Speak Out 5/6/08

Condescending column

CAL THOMAS says if you're reading this newspaper, chances are you are not poor. Do you know any poor people? I'm poor, but guess what? I can read, and so can most poor people. Please don't condescend to us.

Paying off debts

I CAN'T find it within myself to feel sorry for people having problems paying the bills or paying their credit-card balances. Many people spend foolishly and don't have any awareness of where the money's coming from. They spend because they like to buy things. They have a lifestyle they don't want to change. I adjust my lifestyle to what I can afford. I feel comfortable that way. I'm not willing to help somebody who has spent foolishly pay off debts. I'll help people who need it and if they have problems that they couldn't help.

Highway concerns

I WOULD like for somebody at the Missouri Department of Transportation to tell the people of Chaffee and all the people who use Highway 77 from Chaffee to Blomeyer and Dutchtown and Highway 25 south to Oran if the highway department is going to do anything about the roads. Highway 77 is falling apart The shoulders are dangerous. It's going to cause somebody to have a terrible accident.

Endangered bees

IT IS my understanding that a swarm of honeybees took a temporary respite at the Jackson Soccer Park. Rather than allow them to move on, and instead of calling a beekeeper to safely remove them, the endangered bees were killed. Don't soccer parents read the news to know these bees are in short supply?

Racing tragedy

WITH ANOTHER sickening tragedy at the Kentucky Derby, I hope more will come to realize that our dominance over the rest of the animal kingdom has had holocaustal outcomes and will put pressure on the mint julep-sipping set to abolish all horse racing.

First aid, CPR training

I AGREE that school personnel should be trained in first aid and CPR. For the record, every staff member of the the Alternative Education Center has been certified by the American Red Cross in first aid and CPR.

Sex education

WHAT STATE is the leader in federal subsidies for abstinence-only sex education, requires watered-down words for body parts in its texts and has the highest teenage birth rate? Surely you guessed it: Texas.

Country living

QUIT DEPLETING farmland to build overpriced neighborhoods for people who want to live in the country but still want the conveniences of living in the city.