Nation's future needs reformist attitude
Among the many lessons I have been taught over my long life is that you learn from the past, work for the future, live in the present, then treat every day as if it was your last and how you will be remembered.
Unfortunately, it seems that far too many people today look at life through somewhat different eyes. They seem to want to live in the past, not learn from it, don't give a damn about the future, and money and its phony power is all that matters in the present.
Fortunately, though, it's become obvious that the majority of Americans (specifically, the young people and those concerned for their future ) are beginning to understand the now proven danger of this type of thinking for our nation and the actual survival of our only home, the planet Earth.
War has historically been a major example of mankind's most cowardly and idiotic failures, yet we never seem to learn. In the 21 st century we still have rich men starting wars and poor people dying - no different than the 12 th century except for the more sophisticated killing devices being used.
This current abomination in the Middle East is a classic in the sense that the insidious ties between the "rich man "oil companies, arms manufacturers, private contractors and the U. S. government are well documented and indisputable, as are the numbers of dead and maimed in our military, but not true when applied to the Iraqi casualties.
The many criminal actions, constitutional violations, malfeasance and misfeasance over the past seven years by those elected or appointed to serve all of the people are astronomical and also well documented, but, more importantly, now must be the future.
The forthcoming elections in November 2008, both presidential and congressional, will determine whether our nation moves into the 21 st century or continues the suicidal path that we have been following for the past three decades. Political activism, beginning now - while there might still be time and continuing even after the election - is needed if we are to regain our country and restore a future for our descendants.
Lew Huddleston / Fayetteville
A counterintuitive plan
What is it with the city of Fayetteville and their new propensity to narrow our city streets ? About a week ago, pink and white spray paint showed up on one of our major thoroughfares, East Lafayette Street. From the looks of it the city is preparing to take a significant hunk out of each side of the street. Replacing curbs, gutters and storm drains on Lafayette needs to be done. Carving an additional six feet out of the street, in my opinion, does not. I am a resident of the Washington-Willow Historic District, and as long as I can remember Lafayette has been a main thoroughfare of our city. Our neighborhood has always had a problem with speeding traffic. So much so that the city placed traffic-calming measures throughout the historic neighborhood. This has reduced traffic on Dickson, Washington, Maple and Prospect streets. It has also served to exacerbate the problem on Lafayette. To me it is counterintuitive to squeeze 4, 000 lb. hunks of metal closer together at any speed. Not to mention the fact that it squeezes those vehicles closer to our cyclists, parked cars and others that use our streets. We have delivery trucks, trucks with trailers full of lawn equipment, fire, trash and recycling trucks and many large vehicles that navigate our city on a daily basis. It is becoming increasingly harder to do these days. Making it harder and slower to get around our city center only serves to encourage urban sprawl. In my opinion, there are many unintended consequences to narrowing arterial roads in Fayetteville. Maintenance of corner curbs, less sight distance because of ornamental plantings in the designated green buffers, slower response time for emergency vehicles, maintenance of personal and city vehicles, etc. I could go on (as I am sure proponents of narrow streets could with the benefits ). "Point systems "and "master plans "are a place to start, but we have to balance these tools with some plain old common sense.
Steve Meldrum / Fayetteville
Words of thanks for Coach McDonnell
Amid the celebration of all John McDonnell's accomplishments as head coach at the University of Arkansas, people might overlook how much he has contributed to the general development of track and field and cross country in these parts. Many a high school coach has traveled great distances to seek John's advice about how best to train his charges. My co-coaches and I were lucky enough to be able to see his office windows from the Fayetteville High School parking lot. We had but to walk down the hill a couple of hundred yards to get to his office door, which always seemed to be open. Being able to confer with John immeasurably enriched the experience of coaching high school runners for my co-coaches and me and, I'm betting, many others like us.
Milton Burke / Fayetteville
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