LITTLE ROCK — Where is Obama’s logic?
President Barack Obama seems to repeatedly berate those who reap the benefits of having experienced the American Dream while wooing the less affluent by promising them that he wants to enable them to become successful and wealthy, too. I fail to find any logic here.
Despite the apparent disdain the president has for these American dreamers, as I see it, he’s out to collect as much of their money as he can to spend on ideologies that do not represent what the majority of Americans want.
And talk about a big spender! In my opinion, with those luxurious vacations, lavish parties and luscious food, something tells me that he really doesn’t think that having money is as unfair as he says it is.
Nothing in our Constitution empowers a president to redistribute wealth because he’s determined some individuals have made enough money. Never mind the fact that successful people already share their wealth by voluntarily giving millions to worthy causes.
My income is minuscule compared to the top 1 percent of the population, but no doubt it’s a fortune to someone with a stack of overdue bills and no job. Will the president decide that I make too much money, too? Will he try to take what he thinks I don’t need?
ANNIE SNOW
Dover
Degrees of difference
The high cost of a college degree may not be the true road to happiness. Here are 10 things a degree will not teach you: 1. It will not guarantee your marriage. 2. It does not give you peace of mind or make you more friends. The hubris of that degree will make you think you are smarter than you really are, when outside your field of study you can still be as ignorant as a newborn baby.
It will not make you a better parent.
It will not necessarily land you that sought-after “perfect job.”
It will not bring you happiness or success.
Having that coveted degree does not equate with good health.
It will not make you smarter than the average person.
It may destroy your “common sense” and your humility in correct cognitive thinking.
It may erode your ethics. Look at all the college-degreed politicians, CEOs, coaches and even ministers that have lost their integrity by embezzling or stealing from their churches, companies or banks.
It will not save your soul. It may even destroy your faith as teachers disregard religion by promoting evolution and the randomness of the origin of life, godless genetics which may lead to abortion, and psychology without the need for God, that the universe just happened to create itself, form a vacuum, and man evolved from a single-celled protozoan.
TOM KNIGHT Little Rock
More fuel for debate
Does the price of gasoline have you heading for the social safety nets? Consider these facts before opting for an alternative fuel.
Gasoline has a variety of formulations, but on average it yields about 114,000 BTU (units of energy that it takes to move your vehicle) per gallon. Diesel (100 percent refined petroleum) yields about 129,500 BTU, so it is equal to about 1.136 gallons of gasoline. That is why you pay about 45 cents more for diesel than regular (without alcohol) at the pump.
How about regular unleaded with 10 percent ethanol? You will need to buy 1.02 gallons to get the same distance as a gallon of straight gasoline. Higher percentages of ethanol yield fewer miles per gallon; 1.5 gallons of pure ethanol has the same energy as one gallon of gasoline.
Compressed natural gas (CNG) requires 0.77 cubic feet of CNG at 2,400 psi or 5.66 pounds by weight to equal a gallon of gasoline. CNG is sold by the GGE (Gasoline Gallon Equivalent), so comparing the cost to gasoline is simplified.
Plug-in electric vehicles get their energy mostly from coal, natural gas or nuclear power plants. The cost per GGE at $0.07 per kilowatt hour is $2.34, or $4 per GGE at $0.12 per kilowatt. Rates vary across the U.S. from $0.07 in Idaho to $0.28 in Hawaii. Buyer beware!
DUANE WOLTJEN Fayetteville
Calls for intervention
I was pleased to read the letter from Flo Travis of Lonoke. Just the day before, I was nearly in tears after receiving our third call of the day from these people wanting to lower our credit-card rates. I have pushed number 3 to stop this from happening, and talked to a representative, who also hung up on me.
It’s been suggested that I change my number, not answer the phone, and various other remedies. However, one does not do that when you are a senior citizen with health problems, and waiting for callbacks from doctors and other important calls.
This has been going on for a year now. Travis has tried calling various agencies attempting to stop this practice. I had planned to do the same, but with her getting no results, what is the use? What is the answer to our getting help?
VELMA DIX
Eureka Springs
Slow down, watch out
Recently we lost a precious member of our family to a hit-and-run driver. The driver made no apparent effort to avoid hitting her, nor did they stop to see if there was anything they could do for her. She was very visible as she was almost solid white. Yes, she was a young cat with a sweet and loving nature who deserved better from we humans.
