Angels everywhere
I don't often send a letter to the editor; I have too many friends and strangers to thank, so I forget. But this Christmas was a day for me.
I was going on a 2½-hour trip from Calion to Benton and I had told my sister (in Benton) from my friend's (in Calion) to tell them the time (I had left my phone run out). I was just outside of Camden when, boom--my passenger tire blew out. Pulling over (there was no traffic), I got ready to put my temporary tire on.
Then there was a truck and a young man pulled over and asked if I needed help. He changed my tire, he asked for nothing, and when he was through, he wished me a merry Christmas, and he waited until my car was ready and pulled out.
I went to the Harmony Grove store just a quarter-mile down the road and I asked if they had a phone. The clerk said they had no phone but she let me use her phone. I said it was long distance, but she let me make the call. She didn't ask for anything, and she was so nice.
There are angels everywhere and some of them are people just like you and me. Thank you to the young man and the clerk who made my Christmas a very merry place.
BEVERLY ST. JOHN
Benton
No need for a lecture
In response to John Kerry criticizing Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu for allowing more settlement-building on the West Bank, Netanyahu struck back, saying he did not need a lecture from Kerry.
Well, as I recall, not too long ago he gave us a lecture before a gathering of our U.S. Congress.
Another thing: I do not think that I am the only older American born in the 1940s, 1930s and earlier who is depressed over the outcome of the presidential election. That age gives us a greater perspective on a situation which is scary.
BILL SAYGER
Brasfield
It's only fair, after all
In the spirit of performance-based pay in higher education, it seems reasonable to complete only the the first half of the Razorback stadium expansion and pay only the first half of the coaching staff's salaries.
BRIAN KELLY
Bella Vista
On dangerous places
A query for those unable to escape from dangerous places: The question remains, would you rather be bombed by Trump outraged or Trump becalmed?
Trump outraged would surely bomb twice; for Trump becalmed, once might suffice to destroy your village or ruin your town and leave the place a smoldering mound of wood and bricks and human parts left to be drawn away in carts as has been done for centuries past.
So, it isn't just words nor an ego that's vast but a grim reminder that the die was first cast eons ago before the horse or the mast became weapons of war to aid in the killing. It's simply the matter of leaders who are willing.
THOMAS C. KENNEDY
Fayetteville
Send them into exile
Would not it be delightful to exile words like: Obamacare, "build a wall," Secretary Clinton, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, "John Podesta's emails," "DNC hacked," Wikileaks, "safe spaces," "distraught by election results," BLM, Planned Parenthood? Haven't we all just about heard enough about the whining and crying about the presidential election, et al.?
Why not give the man a chance to do his job and then after four years if you did not like the job he did, then put someone else in the job? But in the meantime, give him a break. Certainly don't spend the next four years just attacking every word he speaks and tearing down everything he is trying to accomplish. The American way is to support him by giving him a chance.
To the major media, listen up. Try to remember what you were taught in the "J" school about fairness in journalism and keeping your own personal biases out of your copy. Remember the course on journalistic ethics. Well, if you can't remember that far back, look it up on the Internet and try, just try, to practice a little of it. You might feel a little better about yourself in the long run. Stop trying to kill the messenger. Look at yourself in the mirror once in a while too. Everything in the country is not failing. I believe this is the greatest country in the entire world, and you should try reporting that.
Good luck.
LOUIS R. BURNETT
Little Rock
Very little correlation
State Sen. Jason Rapert states, as justification for putting a religious statue on our Capitol grounds, that the Ten Commandments are the basis of American law. I got my Bible to challenge that statement. There is, in fact, little correlation.
The first four commandments all deal with religious belief and practice. They are not codified in law, and, in fact, are expressly prohibited by the Constitution from being so. "Honor thy father and mother" (No. 5) is widely accepted, but is not in any law that I am aware of. Adultery (7) is grounds for divorce, but not illegal in itself. At one time, it was illegal in many states, and may still be in some, but enforcement would not stand today. "Bearing false witness" (9) is illegal in a courtroom and in specific cases such as libel, but generally one cannot be arrested for telling a lie. Coveting anything of your neighbors' (10) is rude at best, but, again, not against the law anywhere I know.
That leaves only two, killing (6) and stealing (8), that are consistently illegal in our state and country. Two of 10 hardly constitutes the "basis" of American law.
On his Web page, Rapert further states: "The Ten Commandments represent a philosophy of government held by many of the founders of this nation ... that God has endowed people with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Nowhere in the Ten Commandments are the words "government," "rights," or "liberty." The commandments were a pact between God and his people.
JAMES GIFFORD
Hot Springs Village
Editorial on 01/06/2017