Speak Out 11/20/05

Old decorations

RECENTLY I was taking a peaceful stroll through the heart of Jackson. Besides the fact I was a little disgruntled about the 70 -degree weather, I couldn't help but notice the Halloween decor around town. What people see that is attractive about rotting pumpkins I will never know. Clean up your stuff.

Enough bickering

HOW STRANGE. At the very time a bipartisan consensus is beginning to emerge in Congress over failed Iraqi policies, David Limbaugh is predicting, and no doubt hoping for, a brawl between the two parties. Sorry, David. We are entering a period of consensus between the parties on Iraq. The people are fed up with bipartisan bickering. You might as well stop trying to foment it.

Honoring veterans

THANK YOU, Jackson teachers, students, choral department and refreshment committee. It was a wonderful Veterans Day program. Words cannot express the honor you gave the veterans that day with due respect. The Voice of Democracy speech contest winner and the words of dignity us what freedom is all about and we as beneficiaries receive. Let's pray the students and our grandchildren will all be beneficiaries of this same freedom. Thank you, and God bless you.

Knowing when to stop

There is nothing wrong with the River Campus except that it was conceived during the bubble years of the late 1990s. In private industry, capital projects are frequently abandoned when conditions change. In the 1980s Federal Express spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Zap Mail, which was just a fax. When Fred Smith agreed to finally abandon the project, Fed Ex stock went up $5 a share. Capital projects in the public sector are almost never abandoned, whether a River Campus or $250 million bridge to nowhere.

Awesome, amazing

TRANS-SIBERIAN Orchestra was totally beachin'. It was awesome and amazing, and, man, did it rock. Could you feel the heat? "Him" totally wailed on guitar. The only complaint I have is that I have to wait till next year. The local strings did great too. Congrats to them. They worked hard.

Time to change

The caller who argued that "stopping discrimination" is the key to black college graduates' achieving success does not understand that you can't stop an idea or deeply rooted social belief. If you spend your time trying to level the playing field before you get out on the field and actually play, you will always be behind. Life is not fair. Deal with it. The problem is not discrimination. The problem is the person looking back at you in the mirror. Change your outlook. Change your life.

Magical evening

I thoroughly enjoyed the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. This was my first time seeing the group, and I was immediately caught up in the magic of the evening. The combination of lights, music and words swept you up into the story and kept you there until the last note echoed away. I'll be there next year.

Wonderful art

Thank you, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, for coming back to Cape Girardeau. I missed the concert the first time, and I am so glad I was able to see such a wonderful work of art this time around. I am looking forward to the group's next return.

More pork

Thank you, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, for having the courage to vote against the latest VA funding bill. It's a shame you won't get credit where credit is due for standing up to the frivolous provisions that were attached to the bill. While the title of the bill evokes a passionate response, it's too bad that many of your constituents won't take the time to read the bill's language and understand that it did little to assist veterans, but much to disguise more pork.