Regarding “In N.C., Trump may trigger a blue tsunami” (Jan. 13): I could easily despair of having any effect on the horror show that is Washington. The only reliable way to stop Trump is to change the Congress. And that’s where I can have an impact, right here in North Carolina.

I can help make sure every eligible voter is registered. I can canvass and make phone calls for local candidates. I can get voters to the polls. I can give my time and even some money to make a change here and now. That Democratic wave in November isn’t a given. If we really want change, we have to get up and move. With enough of us in motion, we can shake the earth and trigger that blue tsunami.

Don’t raise wage

Contrary to “Raise N.C.’s minimum wage” (Jan. 7), now is not an opportune time to raise North Carolina’s minimum wage. In fact, ample empirical research finds that an increase in the state’s minimum wage would jeopardize the jobs of thousands of hard-working, less-skilled employees.

In a 2010 study, economists from Miami and Trinity universities measured the impact on North Carolina teens of the 40 percent federal minimum wage hike that occurred from 2007 to 2009. They found that over 4,000 jobs were lost as a consequence. This finding is consistent with the consensus of the best minimum wage studies, as summarized in a 2015 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

State representatives should support their constituents and protect their jobs, not force them into unemployment. Raising the state minimum wage is nothing but bad news for young and less-skilled North Carolinians.

Going ‘ballistic’?

Regarding “ ‘We made a mistake’ Hawaii sends false missile alert” (Jan. 13): Joseph Kira, Hawaiian husband and father, was home with his kids when the false missile alert went out. His wife was at the gym. “She was going ballistic,” he later told reporters. Another woman, speaking on national TV after the terrifying incident, fumed: “Heads better roll over this.”

I agree. There has to be some reckoning. But the heads that ought to roll are not those of the hapless city employees who are in charge of sending out alerts. The ones responsible are the heads of world governments who persist in arming their countries to the teeth with thousands of insidious devices capable of destroying all human, animal and vegetative life on the planet.

A few years ago, Congress and the president approved $1 trillion to upgrade our nuclear arsenal and the missiles that deliver those devastating weapons.

And the president assures us that we are safe? We ought all of us to go “ballistic” over this insanity.