Young, Sullivan lack morality
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is to be commended in criticizing President Trump on his vile racist comments during a meeting on immigration reform in the White House. In contrast, Sen. Dan Sullivan issued a watery statement about the value of immigrants without mentioning or criticizing President Trump. Rep. Don Young thus far has been silent on the issue.
Sen. Sullivan and Rep. Young join most of their GOP congressional colleagues in not condemning President Trump's racist rant which shames America in the eyes of many countries in the World. In doing so, they have shown that their fealty to the GOP and its president overrides any sense they may have of morality and ethical behavior. Their failure to condemn President Trump's remarks shows they appear to have lost their moral compasses.
— Peter Hanley
Anchorage
Stunning lack of compassion
Responding to Rolf L. Bilet's Jan. 12 letter to the editor:
In his letter, Mr. Bilet states that we should deport the nation's "worthless" addicts. May I remind Mr. Bilet that addiction does not discriminate based on his perceived worth of an individual. The population of this country's addicts includes business and medical professionals, members of law enforcement and members of the armed services. Addicts are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and neighbors. Many addicts struggle daily with their illness without their friends or family ever knowing about their disease. If every addict in the nation were to suddenly be deported, there is a good chance Mr. Bilet would be left wondering about a missing acquaintance, co-worker or friend. Someone who had never even crossed his mind as being "worthless."
This nation is in the midst of an opioid crisis of epidemic proportions. Mr. Bilet's solution is to exile those who are suffering. I believe the only way to overcome this tribulation is through education, rehabilitation and compassion.
— Benjamin Stark
Anchorage
Coverage of the NHL is lame
Shame on you! Not one word in Monday's paper regarding the NHL. There were some great games this weekend and unless you watched them or you use other informative resources, i.e. internet, you wouldn't know the outcome of those games, not to mention any highlights. I have written you before regarding your negligence in covering NHL games and it has become apparent to me that this is just another reason why I discontinued your paper.
— Mike Krupa
Anchorage
Wohlforth missed the mark
I typically enjoy Charles Wohlforth's reporting, but in his Jan. 11 piece ("Marijuana school suspensions more than doubled after legalization") his bias got the better of his objectivity.
His conclusion that marijuana legalization has caused more ASD students to be suspended for possession is unfounded. Readers were not given enough information to determine whether other factors are behind the increased suspension rate. Jumping from correlation to assumption of causation is careless writing, as Wohlforth certainly knows, especially when better data are available.
Study after study confirms that marijuana policy reforms do not cause rates of youth marijuana use to increase. In June 2016, a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry found that the number of teens using marijuana — and the number with problematic use — is falling as more states legalize or decriminalize cannabis. Recent statements from public officials in Colorado, Washington and Oregon support this conclusion. Wohlforth notes that Alaska's own "Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed no statistical difference in the percentage of students in traditional high schools who reported using marijuana between 2015 and 2017." Yet he immediately rejects that evidence because it doesn't fit with his preconceived conclusion.
— Tim Hinterberger
Anchorage chair,
Campaign to Regulate Marijuana
MLK speech is truly American
Kudos to ADN for reprinting the "I Have a Dream" speech on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
Our president has been spewing words of hate that are clearly discriminatory against people of color. "I Have a Dream" is a timely reminder of the basic values of freedom and equality that have made America great!
— Janet McCabe
Anchorage
Norwegians aren't coming
How many Norwegians are lined up to emigrate to the U.S.? I'd be surprised if there was a single one.
— Martin Becker
Fairbanks
Need more alerts than just texts
I am pleased and confident to hear that Maj. Gen. Hummel has control over "The Button" so that we don't experience the terror that the Hawaiian Islands did. Having friends living in the islands, I can assure you that it was terror.
What does concern me in Alaska is that the button sends a message via TEXT. Many folks in Alaska, particularly retired ones, still have land-lines, and others have flip-phones, neither of which can receive texts. Others of us don't walk around glued to our cell phones and turn them off when not needed. Additionally, there is this belief that everyone has an iPhone, which is not the case. Lastly, iPhones and Androids can have problems with communicating with each other. Some other systems might be in order.
— Thom Eley
Anchorage
State needs lottery, casinos
On Tuesday, our lawmakers headed back into session. Let's hope that this year they can get the job done without extra sessions. I wonder how much public safety or education the four sessions could have paid for. Hopefully they won't raid Alaskans PFD or implement an income tax since they haven't learned that you don't budget on $100 barrel of oil.
Instead of taking from Alaskans, why not come up with new streams of revenue? Why not make gambling legal and bring the Powerball lottery to Alaska? Some states have scratch tickets that generate funds for education, public safety health, etc. Start a 49th State Lottery where half of the money raised goes to the government, half to winners. Let the native corporations build casinos and bring in more tourist dollars.
If Alaskans can vote, drink and now smoke pot, I'm sure that we could handle lottery tickets.
— S.A. Ross
Anchorage
Take the training, Rep. Wilson
Rep. Tammie Wilson is refusing to attend a training session about sexual harassment? In my many years of employment, whenever everyone was ordered to take a training session about sexual harassment, the only people who refused the training were the ones that needed it the most.
— Gail Heineman
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@adn.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@adn.com.