Speak Out 10/18/04

Top priority

THE ECONOMISTS say "there ain't no free lunch." Well the economy and other domestic issues will fall by the wayside and be waylaid if we don't win this war on terrorism. That is our country's top priority, to get the world back to peace and prosperity by defeating these beheading terrorists and their sponsors. There ain't no free lunch in this fight either. It takes lots of resources to win this war and lots of sacrifice. We either win or we lose this war. Which do you prefer, freedom or terrorists, enslavement and death?

Trading good for bad

THANKFULLY THERE is a nice person for every rude person. I am a disabled grandmother. I had my 1-year-old granddaughter with me, parked in the handicapped spot and a white Chevrolet pick-up truck was less than 12 inches from my side door. I could not even put my granddaughter in her car seat. I could not back my van out because I could not leave my granddaughter sitting alone in a cart. So finally another gentleman who was parked in the next handicapped spot came out, and volunteered to watch my granddaughter. Like I said, thankfully there's a nice person to out balance the rude, inconsiderate people.

Consider costs

I CERTAINLY hope the voters in the R-II District don't believe all the propaganda that is being put forward regarding the need of a passage of a $27 million bond issue. They really need to remember that this is a larger bond issue than probably the voters have approved totally in the last 20 years. Voters, don't do this.

Too expensive

I PICKED up the paper this morning and we're thinking about building a street that's two blocks for $1.3 million. I think if the city continues on this project, they're going to have trouble with the next Transportation Trust Fund tax. As far as the roundabouts are concerned, I beg everyone to go out to Saint Francis Medical Center and look at how much trouble people have with hitting the curbs that were just designed wrong.

Add parenting column

WHY ARE you wasting space with Michael Seabaugh's column when I would rather see something on raising children or something else in there?

Forget civility

IT DOESN'T pay to be Mr. Nice Guy. When the news about the flu vaccine broke, I thought, I'm not going to call my doctor's office, they're probably inundated with calls about when they're going to get vaccine. I'll wait a few weeks and give them a chance to get it. Well, of course, I called and the vaccine is all gone and they don't know when they're going to get more and it doesn't matter if you're over 65 and in ill health because there's lots of other people that need it too. So the moral of the story is, don't be considerate, just push, shove and grab.

Stay alert for safety

AS A retired police administrator with over 34 years experience, I've observed several incidents of poor office safety practices by local police. On occasion, I have brought this to the attention of the administration but failed to see any improvement. Perhaps the latest published incident will wake up both officers and supervisors to the need for safety training. Regardless of community size, police officers must be continually aware that they are at risk as they do their job.

Celebrity support

I WOULD love to find out from Brad Pitt why he is supporting John Kerry. What makes him think John Kerry would be the best president? I'm sure that's pretty much the same for Sheryl Crow. I would like to see why some famous people are voting as they are.

Choose quality

Lay off fireman? First time you have a fire and you don't get a good ending, you'll be whining about not enough firemen. As far as minorities, don't you think that instead of pushing racism, you should be wanting quality? If a person qualifies, the race or sex shouldn't matter. Give me quality and honesty every time.