Compassion, caring
To the wonderful nurses, technicians, and others in the intensive-care unit of Baptist Health Center in North Little Rock: Thank you so much for the professional and kind care you recently provided to our beautiful daughter in her final days. It takes special people who care for people in those conditions. In addition to the services you provided, we are especially grateful for you allowing us the extra privileges of being able to comfort her and provide those extra things that are outside your realm of responsibility.
Your explanations of the procedures you performed as well as what could be expected helped us to prepare as best we could for what was to come. Even though the excellent doctors prescribed medicines and procedures to be done, it was up to you, the nurses, to implement those procedures. While you did that in a most professional manner, your compassion and caring were made manifest in the way you performed those duties.
Thank you again for epitomizing the principles of what an intensive-care nurse should be.
PAUL and SANDRA HANSEN
Sherwood
Senator lost his way
Sen. Tom Cotton has no honor or integrity. He has achieved an education, served in our military with honors. Cotton now has demonstrated what Washington, D.C., has become. He stands by while this president uses racist and divisive statements, he stands silent when our justice system is attacked, he stands by when a Gold Star widow is attacked, he stands by while our First Amendment is assaulted. He has lost his way for a position in the Republican Congress with promises of a bright future from a racist, ignorant and demented man, a vile human being we know as Donald J. Trump, president. Disgusting.
MARTIN SETTLE
Mountainburg
Wait ... they're fake?
Thanks to Richard Picard, I have the desire to write about the commercial on TV that tickles me. I always thought John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and all those good actors were real people, but now figure I was wrong. They keep showing the ads that have "real people, not actors." What? Sounds like one can't be a real person plus an actor. Shame on them for discriminating!
I'm mocking the ads, not the product.
IVAN DAUBENBERGER
Springdale
He had such potential
Sen. Tom Cotton has an admirable educational and military background. He has distinguished himself in both venues as a man of whom all Arkansans should rightfully be proud. Until recently, he appeared to have the qualifications necessary to make the leap from being "merely" the junior senator from our state to the national stage.
Unfortunately, Cotton's political ambition appears to be causing him to rapidly morph into something else entirely--the "hear no evil, speak no evil" lap dog of our ridiculous president.
What a loss. Sad!
RONNY J. BELL
Fayetteville
Taking America down
I never thought I would see the day when a Republican president would take us from being the shining beacon on the hill to being the symbol of hate and racism. But that's where he's taking us.
By the time he's through with his hateful view of everything but himself, he will have the whole world hating us, and missiles from all directions aimed at us.
And if Tom Cotton thinks he's going to feed his ambitions by hanging onto Trump's coattails, he better realize "we the people" are the votes that count.
VIC JOHNSON
Mount Ida
We need immigrants
I am appalled at the level of ignorance exhibited on foreign aid, immigrants and Muslims in a recent letter. American foreign aid is given to a country to get rid of poverty, improve education, economics, and in some cases to eradicate an endemic disease such as malaria in Africa. It is only 1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, and every major industrialized nation does it to improve humanity.
Foreign aid is the only program in the U.S. budget that enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers of the Congress. Our elected representatives know the invaluable good will foreign aid generates for us in the international arena. It seems Mr. Walter Skelton has a very primitive view of immigrants. Immigration is the nucleus of the American economy. Since the U.S. produces very few science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates every year, the country looks to foreign-born STEM graduates to fill the void. Many of the immigrants do become job creators and CEOs of American companies. One such foreign-born STEM graduate was Mr. Shahid Khan, the owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Mr. Khan is a STEM immigrant from Pakistan four decades ago and has created over 30,000 well-paid manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Another is Mr. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, a STEM immigrant from India. The U.S. needs these immigrants to keep the economy humming.
Lastly, Muslims have been a part of U.S. demography since the days of slavery. More than 25 percent of African slaves brought to the U.S. were Muslims. Recent Muslim immigrants are STEM immigrants. No Muslim that I know wants to establish Sharia in the U.S. We all want to follow the U.S. Constitution and we salute the flag.
MOHAMED NAWAZ
Little Rock
Was played like fiddle
Senator Cotton: You have shamed yourself, your family and the state of Arkansas. Your cowardly defense of our indefensible president renders you impotent to fulfill the duties of the public office you hold on behalf of the people of Arkansas and America.
Unfortunately, President Trump has played you like a fiddle to do his bidding. Once you sell your soul to the devil ...
MARY STOREY
Fayetteville
Editorial on 01/21/2018