Kept from the game
The evening began with a quick bite to eat at the Oyster Bar. Following dinner, my daughter and I made the short drive to War Memorial Stadium to watch Little Rock Catholic take on Sylvan Hills. My daughter, who is 12 and a Type 1 diabetic, has two big sisters who are varsity cheerleaders for Mount Saint Mary. She was excited to see them on the sideline cheering for the Rockets.
When we arrived at the stadium, the security line was quite long. As it was our turn to go in, my daughter was stopped by security and told that she would not be allowed to enter the stadium with her small pink purse. We explained that her purse was carrying essential supplies that, as a diabetic, she is required to have with her at all times. Our reasoning was to no avail and it quickly became clear that my seventh-grader was not going be allowed into the stadium with her purse and medical supplies. With no other reasonable alternative, we turned around and walked back to the car.
While I do understand the security concerns, under the policy in place last Friday night, my daughter will not be able to see her sisters cheer at any home Catholic football game this season. Children with diabetes face many daily challenges. Attending a high school football game should not be one of them.
CRAIG DAVIS
Little Rock
9/11 in Afghanistan
The death of Ahmad Shah Massoud was not confirmed yet. He was one of the last formidable commanders of resistance forces against the Taliban--retreated in a little corner of the country. There was an assassination attempt on him on Sept. 8, 2001. If his death was confirmed, it was very likely the biggest achievement of the Taliban.
It was evening. We had dinner. As usual, Dad was cranking the radio knob from Voice of America to BBC Farsi to a local station. One of those stations reported that America was attacked. We had absolutely no idea what that even meant. I rang my classmate Wahid. Wahid had hidden a satellite dish and was able to watch TV, perhaps the only window to the outside world for us. He was trying to explain what he was seeing. He said the building on the cover of our English book was hit by a plane ... two planes.
Around midnight, we heard booms. It was rockets and bombs of sorts. Is it America? Maybe. Who knows. BBC confirmed it was a helicopter from the Northern Alliance, not America.
That was the night of Sept. 11, 2001, in Kabul.
Fast forward to Sept. 11, 2019. Since that day, Taliban have killed 17 dear friends and family members. They were innocent bystanders, members of security forces and journalists. The latest victim was Zahir, killed when he and his team arrived at the scene of an attack to save lives and secure the premises. Nine others carry the physical scars of Taliban attacks. The rest of us carry the emotional scars.
Now, let's talk forgiveness. On the surface, it appears an easy word. When it is just the word, it is easy to throw it around. No. Forgiveness is not easy. It may be easy until you have someone to forgive.
The Taliban has taken too many precious lives from me. I do not have an answer for Afghanistan's problems--but I do know that Taliban and their sick ideology is not the answer and it has no place in Afghanistan.
So 9/11 is not a meme for me. Zahir was killed 50 days ago.
KHALID AHMADZAI
Fayetteville
Deadly toxin on base
There is a problem here in the Diamond State, No, there is not a movement afoot to change our namesake. Rather, it is the existence of a devastatingly deadly and debilitating cocktail of toxins applied to hundreds of acres at Fort Chaffee military base training areas. Application and storage of Agent Orange continued after the conclusion of the Vietnam conflict. The government and VA have acknowledged this fact.
If you are a prior service vet who has trained at Fort Chaffee, I urge you to familiarize yourself with the effects of exposure. Above all, thank you for your service.
G. PATRICK SMITH
St. Joe
About Trump's fans
Trump calls mainstream news "fake news." If you listen to Fox TV and Fox Radio for your news, it must seem like an alternate universe when you try to watch mainstream news and commentary on PBS, CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, and almost any channel that does not have "Fox" in front of it. I believe that most college graduates get their news from mainstream news media. Fox News is the outlier--the real "fake news."
It seems Trump's base is wired differently. What do they have in common? Fear of the unknown and hatred for all who threaten them. That includes immigrants, homosexuals, Muslims, liberals, and black and brown people. They find common ground with people who are against abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control, and the liberal side of the cultural divide. Many of them want to send black and brown people back to where they came from.
If they heard it on Fox TV or radio, they believe it. It is the "gang mentality." They hide behind the Old Testament, paying little attention to what Jesus actually preached: love for all people and animals. Jesus said not even a sparrow can fall without God caring. They fear the rising national debt will bankrupt our country. They worship a holy God who will send many of us to hell for eternal torture. Be very afraid!
They think there are only two ways to balance the budget: Raise taxes, which will hurt the economy (GDP), or cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which will also hurt the GDP. There is a third way, which grows the GDP: investments with borrowed money and taxes on the rich.
RUUD DuVALL
Fayetteville
Editorial on 09/14/2019