Speak Out 12/20/02

Lopsided trade dealANYBODY WHO is concerned about the American economy and all the layoffs should visit any of our local stores. Pick up the item. See where it's made. Clothing, appliances, shoes and wearing apparel are made in China, Taiwan and Mexico. Electronic items are made overseas. This is what's wrong with the American economy. So why don't our lawmakers get busy and fix it? It is a lopsided trade deal.

Costly educationI THOUGHT it was quite humorous that on one side of the front page of the Missourian was an article about the Board of Regents raising tuition at SEMO, and on the other side was an article about spending millions of dollars on the River Campus. The Board of Regents needs to get its house in order and quit spending money it doesn't need to spend. I have two daughters in two different colleges. One is at SEMO. The other school has not had anywhere near the increases that SEMO has. My daughter at SEMO is either going to have to quit to earn more money or reduce her hours.

Private, public teachingSOMEONE SAID the requirements for a private or parochial school teacher are the same as they are for the public school teachers. That's incorrect. Since the state does not regulate those schools, they aren't held to the same standards that the public schools are. A private school can decide its teachers must have the same certification as public school teachers have. But the state doesn't require it. Having taught in both private and public schools, I can tell you it's much more difficult to teach in a public school. Private-school students are usually better behaved.

No interchange lightsI DON'T see why the interchange at I-55 and U.S. 61 needs lights blaring in our eyes. We get along fine without lights. I don't see any major accidents there. It's just one more way to waste the taxpayers' dollars.

Close the exitYET ANOTHER accident at the Kmart exit on Independence Street. This exit needs to be closed. It is a a hazard. How many accidents have to happen at this very dangerous exit? This can be prevented.

Do the right thingI'M A true American. I stand for our country. Trent Lott, I forgive you. But please step down and do things right. Think of our country. Don't tear it apart again,

More toleranceALL THIS controversy about Trent Lott and his off-the-cuff comment at the birthday party for Strom Thurmond reminds me of how often we hold people to standards that are unreasonable. There have been so many cases of sports announcers, athletes and politicians making comments from their hearts. Of course they're going to make mistakes. We mean to say something one way and it comes out wrong, and we don't even realize it until later we hear that someone was offended. What has happened to this country that we're so quick to jump all over people and take everything at its worst instead of allowing someone to say they made a mistake. How many of us would be willing to go on TV with no prepared speech? Let's be a little bit more tolerant.

Limits on trash bagsI HAVE a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old who take the trash out to the street on a weekly basis. I use 13-gallon bags. The city of Jackson will pick up three bags only. I can fit three 13-gallon bags in one 33-gallon bag. You can't tell me my 7-year-old and 11-year-old are stronger than the full-grown trash men. If it is time they are worried about, I bet it takes longer to apply stickers than it would to load it. I guess my kids need to put in their application with the city of Jackson. I wish the city would review this policy and see if it can't do something about it. I was one bag over the limit.

Get the full effectSO SEAN Penn is in Iraq brokering peace. That's great. If he stays there long enough, he might get to see what an incoming B-52 strike looks like.

Time to step downAS RONALD Reagan told Mikhail Gorbachev: Take that wall down. Now for our country to heal, Trent Lott must step down.

Dastardly attemptI HAVE a lot of built-up anger toward the Board of Regents and President Dobbins at the university. What they tried to do to SEMO's gymnastics team was dastardly. If there were some way in the world they could be voted out of their positions, they should be.

Money order mailedI'D LIKE to thank the person who found the money order that was made out to the Lutheran Home and mailed it. God bless you for your kind deed. Have a very merry Christmas.

New drug too expensiveFOR YEARS I've been taking medication to keep my blood pressure around 140/90 or below. Now the doctors have decided my blood pressure should be below 130/80, and they want me to try a new medicine. The new medicine is very expensive, especially for someone on a fixed income. Why would doctors recommend a new drug when the older one is still working properly? Is this just another way for doctors and druggists to get more money from my generation that cannot afford it?

Beautiful balletSEVERAL YEARS ago, a beautiful Christmas ballet was performed at Academic Hall. It was called "Carol's Dream." I'm just wondering if there will be another production. We would love to see this again. It was a beautiful production.

Signs of leadershipMaybe President Bush is a great leader -- if you think that avoiding the economy and corporate scandals, compromising our civil liberties, growing government into huge bureaucracies, dropping the ball on dealing with the terrorists and taking us into an unnecessary and highly risky war to line the pockets of the oil and arms industries qualifies someone as a great leader.

Well-informed protestersThe war protesters are not playing politics in any way. All sorts of people are protesting the war everywhere. The only difference between the protesters and the average TV viewer is that they know a whole lot more about the issue.

All the terrorists want is to take our lives because we have everything they don't. When I say "we," I am speaking about the Free World. We have things that they have never had and probably never will. They would rather see people suffer than to build their own countries up like our forefathers did hundreds of years ago. And to all the people who complain about little piddly things like mufflers and whether or not you should tell your children there is no Santa Claus, I think you should open your eyes to the real world. If our community got attacked tomorrow by terrorists, you would dream about the days when you sat in the comfort of your home with your significant other and heard cars with loud mufflers. If you want, you can fly halfway around the world and take my place. You can wear gas masks for days at a time, sleep in tents and have 300 people share two washers and dryers. I would trade that for loud vehicles any day of the week.

Double standard

Although I do not agree with Trent Lott regarding his remarks about Strom Thurmond, I can't help but think of the double standard being applied to Lott, especially from Al Sharpton. If memory serves me correctly, Sharpton used a teenage girl in New York who claimed she had been raped by a white police officer, knowing the whole time the story was made up. The police officer received a judgment against Sharpton for libel but has never collected a dime. Sharpton never apologized to him or the city of New York. So how can he possibly accuse somebody else of racism and hate toward a specific group of people?