Speak Out 12/04/02

Exercise some control

A BIT of advice for all of you looking for that perfect rock 'n' roll CD for the teen or preteen on your list this Christmas season: That parental advisory you see on the front of that CD is there for a reason. If you listen to any Top 40 pop or rock station, you will hear words being bleeped. These vulgarities are not bleeped out on the CDs you buy. You'll hear a mouthful. Take five minutes and have a listen. You may just be shocked at what you hear. If we don't use the common sense and backbone God gave us and start voicing our disapproval of the music lyrics we're hearing, we are failing as parents. Our children need us to be parents, because they have plenty of pals.

Another book choice

I'LL READ United We Read's choice of "All Over but the Shoutin'" because it's a communitywide activity and I enjoy participating in such things. However, I was disappointed at the choice of the book. I was hoping the organizers of the event would choose a book that would have generated more community commentary, input, interest and involvement -- like a book from the Harry Potter series.

Business as usual

I DON'T like change so I was worried about the Republican takeover of the Missouri Legislature. However, I breathed a sigh of relief when I read Jack Stapleton's column to the effect that things in Jefferson City will be business as usual.

Mold and asthma

MOLD HAS not become more virulent, as one Speak Out caller put it. There are, however, many more people with asthma. People with asthma are more sensitive to the spores from mold. This is why mold is in the news so much lately.

Twisted thinking

TO THE person that said the people using slurs at a passing jogger were asserting their right to free speech. Freedom of speech does not mean you are free to intimidate people based on their race or gender. How dare anyone twist our Bill of Rights to support racism.

Passing the buck

BY NOT funneling gambling proceeds to public schools through the school foundation formula, an idea advocated by state Rep. Jason Crowell, public schools like those in the Cape Girardeau School District would receive more money than they deserve based on taxpayers' willingness to support said schools at the local level. On the other hand, local school district taxpayers who step up to the plate and support their schools to a degree more in line with their district's assessed valuation would get ripped off. This is a bad but clever idea put forth by those who want to pass a degree of local responsibility for funding schools to the state. Perhaps they think voters will pay no attention, but they will.

Live by Constitution

THANK YOU, Robert Polack Jr., for being a candle in the darkness when it comes to understanding what it means to be patriotic -- no thanks to Dan Rather who misled many less studious Americans when he said George Bush was his commander in chief. Either we live by our Constitution, which entails studying and understanding it, or we run the risk of losing what countless American boys sacrificed their lives for. Those boys -- and our Founding Fathers -- deserve much better.

Parents not at fault

IT IS too much to expect parents who are working for $6 or $7 an hour and who just barely make ends meet with no health insurance and other amenities to also be good parents. It's not negligent parents who cause low test scores, It's an exploitive economic system.

It's an epidemic

I HAVE come to the conclusion that dog owners are deaf.

Watch those envelopes

THIS IS concerning the comment about extra postage. Odd-sized envelopes will not fit in the automated sorting system at the postal center and must be hand sorted. This is why odd-sized envelopes cost more to mail. Choose your envelope sizes wisely.