Speak Out 2/3/05

Plain speaking

THANK YOU, Evelyn Sewing, for being old enough, retired enough and, especially, brave enough to tell it like it is. It is encouraging that there is a person who has been there, done that and who knows what she is talking about and who can speak out without having as her two main concerns being politically correct or worrying about repercussions from those who might be offended by the facts and the truth.

Making a choice

I AM a high school student, and one of the reasons I will not choose to go to a state-run university is because of foreign professors who have no respect for the country they live in.

Movie tourism

THE CALLER who wanted to bring Hollywood to Cape Girardeau must realize that people's memories are short. Just because a movie is made somewhere doesn't mean people are going to flock there. Cincinnati was having movies made there, but people don't flock there. You go for King's Island amusement park, the Cincinnati Reds and the many museums. You're not going to go somewhere just because a movie's being made there. If you do, it would be a one-time thing.

Prize-winning credentials

I THINK it's the height of arrogance for David Limbaugh to call Tom Friedman mushy. This is the same Tom Friedman who has won three Pulitzer Prizes for his writing. How many Pulitzer Prizes has Limbaugh won?

More respect, please

IT HAS come to my attention, after spending days at the hospital intensive-care unit, that large groups of people who come to visit should show more respect for others. The ICU waiting room is not a party place nor a playground. Some are there for the loved ones who's lives are just a heartbeat away from death.

Biggest enemy

THE BIGGEST enemy of the black person is not the white person, it's a black male who doesn't stay loyal to his wife or doesn't marry a woman but fathers several children by different women. He takes no responsibility, allowing his children to be raised on welfare. And then he ends up in prison because he doesn't want to obey the laws because he's got a grudge because he's black. He uses his race as an excuse. Blacks are killing themselves with drugs, guns, violence and gangs in numbers that far outnumber those killed during war and the civil rights movement.

Defense of farmers

REGARDING THE so-called farmers' welfare: My husband has been farming for more than 30 years. He has a second job so we can pay our bills. We only started taking money from the government three years ago. The government tells us what to plant and where to plant it now. Do you honestly think this is welfare? We own all our farm equipment free and clear, no thanks to the government. Maybe farmers should quit farming and just feed our own families.

Freedom's price

I CAN'T believe the Southeast Missouri State University professor who is an Iraqi didn't vote in the Iraqi election. He said it was a four-hour drive to the nearest polling place. How far is Baghdad from America? I bet he didn't mind those hours of travel so he can live in freedom and teach at our college. We fought and died for our right to vote to be free. Our soldiers don't know the people they are fighting to help, and they are dying for them. I am the mother of a soldier in Iraq.

Legalized robbery

I HAD a friend who died at age 54. He was a single person who had a grown daughter from a previous marriage. For more than 30 years, he and his employer paid into Social Security. The money came from his hard work. One would think that his daughter would get the money that he contributed, but because she was an adult, she got nothing. This is legalized robbery.