This is unacceptable
This newspaper declares itself "Arkansas' Best News Source." Obviously not, since you apparently chose to completely ignore the very large, enthusiastic gathering at the Capitol on Oct. 2 of people speaking, rallying and marching to protest the latest Texas assault on reproductive freedom. Such important events as the food truck festival and the Arkansas-Georgia football game, however, were given ample coverage.
It seems as if your editorial position on this issue affected your choice of news coverage. This is, of course, completely unacceptable according to your own Statement of Core Values and journalistic principles.
BETTINA BROWNSTEIN
Little Rock
Get vaccines to world
For most Americans, receiving the covid-19 vaccination is a simple process. You walk into your local pharmacy or health center and leave with your first vaccination in less than 30 minutes. Within weeks, the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family becomes reality. As U.S. residents, we are fortunate that many of us are able to access the vaccine easily and without cost.
Others, outside of the U.S., are not as privileged. The global vaccination rate is approximately 33 percent. Only about 4 percent are vaccinated across the entire continent of Africa. This low vaccination rate is directly linked to the inaccessibility of the vaccine, and this inequitable distribution of the vaccine allows the virus to continue spreading. Research suggests that most of the world will not have widespread access to the vaccine until 2023.
Regardless of your stance on the covid-19 vaccine, others should have access to the vaccine now. They deserve the same opportunities and privileges that we enjoy. As a global community, our action or inaction directly impacts others. We've lost too many. We've lost too much. Let's support the fight across the world to end this pandemic. I am urging our senators and representatives to support global access to the vaccine. We must urgently increase the supply and distribution of vaccines for all.
JASMINE PHILLIPS
Benton
Was that deliberate?
On Saturday, over 1,500 people rallied in the March for Reproductive Freedom (aka Women's March) at the Arkansas Capitol. There were similar events on the same day in four other Arkansas cities, all with sizable attendance worth noting. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette failed to cover these events.
Is this lack of coverage a sad mistake or was it a deliberate decision to passively engage in yet another attempt to silence women?
SANDRA STEVENS
Little Rock
Maybe it's not so bad
W.C. Fields, one of the great vaudeville comedians and early talkies actors, was famous for making Philadelphia the butt of his ridicule and an ongoing target of his jokes. On his deathbed he is reported to have said in a final retort, "Maybe I would really rather be in Philadelphia after all."
Anti-vaxxers and supporters of the new Messiah take note.
Two more children that my wife and I baby-sat and watched growing up who recently adopted a child (they were our future, and a bright future it was) are now both bed-ridden and in extensive rehab after spending way too much time on ventilators. Both were die-hard supporters of our new Messiah and avid anti-vaxxers, and both paid a hard price for the consequence of those opinions.
One is having to learn to reuse a wasted finger; both may need to be driven to the voting booth and require assistance come November 2024. Now let's not make those anti-assistance-in-the-polling-place laws too airtight. You might just catch and eliminate a lot of damaged former anti-vaxxers in your net and not your planned target.
One thing we do know about 2024: There will be plenty of available parking slots available at the polling booth, vacant due to the stream of Trump supporters who chose to ride the sinking Titanic down, unrepentant for not wearing masks to prevent their neighbor from having to share our lovely new cruel-and-unusual punishment and endure our new modern-day crucifixions.
An aside: If wearing a mask prevented you from infecting just one person and putting them through this hell, wouldn't it be worth it?
As for me, "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
DANNY HANCOCK
Lonoke
No coverage of rally
I attended the rally at the Capitol on Saturday to support women's right to make decisions regarding their reproductive health and to protest legislation aimed to make abortion illegal. It was very well-attended. How was it covered in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat Gazette? Not one word.
There was coverage of the rallies and marches in other cities across the country, but apparently support for women's rights in Arkansas isn't considered newsworthy. I have found that this paper never seems to announce planned events supporting abortion rights. I suppose that kind of news conflicts with your core values. You have no problem announcing and covering anti-abortion activities. This is lying by omission.
There are thousands of people in Arkansas who believe in a woman's right to choose and prefer to support quality of life after birth.
SUSAN WESTON
Little Rock