Letters to the editor (10/17/09)

What a long, strange trip it's been, sang the Grateful Dead! Indeed! Thirty-five years ago, our brothers and sisters nationwide were goin' up against The Man to let him know that Vietnam was not a righteous war. Back then, you were instantly famous if CBS News filmed you and your college classmates throwing Molotov cocktails at your buddies who enlisted in the National Guard.

Now, all our brothers and sisters are vying for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be filmed by Fox News, giving their senators a humiliating tongue-lashing about how stupid and unfair it would be for our society to provide health care to everyone, whether they deserve it or not! Broken-down little Sean Hannity wannabes trying to impress each other and get their three minutes of fame.

It would be kind of funny if it wasn't for the fact that all of this attention-seeking and misguided anger may cost us the opportunity to join ranks with other civilized nations who consider health care as a basic human right.

-- Eric Treider

Soldotna

What group is expendable next?

The Supreme Court has said that the baby in the womb does not have the same rights as other human beings. In essence what they are saying is that this child is not a person. All you have to do is look at the X-ray pictures of a baby in the mother's womb and you know that this is a child.

The people who say that they believe in "pro-choice" always use the very emotional examples of the rape or incest victim to show why abortion should be allowed. These examples make up a very small percentage of the abortions in the U.S. The majority of the abortions are done because the baby is an inconvenience.

I do believe in individual freedom for women. I do believe in pro-choice but the choice should be made whether to become pregnant or not.

What group will become expendable next because they are an inconvenience to someone: the handicapped, the retarded or maybe senior citizens?

-- Robert McMorrow

Anchorage

Army must fix weapons failures

Troops are being killed because of a weapon failure but the military is saying 90 percent of the troops are happy with it. But it's the other 10 percent who are actually caught in the battles where the M-4 is failing on them. This should be enough to initiate a change.

That has to be a great feeling going into a battle, knowing that your weapon can possible fail. The Army needs to move quickly to fix something as critical as this before more troops die.

-- Nate Saville

Wasilla

Foster's passion, humor live on

As a former legislative staffer, I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Rep. Richard Foster. It was my honor to meet and get to know him. His passion and sense of humor will live forever, through all who knew him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

-- Denise Henderson

Baton Rouge, La.

Foster delivered for district

I was shocked and surprised to learn of Richard Foster's death. I first met him in 1988 in Alakanuk when I was the city manager and he was a freshman state representative for our district. The first time I met him, he said "I like your style of writing," a rare compliment I never expected. Throughout his career in the Alaska House of Representatives, Mr. Foster amazed with his political maneuverability to get along with the state Republicans and he proved it with the many legislative appropriations he delivered to our vast district for capital projects funding. He will always be remembered for his hard work and accomplishments.

-- Homer Hunter, Jr.

Scammon Bay

Guard sponsorship of Iron Dog an insult

The Army National Guard intends to spend $250,000 to sponsor a snowmachine race. In the vast hierarchy of bad decisions regarding the use of our appallingly bloated military budget, this ranks near the top. It's an insult to the taxpayers, to be sure; but, even more outrageously, it's an insult to the members of the Guard, those Alaskan volunteers whose dedication and sacrifice should not be squandered on games. And even while the Guard's leaders fritter away the public's money on sponsoring this type of nonsense, they have yet to take any steps to address the problems outlined in last year's study conducted by Veterans for America -- which, among other things, was very critical of the post-deployment services provided to Guard members.

I think it's time to ask the Guard's "Commander in Chief" -- Gov. Parnell -- to intervene and quash this plan.

-- Phil Smith

Juneau

Fisheries agency should assess orca predation on Steller sea lions

Alaska's fisheries are once again under the gun as the National Marine Fisheries Service looks at the effects of fishing on the endangered Steller sea lion. At stake are the multi-billion-dollar groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. These fisheries are the economic engine that provides most of the jobs and revenue for coastal communities like Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, and the northern Bering Sea villages that participate in the Community Development Quota program.

But new research may shed light on what is happening to Steller sea lions, and this could be good news for Alaska's fishery-dependent communities.

According to recently published research out of the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, the endangered Steller sea lion may serve as a main course meal to some killer whales. This study seems to support the findings of the National Research Council that killer whale predation may play a critical role in Steller sea lion recovery. Let's hope the National Marine Fisheries Service, charged with protecting sea lions and managing federal fisheries, takes this important new information into account as it completes its assessment of current fisheries restrictions in Alaska.

-- Frank Kelty, president

Marine Conservation Alliance

Unalaska

Note: A full-length version of this commentary is available at adn.com/opinion.