Glitches in reading
I was always skeptical while reading letters praising the newspaper being delivered electronically. Now that I must receive my "paper" that way, I fully admit that there are some advantages. However, it is quite irritating when features said to make the tablet a better option and that were advertised as advantages do not work.
Too often lately, and in the past, the scroll at the bottom of the page does not have sections listed, but simply page numbers. That makes it impossible to select a section to go to automatically. Also, the feature which allows you to highlight the headline and have an easier format to read the article does not work, nor does the article continuation. For me, this has made it harder to read, as one good aspect was reading it on the treadmill before work.
I know these are glitches. I know you are working on them. When it happened before, it did get fixed after a few days. But please know that it is unpleasant reading for me and, I suspect, others as well.
MARLA J. GLADWIN
North Little Rock
Land of King Trump
Our form of government of executive, legislative, and judicial branches was created to separate the powers and duties and create a system of checks and balances. This was the model for our democracy precisely to prevent a monarchy.
Our founders are rolling over in their graves as "King Trump" behaves like the monarch our Constitution was created to prevent. There are no checks or balances on his corrupt and unethical behavior. Congress showed loyalty to "King Trump" by failing to conduct a fair and open impeachment. Their oath was to uphold our Constitution, so help them God. Instead they swore that oath to "King Trump."
Our senators and representatives continue to bow to "King Trump." Senator Cotton boasts of his support for our military but stands silent as Trump dismisses Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who spoke the truth. Senator Boozman is silent as Trump uses the National Prayer Breakfast to mock the faith of Sen. Mitt Romney, who has a conscience. Trump has no sense of faith or belief--other than in himself. Where was the outrage of the evangelicals?
Trump is disparaging federal judges with whom he disagrees. Attorney General Barr is serving him and not our judicial system. Now the "King" is inserting himself into the federal prosecutors' authority by ordering a reduction in prison sentences of his friends for crimes for which they were convicted. Yep, big contributors or political allies of the "King" will "be taken care of" with a pardon. Independent federal judges can exercise their judicial discretion--regardless of what Trump desires.
I believe historians will mark this period of "King Trump" as a dangerous time. The party of Lincoln became the puppets of Trump. They are complicit in helping Trump build the monarchy our founders fought and died to prevent. We cannot allow this to continue! "King Trump" must go, and his monarchy with him.
RL SCOTT
Little Rock
You scratch my back
In a recent Rex Nelson column, he stated that our (somewhat) esteemed mayor recently announced his endorsement of Mike Bloomberg for president and his being appointed to a national Bloomberg study. Did the study have anything to do with quid pro quos?
WALTER TUCKER
Little Rock
No need to go there
A new discrimination is developing--elimination of information services for those who enjoy reading and savoring the printed page, who find Internet resources great for quick answers, but who have no desire for extended reading of electronic pages.
Our local libraries sustained us for years with their incredible fiction and nonfiction print collections. Browsing the shelves was a serendipitous experience, eliciting joy with each new discovery. Today ephemeral digital collections rapidly replace printed books. Favorite titles disappear as libraries discard or sell their printed materials at ever-increasing rates.
After 200 years of print publication, even our local newspaper has gone digital. The electronic tablet that came with the new subscription was helpful, but the assumption that all have access to Wi-Fi was not. The suggestion that Internet access charges could be eliminated by visiting a Wi-Fi site every morning to download the newspaper was not practical, nor were the additional costs per year to pay for online access.
Our final refuge was the national chain bookstore near us, but it began selling more toys and purchasing fewer books, driving us to search out printed materials from online sources or from more remote secondhand or privately owned bookstores.
I confess to being a digital minimalist who likes to use the Internet, but only for specific purposes ... never for reading books, magazines, or newspapers. There is a blank hole in each day which once the newspaper filled. I miss the weekly visits to libraries and nearby bookstores, and feel bereft that there is no longer a need to go there.
HOPE SHASTRI
North Little Rock
New world possible
We do have a good future. Hydrogen fuel used in an internal combustion engine is a clean, affordable, and reusable source of energy. Using electricity through water to separate hydrogen from oxygen, hydrogen produces 33 percent more energy than it takes to produce, and produces water when combusted with zero percent auto emissions. An electric motor, plug-in rechargeable batteries, and a hydrogen fuel engine operate a generator to run the electric motor when needed. You can use solar panels to produce the low compression hydrogen when you get home, and charge the batteries overnight. A filling station can produce high-pressure hydrogen on site with no dirty refinery.
Hydrogen is the only clean and renewable source of energy we have.
BARRY EMIGH
Hot Springs
This sounds familiar
George Bernard Shaw's Cleopatra spoke a line characteristic of today's politics: "It is not that I am so clever, but that the others are so stupid."
IKE ANTHONY
Maumelle
Editorial on 02/17/2020