Picture’s not inviting
The cover photo for the top 10 weekend events on Thursday was disgusting. Do you really think that picture would encourage anyone to go to Riverfest? Surely you could have found something more pleasant and inviting to use.
Is anyone editing this paper?
KAREN HERBERT
Little Rock
Rest in peace, Civility
I just wanted to take a moment to remember Civility. In better times, Civility allowed us to debate instead of denigrate, to get results instead of insults. We could ask each other questions without fearing a violent response, such as the congressional candidate in Montana who attacked a reporter. Civility also meant we didn’t arbitrarily insult a person of a different ethnicity or tell them to “leave our country,” such as the woman did in a Centerton Wal-Mart.
When Civility was alive, we didn’t call for an arbitrary ban of an entire ethnic group or suggest that religious belief should determine who gets to enter the U.S., such as 45 did earlier this year and during his campaign. Civility prevented us from making a joke out of killing reporters, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott did, or to suggest that Americans with diabetes shouldn’t have access to health insurance, as was the opinion of Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
Civility first showed signs of illness in 2008 and then got progressively worse. By 2012, the prognosis was grim and by 2016, the end had come. Civility passed away on Nov. 8, 2016, leaving behind millions of Americans dreading the future and wondering how someone who bragged about molesting women in public ended up in the White House.
It is my fond hope that Civility may rise again, but for now, all we can do is make the best of what we have.
JUD HANSON
Fayetteville
Simply junk science
Hooray for President Trump!
Like global freezing in 1972, I believe global warming is also junk science; it’s designed to frighten so that governments and foundations will donate money for university research that is unscientific; e.g. Darwinian evolution and global warming. I believe both are unproven and unprovable. And consensus is not part of the scientific method.
What a waste.
BOB L. WARNER
Hot Springs Village
His mastery of irony
I knew that Donald Trump was the master of hyperbole. However, I was unaware of his gift of irony until I began to pay attention to his Cabinet.
Secretary of Education Betsy De-Vos hadn’t set foot in a public school because it is public. She believes in charter schools run by private groups that advocate choice (read segregation).
Then there is Scott Pruitt, secretary of EPA. He had enjoyed suing the agency prior to his appointment. He is having a good time, however, getting rid of rules for clean air and water. He is also replacing scientific board members.
New Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke rode his horse to work his first day on the job. One wonders who followed the horse. He is tasked with reviewing all sorts of national monuments and those troublesome tree-hugger committees.
It appears HUD Secretary Ben Carson is not a fan of HUD. He considers subsidized housing a bad public experiment. He declares that being poor is simply a state of mind. Since his estimated worth is about 30 million dollars, he has little memory when his family depended on public housing.
Do not forget Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, the attorney general. One might speculate that when his father first saw the little lad, he decided he needed a name with gravitas that spoke of Southern pride. So, with a long mane and a big ego, it would appear that he has decided to run the office by himself, and hasn’t filled 93 executive positions.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has announced to the world that we will not impose our values (human rights) on foreign relationships. Since he won’t have to worry about those pesky values, he plans to eliminate 2,300 State Department jobs.
Finally, who can forget Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, who wanted to do away with the department if elected? Oops. Regarding Trump’s sense of irony, I rest my case.
GWENNETH L. PRICE PICARD
Little Rock
Wonderful memories
Most of your readers who had the privilege of growing up in Arkansas during the 1950s and ’60s, as I did, will no doubt recall a much-beloved TV personality and kids’ entertainer who went by the name of Cactus Vick. He had a TV program in the afternoons called Six Gun Theater. He dressed in western-style clothing complete with cowboy boots, chaps, gloves, and a big cowboy hat. Cactus was also the spokesman for Wonder Bread and Finkbeiner Frankfurters.
Cactus, whose real name was Volmer Vick, had graduated from England High School with my mother, Thelma Walker, in 1929. Somehow through the years they managed to maintain contact. Throughout my childhood, we never knew when Cactus would stop by for a visit on his way to a performance or birthday party. I loved it when he came as he always did some magic tricks, pulling 50-cent pieces out of my ears, making balloon animals, or some ventriloquism.
One Friday night he stopped by to have dinner with us as he was performing at our school in Plumerville that evening. As we ate, he asked if I would like to be his assistant that evening. Of course I did. My duties included handing him a few props and being the target of some good-natured jokes. I couldn’t have been any more excited if I had been on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Cactus had a club for kids called the “Square Shooters.” Anyone could join; all you had to do was to follow the rules. They were: One on a Bike, Drink Your Milk, Brush Your Teeth, Obey Your Parents, Look Both Ways Before You Cross the Street, Read Your Bible, Go to Church, Be Polite, and Eat Your Food. Pretty good rules to live by, I would say. I still have my membership card.
We need another Cactus Vick! Thanks for the wonderful memories, Cactus.
JAMES CALVIN WALKER
Conway
It happens sometimes
I didn’t believe my eyes.
I had to double-check both the editorial page and the Voices page and the cartoons on May 26. There was not a single hateful word written about President Trump.
None, a truly remarkable day!
MICHAEL PAHL
Mountain Home
Editorial on 06/05/2017