Think of other people
Are you the type of person who feels empathy for a dying person only trying to enjoy a little peace and quiet? How about a hardworking nurse who has to be at work at 6:30 a.m.? Or a veteran who fought for his country and returned with PTSD? These are three groups who are most probably negatively affected by your fireworks use, and that's only the people. Most of the animals in your area will be cowering in fear, unable to understand why their world has been transformed into a place of massive explosions and strange acrid smells.
I can certainly understand because my world is made a living hell each year for at least two weeks. I have fibromyalgia, which makes me extremely sensitive to loud noises. Fireworks are illegal in Little Rock, but that doesn't stop people. My poor 11-year-old dachshund is terrified to go outside to attend to his business.
It's all a matter of thinking about someone other than yourself. Patriotism has nothing to do with producing loud explosions. Most of you have a car, so go out into the country to shoot your fireworks. I have no car and am stuck at home being tortured by you. Please be a little sensitive to the feelings of others. In the same vein, wear your mask at the grocery store; I don't want to catch your virus!
CATHERINE LAMB
Little Rock
Honor the politicians
I think the name of the Washington NFL team should be changed. My suggestion would be to honor the politicians of both parties that operate in that city.
Change the name from the Washington Redskins to the Washington Dingbats.
DALE JONES
Hot Springs Village
So, about the judges
John Brummett's opinion on the subject of voting by mail was thorough, covering several relevant facets: the need for it during this pandemic; Trump's concern about potential widespread fraud in Biden's favor; a lawsuit filed in circuit court seeking to enjoin state officials from enforcing any restrictions on absentee voting.
Question: How does Brummett conclude that it appears the lawsuit will go forward with a good chance of lower court success, but some risk of Supreme Court zaniness?
Is he saying our Supreme Court judges may act like clowns and buffoons?
JACK MURPHY
Little Rock
Liberty, local control
After hearing Sen. Tom Cotton's reasons (and I use the word "reason" lightly) why the District of Columbia should not be made a state, I felt compelled to respond.
His implication that taxpaying Americans who have white-collar jobs are less worthy of representation is as nonsensical as it is hypocritical, given that one would have difficulty thinking of a more white-collar profession than that of senator. There is also no constitutional basis for preventing D.C. statehood, as the Constitution allows Congress to determine how D.C. should be configured.
Setting aside also the fact that opposition to taxation without representation was one of the tenets upon which this nation was based, his opinion that over 700,000 Americans should be denied representation because he doesn't personally approve of which candidate they may prefer is the stuff of dictatorships, not democracies.
However, self-autonomy is also at stake. For example, if the D.C. City Council approves a law, any member of Congress can singlehandedly prevent that law from taking effect. What would our reaction be if Arkansas passed a law only to have it nullified by one member of Congress from New York or California? Would that be our idea of liberty and freedom? How would we feel if a President Barack Obama or President Hillary Clinton controlled our National Guard? And would you think kindly of someone who told you that a proper solution would be to dissolve Arkansas and divide it between Missouri and Louisiana?
Statehood for D.C. is neither a power grab nor a partisan issue. It's a matter of basic liberty and local control, things Senator Cotton professes to believe in.
ERIC MOAK
Little Rock
Let's act like we care
The other day an acquaintance told me "I'm not wearing a mask. The government can't tell me what to do."
I was silent. But I wish I had told him: Science (listen to the experts) and history (see the Spanish flu pandemic) show the mask helps. The mask has worked in other countries who are seeing a drop in infections. Our nation is moving in the wrong direction because we are not working together. Don't react like a rebellious teenager. Act like a mature adult. Make this voluntary sacrifice for the health of your loved ones and the good of your country. Soldiers sacrifice for others. Our first responders, our doctors and nurses, are sacrificing for others. Now we need you to give up a bit of comfort to get this virus under control.
We are all Americans. Let's act like we care about each other.
BARBARA TRUESDELL
Hot Springs Village
No talking with them
Thank you, David Kelley, for your Voices letter. I have found the same result when trying to talk to a protester. So I draw my own conclusions by their actions, which seems to me that it's something fun to do, and they should be fined and made to do community service work in cleaning up the mess they made.
Because of their anger, I no longer try to have a conversation with a protester.
REGINA ROEMER
Fayetteville