Speak Out 5/16/12

AP classes

Thank you for publishing that article about the growing popularity of advanced placement classes in high school. There is growing evidence that the academic quality of a high school can to a substantial degree be measured by the number of AP courses it offers.

France, U.S.

Americans should pay attention to the French presidential election results. This is the direction that the U.S. is headed. There are so many people on the public dole in France that they readily elected the socialist candidate who promised to keep the goodies coming, no matter that the country is going broke. The austerity measures needed to right the country's financial ship are somewhat painful, so we have to do away with them, right? The question that the French should be asking themselves, which is the same question that the U.S. should be asking, is what happens when the government runs out of other people's money?

Coddling terrorists

So the Sept. 11 terrorists want the military court and everyone connected with it to respect their religious beliefs? I think they deserve the same level of respect that they showed toward the 3,000 innocent people that they murdered. These thugs deserve zero respect of any kind, and the court should quit coddling them. They provide interpreters, headphones, attorneys, etc. The court should just proceed, and if these cretins do not want to listen, so be it.

Child endangerment

Last night I was in a local establishment listening to live music. This particular one tends to be loud and smoky, to the point where my eyes burn and I feel as though I have been smoking myself. Someone had a young child, probably around 6 months old, in there all night. Finally somebody must have reported it to the police because they showed up. After speaking with the parents they left with the baby still in the bar. I couldn't believe my eyes. Is this not child endangerment?