Superior snake story
I appreciated Buddy Gough's very informative article on venomous snakes native to Arkansas, with special attention to the timber rattlesnake.
As an amateur herpetologist dating to my childhood in Magnolia in the 1960s, I've spent countless hours trying to help people understand that most snakes encountered are not only harmless but beneficial, and that you've really got to work at it to actually be envenomated by the few snakes capable of doing so that the average person will encounter.
My experience tells me, however, that most folks remain unconvinced.
STEVE A. JONES
El Dorado
Perhaps playing lyre
Reportedly Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Anyone see a contemporary analogy here?
JAMES H. BARRÉ
Little Rock
A disgusting display
I think the recent TV ads degrading Mark Pryor are disgusting and emulate large corporations which have benefited by sending factories out of the U.S. to enjoy cheap labor. (A tax bill by Pryor on their overseas owners' accounts may have vexed them.)
Don't get me wrong. I'm well aware of the charitable good attributed to many of these, both in those charities set up to honor a lost family member or through church affiliation.
I believe any older Arkansans voting for Tom Cotton jeopardize their welfare. Prioritizing Social Security and Medicare would be problematic for dementia-plagued elderly, and cut more from monthly benefits which have already had cost-of-living increases cut sharply. So, caution: Think these over before casting your vote.
Anyone following Pryor's voting record knows he's the most moderate of any of our current representatives.
Stressing the largeness of the deficit is disgusting, too, for our state paper recently indicated the swath cut from it, the largest since '09.
So life goes on.
DIXIE ANN COLE
Fayetteville
Redskins kerfuffle
Upon checking my Dakota watch, I was hungry and opted for Hopi Blue Popcorn, slathered with Land O' Lakes butter, polished off with Umpqua ice cream and chased with Arrowhead water.
I updated my insurance with Mutual of Omaha before leaving my Winnebago RV, driving to Shawmut Bank in my Jeep Cherokee and withdrawing enough money to fuel my Apache helicopter to deliver my client's Mohawk carpet.
When I had completed those chores, I arrived home, changed into my Crazy Horse clothes, prepared dinner with my Zuni cookware and relaxed with a glass of Thunderbird wine.
Tomorrow, I intend to take a spin on my Indian Chieftain motorcycle and catch the Braves or Chiefs on TV. I'm bound to find a game somewhere.
Just remember, Erma Bombeck said: "If you can laugh at it, you can live with it."
ALISON YAMAUCHI
Little Rock
Quick, hide nonsense
A recent column by Paul Greenberg lamented the decision by Washington and Lee University to remove Confederate battle flags from Lee Chapel, claiming this was an example of hiding the past. Given Mr. Greenberg's odd fascination with the Confederate general, is anyone surprised that he would criticize the university's action? However, in the greater context of the South's continued love affair with its pre-1865 history, one could hardly claim that it is trying to hide from its past.
There are hundreds of towns in the South that have prominent memorials to those who died fighting for the Confederacy. And how many of those towns have decided to either remove, relocate or otherwise "hide" those memorials? None that I can recall.
Mr. Greenberg himself does his part to perpetuate the aura of the Old South, regularly entertaining us with columns that conjure up old times that are not forgotten.
Surely the South has never tried to hide from its past, despite the fact that many of its displays of pride are offensive to a significant number of its citizens. But this issue involves the Confederate flag, and it certainly isn't the first time a Southern university has incurred the wrath of Dixie by disassociating itself from the Confederate battle flag. Remember Ole Miss and its battle over the Rebel flag in 1997?
Woe to those who dare object to its display because, as we are forever reminded down here, it's heritage, not hate.
THOMAS G. MAY
North Little Rock
No wish to be ejected
I wonder if Vondes Burnett reads the newspaper daily like I do, especially the daily reports of serious traffic accidents and deaths on Arkansas highways, the deaths numbering over 500 per year. I read them to remind me to drive with caution.
In these reports, the word that always stands out to me is "ejected," which you see almost always when the very young are involved. People "ejected" are not wearing seat belts and, if air bags are deployed, they do them no good.
As for "constitutional rights," I won't go there.
I'm sure some people are injured by wearing seat belts, but they're not "ejected" where you surely die or are severely maimed. I'll be buckling that seat belt and I hope you do, too.
KAY QUINN
North Little Rock
Running red lights
When, dear God, is the Little Rock Police Department going to start putting cops at intersections to stop all of the people running red lights? Is there a certain amount of deaths and injuries that have to occur before this happens?
Downtown is bad, especially at the LaHarpe intersections, but west Little Rock is horrible, in particular, Taylor Loop and Cantrell.
Please, people, stop running red lights. Geez oh Pete!
LORI DELFOS
Little Rock
Editorial on 07/28/2014