LETTERS

LITTLE ROCK — Old ways not represented

Re the flap at the state Capitol: There is no legitimate reason to deny a tasteful Winter Solstice display that celebrates the old ways, but the Freethinkers’ “box of knowledge” display is more about the organization than the pagan celebration.

It took time to find a picture of the box, and when I did the display looked more like a portable potty with advertising on it than a representation of the Winter Solstice celebration. It had historical information about the Winter Solstice on one side. The other three sides displayed ads for books and historical information about the universe and famous people.

Winter Solstice has been celebrated since ancient times, and this beautiful holiday also was chosen by Christians as a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a beautiful time and deserves a beautiful Yule Winter Solstice display with all the traditional Yule pagan ornamentation.

Yule celebrates the return of longer days, light and warmth, which raises our spirits and gives hope for the future. I can’t imagine that those of us who celebrate Yule want it turned into a political statement or hijacked to advertise an organization.

I do think the Freethinkers should display the house at their headquarters. It has a lot of interesting information on the sides, but it does not represent what a Winter Solstice celebration is all about.

SANDRA JO CHANDLER Fayetteville

Law not at all helpful

The child support enforcement legislation signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1995 turns the presumption of innocence on its head, something not understood by several of our Arkansas Court of Appeals judges.

In your recent story about Russell Allen Hanna, who was thrown into prison for not being able to prove he could not pay his determined child support, Judge David M. Glover was quoted as writing that he found it “compelling” that Hanna never attempted to have his child support reduced and had a long history of non-compliance.

How in this world can victims of the child support enforcement agency find work when they make them felons? How many men commit suicide after being impoverished and persecuted? Empty our prisons of these poor men and women who are being denied their rights as Americans by an evil 1995 law and the courts that enforce it.

BILL CONWAY McGehee

Coverage falls short

When I read Carolyne Park’s story, “Union hosts health care forum,” I was left with the impression that Americans for Prosperity had been there. I really would have liked to have been able to read more of the testimony of the people who were there. Those personal experiences I’m sure were much more interesting and informative than the blather of the anti-health care reform nay-sayers.

KATHERINE WEST Little Rock

Appraisal protested

Staff writer Eric Harrison writes about The House, a Hillcrest restaurant that I own, lamenting that it “pretty much immediately started not living up to initial promises . . . that they would use almost entirely local ingredients. . . .”

It is unfortunate that Harrison pretty much immediately started not living up to initial promises of being a responsible journalist. The House is, quite simply, one of the most voracious consumers of local produce in the state.

If Harrison has sufficient cause to believe my restaurant uses fewer local ingredients than claimed, then he should offer such information to his readers instead of engaging in the kind of vulgar, pernicious and whollyindefensible tabloidisms for which he has become so well known.

Additionally, Scott McGehee now serves as our executive chef (not “creative consultant”), replacing Nathan Miller (now of Chenal Country Club). We’ll have a great, expanded menu with Scott’s signature touches come January.

Should Harrison decide to try his hand at ethical journalism in the future, basic fact-checking is always advisable and our telephone number is in the book.

JOSH BLEVINS Little Rock

Acts not predictable

I have been reading the articles, letters to the editor and various blogs since the four policemen were shot in Washington. There has been so much finger-pointing and casting of blame that I feel compelled to remind people of one very important fact.

Neither former Gov. Mike Huckabee, members of the Arkansas parole board, previously involved court officials, the authorities in Washington state nor members of the Interstate Compact Commission committed these terrible murders. The killings apparently were completed by one man who chose specifically to murder four policemen on that awful day. That is the bottom line.

No one can predict what a person may or may not do, no matter how many risk/need scales, psychological reports or criminal histories are reviewed. One person committed these acts. This should not be forgotten in all this uproar over where the fault lies.

JOSEPH M. BUTLER Fayetteville

Can’t steal Christmas

The pine tree that was stolen from in front of the parking booth at the Little Rock Riverfront a couple of weeks ago was loved and is missed.

I raised it from a baby and even named it Christmas. There were two; the other tree was stolen last summer. Was it the same person?

It is my prayer that, wherever they both are, they will be loved and cared for as I did. Whoever took the Christmas tree, which was decorated with lights and bows, can’t steal Christmas. That is in my heart every day forever. CHERYL BRANNAN Little RockFewer accept reality

Cretins have laughed at Al Gore for years, much as the rabble might have laughed as the biblical Noah built his ark. Now they raise the purloined e-mails of a few environmental scientists and sneer at the scientists and politicians in their jets flying into Copenhagen to debate concrete action on global warming.

