On their brave battle
I read the Perspective debate about the question of whether prosecuting climate-change deniers violates their right to free speech. It reminded me of something. The Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. It does not, however, require us to be honest and truthful. There is the commandment thing, but who pays any attention to that?
The first error is in describing the Heartland Institute as nonpartisan. It is a right-wing propaganda tank financed in large part by the fossil-fuel industry. Then H. Sterling Burnett says that Barack Obama is hostile to debate. That is totally false, and pretty much discredits the rest of the article. It also is false that environmentalists want to prosecute deniers for their view. The question actually is whether or not they should be prosecuted if they commit perjury under oath.
I do have to have some sympathy for the deniers, though. They are bravely fighting against fact and reality with no backing other than than the fossil-fuel industry, assorted billionaires, and the Republican Party. A lonely task indeed.
JAMES B. SAWYER
Fayetteville
Show us how it's done
I would like to have Mr. Bradley Gitz or another of his anti-minimum-wage ilk demonstrate how to live on $7.50-an-hour income.
Gitz, since you feel your fellow American workers are being paid what they are worth, let's have you be the first to try that lifestyle. Of course, it's conservatives like yourself who promote 1 percent of Americans owning 99 percent of the nation's wealth.
BILL FRITZ
Hot Springs Village
Avoid peer pressure
Anyone can experience peer pressure, no matter where they go. It is a pressing issue in our society and it causes problems in everyday life. Some kids, especially in high school, get pressured into doing things without even knowing it's occurring. An extremely important problem with this is kids and teenagers are being pressured into substance abuse and thousands of people die from it every year.
People of all ages should focus more on being themselves and using preventive measures to stop peer pressure. Don't lose hope, because there are different ways people of all ages can avoid getting pressured into doing something they don't want to, including avoiding potential stressful situations, considering the outcome of your actions, seeking support, and evaluating your friendships.
BROOKE ROGERS
Sherwood
Laptops not a waste
Recently, Navan E.M. Camlin wrote a Voices letter about how laptops in public schools are a waste of money. I believe to students, laptops are very valuable in the classroom setting. Students use laptops to take notes in class, type up assignments, share notes, and work with groups on projects. The laptop also allows students to keep up with assignments in different classes and stay organized. Students can also use them to help teach themselves lessons that they missed or didn't understand.
I believe most parents, or even non-parents, will say that students can use their laptops to get on inappropriate websites even though the district already has those websites blocked. Adults may also say that they can break easily when they are not cared for.
Overall, though, laptops are very useful to students in public schools and are definitely not a waste of your hard-earned tax money.
HAYLEE PRICE
Sherwood
Stop blaming the test
If we are truly educating our children to be future contributing members of society, shouldn't they be able to pass any assessment test which is appropriate to their grade level? Math, reading, writing, vocabulary--these are basic skills which should be transferable to any test of their knowledge.
Our schools are failing our children if the children are only able to pass a specific "brand" of test. Stop the excuses that "the test changed" and educate our children to succeed in life.
ELAINE ROSEN
Bella Vista
Eliminate opposition
Re Michael Kraft's Perspective piece, why debate the question further? We have infallible science. We are a nation of ambiguous laws and a malleable Constitution. We have the means to take action against climate-change deniers now. Professor Kraft's great service is the identification of the mechanism by which deniers will be silenced: RICO. The genius of RICO is its expansive polysemousness. This trait enables the state to weaponize RICO against any subversive opinions and organizations. Thanks to our Dear Leaders, deniers of anthropogenic climate change will soon be muzzled.
But we should not stop there. Let loose the dogs of RICO against those who think life begins at conception and would deny a woman the right to terminate an inconvenience. Turn it against the papists who teach marriage is a unity of male and female (whatever that is) and a reflection of the Godhead. Activate RICO to silence Jewish support of the Israeli state.
Lest we forget: We are a compassionate and inclusive society. Once repressed, these extremists should be given every opportunity for re-education and re-integration into public life. For those whose obstinacy prevents reform we have a number of blueprints for containing the spread of their contagions. Reservations. Work camps. Hospitalization and pharmacological intervention. The 19th and 20th centuries provide rich examples of how best to deal with counter-revolutionaries.
So put on your brown shirts, people; sharpen your sickles, comrades! Let us put an end to climate-change dissent today.
MICHAEL GRAY
Springdale
Opinions on politics
When I graduated from high school, all I was interested in was chasing girls and finding a good-paying job. In May of 1950, I was accepted into the electrical union as an apprentice wire man. I was making enough money to buy a car after three weeks of working. I was also able to pursue my hobby of chasing girls until I got married two years later and my wife told me I couldn't do that anymore. With time on my hands, I started reading the paper and listening to political news.
My opinion, the Republicans know Donald Trump is not going to follow their agenda for us and they are not going to be able to control him. If you are a worker who earns a weekly, bi-monthly or monthly paycheck, the Republican Party is definitely not your friend. I believe the beginning of the fall of the middle class began in Richard Nixon's second term as president, and it wasn't over Watergate.
I don't believe any one of the political parties should control 100 percent of the government. One should control the Senate or the House and the other party not be in control, and the Supreme Court is a big farce. If the justices make a decision about the Constitution or a law, I think they should all be in 100 percent agreement and not just their opinion, or the opinion of their party.
More of my opinions later.
D.E. HUNTER
Benton
Editorial on 04/25/2016