months Reno’s Pine Haven Fire burned 500 acres displacing half a dozen or more homeowners.
The climate crisis is here and now. We must deal with it urgently. The Biden administration’s move to stop oil and gas leasing on public lands and protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030 to prevent the worst of the climate crisis is in line with what climate scientists around the world have been calling for. Right now only 12% of our country’s public lands are protected, reaching that goal means safeguarding more public lands, creating more wilderness, and more neighborhood green space. Nevada will play a huge role in this effort with 85 percent of Nevada being public lands.
The Biden administration realizes we have a moral and societal duty to stop the climate crisis for today and for future generations. Stopping fossil fuel subsidies, pausing new oil and gas leasing on public lands, and conserving more lands, forests, and waters, that act as carbon sinks. This makes our communities healthier and safer. Nevada lawmakers need to do their part and sign on to 30% by 2030.
Susan Potts
Carson City
