Do we really need Young?
Due to his past experience with questionable ethics, it's probably appropriate that Congressman Don Young missed an important vote involving ethics. Ethics are so uncomfortable to deceit and cover-ups.
Congressman Young ran on a platform that included the phrase "Alaska needs him now more than ever." I will agree, if Alaska also needs a poster boy for bad examples.
— Ron Siebels
Anchorage
Mainstream media can do a lot of damage
How stupid can people get? Of all the hype over the putative Russian hacking — and, by definition, changing the outcome of our election — there remain many uncertainties. One point should be abundantly clear — there is absolutely no proof that Russia's, or any other country's, cyberactivities, changed the results of any voting machines or ballots.
Now, again, in a kindergarten-level attempt to prove the unprovable, The Washington Post has claimed that unidentified officials state that American intelligence agencies have intercepted communications of Russian officials congratulating themselves on Trump's victory. This is standard fare for mainstream media — citing unnamed sources while revealing classified information — to get their names in print. Do you think the Russians might be happy to learn which communications lines are vulnerable? But that shouldn't matter because a reporter got a byline.
As evinced by a previous instance, The New York Times and WaPo claimed that our intelligence agencies were very good at gaining information from Russian monetary transactions. Wow! What happened as a result? A program was dismantled at a very high cost, not only in dollars but in loss of valuable intelligence. Whether the story is based on a leak of classified information or on a reporter's guesstimate is irrelevant; the damage is done.
It's analogous to a case a few years ago in London: A reporter demanded to know why an Islamic radical's bomb-laden vehicle did not explode. Neither he nor the public had a need to know. Let the bombers blow themselves up with their own ineptness; don't tell them how to correct their mistakes so they can kill others.
— Chuck Orr
Anchorage
Do real drugs, not pot
Can Alaskans and ADN please just shut up about the whole "legalization of marijuana" thing? It's pot, I'm not 12, grow up and do some real drugs for heaven's sake. Perhaps we legalize a wholesome amount of coke instead and see if it stimulates our economy's workforce or something; people would probably stay up consecutive nights rapidly discussing that issue instead. Win-win.
— Brennan Scotland
Eagle River
Questions on King Cove road
An open letter to our congressional delegation, questions that I feel need answering before the road from King Cove to Cold Bay is built:
1. What is the cost to build this road?
2. What is the cost to maintain the road and who pays for it?
3. What type of vehicle will be used to transport people when the weather goes to hell in a handbasket?
4. If we are building this road for emergency use so the people of King Cove have better access to health services, what about all the other villages?
Would not this money be put to better use upgrading the health services in all the other villages than just one?
— David Lewis
Homer
Good news: One woman's idea has grown into a movement
Following passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s, management of the Research and Development Division of a five-star corporation decided to facilitate the coming changes by offering awareness workshops on racism and sexism and the benefits of a pluralistic workforce for their employees.
As I recall, the entire program including complying with civil rights laws requiring hiring women and minorities took about four years and was judged an overwhelming success.
To be a part of that change was both a privilege and a learning experience for me. One of my conclusions of that experience was that the world will become a better place for all of us when women and minorities speak out and their contributions are heard and acted on by all of us. That was 45 years ago.
Today Carol Costello on CNN News interviewed two women regarding the news that one woman's idea has grown to a movement of over 200,000 women to march on Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21 of this year. To me that is evidence of more good changes that are taking place in America and the world. In our world of much sad news I feel we need to be aware of what is good that is happening.
Happy 2017!
— Hugh R. Hays, Veteran for Integrity, Equality, Justice and Peace
Soldotna
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