OpinionMay 9, 2009
Speak Out 5/9/09
Keeping us safe; Cell phone, driving; Homeless shelter; Low-wage workers; Mastermind Cheney; Teaching demands; Avoiding shots; Thanks, Jefferson; Shelter is bad idea; Another dopehead
Keeping us safe
THANK you, Jackson Police Department, for patrolling our neighborhoods at night. I have a newborn baby, and when I'm up in the middle of the night I tend to look out the window and have noticed more and more police vehicles driving around. Thanks so much for keeping our neighborhoods safe.
Cell phone, driving
I'M sick of people driving and texting or talking on the phone. I've been hit once already by somebody trying to drive and talk on the phone. These motorists not only put their lives in danger, but the lives of people around them too. Most cell phones come with a built-in speaker phone. Please put your cell phone down so you can pay attention to your driving. You didn't have that cell phone up to your ear when you took your driver's license test.
Homeless shelter
THE mayor of Cape Girardeau doesn't know how bad things are. There's a need for a shelter, but what mayor would want to admit that about his town? I think it's wonderful that someone cares about homeless people to give them a second chance. Nobody else will.
Low-wage workers
I don't understand the city's opposition to the proposed homeless shelter. Everyone has tried to suppress wages around here and keep them as close to minimum wage as possible for years. More homeless people equates to more low-wage help. Just because you were lucky enough to get a college education doesn't mean those who didn't or couldn't should suffer.
Mastermind Cheney
I just read Gene Lyons column on Dick Cheney. If Cheney was truly the mastermind of all the events Lyons gives him credit for, he must be one powerful and brilliant politician. He should be running the CIA if he has that much influence. Or could it be that the Democrats now find a need to issue counterattacks on Cheney for fear he might be right in his assessments of President Obama? Since Cheney won't sit quietly by, the Democrats are attacking him on all fronts. Even David Letterman has suddenly turned his attention to Cheney instead of George W. Bush for a change. This is another attempt to squelch any opposition to the liberal views. It's really scary when you can now proudly claim to be a liberal.
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Teaching demands
I am a Jackson High School teacher going to bed at 10:25 p.m. after I cooked and cleaned for my family, graded tests and updated my grades. I have more than 100 students. It is more like 140 to 150. For our students to have adequate feedback it takes more than a one-day turnaround to get many graded materials back to our students, not to mention recording them in gradebooks. Most of us are doing above and beyond what we are required to do. It is discouraging to have our profession ridiculed like we aren't part of the village raising our children.
Avoiding shots
I just read the article that there are cases of whooping cough in Missouri, something the Centers for Disease Control feared would occur if parents continued refusing vaccinations. These types of illness would start coming back. I get that there is some concern about the vaccines and autism, but whooping cough and polio can lead to serious problems for our young children as well.
Thanks, Jefferson
MY child attends Jefferson Elementary School. Mr. Cook and the third- and fourth-grade teachers took the students to a ballet at the River Campus, I would say these teachers care for their students if they spend their Friday evening with the class they have been with all day and did not receive any pay. After being involved with Jefferson for about seven years, I can say the staff there is caring. A special thanks to every one at Jefferson.
Shelter is bad idea
THERE is a homeless issue in Cape Girardeau, not unlike the best of towns everywhere. But people are being helped by a variety of service agencies, including the Salvation Army and local churches. The idea of using a 44,000-square-foot building to provide services supposedly to homeless from a 22-county area is a bad idea. It is an unhealthy idea. Even Larry Rice, who hatched the idea, says that most of the services would go toward transients who are traveling through the area. We don't have a local homeless problem now. But thanks to Larry Rice and the federal government, we might have one in the future. If you care about this issue, you should contact Congresswoman Emerson and senators McCaskill and Bond.
Another dopehead
MANNY Ramirez's suspension from baseball for banned drug use is another indictment of Bud Selig and the players union. Seven of the top home run hitters in the past two decades are now tainted by scandal.
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