Authoritarian rule, the GOP, COVID and other Herald letters

Let’s be wary of authoritarian rule

Being an American I have assumed the rest of the world lived in a world like mine. But when my wife and I entered the Peace Corps in Iran in the early days of the 1970s, I experienced culture shock.

My wife and I both held college degrees in agriculture and were assigned to work in an agriculture research unit. And the differences in language, food, smells and ways of driving automobiles contributed to our culture shock.

Even more, when our research counterparts spoke to us about current events, they would hold their hands over their mouths and walk away quickly. They knew of neighbors who had disappeared and later were found on their doorsteps, beaten senseless. This led to fears and speculation: who had they talked to? What had the person been saying? What did he say about me? Could I be next?

So, when I see fellow Americans advocating for an authoritarian state, I beg them to visualize what lies ahead should their “Utopian State” come about. They too will experience “Culture Shock” under that authoritarian rule.

Buck Sisson, Kennewick

Alcohol is most dangerous drug

Not a day passes that we’re not inundated about the dangers of fentanyl, a grim, deadly drug. Sadly, what we hardly hear about is alcohol, the most dangerous substance of all. The fact that alcohol is legal and socially acceptable gives those consuming it a false sense of relief that it is harmless.

You would be hard-pressed to find any alcohol drinker admit that they are taking serious risks by merely imbibing an innocuous-appearing liquid. Most hate hearing that alcohol kills more people than all other drugs combined. They deny that alcohol is the second deadliest drug in America, behind tobacco, causing car crashes, DUIs, injuries, toxic relationships, violence, mental illness, imprisonment, addiction, suicide and death.

Even light to moderate drinkers are at risk of these horrendous events. Studies show that alcohol is the direct cause of breast, liver, colon, esophagus and other types of cancer. Despite these awful findings, Americans continue to embrace and encourage drinking far more than they do other dangerous drugs. Alcohol is the one drug universally accepted that routinely kills tens of thousands of people annually and yet the dangers of it are taken dismissively. It’s time we crack down on it too.

Gary L. Somdahl, Richland

GOP has its head stuck in the sand

The GOP/ Trump faction, (Congressman Dan Newhouse included) is currently beating their drums about the teaching of diversity in public schools and how it creates division and dissent within our society. Well, what the heck did we hear when Trump was president? Nothing but hate and divisiveness spewing from his foul mouth daily.

Critical thinking skills are a necessity in today’s global economy and the world in general. You cannot understand the future without understanding the past. Sticking your head in the sand is not an appropriate response to anything.

The GOP is living in the dark ages and they’ve become an albatross on the neck of America.

Michael Prudhomme. Kennewick

On COVID-19: Here we go again.

Well, great people, here we go again. COVID-19 cases are up 70% after the Fourth of July. We are the highest in the state of Washington. Now that the boat races are over, it will get higher. In no time at all, we will be going back to masks all the time. Going to eat out will be limited again. So to the people who don’t want to get the COVID-19 shot: Please go talk to some one who had the same thought as you. They ended up with COVID-19 in the hospital and almost died. Now they have lasting effects. They changed their minds and got vaccinated. This won’t go away until we all get vaccinated. No one can make you do it, but if you see one of your family members get COVID-19 and suffer or die, maybe it will change your mind. Please think about it.

Marvin Raymond, Richland

Billionaires or climate change?

Some commentators have argued that so far, the rich and the privileged have managed to escape the most devastating impacts of climate change. While it’s true that laborers, like Washington’s farm workers, risk heat stroke, brain damage and death from the extreme heat we’re experiencing, our wealthy fellow citizens aren’t entirely immune to risk. Walking barefoot on the deck of a yacht can be painful.

Science fiction writers extrapolating from today’s climate catastrophe to the far future have speculated that the next climate migration won’t be from the Southern Hemisphere to the far north, but rather to space, where humans will be living on climatically (and otherwise) controlled space islands.

From what I’ve read, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos hope to cut in half the $500,000 price for the training ride to the edge of space. However, it will take a ticket on Elon Musk’s SpaceX to get one to the ‘Musk Space Island,’ and right now that’s running a hefty $55 million. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford that.

Perhaps for the good of all humanity, we should do our utmost to put the brakes on global warming, and bring climate change under control.

Richard Badalamente, Kennewick

Snake River dams

Recently (Rep.) Dan Newhouse in his weekly emails to constituents regaled us with how the Snake River spring Chinook runs have increased two years in a row, which indicates that our river management is working for salmon restoration. The Tri-City Herald parroted this in an editorial. Mathematically, you cannot infer a trend from three consecutive data points, especially when the data is highly variable, like salmon runs.

Consider that the 2021 spring run was only 56% of the 10-year average, and the fourth lowest in 10 years. This celebration is premature. In another recent email, Newhouse said that the lower Snake River dams provide access to clean water, irrigation, flood control and produce 3000 MW of electricity. These dams do not provide access to clean water (it was already there) are not designed for flood control and only average about 1,000 MW of electricity production. They have a 3,000-MW capacity but rarely produce at that level.

Stan Kuik, Richland

Editor’s note: The dams are needed for reliable, readily available power when demand is high. The Bonneville Power Administration recently credited the Snake dams for preventing power outages and rolling blackouts during the recent heat wave.

You can help with Hanford cleanup

Your recent articles on June 9 and July 5 about Sen. Maria Cantwell’s five-year budget item of $200 billion (infusion, stimulus) U.S. Innovation and Competition Act included $17 billion for 17 National Labs to “unleash” the wallet, failed to state where the money comes from, i.e. budget or added to national debt? How much went to universities for research purposes? WSU? Is this national laboratory funding replacement for sequestration cuts years ago? Did an extra $7 billion get set aside for special projects to clean up Hanford?

PNNL’s 5,000 employees may want to personally donate clean up $30 million for another ERDF disposal cell, “Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt” https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/23779454 for your Day’s Pay or Week’s Pay or extra COVID amount not needed as Hanford site employees getting their regular wages already. Obviously, $30 million would probably need more contributors than just Hanford workers. Let’s see how much is donated by end of the calendar year 2021.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” JFK.

Please join my efforts to donate or place an amount in your personal will.

John Leland Noble, Kennewick