It’s hard for me to understand such a lack of compassion for another living being. Speed and driver distractions may have been contributing factors, but there are some who will intentionally try to hit anything that dares cross the street in front of them. These people are devoid of a basic respect for life, animal or possibly even human.
The next time you see someone’s pet crossing the street, please slow down and spare a family a lot of grief.
NEWBERN SMITH
North Little Rock
Don’t let bigotry hide
Recent letters have explored the politically correct concerns about Hispanic immigration, legal or illegal. However, the elephant in the room, religious bigotry, is slavishly avoided.
Since most Hispanics are at least nominally Catholics, I believe that if you scratch the skin of someone who can list all the negatives, one will most likely find a Bible Belt fanatic who deplores the increasing population of this Christian group but hypocritically avoids mention of it and dwells on the other factors.
It is time now to bring this bigotry to the fore and deal with it in an open, mature, intelligent and peaceful manner and not let it hide and fester in an atmosphere of hate.
B.L. DOUD
Jasper
A matter of semantics
Much of the talk about salvation not being “works-based” is nothing more than a distinction without a difference. For example, what seems to haunt most Protestants is not whether they walked the aisle and prayed a prayer, but whether it counted. Was it a true and sincere commitment?
For Protestants, the assurance of salvation comes through two signs: the conviction of the holy spirit and the fruit of the spirit in your life (love, joy, peace, etc.). The second is arguably more important because most experience conviction pre-Christ about all sorts of indiscretions. The fruit of the spirit, however, is direct, objective evidence of Christ’s power working within you. It’s actively changing you, making you more like Christ, slowly but surely.
In sum, according to the Protestant’s view, faith is what justifies the Christian, while works assure him of that justification. The Protestant may feel that he is freed from worrying about being good enough to be accepted by God, but now he needs to worry about whether he’s progressing enough to be assured that he has been accepted by God. This, as I said, is a distinction without a difference.
The reader is welcome to think that articulating the precise manner in which faith and works interact is of incalculable significance, but the man of common sense is content to rely on both like he rests in his seat—happily ignorant as to whether the width or length contributes more to the area that supports him.
GRANT ROLLINS
Little Rock
Disrespect was shown
I recently attended the 2012 graduation for Conway High School at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock; I had my 85-year-old mother and my 65-year-old sister there to see my granddaughter graduate. Both my mother and my sister were in wheelchairs.
We proceeded to our section and took the ramp with an arena assistant pushing my mother. When we got to the section, the people in the handicapped area were not handicapped. They completely ignored us and pretended that they did not see the handicap signs painted on the floor. The person assisting us said he would go get his manager; he never returned.
In looking around the arena, it appeared to us that there were many people sitting in the handicapped areas who did not appear to have a handicap. Two of the people sitting where we were trying to sit were teens listening to music on their iPods. I asked the father if they possibly could move and he said no, they were not moving.
I have never seen so many people with so much disrespect for people in wheelchairs. I hope they were very comfortable in the seats they chose and that they never have to deal with the misfortune of trying to find a seat for a handicapped relative and be treated as we were.
The arena administration should have someone placed at each of those areas and enforce the proper use of the handicapped areas.
REBECCA CRUM
Greenbrier
No safety in numbers
Re Rowan Keathley’s letter about calling a number to opt out of robocalls: I called that number and here’s what happened. A robot wanted my name, phone number, address and Social Security number—just what is needed for identity theft!
I do not give out my Social Security number or credit-card numbers or bank-account numbers to anyone, even when I initiate the call.
My advice to the lady who complained about all the robocalls is to do what I do. Hang up on them.
SALLY A. SCHUSTER
Springdale
Feedback
Random thoughts
Julie Andrews sang about some favorite things.
I loved plunging my hand into the icy waters of old Coke boxes on a hot summer day to get a bottle of Coke or Tru-Ade.
Then I would wonder why, in the old prison movies, they always executed Catholics, but never Protestants or Jews. And the prisoner was never from the South. “Say a prayer for me, faddah,” in that Jersey accent.
Where would Superman change today since there are virtually no more phone booths? In today’s society, he would be arrested for indecent exposure.
DAVE STUFF Little Rock
Why the big rush?
Re the letter citing 12 hints for fellow drivers to improve their driving habits during rush-hour traffic. Rush hour, the writer explains, is called rushed for a reason.
I have a better solution. Don’t drive rushed.
Then you won’t be a case of road rage waiting to happen.
MARY OKONSKI Bella Vista
Editorial, Pages 17 on 05/31/2012