Readers write: Letters to the editor, September 27, 2017

Wishing you the best, ADN

Dear ADN, I welcome the transition of our beloved morning paper. I wish the new owners all the best on creating a vibrant, balanced newspaper for our city and state. As we should all understand, good balanced journalism is the foundation of our democracy and deserves support and respect from all of us. The daily newspaper is a learning tool for our children and students, and a fundamental resource for our community. Our city and state are vibrant places filled with daily events that deserve our attention. The newspaper is our forum for capturing these events. I applaud the new ADN owners for stepping up to the challenge of keeping this local jewel alive. I'm sure with sound stewardship, you can create a product we will all be proud of again.

Do your best to be unbiased and positive. Let's focus on Alaska, learn and share what all of us are up too: oil companies, environmental groups, mining companies, schools, recreational groups, nonprofits, health organizations, and state and local government. Downplay the national news; right now it's just noise and distraction. Keep a watchful eye on international events; these will certainly have a long-term effect on the future of Alaska.

We must all make an effort to support ADN. Subscribe again for the print media if you're only reading online. Put your electronic device down for a minute and share the paper and rich photos with your children. Reading a local paper is a gift we need to cherish, not criticize. Good luck to you, ADN, for the hard work ahead and the commitment by all of the staff to the traditions of great journalism.

— Lloyd H. Stiassny
Anchorage

Cannery workers
deserve our respect

Since my first summer in Alaska in 1998, I have done a little bit of everything on the ocean: scientific research, commercial fishing, wilderness guiding, even cleaning boats in between other gigs. Although I have lived in Alaska for the majority of the past 19 years, it is not until recently that I had the opportunity to really get to know some of the cannery workers who come up every year to work in our fishing industry.

What struck me the most as I learned more about my new friends was how much cannery workers and our local fishermen have in common.

Like fishermen, cannery workers are an eclectic group of people. They have past careers in every imaginable profession including law, cattle ranching, and construction. Like fishermen, cannery workers are often on their feet for 16 hours a day, and like fishermen they often feel the pain of repetitive motion in their wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Like fishermen, they sacrifice family time in order to provide their families with a better life. Families feel the strain as workers leave partners at home with children, miss birthdays and holidays, and sadly sometimes miss family emergencies when they are far away. Like fishermen, cannery workers earn less money when the fishing is slow.

We all know that fishermen can't make money without a means of selling fish. Our small fishing-town economies are dependent on the hardworking people at the processors.

So, what am I asking our communities to do?

I want our towns to extend the warm, generous welcome to cannery workers that they extend to fishermen, AmeriCorps volunteers, artists and travelers. I want to see respect, appreciation and hospitality for cannery workers in fishing towns. I want us to help workers who are injured or have family emergencies just like we do our home-grown fishermen. I want workers to feel like the whole town is their home while they are here. And I want more people who owe their wealth to the fishing industry to take the time to introduce themselves and say, "Thank you."

— Alison Sayer
Valdez

My apologies, sort of …

Julie Decker writes that I misquoted her in my column on the new Alaska Gallery at the Anchorage Museum, that the remark I attributed to her that she did not hire locally for redesign of the Gallery because she wanted something fresh, was actually said by Jeremy Taylor, head of the design team. If this is correct, I apologize to Ms. Decker and to readers.

I do stand by my critique of the gallery, which I find deficient in the number and display of historical objects, and on providing context for what is there.

— Steve Haycox
Anchorage

We have way more to worry about than flag and anthem

How it can be said with a straight face that our president respects anything is beyond me. With all the issues that are plaguing our country right now (health care, really fine hate groups openly murdering peaceful protesters, multiple natural disasters, and the threat of thermonuclear war), it is very clear that making other human beings who are respectfully protesting issues affecting the country we all love and respect stand before an inanimate object is what it's gonna take to Make America Great Again(?)

I respect all of my friends who have a different opinion on this; the flag means different things to different people and that is OK. And given the choice, I am still going to stand every time our anthem is played.

What is most definitely not OK is the denial of the First Amendment to any U.S. citizen. You know, the one our Founding Fathers thought was important enough to be first.

— Eric Olson
Anchorage

Where can I find this great GOP health care plan, Paul?

Has anyone else noticed that, when Obamacare repeal is in the news, Paul Jenkins devotes his column to something else, normally something negative about Democrats. Attacking Hillary, for example (Column, Sept. 24) is always popular with his base and even beyond and is a convenient way to avoid the repeal issue. His big contribution to the repeal debate was to criticize Sen. Lisa Murkowski for not following the party line.

One would think that Mr. Jenkins would be telling us how seven years of careful planning by the Senate majority will result in an unquestionably superior health care plan to replace Obamacare. One can hope …

— John Jensen
Anchorage

Jonesing for our money

While our governor worries about opioid addiction in Alaska, I can't help but wonder if anyone can help him with his addiction to other peoples' money?

— Bill Reiswig
Palmer

Obamacare breaks the bank, Shannyn, and that's immoral

I read Shannyn Moore's commentary on the new proposed repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (Sept. 24). I am puzzled. I don't seem to remember Ms. Moore being concerned when President Obama told us we could keep our doctors and our plans, but that wasn't true. That our premiums would be reduced by an average of $2,500, but they weren't. When we were forced to buy insurance, whether we wished to or not, in violation of the Constitution. When millions of people lost their insurance coverage because of the ACA. When Nancy Pelosi said they'd have to pass the bill so we could find out what was in it. When people were forced to buy insurance for things they did not need, such as men needing to buy plans that covered pregnancy. When young people were basically set up to be the patsies who balance the books (when they are not the ones who want or need health care), by forcing them to buy insurance or pay a penalty. When the government wasted billions of our dollars on a web signup system that failed, set up by a crony of President Obama, and we had to spend billions more to fix it.

Ms. Moore states, "It is immoral to vote to take away something from our countrymen and women in other states in order for us to keep what we have." Ms. Moore, I believe it is immoral to keep saying we'll pay for more and more health care for people who are not paying for it, when we are $19 TRILLION in debt. It is immoral because ultimately our note will come due, and our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will be forced to pay our bills, but will receive nothing in return. The ACA is unsustainable financially.

As Margaret Thatcher so aptly said: "Socialism works until you run out of other people's money." I plead with Congress to return to sanity and spend only what we take in.

— Nancy Winniford
Anchorage

When will we learn?

The Vietnam war documentary on PBS could/should be a watershed moment, to inspire us to ask:

"Why are we in Afghanistan?"

— Ken Flynn
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.