Hold people who harass wildlife accountable
Re: "Troopers: Mountain goat harassed by people drowns near downtown Seward" (July 18).
It is despicable that a goat drowned because a group of humans was more interested in capturing a picture than they were in protecting a life. When I was growing up in Alaska, we were taught to never approach wildlife, but whether the harassers were Alaskans or Outside tourists, they ought to be held accountable for pursuing an animal to his or her death.
Tour companies should make it explicitly clear that animals are not to be chased down, and all Alaskans should do their part by intervening whenever they see an animal endangered by a fool with a camera.
— Jennifer Bates
PETA Foundation
Norfolk
Police deserve our support for the work they do
Like so many Americans, I have been deeply troubled by the recent events in Minnesota, Louisiana and Texas. What would Martin Luther King Jr. think, 51 years after his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize? In his speech in Stockholm, he said: "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Today, we must gather around our police as we have gathered around our teachers, our students, our LGBT community members — around all our fellow citizens when they are victims of senseless violence. Our police are the ones who run toward the fire. They are there when we need them the most. They deserve our backing and our respect for all the right and good they do — all day, every single day.
— Shirley A. Coté, Anchorage Police Department captain, retired Soldotna Police Department chief of police, retired
Candidate, House District 28
Anchorage
America is the frog in this fable
In my daily routine I am exposed to many political conversations, mainly by older people. Some people say that rather than vote for Trump or Clinton, they are not going to vote at all. Others say that rather than vote for Clinton because she is so terrible, they are going to vote for Trump. I haven't yet heard anyone say that because Trump is so terrible they are going to vote for Clinton. When I casually throw out that there is yet a third option, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, I just get blank looks.
I have had such extreme dislike for Hillary for so long I couldn't imagine anyone equally distasteful until Trump. There is an Aesop's fable about a scorpion and a frog.
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too."
The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp, "Why?"
Replies the scorpion, "It's my nature …"
In this case, America is the frog and Trump is the scorpion. If there was ever a time for third-party voting, this has to be it. Not voting at all or voting for the lesser evil is not the answer.
— Della Dempsey
Wasilla
OK deep government cuts but also demand taxes
Rep. Geran Tarr, in her recent column (ADN, July 21), observed that "I just can't believe Alaskans would put up with their PFD being reduced while not fixing Senate Bill 21." She presumes that Alaska voters, for once, will be perceptive, fair and intelligent voters who will not overwhelmingly return the same inept, no-action Republican majority to the Legislature in November. Because her presumption is wrong (the oil industry is too embedded in our Legislature), she will have to forgo any attempt at oil tax/oil credit reform and try to arrive at a compromise on other fiscal matters.
To appease the rabid right wing, state government will have to be cut an additional 25 percent; however, in return demand a gross receipts tax (like New Mexico, Pennsylvania and several other states use) and an income tax at projected rates to minimize raiding/restructuring the PFD. This, or a similar course of action, does not "target" big oil and minimizes the potential negative impact on lower-income Alaskans. This is not the "fairness and equality" that Rep. Tarr so passionately seeks, but with a Republican majority it may be the best she can do.
— William Maxey
Anchorage
Words carry power, so choose them with care
Words have power. Power to inflame or to inform. When Sen. Lisa Murkowski declares in a political ad that she will fight the bureaucracy in Washington, I have to wonder if she realizes that, as our senator, she is a part of the bureaucracy.
I don't think her words were meant to enlighten but, rather, to seek votes from people with an ax to grind. I'm not picking on Sen. Murkowski, as all politicians, from whichever side of the aisle, have done the same thing. I'm suggesting that we all become aware and take responsibility for our choice of words. Do they inform and enlighten or do they feed bias, prejudice and ignorance?
Is it possible that a mentally ill person hears the words "fight" and "bureaucracy" and decides to kill a policeman or a government official?
Words have power. If we want a better society, we must pick our words wisely. You never know who's listening.
— Millie Spezialy
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.