Speak Out 11/28/06

Speaking English

MEMO TO political strategists: English-speaking Americans are going to remain the largest single voting bloc for at least the next 50 years. That includes assimilated naturalized citizens who are often more fervently against encroachments on our national sovereignty by the corrupt system of illegal immigration than others who don't understand that anarchy is the steppingstone to absolute power.

Adoption issues

I READ the comment about open adoptions. I am sympathetic. I know several people who have used foreign adoptions to get their babies. My nephew is from Guatemala. It is because of the fear they have of open adoptions. They want to know that an adopted child is their baby, and they do not want to have to share an adopted baby with any other parent or worry about their child's relationship with someone else. I think if the adoptive couple is willing to do an open adoption, that is great. But if they don't, that should be their choice, not the person who gave up the child.

Parking money

I USUALLY only half-believe complaints about Southeast Missouri State University, but reading the article on fines was eye-opening. For SEMO to be generating half a million dollars in parking fines each year is robbery. That is not parking enforcement. That is income the university is deliberately generating in addition to the hefty student fees it is already charging.

Tourism boost

WHO CARES if Rush Limbaugh has brought neither honor nor fame to Cape Girardeau? Even if he has brought infamy, it has translated into putting us on the map and boosting tourism dollars.

Constitution issues

IT'S CONSTITUTIONALLY OK to enforce bans on smoking in public, but it violates the Constitution to enforce laws that require employers to obey immigration employment laws?

Drug dealers

IF YOU think drug dealers are locked up in prison, you are misinformed. Drug makers are let out of prison and walking the streets of Cape Girardeau daily. The odd thing is our judicial system puts them in prison, and the same system lets them out. And if these same drug pushers are informants for the feds, they have no criminal record. Does this make any sense to you?

Student finances

POOR SHANNON Baker and her parking tickets. It is not her fault she parked in the wrong places. And all those fees she had to pay. You know what? Southeast Missouri State University is one of the most inexpensive schools in the state. Note to Ms. Baker: Get organized, and don't wait until the last minute. You might get a parking place. I am tired of hearing about students and their finances.

Choice for all

MILTON FRIEDMAN had a great idea about school vouchers. But why limit it to the economically disadvantaged. Every parent should be able to give his children a chance to escape government schools.

Losing our rights

IT'S NO surprise that the areas with the most gun laws have the most gun crime. The areas with the most cattle rustling laws have the most cattle rustling. Why do you think they have those laws? "When you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns" is a catchy bumper sticker, but how does that argument work with drugs? We don't have to worry. The government will never be able to take our guns away. There are too many gun nuts in this country. Let's just hope that's not the only right we don't lose.

Hunting control

TO THE person who says killing defenseless animals is a means of feeling power: You couldn't be more wrong. You probably eat beef. If you think a deer in the woods has less defense than a cow hanging from its ankles at the meat processor, think again. Hunting is a proven means for population control where predation has been limited.

Pay suggestion

ACCORDING TO Judge Ben Lewis, "The lack of pay raises shows disrespect to longtime public officials." Wouldn't our suggestions concerning this be the same as we might recommend to anyone in the private sector?

Obvious answer

SADLY, SOME think that whether we have too many crack dealers in Cape Girardeau is a subject for debate.

He's not Bond

DANIEL CRAIG is not James Bond. He's an excellent actor, but just because the powers that chose him to play the part thought he could be believable as the next James Bond doesn't mean they were right. Craig is an excellent actor, but he doesn't have the charm, the tongue-in-cheek arrogance, or the looks necessary to play Bond. Box office returns for the first week proved that.

Better to give

MY FAMILY will spend every Black Friday wrapping gifts for needy children, baking cookies for the veterans home and recycling magazines to the hospital. That's what I want my children to learn. It's better to give to others than have a "what am I going to get?" attitude.

Standing in line

I WONDER if the same parents who stand in line in the early morning cold for hours and hours to buy a certain toy for their child would stand in line for hours to speak with their child's teacher at conference time?

Great tradition

THANK YOU to the Hutson family for continuing our Thanksgiving tradition. Your window means as much to my 26-year-old son today visiting from Virginia as it did when he was 5 years old.

Military fallacy

CONGRESSMAN RANGEL is incorrect in his assumption that the military is mostly made up of lower-middle-class volunteers. The military is mostly middle- to upper-middle-class whites, and white middle-class Americans have suffered a disproportionate amount of casualties in the war on terror. Rangel wants to scare people with the threat of a draft to further his anti-war cause.

Paying support

I'M A single dad who pays child support for three children. The judge said I would have to work two jobs to come up with the right amount of support according to the child-support table. I also pay for all their insurance and health care. Why is my ex-wife permitted by the court to refuse to work and collect the child support check? I paid off the mortgage years ago so she doesn't have a house payment. Two of the children are in private school, and one is in day care. She could work full-time, but the court doesn't make her. As it is, I barely scrape by month to month. All she does is shop. Something needs to be done with the court system and child-support enforcement. She's supposed to pay her share.

Wreath lights

THE NEW wreaths downtown need different lights. They look like the new headlights on fancy cars. They are ugly.

Nice compliment

I TOOK a truckload of items to the recycling center on the expressway. I want to compliment the employee who helped me. He was kind and courteous and made my day with his happy attitude.

It's disrespectful

I AGREE that secretaries at doctor's offices should not be allowed to eat or drink at their desks. It's rude and disrespectful to the patients. I especially can't stand gum chewing.

Greenwood's good

OUR LIVES are richer because of people like Don Greenwood. He is able to sum up the world at large in a 4-by-6-inch square each week. Just when will the New York Times pick him up? It won't be long. I think the Missourian should run one of his cartoons every day.

Costly letters

WHY WOULD the school district tell parents they can transfer their children and then tell them they can't? It doesn't sound like school officials know what they're doing. If every child in the district got a letter at 40 cents each for stamps, that would cost us a lot of money.

Parental choice

OUR PUBLIC schools are so relieved that they are not required to let students go to the public elementary school of their choice. If the public schools have room and it does not cost them any extra money, they should allow parents to choose the best public school for their family.

Subjective scoring

A COPY of standard questions on the MAP test is available online at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Web site. Educators and informed administrators realize that once the public sees how subjective the scoring is, they will demand that No Child Left Behind and the MAP test be eliminated. There probably are a few legislators who couldn't pass the MAP -- or score it.