Buffalo versus hogs
Not a sporting event--in fact, there's nothing sporting about it. As Richard Mason points out in his Nov. 25 Perspective column, economic interests nationally continue to prevail over environmental protection.
Close to home, some progress has been made in the fight to stop factory pig farming within polluting distance of the Buffalo National River in spite of our state political leadership.
I applaud Mr. Mason for keeping the politicians on notice and for rallying support for protecting our natural abundance. Let the pigs roam where the Buffalo doesn't!
BILL HIRST
Sherwood
Wait, you said what?
In a recent Sunday editorial in this newspaper touching on the topic of editorial bias, the author seems to cheerfully embrace the notion that editorials are at their best when they're biased. You heard that greed is good? Well, it turns out that bias is good also. To accuse the Democrat-Gazette of bias is, as it were, to throw Br'er Rabbit into the brier patch.
So biased editorials are good editorials?
If you use the word "bias" as I believe it's ordinarily used (and how else would we use it if we want to be understood?), the thesis here is more than a little problematic.
Perhaps, much to my embarrassment, I'm just slow in recognizing a tongue-in-cheek exercise of creative journalism praising an obvious fault or failure, not unlike, for example, an exercise writing an essay with the title, "In Praise of Sloth." At the end of the essay you don't necessarily believe the author believes that sloth is a good thing any more than you do.
If on the other hand the author's words should be taken at face value, then this reader, well into his eighth decade but always ready to learn something new, would greatly appreciate a supplemental editorial completing the sentence prompt, "A biased editorial is a good editorial because ..."
If possible, semantic leaps that torture the word "bias" beyond recognition are to be avoided.
CLEVE MAY
Little Rock
A welcoming feeling
Karen Martin's column on the comparison of Savannah with Little Rock was well-written. What she failed to mention was that Savannah does not have freeways dividing its urban core into sections. Savannah has also resisted widening several of the main arterial streets, instead keeping the center dividers and the trees. It's a lovely, interesting city to walk around in.
Chain hotels and convention centers (Little Rock) are great, but there has to be a more welcoming feeling for the individual visitor.
WILLIAM POLLEN
Mena
We gambled and lost
Of all the people that voted for Issue 4, how many even read it? Don't get me wrong; I'm not opposed to gambling. I do have issues with the casino amendment to our state Constitution. As I read it, our Constitution now requires four casino licenses to be issued. Two of those will be issued to two existing specific operations; it also requires two other licenses to be issued in Pope and Jefferson counties.
In those two counties the applicants must demonstrate experience in conducting casino gaming (hello, out-of-state Indian casino owners) and submit a letter of support from the county judge or if within a city the mayor. Sales tax on gaming is being replaced by a special gaming tax; 17.5 percent of it will be returned to the racing commission to be used as purses for horse and dog race winners.
The Department of Finance and Administration has already projected that millions of dollars less taxes from Oaklawn and Southland will be collected because of the reduced tax on them. As for liquor sales, they will be permitted even in a dry county without allowing the residents to approve. How many out there think that the locations and applicants haven't already been chosen? The amendment names two specific entities and two specific locations without consideration for any others forever and ever.
I won't dwell on how this issue was advertised. I will comment on who paid for the bulk of the advertising I have read that many millions of dollars were spent by Indian tribes. We should be glad that those out-of-state tribes are looking out for us Arkies' best interests. This casino issue has been promoted as to keep the money in Arkansas, but if the casino owners are out of state, where do you think the profits are going to be spent?
RAY HIGHTOWER
Little Rock
Editorial on 12/01/2018