Turkey drop horrific
I know the annual "turkey drop" in Yellville is a long-standing event. But I am horrified.
It has been well-documented that animals have the same feelings we have. Can you imagine being thrown onto an airplane (frightening in itself) and then being pitched from this moving machine from 500 feet? Would that frighten you? And believe me, it's not a peaceful glide to the ground. If that's not horrific enough, after they reach the ground, they are chased around by children trying to catch them. What fun!
If this isn't considered animal cruelty and abuse, I don't know what is. It needs to stop.
SARAH NUNNELLY
Little Rock
Educate the readers
Your editorial, "The Experts Speak/Cops, doctors probably know best," reads like a proclamation rather than an opinion.
I believe as part of the Fourth Estate you should be educating your readers and giving them the opinions of those who fight the war on drugs, not quotes from two cops and a list of organizations that make money on drugs ... oops, I mean medicine. Your editorialist and your readers deserve the insights of those in the trenches. Both readers and editorialist, please google Law Enforcement Against Prohibition or go to leap.cc and educate yourselves.
If this newspaper wants an informed voter, which is its Fourth Estate duty, then its readers should expect another editorial.
IRIS CIABATTARI
Fayetteville
Not wild-eyed liberal
I was interested in the letter from Nancy Rorex. I am a personal friend of hers and have been for many years. I know her to be one of the most caring and compassionate people in my life. She works with hospice, specializing in pediatric care, caring for babies who are in the last stages of terrible illness. She has training in the UAMS Chaplaincy Program and works in that program caring for folks who have very serious concerns. She not only keeps up with the political situation, but thinks very carefully about it. On top of this she is a successful caterer.
I have seen one negative opinion printed in your paper, and am sure there are many negative thoughts regarding her subject matter. I just want to underline that Ms. Rorex is not a "wild-eyed liberal." She is a caring and compassionate liberal who thinks carefully and has strong feelings for people. Thank you for allowing this open forum.
NELSON BARNETT
Batesville
Usage of the language
I believe Sharon McKinney's letter deriding Hillary Clinton's use of the word "deplorable" recently in reference to certain followers of Donald Trump demonstrates an ignorance of the meaning of the word.
If one checks old and new dictionaries, one will discover the word is not profane, nor a curse word. It is still in current usage, meaning "lamentable" or "something or someone to cause shock or fear." Certainly, those many followers of Trump who are xenophobes, homophobes, racists, bigots, and the like are lamentable. Hillary should not have specified a number, and she has apologized for that, but she should never apologize for calling folk fitting into those categories who would support Trump what they are.
Several letters in several papers have derided Hillary, but those writers should check language usage more carefully.
JOHN W. "DOC" CRAWFORD
Arkadelphia
Cut through baloney
Are you having trouble deciding what is the truth and what are lies, listening to all of the baloney being fed to us in this political campaign? I may have a solution to help you make your decision without having to listen to any more questionable information.
If you are happy with the decisions coming out of Washington over the past eight years, then you should vote for Hillary Clinton. If you feel that Washington needs a housecleaning and a change in direction, then you should vote for Donald Trump.
I am not a Mexican rapist, or a female pig, or a bigot; I guess I'm just deplorable.
LAWRENCE H. ALLEN
Highland
Who's money-hungry?
I just don't understand why so many people think that politicians are money-hungry/corrupt, and that business people aren't. I think that's backwards.
It seems business people (I'm not talking about workers) usually do everything that they can to get more than their "fair market value" for themselves, and in doing so they have absolutely no problem confusing the loosest sense of legality with morality. On the other hand, national politicians are usually the kind of people who would be the CEO of companies making millions of dollars per year, but instead they are working toward the public good for a couple hundred thousand dollars per year--and that's not chump change, but it sure is not their fair market value either.
Of course, former presidents and first ladies can make a whole lot of money after leaving office these days just off their celebrity. But any aspiring politician has an absurdly better chance of winning the lottery than ever even getting nominated to run for president. The future plan of becoming president isn't why they pass on six-figure salaries straight out of Harvard, Yale, etc., and take low-paying public interest or political jobs instead (it is because they aren't money-hungry/corrupt).
Hillary Clinton, who went to work at the Children's Defense Fund out of Yale Law School, has made plenty of money since being first lady, but she has also donated a significant percentage of it to charity--and she paid her taxes on the rest of it without any shenanigans. I believe no one can truthfully say any of that about Trump (except that he has made a lot of money). But this was my opinion about politics and business in general long before the primaries for this election even began. Those two simply exemplify it. And quite nicely too!
CALVIN JAMES HANELINE
Paragould
Waiting for the plans
If Donald Trump has a secret about how to stop ISIS, why hasn't he offered it up to the Department of Defense so it can stop ISIS?
It doesn't sound very patriotic to me. It sounds more like a blowhard who cares only for himself.
BOB MASSERY
Little Rock
Editorial on 10/07/2016