Restore quail to state
Recently there have been articles about the diminishing numbers of quail in Arkansas.
I have raised many small animals, including ducks and geese from eggs, and baby jackrabbits and various kinds of birds that were found and given to me to raise. Even a 2-day-old quarterhorse foal whose mother had died after the birth that people said couldn't be done. And even hatchling quail.
So when I planned on buying 100 quail eggs to hatch in my incubator for later release, I was told by the Game and Fish Commission that I couldn't do this as I didn't have the necessary license. You can imagine my surprise. Even if some of the chicks had died, which would be normal in the wild, there would still have been a significant number left for release.
DAVE WEAKLEY
Bella Vista
Legalize medical 'pot'
I see that the group against medical marijuana is gearing up to spread disinformation again this year. The measure almost passed four years ago, so they are more determined than ever to keep people who suffer from nausea from chemotherapy from getting relief from a natural plant. Research (what little has been allowed) also suggests THC has medicinal value to patients suffering from cancer, AIDS or glaucoma. I have also seen TV shows where little children are relieved of epileptic seizures from the use of cannabis oil. Add to that the 5,000 years marijuana was used before our government made it illegal and you begin to wonder why.
There have been no recorded cases of overdose deaths from cannabis, period. In 2010 overdoses were responsible for 38,329 deaths, 60 percent related to prescription drugs. In the same year, a total of 25,692 died of alcohol-induced causes. But not one overdose from marijuana use. And these ballot measures are just asking for medical use of marijuana. If you don't want people to be able to grow a few plants of their own then, please, at least vote for the amendment which calls for it to be sold only at dispensaries.
Why is it people seem to put more faith in something man-made than a natural occurring plant? Have you been so brainwashed by our government that you don't think God could provide a plant that can help mankind unless the pharmaceutical company somehow improves it for your consumption? They have tried to make an artificial marijuana substance, but it doesn't work like the natural plant.
There are 25 states who have legalized medical marijuana. How about Arkansas not being at the bottom of that list, as it is on most things? Let's make medical marijuana legal this time.
LINDA BARNES
Prairie Grove
If it were around then
It's a good thing there were no Fox News hand-wringers around in the distant past to concern themselves with scare tactics about presidential health matters. If stroke, paralysis, Addison's disease, mystery falls and Alzheimer's had barred the doors to the White House, we wouldn't have had Presidents Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Ford and Reagan living there.
Compared to those challenges, poor Hillary's pneumonia seems a mini-storm in a teacup. The real disease here, sports fans, is the mindless hatred the Foxies and Co. like to pump up for their gullible fans.
ELIZABETH HARRIS
Cherokee Village
Really rich, or a con?
Donald Trump said, "I am so rich!" As an IRS trial attorney for 21 years, I know that really rich people do not know how rich they are until a CPA firm tells them. Trump read a statement from his accountants saying he had assets worth $10 billion. He implied that his net worth was even more. He knows full well that the average voter doesn't not know the difference between assets and net worth and probably thinks assets are property owned free and clear of debt.
To get net worth, you must subtract what you owe on the assets. We need to see his tax returns before the election to see how rich Trump really is. If he owes more than his assets are worth, he is misleading us. He could be on the verge of bankruptcy for all we know.
Copies of your tax returns belong to you. The IRS has no restrictions about releasing returns while you are being audited. Your lawyers will tell you not to release them if there is something you want to hide. Unless Trump releases his tax returns, we won't know whether he is rich, as claimed, or a con artist pretending to be rich. If you ever lived in New York City, as I have, you know to be wary of someone who says, "Trust me" or "Believe me," especially someone with a limited vocabulary.
I believe Trump is a piker compared with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a real multibillionaire who said, "I'm a New Yorker and I know a con when I see one."
RUUD DuVALL
Fayetteville
The judgment police
David Muir of ABC News reported that, as secretary of state, Colin Powell used private email for both personal and State Department business. ABC News is a reliable source of information.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that FBI Director James Comey stated, "At the end of the day, the case itself was not a cliffhanger, despite all the chest-beating by people no longer in government, there really wasn't a prosecutable case."
Director Comey and his staff spent over a year, not just one day, trying to find anything illegal on Hillary Clinton. This investigation was done by orders from the Republican Party.
I think the FBI was used as a tool of the Republic. I believe they knew that no illegal actions were committed, but spent our hard-earned money and interfered with the FBI's operations.
Normal operations, not mudslinging. Comey said Clinton showed poor judgment in her use of a private server. It seems Republicans have reduced the FBI to the judgment police.
JEFF LAHA
Little Rock
Editorial on 09/27/2016