LETTERS

An outstanding effort

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Russia and her people, the NBC staff, the U.S. corporate sponsors, the U.S. Olympic Committee,the Olympians, coaches, parents, generous contributors and to everyone who, in many ways, made it possible for our team to participate in the 22ndWinter Olympics. Congratulations to all of you for your achievements.

We all were on the journey for 17 days to see the country and hosts, many of them volunteers. The competitions were well-executed, the facilities were outstanding, the ceremonies were breathtaking.

Yes, we look to the youth of the world and wish them well in all the avenues in which they choose to set personal goals. We owe them our sincere support and encouragement.

The future is theirs and they deserve the very best in life.

ANITA C. GATZKE

Little Rock

Going for the medal

For once, every subscriber to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is in the Olympics!

If you can read the entire paper through, without being frustrated, you are ready for the podium. You are a winner in the Curling category.

BOB L. HUSTON

Holiday Island

We are indeed angry

In response to Dan McElhannon of Okolona about a week ago chastising the Tea Party/Republicans for always “screaming” about saving money and to propose a bill eliminating the lieutenant governor’s office: Sounds like a good idea to me.

But two questions: Is Dan against saving money? And, correct me if I am wrong, but haven’t the “dim”ocrats been in control of the Arkansas government for the majority of the past bazillion years? One more question: where was his “put up or shut up” then?

Also, for Andrew Nedorolik Jr. of Lonoke and his defined angry white man, i.e., Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party, and the U.S. House of Representatives: He can add my name to the list because he is right, we are angry.

We are angry about years of hypocrisy and the seeming constant bombardment of “political correctness” far outweighing good common sense. We are angry about “dim” libs whose main goal apparently is government intrusion and control of every aspect of our lives from the cradle to the grave. We are angry about those who would disparage our Constitution and, by their actions, declare themselves above the law. Here is where Andrew might look up the definition of treason.

Yes, we are “mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any more!”

RON ARMSTRONG

North Little Rock

Carriers appreciated

Kudos to my carriers extraordinaire.

After the recent three-inch snowfall, I shoveled a path to the street and back. Guess where my morning paper landed. Yep, smack in the middle of the two-shovel-wide path.

Good service is alive and well. Thank you.

S.J. MANN

Bella Vista

Will always remember

Recently in a lower corner of this newspaper, where it could easily be missed, was a story on the Benghazi report released by the GOP.

The report blames unnamed White House officials for the deaths of four Americans and did not mention the person who recently said it was her biggest regret while at her post. This statement will fade away, for what I will always remember loud and clear is her other statement: “What difference at this point does it make?”

DONNA DAUGHERTY

Gravel Ridge

Rights in a free nation

It seems the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial writers really have a bug up their butts about the noble weed. They decry the fact that people outside Colorado are freer, too, since free trade and freedom of association allows cannabis to be moved and traded. And apparently unable to find onerous statistics showing any bad effects whatsoever from legalization of the herb, they attempt to trick their readers. Their car-fatality stat is a classic in this regard. (Hint: There won’t be any comparative auto-accident stats for years.)

The worst part of the editorial, in the opinion of this liberty-oriented American, is this: The editors appear to outright reject individual rights. Rights are, by definition, jurisdictional action principles that trump other moral considerations. Yet the editors advocate the violation of the rights of adults-for the children. That’s worth repeating: They apparently want to violate the natural or God-given rights of all adults on the flimsy and contradictory excuse that it’s for the children!

It is, of course, parents’ and caregivers’ responsibility to protect children. They are not entitled to shove the costs of child-rearing on others, let alone violate basic human rights to do so.

This I believe: Every person is self owned. Thus every person should have full jurisdiction over his own body and his own mind. This is not a proper subject of enforceable law, since such actions do not aggress against any person. As a famous hemp grower named Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

In a free country, a person can blow what he pleases.

BILL ORTON

Fayetteville

Stop the belly-aching

To those who are complaining about the curling pages of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, I offer a suggestion.

By using your right hand to hold the paper, you can then use your left hand to hold the top of the page flat against the other pages. You use the reverse if you are left-handed.

Seriously, are you not aware that with the Internet, we are greatly blessed to have a real state newspaper? We can hold the paper in our hands, smell the ink, and read about our state and the nation.

Be thankful and stop your bellyaching.

Oh, and to Clifford Eaton who asked me to explain my letter about Tom Cotton and Mark Pryor: I provided a website where people could check out Tom Cotton’s voting record, so I would appreciate him providing me with the factual source concerning his allegation of Mark Pryor’s past support of usurious payday lenders.

I will be waiting.

Also, concerning his remarks about the Keystone Pipeline and the various modes of transportation, he is correct: There is no good way to transport petroleum.

However, I doubt the people who lost their homes in Mayflower are jumping up and down because it could have been worse. This is why we all need to support every attempt for using alternate sources of energy, and stop using fossil fuels.

SHARON WILLIAMS

Little Rock

Editorial, Pages 15 on 02/27/2014

Upcoming Events