To be good stewards
So our elected officials and Democrat-Gazette editorial writers are wringing their hands regarding the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline, even lamenting that they don't see how the Earth would benefit from this decision.
Seriously? How soon the memory of oil running down the streets of Mayflower into Lake Conway are forgotten.
Pipelines are always NIMBY kinds of things in that they are not a problem for most folks because they are not in their backyards. Until they realize that the same pipeline that burst in Mayflower runs along Lake Maumelle.
The problem with Keystone was its original route ran for 250 miles through the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska, and any kind of spill along that area would have catastrophic consequences. So the route was changed to lessen the impact, but the question of how much risk do you want to take to folks' drinking water could never be overcome. And Keystone wouldn't be carrying just oil, but oil "sludge" that would be very difficult if not impossible to clean up.
Until we take the dollar signs of jobs, profit, and tax revenue out of our eyes at the expense of the environment, we can never be good stewards of the Earth.
DAVE DINGLER
North Little Rock
Always unchanging
Federal minimum wage: 2009 $7.25; 2010 $7.25; 2011 $7.25; 2012 $7.25; 2013 $7.25; 2014 $7.25; 2015 $7.25; 2016 $7.25; 2017 $7.25; 2018 $7.25; 2019 $7.25; 2020 $7.25; 2021 $7.25.
How is this acceptable?
JOE SEAMAN
Lakeview
Tradition in the party
There is a faction within the Republican Party. Traditional Republicans actually want to try to govern the masses through public policies that involve cooperation, negotiation and compromise. The current iteration simply wants to enable and promote Donald Trump, the truest way for their party, because apparently the good Republican really has only two standards: money and power. If the good Republican begins to think his party has social standards or duties to the public, he has lost his way. Republicans must return to the business of stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. It seems real Republicans are in politics to help corporations, who are defined by the Supreme Court as "people," especially after the 2010 court decision to reject corporate spending limits on politics. "We the people" are corporations and their stakeholders, and some of us do not even live in this country. Poor people are under the care of Democrats, who may no longer stand a chance against the wealth and technology of global corporations.
This Trump faction seems to have three standards: money, power and Trump. Only certain groups of investors will get rich in this economy, and those groups may someday succeed with Trump in replacing politicians with millionaires. Why elect bleeding-heart politicians when we can elect millionaires?
GENE MASON
Jacksonville
Wait, who said that?
Ms. Star Parker starts her column with the statement, "Listening to all the rhetoric in the popular media, you would think America is the most unfair and racist nation in the world."
I want more information. Who is saying these things? Has the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette covered these statements? Please tell us.
JOHN SENNER
Little Rock
Already a champion
Jalen Battles, the slick-fielding shortstop slugger for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, does not need to go to the College World Series to be a champion. He's already a class-act champion to Jason Rowton, this fan, and all those who know about the text message Battles sent to Rowton well before the Hogs played their "win-or-go-home" qualifying series in the Super Regional in Fayetteville.
Rowton is a 45-year-old former pitcher and shortstop who was a standout for Bryant High School and North-Ark College back in the day. He has hit a rough patch recently. He was battling kidney failure and awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant last month when his 20-year-old stepson died unexpectedly. That tragedy was followed by a disappointing episode in which an early morning rush to the hospital and surgery prep was all for naught, because the kidney he thought he was to receive was a better match for another patient. Keeping up with the No. 1-ranked Omahogs' quest to get to Nebraska and watching his favorite player (Battles) on the diamond were the only mental distractions available to Rowton during this difficult stretch.
June 8, things began to look up for Rowton. A more suitable organ match became available. The doctors made the switch, and the difficult wait period to see if his body would accept the kidney began. Rowton and his family's spirits were boosted again the next day when he unexpectedly received the following text: "Jalen Battles to Jason Rowton: Hey man, I hope all is well and I just wanna say that I'm praying for you and I want to wish you good luck on the kidney. Let me know how everything goes."
It's commendable when people can reach across differences in age, levels of disability, race and celebrity to acknowledge one another. Kudos to Jalen Battles for taking the time to perform this random act of kindness; especially while he was preparing for the most critical games in his promising career.
High credit goes to Coach Van Horn too, for bringing such remarkable young men to Arkansas to represent us.
JERRY BUTLER
Hot Springs
A nation of change
Two weeks from today, our nation will have had 245 years of independence from England. How do you believe the United States has changed in that time? Tell us if you haven't had a letter printed in the past 30 days, and we'll do our best to get it in for the holiday.
Keep it under 300 words, and send it by email to [email protected], or through our Voices form at arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform.