Speak Out 4/1/06

Hard work has rewards

I WAS among those who had to quit school and go to work at the age of 16. I supported a family of six, and we were never on welfare or get food stamps. I had a mother who taught me how to trust God, and he was a great part of my success. At the age of 57 I went back to school and got my GED. Even after a difficult marriage and three wonderful children, I still did not receive welfare or food stamps. Like King David said in Psalms 37:25, I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread. Hard work never killed anybody. If it did, I would have been dead a long time ago.

Let them work

I WOULD much rather pay an illegal immigrant to come here to do a job than I would to pay thousands of dollars to a federal legislator. Representatives and senators are so afraid of what the others are doing that they can't even do their jobs But they continue to get free perks. They're ripping us off, but they're afraid to let an immigrant come here and do a day's work. There is something wrong with this country.

Celebrity know-it-alls

I CAN'T believe people hang on every word of a movie star or celebrity who speaks about political views as though they were someone specially informed.

Iraq's civil strife

IT'S REFLECTIVE of the ultraconservative mindset of Southeast Missouri that we are still getting Speak Out comments trying to pin the bombings in Iraq on terrorists. Even President Bush and the White House have admitted that the bombings are due to the Shiites and the Sunnis fighting each other. Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. The fighting is not due to terrorists but religious strife and the civil upheaval it is causing.

Need better camera

I WAS one of the jurors at the Trey Jones trial. He was charged with trying to sell cocaine. The reason the jury couldn't in good conscience decide his guilt was because the tape evidence was so grainy that we couldn't make out any facial features. It was in poor condition and it was poor quality. I know that the drug task force is doing the best it can with the resources it has, but it would behoove the police to get better video surveillance equipment. There was enough reasonable doubt that we couldn't say he was guilty.

Start small

I GREW up in a small town in Wisconsin. When I was 8 or 9 years old, I started riding the bus. They were mini-buses. It was great for kids and adults. Now 35 years later there are 200,000 people there, and the city has big buses. We really need a bus system in Cape Girardeau, and we don't have to have great big buses. You can have little buses like the university.