OpinionOctober 27, 2009
Speak Out 10/27/09
Smoking ban; Misused permit; No public smoking; Losing our rights; Steady ideology; ND character; Spelling, grammar; What happened?
Smoking ban
ANY municipality that bans smoking should ban the sale -- and potential tax revenue -- of tobacco products as well. Which argument would weigh heaviest? The advertised reason of improving the overall health of the community? Or the reduction of sales and local tax revenue? If smokers had to go outside city limits to purchase tobacco products, they would do so and buy more at a time. Is this the economy we are looking for? Or is this idea simply one that is supported by a special-interest group?
Misused permit
To all of you who have access to a handicapped parking permit and are using them as a handy parking permit, stop doing it. It's not right, and you know it. Even if it's offered to you by a disabled person, don't use it. You're taking advantage of a situation that you have no right to do. Rather than use it, be grateful that you don't need it. Most of us should be walking more anyway. Use it as an opportunity to do just that. Remember, a person's integrity is based on what he or she does when they think no one is looking.
No public smoking
I always thought Cape Girardeau was a smarter place than St. Louis. But St. Louis is considering banning smoking in public places, and Cape Girardeau isn't. Chalk one up for St. Louis. Smoking has been proven dangerous to those within breathing distance. It's time to clamp down on this filthy habit. If someone wants to smoke at home, so be it. But smoking no longer belongs in public.
Losing our rights
Freedom of speech should be one right that no one should be able to take away from us, nor should we be penalized for exercising that right. But that is not always the case. My son was recently forced to resign by his corporate office, without any compensation package, from a position he held for 15 years after exercising that right on his Facebook page. If employers are allowed to tell us what opinion we can or cannot have regarding health care issues, then we certainly have lost this important right we hold dear.
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Steady ideology
With the ending of the Cold War and the virtual disappearance of Marxism-Leninism from our planet, why do we have to suffer through ideological Speak Out diatribes about its insidiousness?
ND character
The late sportswriter and commentator Heywood Hale Broun once said, "Sports don't build character. They reveal it." I think there's some truth to that. Way to go, Notre Dame girls. You make us all proud.
Spelling, grammar
IT'S more than obvious that spelling and grammar are things of the past. However, regardless of how much education you have, if you can't spell or form a sentence that makes sense, you are just an educated idiot.
What happened?
RECENTLY, I visited Scott City for a class reunion. What happened to the large high school band, the strong student council, the monthly newspaper, the large crowd at PTO, the clothes that were appropriate or the teachers and teachers' assistants who were always there for us? At one time the parents were interested in the school and their children. I'm pleased I can remember when it was good. Good-bye to old times.
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