Speak Out 12/21/05

Extreme measures

THE NEW York Times and those responsible for leaking information about NSA monitoring should be jailed. What were they thinking? Now that terrorists know about this, they will change the way they do things, and that could lead to another 9-11. The terrorists are not playing some game. They want to kill us. If listening on my cell phone will prevent another 9-11, I have no problem with that. But don't tell the enemy what we're doing.

Father government

SOMEONE ASKED what's wrong with the government allowing us to take some of our Social Security and invest it ourselves. Would you trust a child to make wise decisions regarding his future? Of course not. The government is like our father. It knows what is best for us. All we have to do is obey the government, and we will be safe and live long healthy lives. Look at all the advice the government gives us about nutrition, exercise and getting vaccinated. We, like little children, think we know better than our father. We would be a lot better off if we did as our government tells us to do.

Take our poachers

THERE ARE covert deer harvesters in northern Scott County who can take care of the Cape Girardeau County deer overpopulation problem. And once you find a way to get these hunters into your tree stands, I wish you'd keep them. Deer poachers are an unsavory lot who do a great disservice to the sport by making it harder for beginning and elderly hunters to enjoy a successful hunt because of the poachers.

Pickup confusion

I WOULD like to comment on the new way we drop off and pick up our children at the middle school. Whoever came up with the idea is not too bright. Picking up the kids in the afternoon is total chaos. I wish that the school would rethink this. It is confusing.

Guns in school

ORAN POLICE did the right thing by arresting the boy for shooting a girl with a pellet gun. There is enough shooting in schools as it is without thinking this incident was no big deal. The next time it could be a real gun.

Closed on Christmas

IF THIS area is so religious, explain to me why some churches will be closed on Christmas Day. That is the most religious day in the world. I guess holy rollers don't know who was born on that day. Christmas is not about presents. It's about what happened over 2,000 years ago.

Dumbing down

ACCORDING TO Webster's, the definition of "dumb down" is: to lower the level of difficulty and the intellectual content of (as a textbook); also: to lower the general level of intelligence as in "the dumbing down of society." I have witnessed this concept in the Cape Girardeau School District. Are teachers able to see all of the children's needs? When teachers are attending college, how many classes teach them about how human beings learn? It's sad to overhear teachers talking negatively about parents. Perhaps teachers should remind themselves that they are only the teacher, not the parent, and that the parent makes decisions for the children. Perhaps teachers should also remind themselves that some parents have more education than the teachers themselves.

Park memorials

I WOULD like to point out that the Cape Girardeau County Park Christmas displays are in the county park and that the cemetery across the highway is the place for memorials and remembrances for loved ones who have passed on. Why do people continue to dedicate Christmas decorations to the deceased? Maybe the county park should limit these, or the cemetery should let people decorate gravesites with blinking lights.