Rename that airport
I don't agree with everything Sen. Jason Rapert says, but I am sure with him on changing the name of the airport. It should have never been changed in the first place.
I wonder who thought of such a stupid thing in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, those people did nothing for Arkansas. They must have wasted lots of money changing it. Please just rename it to Little Rock Airport.
P.E. SCOTT
Mountain Home
Sex education needed
I believe sex education should be mandatory in all high schools across the U.S.; enforcing this should not be up to each state.
Arkansas does not require sex ed. Being a resident in Arkansas, I never received any more knowledge than what was available via Internet or word of mouth, which may have been less than accurate. My school claimed that if sex education was taught, it would "encourage sex."
We are going to have sex. No need to "encourage" us; just educate us.
We must know how to avoid unwanted pregnancies, use condoms and birth control, and what to do if these fail us. Arkansas is in the top five states of highest teen-pregnancy rates and in the top 10 of the highest rates of chlamydia. Pregnancies are teens' first fear, but what about STDs? Sexually transmitted diseases sound scary, but are often ignored. All teens need to know what they are, how to avoid them, how to recognize them, and available treatment plans. As a 19-year-old in college, if I were to use a condom, I would have to trust that (1) the guy knows how to use a condom, or (2) there is a manual in the box.
By implementing sex education in a safe learning environment with trusted adults, we can decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Let us have sex, and help us do it safely!
CALLIE M. CORNOG-BARNETT
Lowell
Agnew borrowed that
I must correct a statement by the self-proclaimed liberal college history instructor from Little Rock: The phrase "nattering nabobs of negativism" was coined by Nixon speechwriter William Safire. Spiro Agnew only "borrowed" the phrase in one of his many speeches.
DAVID BOUNDS
Cave Springs
Only a part-time span
I enjoy Brenda Looper's columns, even if I disagree with her. After all, my wife of 50+ years and I don't always agree, but I still love her.
In the Dec. 12 edition, page 1B, the caption under the photo attributed to NWA Democrat-Gazette/Ben Goff, reads: "War Eagle Bridge spans War Eagle Creek on Sunday on Benton County east of Rogers."
My question is: If it spans the creek on Sunday, what is it used for the rest of the week?
ROBERT E. DAVIS
Crossett
Fox in the henhouse
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's lengthy farewell address to the nation in January 1961 was based on his decades of wisdom, covering World War I, the Great Depression, the defeat of Hitler in World War II and his two-term experience as president of the United States.
In his Oval Office speech, he strongly stressed the dangers of accession to power by the military-industrial complex. This warning has been seriously adhered to for the past 50 years, for good reasons. That is until this very "sad" day as it seems we witness the complete usurpation of our federal government by the military-industrial cabal he warned us against.
Current presidential Cabinet considerations include a bevy of top-ranking generals and senior executives of some of the world's largest corporations (Goldman Sachs and Exxon-Mobil) for whom an ideal employee would likely be one who works for nothing and receives no benefits.
There are no working stiffs in this Cabinet for our "hero" of the American worker and as we all know, if you are not at the table, you're on the menu! This is akin to letting the proverbial fox into the henhouse where they are going to feast on all the taxpayers' moneys for their own gain while eliminating workers' health care and Social Security.
As another misogynist and one-time Texas gubernatorial candidate once said, "if it's inevitable, relax and enjoy it."
PETER TRABANT
Hot Springs Village
Horrible Cabinet pick
I have just learned that Scott Pruitt has been named to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Note--this entity is call the Environmental Protection Agency, not the Environmental Destruction Agency. Pruitt is a climate-change denier and a person who has worked closely with the fossil-fuel industry.
Funny how it seems the people who deny climate change are almost always people who benefit financially from such denial.
This selection must surely be the organizational equivalent of an oxymoron. It is similar to a rapist being elected president of a local PTA, or a burglar serving on your Neighborhood Watch group. Most other nations are working hard on strategies to protect our environment. Must they do it without our help? I think the man who some people elected president is either too stupid or too selfish to join in this endeavor. So which is it?
I could bear the thought of Donald Trump's or Pruitt's grandchildren choking on unhealthy air, but unfortunately it will affect all our progeny and the animals as well.
This is totally unacceptable. We must do better.
CATHERINE LAMB
Little Rock
History's repetitions
As I remember the question of who provided the information on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, the Republican vice president at the time, Dick Cheney, had the raw data collected sent to his office, and there the politicians interpreted it according to their desires, not the professionals in the intelligence community.
The vice president got it wrong. Professionals got it right. Will history repeat itself?
HOWARD GORDON
Little Rock
Editorial on 12/15/2016