Ringing off the hook
Over the past month we've been inundated with 40-plus phone calls using spoofed phone numbers and names (according to our caller ID) concerning that class-action lawsuit over Camp Lejeune, N.C. What sort of sleazy legal firm does this? I can't get a phone number because I'm not dumb enough to "Press 1 for more information."
This has to be illegal! One of the calls showed up as "White River Medical Center" so, of course, we answered it as it is our medical provider. But no, it was "... polluted water supply ... Press 1 for more information." How can this be stopped? Can we sue them for harassment?
And, yes, we are on the powerless "Do Not Call" list.
KEVIN KEOUGH
Cherokee Village
Can't have nice things
Come on, Arkansas ... really?!
Why can't we have a well-educated governor with real plans and a true heart instead of dishonest rhetoric and the soul of a chump? How are so many fooled by SHS' words, when the facts to back them up aren't there? It's all part of the shuck and jive shell game run by a local shill for the boogey man.
We know her history from her own mouth. How can you watch five minutes of SHS, and then watch five minutes of CJ and still think she's the best choice to lead our state? How much of it do you think is possibly racism (from other people, of course, not you)? To say racism is a Harrison thing, or a Southern thing, would be wrong ... it's a global thing. However, it does lie within the borders of our state, and to deny that would also be wrong.
But enough history, let's think about the future. With SHS, I imagine her continuing to whine about stuff that never happened or lying about things that did. And, like her mentor, I cannot see her ever taking responsibility when something goes wrong; always fault the other. And speaking of the "other," how many of "them" do you think SHS has? How many do you think CJ has? Do you ever think of your life in terms of exclusivity versus inclusivity? Which word most closely describes your sense of being a good American? Does this kind of thinking bother you? Does it make you uncomfortable? I hope so. I'd like to say I live in a state with a populace that values substance over shinola, but at times like these, a fella's gotta wonder.
So, come on, Arkansas ... I love you, but this is why we can't have nice things.
KIM SHIVERS
Fayetteville
Unthinkable happens
Craighead County and the city of Jonesboro voted to defund our public library in this general election, all because local politicians, Citizens Taxed Enough, NEA Citizens for Responsible Growth, and the NEA Tea Party lied to the public about the library's funding. Layoffs have already been announced, and more are sure to come because they simply do not have the budget to continue as usual. The vote has fractured our community.
Northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas, this is your warning: They're coming for you next. Take it from a community organizer working on protecting our library from censors over the past 16 months: The unthinkable can and will happen if apathy and disinformation set in. Prepare and organize now before it's too late and you find yourselves with a defunded library.
CHENOA SUMMERS
Jonesboro
Need the anti-emetic
Just one response to Donald Trump's announcement to run for president in 2024: Go ahead, Bud, and make America gag again.
GARY STANDRIDGE
Jacksonville
Proud of my service
I cleaned toilets for this country. In today's epidemic of Stolen Valor, I'm quite certain that no dishonorable veteran will follow my lead and claim things I've done for this country.
There isn't an unimportant job in the military. Things have to be done to assist the readiness of our forces to meet challenges around the world. My cleaning of toilets during my time in the U.S. Navy assisted our military's overall mission of protecting this country. By golly, I'm so proud of cleaning toilets for America.
Yet, we have impostors, liars all, who claim heroic duty in foreign lands, risking themselves as Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Delta Force, and MARSOC. Listening to their lies makes me that much more proud to have cleaned those toilets.
Sailors and Marines can confirm there are hundreds and thousands of toilets on Navy ships that have to be cleaned. Nowhere in the stories told by unheroic fakers of valor do we hear of them cleaning toilets like me. I cleaned my toilets and I've never claimed I was on some secret mission to clean toilets. Those of us who cleaned toilets in the military have records to back up where, when, and how we contributed to the overall readiness of the armed forces to protect and defend America.
The phonies claiming things they've never done have a "record" problem. One does not become a Navy SEAL, Green Beret, or a Delta Force hero without a record being kept. If the American military has one task that must be surely done, other than record-keeping, it's the need for toilets to be cleaned, and cleaned often.
I'm no hero Green Beret, and if I said I was, I know the Guardians of the Green Beret would be outing me as a liar and fraud. If I claimed to be a Navy SEAL, I know my fellow Navy veterans would hunt me down as a Stolen Valor clown.
I cleaned toilets for this country. I'm damn proud of that!
STEVE FOSTER
Fayetteville