Earned right to ask
Stating that Tom Cotton is, in my view and that of many other vets, just a loud-mouthed self-promoter is not a denigration of his military service. I asked for his record. Still don't know if there is a "V" for valor on that medal. He may be a good soldier, but that does not translate to a wise diplomat or genius in matters of foreign policy. Many good soldiers have records comparable or exceeding his. But they recognize their own limitations and would not stoop to bootlicking for "Private Bone Spurs," who claims to know more than any of his general officers.
Mr. Terry Evers, I'm 78 years old and a U.S. Army vet with time spent in Kue hospital in Okinawa in 1959. Made my bona fides, and earned my right to question Cotton's competence and state my views of him as being politically a phony. Like the Vietnam vets and most now serving in the military, I didn't go there to get medals to brag about. We went to do a job we were asked to do for our country by our country.
Many of us later determined that our government lied to get us there and lied to America concerning what was going on there as we carried out our orders. Ken Burns' documentary on Vietnam showed betrayals by those in power. It proved what I've said here. Too many vets could not watch what they knew would be very painful to visually relive. That is too bad since most may never realize what this country was told because they were too damned busy fighting in paddies and jungles to watch on TV (which they didn't have there). They were not resented for what they did there. They were resented due to false presentations of it by self-serving sensationalizing of incidents by those among us who profit from war, and still do. Those who refuse to learn from mistakes, be it a country or a people, will pay by repeating them.
KARL J. HANSEN
Hensley
Tuition should be free
In 2015, Arkansas student loan debt was at $9 billion; this is a small part of the $1.19 trillion in the United States. Arkansas should have free college tuition for everyone.
In March of 2017, Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law a measure aimed at helping college students pursuing degrees in high-demand fields such as computer coding, nursing, and welding. However, more should be done. Tennessee provides free community college tuition through the state lottery. Arkansas already has some funding by the lottery, but it comes in small amounts to only certain individuals. New York also provides free tuition for both two- and four-year colleges. Arkansas could also require students to stay in Arkansas after graduation for the same number of years that they receive scholarship money, just as New York does.
Many more Arkansans would be able to go to college if their tuition was free. Just think of how far and how much our state could and would improve if we had more educated people. More businesses would open and would hire from within our state. Also, salaries could increase, with all the income staying here in the state.
We must petition to get free tuition on the ballot. This could be a win-win for everyone: Students get free tuition, and Arkansas gains more educated residents. So how about it? Free tuition for everyone!
ALLAN COX-THOMAS
Little Rock
Guilt and victimhood
There's two minor problems that I'm constantly seeing and hearing about, which are white guilt and white victimhood. This isn't to bash white people, and the majority of white people don't act like this, but the people that do need to stop. As a black 16-year-old boy I feel insulted by both of these things.
White guilt makes black people seem like helpless wounded animals that can't get anything done on their own. You could argue that these people are just trying to be nice, but I'd argue that saying someone is disadvantaged because of their skin, constantly apologizing and trying to "help" them is not very respectful or kind.
The opposite side of this would be the people that have this white victimhood complex. They complain about the hatred for white people in our society and that they're becoming the most oppressed group in America. Now there are a lot of people that do have bad views of white people, and there is some anti-white media, but it's nowhere close to the degree that people are saying it is. I've legitimately heard some people say that there's a war on whites, and that just isn't true.
I truly believe that there's an equal number of white people with negative views on black people as there are black people with negative views on white people. The only difference is that black people are more vocal about it, so that's why you hear these negative views more, but both of them are wrong. There's no war on whites, don't assume I'm disadvantaged because of the color of my skin, and remember this applies to only a small number of white people who need to stop.
NATHAN HUMPHREY
North Little Rock
Explanation of karst
This writer is a retired engineer peacefully living out his life on rural acreage near Mena. I have no dog in the hog farm hunt, nor do I belong to any environmental groups. But I have had considerable firsthand experience in dealing with underlying karst formations when designing and building cement mills and other heavy industrial plants.
In layman's terms, karst can best be compared to the ant farm my sons had as children. Visualize a series of cracks, fissures and voids beneath a surface that otherwise shows little indication of such. Pour liquid on the surface of that ant farm and it soon finds its way to the bottom. Such is the case with karst, except there is no bottom for containment. Instead, it finds its way to an underlying aquifer or otherwise manifests itself through springs or seeps. Once karst is contaminated, the damage cannot be remediated except by the flushing action of time.
Major aquifers in other states are fed by karst, and regulations for industry are stringent to avoid contamination. Industrial leakage is not tolerated. Such should have been the case here. Operating this facility "as is, where is" is potentially dangerous to any and all who are downstream.
TED BROWN
Mena
Protect Buffalo River
I have been following the fiasco regarding the C&H Hog Farms permit from the beginning.
Mike Masterson with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has written several columns regarding this misplaced hog farm that is polluting the Buffalo National River. It seems the Department of Environmental Quality did not follow many of its own rules and regulations by granting the original permit for the farm.
I read in the paper that the state Legislature sneaked a last-minute item in the special session to let C&H continue to operate on its original permit which allows up to 5,000 gallons per day of hog waste to leak from the hog waste ponds. I ask the Democrat-Gazette to publish a list of our state legislators who voted for and against this proposal so the voters can see how they voted on this critical issue.
The former legislators who pushed through for the Buffalo River to be designated as a national river must be rolling over in their graves!
TERRY MONTAGNE
Dover
Editorial on 03/17/2018