Commercial property taxes are already high enough

I am disgusted reading the recent Compass article "For some, property taxes are too low" by Lawrence D. Weiss, Ph.D. Who is he referring to as "for some"? Why would he use old research information on commercial property taxes to discuss current economic problems?

My husband and I have owned commercial property for more than 30 years, paying increased taxes every year. Never mind the fact that commercial property values in the past few years have been decreasing.

Over-taxing the small commercial property owners is not the way to solve our current economic problems of the city. It is just an easy, brainless way to obtain more income for the city, sort of like the "rob Peter to pay Paul" solution.

-- Judith Tope

Anchorage

Column wasn't fair to women

Julia O'Malley's Nov. 15 article "Women need to watch their drinks -- and their drinking" implicitly endorses the idea that women who drink are to blame if someone sexually assaults them, despite the line that "nothing any women does means she asked to be assaulted." People who read the ADN end up on juries and may think, "Well, she should have watched her drink," or "She got drunk; whatever happens after that is her fault."

Perpetrators prey on the vulnerable, often taking advantage of those who've been drinking, or by creating vulnerability if necessary. That is the behavior that needs public discussion. I'm also mystified by the omission of Standing Together Against Rape (www.staralaska. org), which could have provided critical insight and information.

-- Shannon R. Bell

Anchorage

EDITOR'S NOTE: The writer is a volunteer for STAR. The views here are her own.

Studded tire users should pay a fee

Your Nov. 18 editorial "Ruts-be-gone" gave an overly optimistic view of our rutted-highway problem. The truth of is that studded tires tear up any kind of road surface. If you don't want ruts, just ban studded tires, period. However, in the interest of protecting those weak drivers who can't drive on snow and ice without studs, I propose an annual permit sticker of, say, $100 per year to allow the use of studded tires. This fee, along with a $300 fine for not having the use sticker, would help defray the cost of repairing the damage caused by their tires. More importantly, fewer drivers would use studded tires, thus reducing the damage to our roads.

-- Martin Carlson

Anchorage

Adventure would be Sarah-free

Sarah Palin found a way to get rich, and I think I'm on to something as well. I'm considering starting up a travel agency. One of my premium offers would be an exciting new adventure package called the "Escape Sarah Media Blitz." It would include a one-year visit, with extensions if needed, to an isolated trapper's cabin on the Lena River in Siberia. The promotional materials would read: "For a year you would not receive radio, television, Internet, telephone or any other contact with the outside world and news of Sarah Palin."

-- Frank Baker

Eagle River

Palin's policies the problem

I read Janet Morana's Compass commentary (Nov. 19) with my sleeping baby daughter on my chest. Ms. Morana proposes that feminists are jealous of Sarah Palin for managing to have a family and career without turning to abortion or birth control.

I am a feminist. I don't dislike Palin. I would venture to say most feminists don't dislike Palin, but they dislike what she stands for. I, for example, simply disagree with her politics. It has nothing to do with my years of using birth control for family planning. It has nothing to do with being threatened by her awe-inspiring vault into national celebrity.

The idea that my daughter could grow up in a country where she does not have the right to choose what to do with her body frightens me. That is what Sarah Palin represents to me and that is why I shudder when I think of her in any sort of national leadership position.

-- Jessie Salway

Anchorage

Story of Jefferson, slave nothing but a pack of lies

The notion that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child by a young slave woman named Sally Hemings is one of the cruelest lies in American history. An excellent book on this subject is "In Defense of Thomas Jefferson" by William G. Hyland.

According to Hyland, the story of Thomas Jefferson fathering a child by a black mistress is an old smear unsupported by evidence.

In November 1998 (during the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal) the Jefferson-Hemings smear resurfaced when an article appeared in the British journal Nature entitled "Jefferson Fathered Slave's Last Child." Despite the sensational headline, the DNA evidence cited in the article provided no conclusive proof that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child by Sally Hemings or any other slave. The article's author, Eugene Foster, admitted this.

Unfortunately, the climate of political correctness has led many college students to accept the Jefferson-Hemings myth as fact. According to history professor David Mayer of Capitol University in Ohio, "Scholars feel pressured into accepting the Jefferson-Hemings myth as fact for fear of being called racist."

By all accounts, Thomas Jefferson was a faithful husband who honored the memory of his deceased wife, Martha. By contrast, no account of a sexual relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings has ever been substantiated.

-- August Cisar

Seward

On Black Friday, don't buy

Please join millions of others in observing "Buy Nothing Day," which is the day commonly referred to as Black Friday. Help raise awareness and educate your children on the true cost of ill-conceived consumerism driven by advertising and not need. Take a day to consider the consequences of your purchases and their effect on our planet, culture and future. Spread the word.

-- William Bartee

Anchorage

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