Speak Out 02/02/03

Thank God you're alive

THIS IS a request to the victims of the bonfire explosion. Your friends, parents and news media are discussing what happened and why. All you can think about is that loud boom and the burning of your clothes, hair and skin while you see an orange glow on your best friends running and then falling to the ground. Every one of you has experienced the disrespect from your peers, the media, the law or your parents. All they care about is why you were there and who did it. I'm asking you to not let this be a negative experience. Concentrate on the fact that everyone is alive and that you are lucky young people. Let this change your life. Thank God you are alive.

Difference in bonds

I WANT to know how it is that a 22-year-old man can be charged with burning 14 people and his bond is set at $75,000, but a 17-year-old boy who is charged with shooting a woman has his bond set at $500,000. The 22-year-old is not considered to be as much of a threat. What's wrong with this picture? Is it became one is white and one is black? Are we always going to judge a person by the color of his skin? Let's get the whole truth before we start condemning someone.

Learning from mistakes

MY DAUGHTER was one of the 14 burn victims. I think some of you adults need to mature a little and quit lumping all teenagers into one horrible category. I do not feel like my daughter is a bad person for having been at that party. I hope she has learned to use better judgment. But didn't we all learn from mistakes we made during our growing-up years? My daughter is by no means a perfect teen, but she is a very mature and responsible individual. I'm very proud of her. She was not the one to blame for the explosion. Therefore, I don't think she should be punished for it, as suggested in one Speak Out comment. My husband and I have a close relationship with our children, and we do our best to know where they are, who they're with and what they're doing. We just keep setting the best example we can for them. They are our future. So find the adults who gave those kids the chance to join a keg party and the person who threw the gas on the fire and injured our kids.

Fair taxation

PROGRESSIVE income tax? Can't you see that a fair tax is for all people to pay the same percentage? You make more, you pay more. To expect to tax those who earn more by a larger percent to distribute the wealth is simply the mentality of people who expect handouts instead of earning their own way in life.

Not enough evidence

I WAS looking to the State of the Union message for justification for the apparently inevitable U.S. invasion of Iraq. All I heard was bellicose rhetoric, long-discredited concoctions and crowd-pleasing one-liners. If the White House has nothing better than it has delivered, I'm joining the protesters.

Building character

LIKE OTHERS of their age, Jackson youths need nothing more than ongoing lessons in character development, ethical and legal behavior and emotional, intellectual and spiritual maturity.

Tax cuts and spending

SOMETHING to consider before getting excited about the next round of Bush tax cuts: Nearly 40 percent of Bush's first tax cut went to the richest 1 percent of the country, or those earning more than $373,000 a year. Under the second tax-cut proposal, the same segments of the population would receive an average tax cut of $30,127, while the average working family would get about $289. Based upon Bush's proposed budget, without including any increased spending due to our war adventures, our deficit will rise to $300 billion in the next two years. Just two years ago the national debate was focused on how we were going to spend the budget surplus. All that propaganda claiming that Republicans are fiscally conservative and Democrats are irresponsible tax-and-spenders is a lie.

Cutting off its nose

SBC'S RECENT cuts in the Local Plus dialing plan caused me to change my Internet provider, remove one phone line dedicated for the computer and cancel the Local Plus plan. If SBC doesn't see that it may have cut off its nose to spite its face, it will when enough of its captive customers break the chains from the company.

Where the traffic is

I THINK it is crazy for the state to support placing a visitors center on Highway 74 instead of by Interstate 55, where all the traffic is. The state is attempting to find a way to balance its budget. This seems to be a strange way to go about it.

Creating jobs

THOSE WHO say the poor do not create jobs are wrong. The poor take the jobs the wealthy create. The poor spend their paychecks in the community. This spending creates more jobs because of the greater cash flow in the local economy. Wealthy individuals create jobs as an investment, not out of charity toward the poor. Now we see that the poor and the rich create jobs.

Permits for bonfires

IT IS my understanding that within some city limits you must have a permit to have a fire. Perhaps someone who has a bonfire should be required to get a permit, which would help police monitor such activities. The recent bonfire was in the country. Most attending were underage. Not only should we question who purchased alcohol for them, but we should ask who was driving? Did parents drop them off? This whole thing reminds me of that young man in Jackson who was blindfolded and tortured by classmates while being supervised by adults a few years back. Someone needs to take responsibility for all this underage drinking.

Lead by example

I AGREE that teenage kids need to have more activities to keep them out of trouble. I also believe more emphasis needs to be given by their mentors at an early age to do community service and volunteer work. Lead by example. If everyone gave a little of their free time to helping others, our community would be an even greater place to live.

Underage drinking

WHEN I attended SEMO some 20 years ago, the drinking age in Illinois was 19. Perhaps I was an oddball, but I never drank in high school. I had my first drink in college. Now kids are drinking in their young teens, and the drinking age is 21. I wonder how DWI and underage drinking statistics have changed in the past two decades.