Speak Out 3/6/05

Limited freedom

THE GUEST column by Carol A. Morrow and Hamner Hill about Ward Churchill has taken the all-too-common track in American society of saying, "You have freedom of speech, but if we don't like what you say, we will simply attack you." Perhaps the university should have done a thorough moral background search on Churchill before it hired him. Perhaps all American universities should launch investigations of all their professors. I suspect the university knew and liked Churchill's controversial status at the time it hired him but now can't stand the heat. You have freedom of speech in this country just as long as you don't say too much.

A little of everything

ALL THIS talk about bashing the farmers, calling them welfare recipients and whiners, is sour grapes. I would have liked being a farmer, but I know what it entails. In 1959, I was told you should have at least $100,000 if you wanted to be a farmer. What is it now? A farmer is a jack of all trades: carpenter, mechanic, accountant, secretary. He doesn't get a paycheck and go home. He's his own boss. I only wish I had most of the farmers' knowledge.

Shots not that bad

I WAS bitten by an animal and had to take rabies shots some years ago. In those days there were 14 shots in the abdomen. The shots were not painful, and I suffered no ill effects from them.

Give the money back

THE BRIGHT idea of solving Social Security by raising the age is hogwash. Have these millionaires who are eligible for Social Security forfeit that money and put it back in the system.

Paying for police

I'M ALWAYS interested in comments from college students who claim how valuable the university is to Cape Girardeau. That's true. How else would the cops fill their quota for DWIs arrests? That's the way they make their money.

More than vegetables

A GARDEN or truck patch are wonderful for fresh vegetables, but what about products like flour and cooking oil? Would everyone raise cattle for meat and milk products? We need the farmer as much as he needs the industrial world.

Put it on a billboard

I still say that if it was publicized widely, Cape Girardeau's most attractive tourist slogan could be "Home of Speak Out."