Problem is solvable
I was saddened and shocked by your editorial, "Not even the foggiest." To state that our president and the other leaders of the free world should abandon their efforts to bring peace to the Holy Land. That they were bound on a fool's errand by even trying to solve the problem of that divided patch of dirt.
You said that the problem "stymied some of the greatest empire-builders of the past." Not true. They and many more solved the problems of Palestine by simply conquering the territory and turning it into a client state, which it was at the time of Christ. This strip of land has been a highway for conquering armies for four or five millennia, usually crushing its rather fractious population. So, peace there is not something that the Jews have had much experience with at all.
I was amazed when you worked in the "God" card. "Some kind of divine imperative at work here," implying that the God of Abraham gave this place to the Hebrews. The problem I see is that God only told the Jews and not anyone else, so we only have their word on the subject. Making the problem God's and therefore insolvable is rather a cop-out.
Do you have a solution to the problems of Mideast peace as simply accepting the status quo for another 50 years?
JAY FULBRIGHT III
Malvern
Sneaky companies
Regarding Patsy Pipkin's recent column, I expect the new can of cream of chicken soup was the same as the earlier can, with the fewer ounces, at the same price.
Doesn't she remember when the pound of coffee became 12 ounces with no change in price? That was many years ago and we kept buying coffee. The change in size generally slips by easier than an increase in the price.
SHIRLEY PENCE
Little Rock
Take back our nation
Re Judith Zitko's letter, "America only for wealthy": I think everyone should read this letter about our elected officials and about how our big businesses and corporations fund all our elected officials who make all our decisions.
If 95 percent of the people were able to donate the maximum allowed by law to a politician running for office, do you think that would win an election when the big corporations can give an unlimited amount? Since when is a corporation an individual with the right to donate an unlimited amount of money to an elected official or someone running for an elected office?
We can't win against big business, which controls our government. This is why the not-so-rich person can't run for office, even if he or she is more educated. As long as we have big business and super-PACs running our election process, the people will never be in control of our government. Why do you think we have so much corruption in our state and federal government? The good ol' boys get into government and the corporations buy them out.
Speak up, America; we need to do away with super-PACs and corporations' unregulated donations buying our politicians and take back our election process as it was intended from the beginning.
TOMMY L. GARLAND
Cabot
Thankful for carrier
I fell and broke my hip in January. My daughter called the Democrat-Gazette up here and asked if the paper could be thrown near my garage door so I would not have to walk to the end of my driveway to get the paper each morning. Since that time, the paper has been thrown next to my garage door, which makes it much easier for me. I'm very thankful to the carrier for doing that.
CHARLES HENLEY
Fayetteville
Good start to the day
Many mornings when I open my door and pick up the Democrat-Gazette, I stop and think of all the people who work so I can have my paper early each morning. To all the workers, from the owner of the paper, the office staff, reporters, the writers, the printers and those who deliver the paper, I say thank you. My day starts so well when I have my paper to read.
KATHLEEN SELAKOVICH
Little Rock
Unite the states again
Instead of politicians arguing all the time, why can't they be the people "we the people" voted for to work for us? And the president, as soon as it starts, seems to vacate for a few days. Why can't all of us start with a needle and thread sewing these un-United States together? That would be a good thing as well as a good glue formula to get our shredded Constitution and Bill of Rights back together.
DONALD R. TIMBERLAKE
Batesville
Voting strengthens us
I don't think I've ever seen such an arrogant spiel as Bradley Gitz's piece, "Making dummies vote," which he concludes with the hope that on Election Day, "lots of people decide to wash the car or take the dog for a walk rather than trudge to the polls."
Outrageous! A political science educator should be the first to recognize the current low turnout not as proof of disinterest and ignorance, but as a signal of our nation's failure to adequately educate and motivate its citizenry.
How can we write off 30 percent to 50 percent of the population as unqualified to vote and then wonder why people hate the government? With participation comes a sense of ownership and responsibility.
Labeling nonvoters as dummies is small-minded and mean. Who exactly are these folks and why don't they vote? Why don't they understand their vital role in upholding the spirit of our democracy? Nonvoting is a lazy habit passed down in families, a failure of our education system, and a political coup for elitists like Mr. Gitz. Perhaps he's forgotten that public education supported by tax dollars began largely to increase the number of informed voters and thus to strengthen the nation.
Already we are governed by probably about 30 percent of the eligible voting public. Instead of sneering about the purported inadequacies of those who don't vote, why not take a strongly proactive stance to bring better-informed voters to the polls? Why not ask what we can do to change this deplorable state of affairs and then set about to make it so?
DENELE CAMPBELL
West Fork
Where will trash go?
Celia Storey's recent article concerning the Fourche Creek Trash Bash was of personal interest to me. I live on Lake Norrell in Saline County. The lake is rather small as lakes go. There is year-round boating, and during the summer, there is a lot of traffic, fishing, water-skiing and pleasure rides. Further, there are hundreds of private homes along the shore. Obviously, and unfortunately, a lot of trash is created, from sunken boats down to beer cans or worse floating on the lake.
I have a 19-foot flat-bottom boat with a small motor. As an evening recreational pastime, my dog and I ride around and do trash patrol. As such, I can't retrieve large debris, but typically collect a five-gallon-bucket worth of trash each time.
I add this to household garbage which I pay a service to collect. I have a way to get rid of it, or pass it on, so to speak.
Last spring, the Homeowners Association sponsored a "trash bash" contest. There was a $100 bill awarded to the person or team for the most trash collected. Arrangements were made to haul the trash to a dump. Two large dump trucks were filled, all from a small lake.
I now refer to the Democrat-Gazette article. No mention is made as to where the junk is to be collected and hauled off.
While picking up trash is a lot of work, you have to have a legitimate means to get rid of it or, more realistically, a way to pass it on. Be prepared to have a fleet of dump trucks available.
AL KAHLER
Alexander
Editorial on 04/20/2015