LETTERS

— Deering is true talent

Some time back, a gentleman wrote a Voices letter concerning John Deering in which he said John evidently was retained because of his tenure, not his ability. Having been a neighbor and acquaintance of John for about 30 years, I’ve seen a lot of his work that a lot of people haven’t had the privilege of seeing.

He certainly has a plate full. In addition to being an accomplished artist and cartoonist, he is a magnificent sculptor. His talent for taking living images and transforming them into sculptures is wonderful. His wife, Kathy, is quite the artist herself.

John’s imagination is so deep sometimes, it is hard for some people to grasp the meaning. Can you imagine coming up with ideas for cartoons and art 365 days a year? Incredible. I bet if John were to publish a few books of all his work over the past decades, it would boggle the mind. I imagine his creations number in the thousands.

I prefer to look at and enjoy his many works, and unless I am as talented, which I’m not, I won’t be adversely critical of his ability. Rather, I’ll be complimentary.

DON W. BANEY Little Rock

Compromise needed

I’ve been a Republican since the late 1960s when the Democrats came up with the “Great Society” farce, and I am still voting Republican.

However, even if I don’t believe that someone who is rich should give me some of his money, I honestly think if the Republican leaders don’t bend on this taxation issue for the rich, it will severely hurt their chances in the coming election. Even though I don’t think these additional taxes will lower the deficit by any significant amount, as there will always be programs that need funding or additional funding, it will give people a sense of some compromise by the Republican Party.

I am afraid that Republicans cannot carry the election by the votes of the far right and will have to show a willingness of some compromise to attract the independents and the moderates of the party.

DON COONFER

Hot Springs Village

No equity in cutbacks

I’ve just read a petition from Taxpayers United for Fiscal Responsibility (TUFFR) regarding Pulaski County Special School District.

Did you know that the district’s superintendent has a salary package of over $260,000 and that the district has not cut administrative staff numbers nor salaries?

It appears to me that they expect the teachers and support staff to take the cuts, you know, the folks that really do something—they teach, feed and bus our kids.

RONALD SLOAN

Lonoke

Fraudulent thinking

Lawrence Krauss of the Los Angeles Times loudly proclaimed his allegiance to Darwinian evolution and chance origins with words like might, possibly, plausible, etc. And, of course, he offered no proof, since his faith is unproven and unprovable, in my opinion. How convenient.

Chance doesn’t exist. It is a mathematical concept used to predict the outcome of coin flips and the likelihood of rain tomorrow. Natural selection (survival of the fittest) is a demonstrated biological fact. Yet it tells us nothing about the arrival of the fittest.

Evolutionists depend on upward development via mutations. I believe they know in their heart of hearts that there never has been a mutation that added information to a genome. Mutations are errors in the transfer of information to offspring and always result in less information (devolution) or a rearrangement of existing information. Therefore, in my opinion, Darwinism is a fraud.

Krauss and his ilk know all this. Still they bombard us with their faith and decry ours even though we have an eyewitness to explain our faith. Furthermore, they would have us believe the moose, meadowlark and sperm whale are all blood brothers. Why should we care about their opinions on anything as rational as creation by design?

Writers from the scientific dark side in our society remind me of the preacher’s notes I saw once: “weak point, yell here!”

BOB L. WARNER

Hot Springs Village

A disgusting episode

I find it disgusting that the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs has been illegally charging war-wounded veterans and service-disabled veterans residing in veterans homes. I also find it even more disgusting that the governor is going to reimburse the veterans by using his taxpayer-funded discretionary funds without punishing those responsible.

The director, assistant director, medical director and others had “obvious knowledge” that the veterans were being charged illegally, according to Gov. Mike Beebe. “Did they do that through ignorance or did they do that intentionally? It really makes no difference, it should not have been done,” said Beebe.

RICHARD J. CALTON

Lakeway

Unexpected kindness

Recently I was eating dinner in a McDonald’s in Jacksonville. I paid for a large tea and two value-menu hamburgers. A man approached me and asked if I had enough. I told him that I thought I did. The next thing I knew, a female cashier came to my table carrying a huge paper takeout bag. I totally did not expect that. It made my day.

The young server explained that the couple paid for it and told her to give it to me. The bag contained a burger, fries and a soda. It was most definitely an unexpected blessing. I don’t know the couple’s names but I felt I had to write and thank them for their random act of kindness. Just when I think people are stuck up and don’t care, someone proves me wrong.

Again, thanks for that unexpected kindness. It will be remembered for a long time.

JANET WAGES

Jacksonville

Stop texters in tracks

There is a simple solution to the problem of phone texting while driving. It will cost almost nothing. No money, no additional manpower for enforcement.

Solution: Make it mandatory that every phone has GPS capability and have a cutoff circuit installed on the phone motherboard that will power down the phone when the GPS detects speeds over 5 mph. The cost of this circuit on the motherboard is negligible, and should have little to no effect on consumer prices.

Of course, this solution will possibly be circumvented in the future because future generations of newborn children will possibly be born with a phone naturally grown in the ear due to the evolutionary process caused by continual use by their parents and grandparents.

DENNIS MILAM

North Little Rock

Editorial, Pages 77 on 05/27/2012

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