OpinionFebruary 9, 2001
SPEAK OUT
I GET tired of reading about people who are on a fixed income. This is supposed to indicate that they are poor. If you look at our whole society, almost everyone is on a fixed income. The only exception I can see are people who work on commission. Acting like someone is disadvantaged because he has a fixed income is ridiculous. Planning ahead would take care of a lot of the suffering people say they're going through now...
Lots of fixed incomes
I GET tired of reading about people who are on a fixed income. This is supposed to indicate that they are poor. If you look at our whole society, almost everyone is on a fixed income. The only exception I can see are people who work on commission. Acting like someone is disadvantaged because he has a fixed income is ridiculous. Planning ahead would take care of a lot of the suffering people say they're going through now.
Returning to God
ON FEB. 1 there was a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. I searched the TV news that day and night and couldn't find anything about it. So I searched the Missourian the next day. There was nothing there either. Later that morning I found the news on the "700 Club." It was a big event, and I got to hear some of the wonderful prayers. I'm glad and thankful of that. America has a Christian president, someone God can work through.
Try dressing down
GARY RUST recently informed us that a SEMO basketball coach ranks high in the realm of those coaches who are best dressed up. This at the very time when some SEMO coaches and players may need a good dressing down.
Plan is suspect
BACK TO square one. It has come to light that when U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige was Houston's school superintendent, he hired a private company to assist failing students. Good idea, huh? Well, yeah, except that it has now been reported in the respected New Republic magazine that the private company doctored report cards in order to be eligible for financial incentives. Translation. The much ballyhooed Bush plan for educational accountability is more than slightly suspect.
Streets aren't private
I AM confused by the argument that having cameras at stoplights is a violation of our right to privacy. What we do on city streets is not a private matter. It involves and affects hundreds of other people. It is unfortunate that drivers have started to think of what they do in their cars as private. Study after study has shown that this is a contributor to our declining safety on the roads and to road rage. If a crime is committed, especially one endangering the lives of others, what difference does it make how one is caught?
Best fans in state
HOW ABOUT those Cape Central Tiger fans? They bleed orange and black and drown out the other team's crowd. The Tiger fans are the best fans in the state, hands down.
No junk science
I AM saddened by state Sen. Peter Kinder's attempt to push through a bill that would force doctors to tell women who seek an abortion to be told they are increasing their risk for breast cancer. There are reports on either side of the issue, but the vast majority disagree with his premise. Whether pro-life or pro-choice, please don't try to unnecessarily scare women. I would never have an abortion, but I'd rather make that decision as a matter of personal choice and morality than be scared by legislatively mandated appeals to junk science.
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Meat for the president
IN ANSWER to the gloom and doom, the economic chips are starting to fall with President Bush. If he's worried about Thanksgiving dinner of turnips and black-eyed peas, he's got all summer to watch out for road kill. He'll have some kind of meat, possibly a skunk.
The silver lining
KUDOS TO Secretary of State Matt Blunt for his efforts to study Missouri election laws in the wake of the debacle in Florida. Whether the state winds up implementing his suggestions or not, it is admirable that he and the bipartisan commission with whom he worked are taking up such a task. Maybe some good will come out of the botched 2000 presidential election after all.
Helpful officer
THANKS TO Darryl Sievers, Jackson police officer, for his thoughtfulness in helping me walk across the ice back to my car in January. I feel very lucky to have him for a friend.
Carnahan's integrity
FORMER STATE Rep. Mary Kasten made some pretty tacky comments about U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan in saying she should have voted for John Ashcroft. I wrote to ask Carnahan not to vote for him because of his racist attitude. The man does not walk the same pace as most people in Missouri. The people in this state fired him, and now he is being pushed down our throats by President Bush. Carnahan has integrity. Don't attack her.
Democrats and cuts
I WANT to comment about the recession that George Bush has inherited. I wonder what the Democrats are going to do now, because Bush is going to have to cut taxes to get business going again. You know the Democrats will be against tax cuts. It's going to be interesting to see how they object to people keeping the money they make. They think the money should be sent into Washington.
Secret to harmony
I WOULD like to compliment Tamara Buck on her column about brown people. She says she is not teaching her kids that they should hate white people. I think she is unlocking the secret if people will listen.
Those gas rates
What will the gas company do now that warm weather has arrived?
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