Bottled Mess

Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, heroin, over-the-counter drugs, etc… you name it. The substance and alcoholism needs to come to a complete stop. With all the organizations, among friends and families, and corporations that help with the break of the abuse, it all still seems to be prevalent today.

There hasn’t been one happy man living his best life taking drugs; he’s only been happy taking those drugs. I’ve seen in our streets, our homes, in communities, in commercials where they persuade people to buy their product when their money is needed to rise again and at the same time paid commercials focused on helping people to stop the abuse or use of the product as it pertains warnings of addiction, abuse, and death.

I understand people who abuse drugs and/or the use of alcohol may come from an unimaginable background, but the abuse in general needs to stop. We need to offer more ways to talk to the abuser and help them. Stop The Abuse.

The problem in making alcohol prohibited in all of America, was faced with another problem: alcohol addiction. We can’t absolve addiction by itself completely, but we need to work our very best towards achieving that goal. Whether it takes more facilities, more therapy, or more ways to approach stopping people from walking in the streets drunk, high, fazed, or in general.

Thousands of questions arise to my head as I see one or more people walking around intoxicated: Why do I have to see this? Why do many children who are simply playing outside with their friends have to see this? Why is this such a big problem that we, as humans, can’t solve? The questions go on… This includes news, media, newspapers, social media, and radio.

We need to come together, most of us, those of us who believe we can change this, and change those who don’t. We need to confront the intoxicants and offer solutions to their problems of their abuse, but not with the quickest solutions for us, as those solutions are portrayed as problems for them. Those quickest solutions, which are laid upon our hard working officers, often lead to false allegations, nodding off, or finding someone to blame. We need to talk to the abuser and come to a solution in stopping the abuse.

Calvin Samson, KLA

Bethel, AK

We bid adieu to Gail Phillips, a great Alaskan

It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Gail Phillips, one of the founding directors of KEEP Alaska Competitive and a former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. Gail had a true passion for responsible natural resource development, politics and serving Alaska. Her wise counsel and eternal optimism will be missed.

Gail dedicated her life to making Alaska the best it could be, epitomized by this observation from Joe Hayes, a friend and former Alaska legislator, which her family shares in her obituary. “I learned so much from you Madam Speaker over the years and I just want to say thank you. I will miss your ability to work in a bi-partisan fashion to do the right thing for subsistence when the head winds were so strong against it. You were a leader willing to be a stateswoman first and not a politician, even if it cost you later in your career. As I look at politics today, I miss when the parties were less tribal, more civil and looking out for the interest of all. Madam Speaker. You have earned the right to gavel out sine die for a final time as you have left a legacy that will be hard to replace. Rest now and know you leave an incredible legacy in your wake. Until we meet again.”

Join us for a Celebration of Life honoring Gail Phillips

Thursday, June 3rd, 2:00pm – 6:00pm at the Kincaid Chalet.

2:00pm Memorial Service

3:00pm Open House

In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring Gail with a donation to The Gail Phillips Alaskan Leader Scholarship

UAF Development

PO Box 757530

Fairbanks, AK 99775-7530

KEEP Alaska Competitive

Anchorage, AK

Example: 9075434113