We will pay the costs
What do you think will come out of this latest special counsel ado? l believe history again will be repeated, which is that a few political points will be scored, many lawyers made richer, some media getting more viewers, and much time wasted in addressing the real problems of our great country.
Meanwhile, the taxpayer will again pay the cost in lost time, treasure and talent. It is not now nor has it ever been about right or wrong, but about winning or losing.
That is why many of us have so little respect for those that are representing us.
It is a sad day for all that this is allowed to continue. Guess we lack common sense and are too greedy to care. Have ours and/or on the take and willing to mortgage the future of the following generations.
We too are for sale.
WILLIAM JEBB
Cabot
Uphold permit denial
A huge, toxic algae bloom has now polluted 17 to 30 miles of Big Creek, the Buffalo River, and even the White River, and become a health hazard. Recently I attended a meeting of the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission to decry our so-called environmental quality department's actions in allowing C&H Hog Farms to continue operating despite the agency's denial of its permit. C&H has appealed that decision, which will be tied up in court for who knows how long, and meanwhile is permitted to keep polluting without restriction. The result is that a significant number of people, including children, have already been afflicted with rashes and worse ailments after swimming in the river, and residents say there are now far fewer tourists.
Clearly this pollution is killing tourist trade as well as fish and wildlife. Now I read that C&H owners applied to create a new, even larger factory farm of 10,000-plus hogs near tributaries of the Arkansas River and the town of Altus in the heart of Arkansas wine country, another major tourist attraction.
An owner of C&H approached me at the meeting and tried to convince me that the algae bloom is due to tourist activity and sunscreen application; I had to laugh. Scientists have been saying for years that the Buffalo River valley's highly permeable karst geology is absolutely the wrong place for factory farming and the application of millions of gallons of hog feces on the land. Please, please write and phone the governor, your representatives, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the pollution control commission to demand that they uphold the C&H permit denial (a new comment period is now being opened) and deny any future permit for another horrific factory farm.
NANCY BAXTER
North Little Rock
Wrench in the works
Truth fixes stuff (as does knowledge). Dad's toolbox was a massive thing. Amongst tools ancient and modern was one called the "monkey wrench." Indispensable, ingenious, a tool from the early 19th century. Standard equipment on Ford Model A cars. Every "shade tree" mechanic had one, maybe not much else, in his box. Ill-equipped repairmen will "monkey" through a job, maybe fixing troubles or maybe not. That is "monkeying around," old style.
This idiom is now perceived as hurtful, so I think I'll avoid its use, but never did I imagine that Dad's favorite tool could evoke such genuine offense. Apologies, if not too late.
THOMAS BIECHLER
Leslie
Pot versus the kettle
While the first lady campaigns against teenage cyber-bullying, her 72-year-old husband continues his practice of name-calling on social media.
What follows is a small sampling of the nearly 500 people, places, and things POTUS has insulted on his Twitter account (according to the "Failing and Corrupt" New York Times): "Dishonest" Press; "Fake" News (ABC, CNN); "Lyin'" Ted Cruz; "Cheatin'" Obama; "Crooked," "Heartless" Hillary; "Nasty" Barbara Res; "Little" Marco Rubio; "Shady," "Sanctimonious," "Slimeball" James Comey; "Rat" Michael Cohen; "Thug" Robert Mueller; "Crazy" Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders; "Flakey" Jeff Flake; "Sloppy" Steve Bannon; "Low Energy" Jeb Bush; "Low IQ" Maxine Waters; "Head Clown" Chuck Schumer; "Wacky and Deranged" Omarosa; "Resign!" Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Psychologists tell us that negative criticism (i.e., name-calling) is an "ego defense," and that it reveals more about the psychology of the critic than those he or she criticizes--sort of like looking at yourself in a mirror. Oscar Wilde said that "criticism is the only reliable form of autobiography."
Now I ask all you folks out there who have (or have had) children: What would you say to your child if you overheard them calling someone a bad name? I'd like to think that the first lady would say: "Be best, Donald. Be best!"
FLEMING STOCKTON
Little Rock
A game of semantics
The "semantics game" continues. In his recent letter, Sam Emerson states that he is "pro-choice" but that doesn't mean he is "pro-abortion." What does it mean, then? What is the "choice" that is at stake in the meaning of "pro-choice"? Is it not the choice to abort a preborn human life for whatever reason the mother of the child wants--which is what currently is legal in our country? Is that not, in effect, promoting and advocating abortion? It certainly is not promoting or defending the life of the unborn child. Nor is it condemning abortion.
The words "pro-choice" have a seemingly palatable, friendly aura--almost with patriotic, goodwill overtones. But the words really translate as "pro-choice to kill the preborn child" or "Pro-abortion." "Pro-choice" advocates view this position as a fundamental right of a pregnant woman to terminate the life within her and totally deny the inherent dignity and right to life of the preborn child.
No, Mr. Emerson, the paper's editorial which incited your anger and caused you to label it as resembling "yellow journalism" spoke the objective truth. Since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in America in 1973, over 60 million innocent unborn lives have been terminated in our country alone. The ramifications are profoundly sobering ... morally, economically, demographically, socially and psychologically.
MARY SPOND
Sherwood
Editorial on 09/04/2018