Reputation is sullied
The hog farm at Mount Judea has not only damaged the Buffalo River, it has injured the reputation of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. I can't think of another state agency held in such low regard.
To the folks who work at the department, I ask this question: Do you think the Farm Bureau cares?
JOHN J. CASEY
Fort Smith
Insults their sacrifice
Nike is using the less-than-great former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick in an ad featuring Mr. Kaepernick with these words across his face: "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything." His everything is a declining career playing football and losing a large paycheck, but he does not seem to want to honor our national anthem or our flag by kneeling.
In 1943 my late brother, along with about a dozen classmates, joined the Navy within a week of their high school graduation because they did "believe in something"--helping win World War II. All of them served with honor until the end of the war in September 1945.
My brother, at age 19, was in the large group of vessels assembled off Okinawa preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war ended after two A-bombs were dropped on Japanese cities. He along with the others did face the possibility of "sacrificing everything"--their lives. Instead of a football career and a huge paycheck, they got less than $2,000 a year for their service.
Not standing for the anthem and showing disrespect for the flag by using the term "sacrificing everything" should not qualify Mr. Kaepernick for the use of this slogan. If it is the choice of Nike and Mr. Kaepernick to insult those that did sacrifice so much, then I suggest that Nike products be boycotted until they can show some respect.
HOMER FELTNER
Maumelle
Storms getting worse
The news says the storm hitting the coast is the worst in a lifetime.
God controls the weather. People should read the Bible and see why all the storms are increasing, especially the Book of Revelation.
HERBERT PAGE
Conway
Must address needs
I have to respectfully disagree with your editorial on Friday. We cannot wait for fossil fuels to run out before we start addressing the problems that such depletion will cause. With the current strides made thus far in renewable energy and the ongoing research being performed in this field, it is quite possible to convert a vast majority of our energy away from fossil fuels and over to renewable energy sources by 2045 (Note: I did not say 100 percent, but we could get close to that.) That gives us 27 years (not overnight) to figure it out and rework our power grid.
It will take a concerted effort by the research community, power grid providers, computer scientists, renewable energy providers and, yes, probably a billionaire or two. It will also take a coordinated effort by our own federal and state governments to provide research dollars toward renewable energy resources. We will also need to heed what scientists and research community members discover while ensuring that the business community and power companies work collaboratively with them to make requisite changes. We will have to rethink the power grid operation and its configuration in order to combine the various forms of renewable and fossil fuels energy sources into one fluid operation.
We will not get there unless we do set some goals and develop a plan--one informed by research-based results and real-world experiences, not from short-term thinking and status quo protectionism. We also need to designate funding (yes, I realize it will take a lot of money). Converting to renewable energy sources needs to be a national challenge because it impacts all of us. If this country can place a man on the moon in 10 years using slide rules, it can most certainly address the issue of a sustainable energy grid that fluidly integrates various renewable energy sources with our current fossil fuel usage that will meet the ongoing and future energy needs responsibly.
SUSANNE C. ASHBY
Cabot
The odds are stacked
There is an old joke about two guys hiking suddenly faced with a charging grizzly bear coming after them from a good ways off. One of them immediately sits down and starts putting on his running shoes. The other says, "Why do that? You can't outrun a grizzly." The punch line is, "I don't need to outrun the grizzly, I just need to outrun you." Expand that sad joke to a huge pack of wolves and a slightly larger pack of people. All of the people will run as hard as they can, but very few will come out unscathed.
That is the casino industry.
Those wolves are mathematically guaranteed to partially to totally devour most of their customers all of the time. They just have to be good at convincing all of them that each will be one of the few "winners," and hope they don't notice the vast majority of "losers." The fact that gambling is a recognized addiction helps them a lot and they give away lots of entertainment, food, flashing lights, excitement, and alcohol for nominal costs which are also addictive for many, so they are home-free if they can get their industry "legalized." So I am voting, again, against letting the wolves loose in Arkansas any more than they already are in Hot Springs and West Memphis. Since there seems no end to the out-of-state gambling corporations who will try to get a monopoly for themselves in Arkansas, I might be for legalizing a casino or two, near our borders, and requiring gambling corporations to compete with design/build/manage proposals that get renegotiated every 10 years.
Maybe we can get that up for a vote. Let the wolves in a little into the state just enough to get a fair share of the proceeds. Maybe that will put an end to this poorly disguised constitutional monopoly "license to steal" campaign occurring every other election year and get the state significant money, not chump change.
DARREL ODOM
Little Rock
About irrational fear
Since seeing an ad by French Hill, I have been concerned about his Nancy Pelosi phobia. I checked and Ms. Pelosi is not on the ballot in Arkansas, so I hope Mr. Hill will pay attention to the needs of Arkansas rather than a woman who lives in California and has her own race to win.
Arkansas farmers are apt to suffer in the next years due to tariffs placed on their crops. Arkansas has a great number of people who literally do not know where the next meal is coming from. Health care is a growing concern with Arkansans. Heaven help those who have a pre-existing condition and need care. Heaven help the small community hospitals who are tasked with their care.
These are some of the issues Mr. Hill needs to attend, not the chance that a California woman will seduce (metaphorically) his opponent. The list goes on. Tax breaks for the wealthy do not feed the hungry, nor do they pay medical bills for the needy. Arkansas waits for a representative to pay attention to the needs of Arkansans.
GWENNETH L. PRICE PICARD
Little Rock
Editorial on 09/17/2018