Speak Out 11/18/01

Time to give thanks

WITH THANKSGIVING a few days off, I hope people will celebrate the day. As a nation, we have seen and lived through some horrendous experiences of the past two and a half months. However, we have also seen the true generosity of our people through the many blood drives, fund raisers and overall spirit of patriotism and nationalism that had been neglected for so long. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated after the first year the Pilgrims were in America. That year had seen over half the Pilgrims die due to illness and disease. They had arrived in this country at the beginning of winter and were ill-prepared for what they would face. However, through their resilience, they survived and flourished and gave us this great nation. I know many people will ask why be thankful when so many have lost so much, but we should think of what our forefathers endured that first year and live by their example and be thankful for what we have gained. By being thankful, we can honor those who have been lost. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Don't be anonymous

TO THE person who took exception to Jeanne Wells' column in Speak Out: If you're going to attack her column and the reasoning behind it, have the decency to say who you are instead of cowering behind the anonymity of Speak Out. Or are you afraid she might blow your criticisms out of the water?

Twisting the Bible

REGARDING THE recent criticism of Jeanne Wells' column, specifically the statement about viewing something that is obviously crooked, and convincing oneself that it is straight: The same could be said for fundamentalist Christians who take biblical passages out of context and twist them in order to fit their agendas of hatred and intolerance.

Winning without weights

TO THE person who said Central High School hasn't won a state championship in decades. We won a state basketball championship in 1980. I can assure you the proportion of weight training a person does doesn't equal the success on the playing field. Herschel Walker never lifted weights in his life. He did sit-ups, pushups and ran. He was a professional football player.

Proud to be a Tiger

I AM a Tiger alumnus and proud of it. I haven't seen the football team as good as it was this year. I praise the players and wish the underclassmen great luck next year. As for the fans, I was a senior when we were voted the No. 1 fans in Missouri. I am proud to be a Tiger.

It's a free country

ARE THE conservatives so naive to think that homosexual behavior does not exist on a college campus? I personally deplore that kind of behavior, but if someone else wants to practice it, by all means; it is a free country.

Rehashing the vote

COLUMNIST DAVID Limbaugh recently chewed the media for spending big bucks to do yet another Florida recount. In a masterful put-down, Limbaugh blasted the media for wasting so much time and money rehashing the issue. Ironically, Limbaugh then spent considerable ink rehashing it.

Compare sentences

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian has been doing a lot of research concerning drug problems in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. May I suggest you compare the length of sentences for wealthy lawyers busted with basically the same rocket fuel to the length of sentences of the black and white poor.

Blow us all to bits

HAD THE nuclear waste shipment that went through the Show Me State above the objections of Gov. Bob Holden somehow blown us all to kingdom come, the Southeast Missourian editorial staff would not be around to engage in "the governor overreacted" second-guessing which some say would not necessarily be a bad thing.

Union troublemakers

TAKE A look around and see the union plants that have shut down. The city council member (also an employee of Dana) should know this better than anyone, yet he insists our plant would be better off with a union. He serves on a board to promote jobs in our area. He knows what is going on in our company. Look at the business that Fort Wayne is losing. Why hasn't the union stopped the loss of those jobs? They can not remain competitive. A majority of us have spoken that we are satisfied with our jobs and wish the troublemakers would just leave us alone.