Arkansas just so I could say that I have crossed it. I think it’s a fantastic structure, beneficial to the region, replaced an old bridge and, on top of that, it is prettier than a spider web. From the beginning of the design phase in 1994 until completion in 2010, it cost a mere $336 million.

The wars mentioned above are costing about $18,150,684.92 per hour before interest. With these figures, I believe the taxpayers could have paid for the Greenville bridge project in less than one day, in fact, 17.24 hours.

Now let us assume we went to one of the local banks and borrowed this war money on a twelve month signature loan at let’s say about 5 percent per year. We would only have to repay at a piddling rate of $13,611,589,604.30 per month. We should justborrow war money from a local bank on a 12 month signature loan.

Is there anyone around who remembers when they started to talk about a bypass around Bella Vista? Money, I believe, has always been the holdup if you disregard all of the griping from the Bella Vista residents. Last I heard, that bypass is projected to cost around $350 million. We could pay for that stretch of concrete in less than 20 hours of war expenditures and probably not get anyone killed by a terrorist.

Wonder how long it would have taken to pay for the Gravette High School, the Gentry High School, or the Siloam Springs High School? You do the math.

Now I ain’t against wars totally, just against wars that are being fought to

I happened to come across an article on the web posted by Wikipedia. I suppose it confirmed my idea why this great nation of ours is flat broke and is borrowing money from foreign governments.

The article stated that President Obama was requesting $159.3 BILLION for the war in Afghanistan and Iran for the FY2011 budget. Now we are in the FY2012 and I wonder what that amount is or was?

Just think what $159.3 billion could do here in the great state of Arkansas.

Again I went to Wikipedia for some numbers. Have you seen the beautiful bridge spanning the Mississippi River between Lake Village in Arkansas and Greenville in Mississippi? I recently drove across it, turned around and came back tomake the fat cats in America fatter and those that tend to take our country down a path from which there may be no return.

We should be spending this money to better our nation, not wasting it on getting our military personnel killed and maimed, or throwing wads of big bills at foreign dictators or despots in the false hopes one of them will be the next great statesman and build a government in their country for the benefit of the inhabitants. This is pie-in-the-sky thinking and must be eliminated. They just “gotta” do it the old fashioned way, by themselves.

When nearly half of our citizens are living on the edge, it is time for our politicians at all levels of government to stand up to the plate and at least attempt to hit the ball. Together, let us pull this country back into financial stability and we shall see our fellow citizens lift their chins and march forward to financial prosperity once again.

We should not and must not be the generation of Americans that allows our nation and way of life to slip from our grasp and forever lose the things our ancestors struggled to give us, a great United States of America.

My sister’s brother, Amos Carver Gentry Dear Ms. Jessen,

Your article about the re-opening of slaughter houses was well-written and balanced. I am a lifelong horse owner and member of the American Quarter Horse Association. My horses are well cared for and we are fortunate to have the land and means to have them buried when they die.

As you pointed out, not everyone has the space to bury their horses when that time comes. Slaughter houses provide the only means of disposal. Once those were closed, we knew of horses shot and left to rot and be picked apart by scavengers in this area . Others - many, many others - stand, starving and sick until death.

In addition to that problem, when people are faced with feeding horses they no longer can afford, they simply open the gate or lay down the fence and the horses leave. On our road last summer, there were 13 horses owned by one person who trailered them to a field that had inadequate fencing and no water. The horses escaped and sought grass and water at the various farms here. Most of us bought hay cubes to scatter and provided water while we searched for the owner.

The whole issue of breeding mares that should never be bred and not gelding the studcolts is the same problem facing the enormous dog and cat populations. People simply are not responsible.

The transport to the slaughter houses in Mexico might have been described so that people realized the full horror facing the horses. You, no doubt, know those awful details; and if you write a follow-up article, I think even the most radical “animal rights” person would agree that it is unthinkable what those horses suffer going to Mexico. Then there is the actual slaughter process once they arrive, which is less humane than in the US.

I think a place to focus for the well-intentioned folks worried about the slaughter houses should be on transport. There could be laws about not stacking horses in tiers, providing water and hay during transport if more than a few hours. And there is another reason to have more houses, not fewer, so horses could arrive more quickly.

You mentioned that horses, like dogs and cats, can form bonds with humans, and the thought of killing them for meat is horrifying. Well, we have fed the calves from milk cows and formed bonds with them. Our daughter is currently bottle-feeding an orphan heifer who will be meat for their table one day. They have a bond. Even our chickens that give us eggs, we see their personalities and have named a few of them and certainly we have a bond with them, even if they don't for us. And yet these animals are considered fine for human consumption by those who are not vegetarians.

Personally, I will not eat meat that is raised by large growers, transported inhumanely and who knows about the slaughter. We buy pasture-raised beef and pork and have found a source for chicken also, although it is quite expensive. So we just don't eat chicken very often. I won't eat meat any place but home, knowing that meat in restaurants is from miserably unhappy animals. The meat we buy is from happy animals who are killed on “D Day” at home, transported after the fact.

I'm telling you this so you know I do care about animals. So, I completely agree about how we treat our meat animals. And yet, I don't find it horrifying that they are used for meat. Otherwise, I would be a vegetarian.

As a horse lover myself, I see the need for slaughter houses in the U.S. so the horses don't have to make a long journey. If a far-out group like PETA supports this, even temporarily, that is significant.

Thanks for a good article, and if you do write another please give a few more details in order to paint a graphic picture for the uninformed.

Lou Anne Honderich Gravette

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/25/2012