LETTERS

Benton County votes

Once again the Benton County Election Commission is considering a computer software package to create various electronic ballots in-house. This appears to me to be a bad idea.

I spent over 30 years writing programs, designing business systems and managing these activities. Developing 30 or more different ballot types (each city, school district and quorum court district needs a separate ballot) would require a full-time programmer and perhaps a couple of seasonal programmers to support runoff and special elections.

I think this work would most likely be well beyond the capability of the election coordinator and the three political appointees of the election board. Perhaps Benton County could support this effort, assuming that it would have an IT department and understand the work required to design, program, test and implement election-ballot software. This effort would require custom reports and interfaces to other systems that count and control the electronic votes.

The voters might be better served be having the commissioners spent their time researching and evaluating Internet voting systems for all the computer-savvy voters. This would leave the physical polling places for use by us seniors and others who may not be comfortable with Internet voting or without Internet access.

DAN MOYER Bella Vista

Liberally speaking …

Kudos to Jan Keith for her meaningful retort addressing leftist claims about Republicans, learned from the left-wing media.

I believe MSNBC is the most hateful and negative channel on TV. I know because I watch it just to keep up with the liberals’ rants. And Fox does not lie; if they make a mistake, they correct it.

Liberals will have another channel to enjoy now that Al Jazeera, owned by the Islamic government of Qatar, is coming to American TV. You know, the media Al Gore sold them.

CHARLES NICHOLS Maumelle

Music of yesteryear

Jack W. Hill did a very nice job with his reminiscence of 1992’s August in Arkansas. I remember it well and took in the jazz stage. Jack didn’t mention that Pancho Sanchez and Diane Schuur were there with Branford Marsalis. Possibly others I have forgotten. It was cool (the music and the weather). I wore a windbreaker.

Similarly in 1996 (I think), there were two really big jazz nights at Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts in west Little Rock. Charlie Haden and Quartet West, Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano were the headliners. Unbelievable music. Apparently it met the same fate as August in Arkansas: one and done.

Thank goodness for the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, which continues to bring big-name jazz acts to Arkansas.

WESLEY J. KETZ JR. Batesville

Not protecting U.S.

At least twice Tom Cotton has sworn to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States”: first when he enlisted in the military, and second when he took his seat in the House of Representatives.

Yet in one of his first acts in Congress, he offered an unconstitutional amendment to the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013 that imposes “additional human rights and economic and financial sanctions with respect to Iran.”

According to Cotton Blog, he proposed that entire families, “relatives to the third degree of consanguinity” (aunts, cousins, grandchildren, etc.) be held responsible for the crimes of one family member. In committee he said, “There would be no investigation” of relatives, who could receive up to 20 years in prison. He assures us that this would not affect Americans, only Iranians who “certainly don’t have constitutional rights in America.”

Wrong. Such “corruption of blood” is expressly forbidden in Article III, Section 3 of the very Constitution Cotton is doubly sworn to uphold. Furthermore, his bill broke with a legal precedent that has stood for more than a century. In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled in Wong Wing v. U.S. that foreign nationals were protected from “infamous punishment” by the Fifth and Sixth amendments to our Constitution.

Happily, cooler committee heads prevailed and Cotton’s amendment failed to pass, but he has vowed to “remain committed to the policy” and try again.

We do not need an oath-breaker representing Arkansas in any capacity.

NANCY MILLER SAUNDERS Durham

No problem, you guys

I am completely empathetic with William Jones in his problem with “no problem.” I think he would join me in my problem with “you guys.”

As a senior citizen, I bristle every time a member of the wait staff addresses my wife and I as “you guys.”

Apart from the fact that my wife is a gal, not a guy, the assumed familiarity between a 70-year-old couple and someone maybe a third of our age,and with whom we’ve had no previous social contact, rankles.

I realize I am woefully behind modern times in this, but would it be so much to ask that we (the buyers) be catered to and allowed the pleasure of our little idiosyncrasies? How about “you folks” or “y’all,” or anything but “you guys?” CHARLIE MINK Mountain View

Where’s sense in it?

Do I have this right? John Diamond, an expert on Freedom of Information Act requests for the University of Arkansas, was fired after advocating that his management follow the advice of their university attorneys about responding to such requests?

HOLLY CHILDS Fayetteville

Don’t see the humor

The CEOs of cable companies and TV are going to start new comedy shows this fall.

I for one do not see the reason why they now have comedy on 24 hours a day. One may ask how I can say that. You must have a sense of humor to agree with me.

The hosts on TV shows today are cats, camels, cows, dogs, elephants and pigs.

Oh yeah, do not forget the children driving cars and some animals talking.

If this is not funny, then use your remote button on your TV controller and hope it does not quit working.

CHARLES C. McNUTT Little Rock