LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: On birds of a feather; Hog fans in mourning; Better not to see that

On birds of a feather

Often forgotten, the Arkansas landscape is not solely appreciated with our eyes, but all senses. As the leaves fall, the creeks chuckle, full of autumn rains. The wind chills your cheeks and the twigs give way to your boots as the birds sing to your presence.

Unfortunately, the birds are no longer solely calling to each other from the trees, but to us for rescue. The National Audubon Society has stated climate change is the No. 1 threat to the future of species preservation, with 12 species in Arkansas listed as highly vulnerable.

Avian prosperity poses a unique illustration of global health, such that birds are present in nearly every landscape. With this, birds serve as indicators for environmental health.

The state of planetary climate remains flexible with reversible damages, such that 76 percent of at-risk bird species may be preserved.

It's time to step outside and listen to the birds' songs and consider their health as a sign of our own.

With collective understanding and group advocacy, positive change is inevitable. After all, birds of a feather flock together!

LOGAN JONES

Fayetteville

Hog fans in mourning

In accounting, when a company is in the red, it is in the midst of budgetary difficulty or experiencing negative earnings. Conversely, when in the black, the company is financially solvent and on a firm fiscal footing.

This also applies to the recent past and current Razorback football program(s) as they have been in the red regarding wins and, in particular, SEC wins for too long now.

Although Razorback red is what's worn and bled by true fans, this fan base is ready to file bankruptcy.

I, among many in Hog fandom, am tired and continually growing more apathetic of this program being relegated to being a guaranteed W on any SEC schedule, just like Rice was of the old SWC.

Penn State had a "white-out" a weekend or so ago where the stands were filled with fans wearing white in support of the Nittany Lions. In this era where black seems to be a hip color for teams with no black in their team colors, and since the Razorback enthusiasts are in mourning for an SEC win, I call on the fans to have "blackouts," wearing black tees, tanks, blouses or shirts, to all home games until the Hogs get an SEC win. (You can wear a red tee under the black one if a W occurs while attending the historic winning moment.)

I, like most Razorback fans, am ready to be back in the red, fan-wise, and back in the black, win-wise.

With deepest regards and sympathy.

P.S. My apologies to Johnny Cash.

WILLIAM HOYT

Russellville

Better not to see that

When the lights went out after the first Bama touchdown Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, I kinda wished they'd stayed out, don't you?

BILL PLEGGE

Little Rock

The meaning of 'grit'

When I was young, Grit was a newspaper aimed at rural families. I had heard on occasion someone being described as "having grit in their craw," but never heard the term "true grit" until I read True Grit by Charles Portis in serial form in the Saturday Evening Post. Later I saw both movies by the same name (much preferred the Coen brothers' version), then read the novel again.

Finally, I got it.

True grit was not embodied in the gruff one-eyed marshal or the jaunty Texas Ranger, but in 14-year-old Mattie Ross from Yell County. Both the marshal and the ranger wanted to give up the chase for the killer, Tom Chaney, but not Mattie; she was determined at all costs to see Chaney pay for killing her father.

Grit is just another name for perseverance, determination, refusal to quit, but the word itself has a certain connotation of toughness that the other synonyms lack. A real person with an uncommon amount of grit that was an inspiration to me as a youngster was Glenn Cunningham. When Glenn was 8 years old, his legs were burned so badly in a schoolhouse fire that the doctors predicted he would never walk again and wanted to amputate. Glenn and his parents refused.

Two years later he started to walk, then started running. He ran right into the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympic Games. In 1936, the year that Jesse Owens won gold in the sprints, he won a silver medal in the 1,500 meters.

After retiring from competition, he returned to college to earn a master's and a Ph.D. He established and ran the Glenn Cunningham Youth Ranch in Kansas that helped thousands of needy and abused children. The very epitome of grittiness, he died March 10, 1988, in Menifee.

JOHN McPHERSON

Searcy

The only reality is his

Our president is often criticized for his perspective of the world and vision for the country. It is easier to understand his actions if you realize his world is only what he perceives or experiences. It is an observer-dependent world.

He does not believe the reports and advice of those in other observer-dependent realities unless those concur with his own. If he does not observe the danger, there is no danger. If he does not perceive the threat, there is no threat. Reality is what one perceives it to be.

Obama experienced societal changes and realized the need to legislate these changes to protect the environment, to ensure a healthy, informed populace, and to guarantee rights and liberties of all. President Trump has not experienced these changes and holds fast to his own reality and need to convince others that it is the only reality, that no other observer-dependent reality is correct.

HOPE SHASTRI

North Little Rock

Editorial on 10/29/2019

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