In fact, I am told that fewer people accept the reality of global warming than did a few years ago. The melting of polar ice and glaciers all over the world does not deter them from finding a few exceptions to the ever-growing evidence of global warming and proclaiming it to be a hoax perpetrated by scientists and politicians for their own selfish ends.

A generation who grew up in the era of unbelievable technology and the blossoming of the science of genetics never bothered to discipline themselves in the fundamentals of math and science. It’s a pity.

BILLY B. RHODES Mountain Home

Costs keep escalating

I went to my pharmacy recently to refill my three-month insulin pen subscription. The pharmacist toldme that my deductible was raised from $33 to $36, which of course I paid. That amounts to an almost 9 percent jump in my cost.

I am a 90-year old senior who takes numerous pills per day, and every one of them has been experiencing this same escalation of price on an annual basis for many years. I’m not smart enough to know whether the drug company raised the price or the insurance company decided it needed more help in paying for the prescription by raising my deductible. Maybe they colluded and each took 4 1 /2 so they wouldn’t look so greedy.

I wish the Democrats Godspeed in reaching agreement on health care reform, and to the other side of the aisle I say don’t try to confuse me by trying to claim that it’s the other party’s fault that costs are escalating.

ROBERT G. HALL Jacksonville

Pick another holiday

I want everyone to know where I stand concerning the controversy over the Nativity scene at our Capitol. I was curious about this Freethinkers Society and discovered that they are self-proclaimed atheists, which is fine with me, but what I don’t understand is their point in wanting to put up their box at our Christmas holiday.

If they want to put a display up, why not let them pick a holiday of their own? We Christians would not object at all.

America is a Christian nation and for some unknown reason we selfproclaimed Christians have sat on our stool of do-nothing and let the nuts of our country take away the most precious thing that our forefathers fought for. When are we going to stand up and say that enough is enough? We have many religions in America. They are here because we believe in freedom of choice, and they have the right to worship whomever or whatever they please. However, we do not believe that gives them the right to change our belief and leave God out of America.

We have let this go so far that our children’s history books are being rewritten so that they no longer read the truth about the tremendous influence of the religious faith of our Founding Fathers. I say to those who don’t want to honor the Christian belief that our nation was founded on: Get out. We don’t want you here trying to change our belief.

ELSIE NORMAN Stuttgart Never stop learning

I want to recommend a book to everyone who enjoys reading books on climate and history. I took a chance on a book I saw at a bookseller’s Web site called “The Little Ice Age” by Brian Fagan, a professor of archaeology atthe University of California at Santa Barbara and an editor of “The Oxford Companion to Archaeology.”

It is the best-documented one I have read on the subject. Sometimes this kind of subject is very dull, but this one is well-written, interesting, an easy read. I didn’t want to put it down. Now I’ve found that Fagan is the author of many books that I would like to read but cannot find them in our libraries here. I have put in my request at one library but nothing so far.

There are many subjects that come up in the news that tend to scare us when we don’t know enough about them. We all need to educate ourselves so we can form our own opinions without someone telling us what to think. Please don’t stop learning; you owe it to yourself, your children and your country. Keep that curiosity alive. It keeps you young.

R.N. KYGER Bella Vista

Feedback

Agenda promoted

A recent headline in the Democrat-Gazette proclaimed, “Senate thwarts move to stall spending bill.” Makes it sound as though some evil force is trying to mess up our country. Never mind that those proud Congressmen are attempting to spend it into oblivion.

The mainstream media are hard at work to maintain and promote the extreme left-wing agenda.

Should your headline writer or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ever be invited to appear on the TV show, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” I would advise you to decline.

L.J. TORKELSON Bella Vista

Give voters choice

I read your recent news story stating that Stanley Reed was entering the race for U.S. Senate, challenging Blanche Lincoln.

However, the story sounded like Reed was Lincoln’s No. 1 fan by supporting her and nominating her for a top Farm Bureau award just last year.

Surely the Republicans in Arkansas can find a conservative candidate, not a fence-sitter. Isn’t it about time that we had a choice when we vote between a liberal and a conservative?

F.L. QUIST Heber Springs

Editor’s note: Reed recently announced that he will not challenge Lincoln.