Protect our children
I read, with great interest, the Associated Press article about drag queens. To a dispassionate yet informed reader, this story appeared to be an opinion piece; however, the story was not labeled as such, nor was it in the Voices section. This oversight, in my opinion, was in violation of your paper's statement of values.
Drag among adults is at best a joke, but on the other end of the scale, especially when children are exposed or involved, I believe it is almost certainly considered disordered, perverted, or a form of sexualization and grooming. Drag queens should only allowed in adult settings and never exposed to children. Men who want to prance around little kids wearing fake breasts and women's clothing may have motives that are less than salubrious.
The legislature in Tennessee will consider a bill to outlaw drag queens in front of children. This bill cannot be made law fast enough, and Arkansas, along with all other states, should follow suit as soon as possible. Adults, society and government have a duty to protect children from drag and other forms of adult entertainment.
Of course, the LGBTQA+ community will claim some sort of constitutional rights violation, and these laws will be tied up in court for some time. But with honest and objective judges, I believe these laws will be found totally reasonable, logical and constitutional.
JOSEPH GRAHAM BARSOCCHI
Sherwood
Erosion of freedoms
Another election cycle has passed and a new one is getting ready to start. Once again, as it has been for my last seven voting decades, promises of a bigger and better government won.
With each passing cycle, the promises have convinced the voter that life would be easier and worry-free. Accordingly, government has grown in power. All it has cost you is a steady erosion of your freedom. Was it worth it?
WILLIAM F. JEBB
Cabot
Lacking lawyers too
In the editorial "Open wide and say 'moo'," the author observed that it is "odd" that Arkansas has two law schools but no dentistry or veterinary schools. I join the author in celebrating the new dentistry and veterinary schools that Lyon College, OneHealth Education Group, and UAMS are opening in the next few years.
But it is worth noting that while Arkansas ranks 49th among the states in both dentists and veterinarians per capita, we are also only 46th in lawyers per capita. And the dearth of lawyers is a particular problem in our rural counties. Some Arkansas counties have one or even no attorneys serving in various practice areas, such as criminal defense.
We need more dentists and veterinarians to be sure. But we critically need more lawyers in this state as well.
JOSHUA SILVERSTEIN
Little Rock
The future for crypto
There has undoubtedly been national attention drawn to the current situation with the FTX Crypto Exchange, but what does it mean for the crypto industry going forward?
Globally, less than 5 percent of the population holds cryptocurrency, and many countries, including the United States, have yet to establish a regulatory environment. As a result of the FTX and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried scandal, I believe that crypto regulations will be placed on a fast track by Congressman French Hill and the House Financial Services Committee.
Investors in this space have had little protection from the SEC. Currently, the SEC is led by Gary Gensler, former Hillary Clinton campaign finance manager. SEC team members met with the FTX exchange multiple times without initiating an investigation.
Mainstream popular tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have taken significant dips in price in recent months. Many speculate that as critical events unfold, including the possibility of USDT (Tether) falling further down, that trend could continue due to the extreme volatility being experienced.
Ripple, the creator of the XRP token, is the most highlighted target of the SEC's activities. Although the case is still pending, many speculate that Ripple might be able to settle the case favorably or even win the case.
For those holding crypto, the first step to protecting yourself is to store crypto on a "cold storage" wallet device such as a Ledger Nano or D'Cent wallet.
So is crypto a scam? No, not as a whole, but there are still many scams within the industry. The current events are eerily similar to those experienced during the dotcom boom and subsequent crash. Ultimately, this point in history will likely lead to the development of the systems in which blockchain will be widely adopted in finance, security, artificial intelligence, and personal data sectors.
MAX AVERY
Fort Smith