You probably wouldn’t recognize the word discipline in the photograph of Juneau resident Ken Ryals picking up a bag filled with groceries at Super Bear. But it’s there in the caption that explains Ryals has been using the same cloth shopping bag for 30 years. And it’s discipline we’ll need to end a culture that encourages us to produce mountains of waste.

It was way too easy for Gov. Sean Parnell to oppose increasing the federal debt ceiling and sign the “Cut, Cap and Balance” pledge. He doesn’t have to deliver the goods. All he has to do is sit back and watch the politicians in Washington squirm. And he has to hope that the budget ax doesn’t cut through his plan to “grow our economy” with a big lift from the Pentagon.

America’s Independence Day is around the corner. It’s the most prominent day each year that we celebrate our freedom from the British Empire. There will be fireworks, parades, and endless flag waving. It’s all good, as long as there’s room for those who question a way of life dependent on oil, because dissention is the first heartbeat of true freedom.

After 14 years of relative silence, gold is once again scratching at the collective conscience of our community. At $1,500 an ounce, it’s hard to imagine why Echo Bay didn’t continue working to reopen the AJ mine. Of course, their crystal ball wasn’t clear enough to have speculated that the value of gold would quadruple between then and now. If they knew, how much more would they have been willing to invest to protect Juneau’s water supply and address other community concerns?