It seems that I am in the minority, but I am outraged by the deal that the Biden administration made in trading a Russian convicted arms dealer, Viktor Bout, for WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner.
Bout is likely indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of people. Many resources were used to bring him to justice, only to trade him for Griner, who admitted that she was indeed in possession of an illegal substance when she entered Russia.
All the while, former Marine Paul Whelan is still in a Russian prison as he was not included in the trade. It gives the impression that money, celebrity and votes were the motivation for this one-sided trade.
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Griner can now resume her basketball career and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in America while Bout can now resume his arms-dealing ways that may result in the deaths of even more people.
Thank you, Joe Biden.
Antonio Acevedo, Bucktown
Let the free market solve discrimination
There are those who are wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth while imagining a parade of horribles if the Supreme Court rules against a Colorado statute mandating access to all businesses for all people.
What these Cassandras miss is the power of, and hence the freedom and lack of discrimination provided by, the free market. If a business owner capriciously and/or out of some sense of morality or religious principles denies service, that owner forgoes profit, which may endanger the business and simultaneously creates incentives for others to offer service to the customer who has been turned away.
If one cannot get a particular baker to fill an order, there are others who would profit by doing so. And so with web design.
The free market, and not government ukase or edict, is the best answer to concerns about discrimination.
William Gottschalk, Lake Forest
Let’s get serious about porch pirates
This is the time of year when more packages are delivered, and porch pirates are out in full force. Police in some places are leaving decoy packages on porches with trackers inside, so that if/when they are stolen, they will be alerted and will track the package to the thief to make an arrest.
This needs to be done here.
Larry E. Nazimek, Logan Square
