Speak Out 6/17/12

Chaffee speed

I am calling about the speed limit in Chaffee, Mo. The person who wrote in, if she doesn't like Chaffee, she needs to move out because the speed limit is 20 miles per hour and should stay there. People are running stop signs because they are texting and talking on the phone and speeding 45 to 50 mph. This is not a racetrack; there is not a freeway out there. I'm tired of this.

Stupid vs. criminal

There are people who do stupid things, such as the man who was playing hide and seek and put his child in the washer. You can't legislate intelligence. God gives children equally to the dumb and to the smart. I don't like the title child abuse. I for one know what it is like to grow up in an abusive home. It was nothing for my dad to turn over the dinner table, even though he had a powerful or good job in the community. My mother never let a peep out about how my dad acted at home. So, for these callers wanting to make laws, they don't even know what goes on behind closed doors. Please don't just write headlines calling something child abuse, because when you are from an abusive home you know what abuse is. A dad being stupid is not the same as a dad who has real anger problems.

Nasty behavior

I am out with my husband today eating lunch with him and my son. We were on our way to Cape Girardeau. I have seen parents teach their kids to flip people the bird and boys to grab their crotch to a woman and cuss and just be belligerent and nasty. I've seen parents teaching kids how to talk really nasty to people. I am sorry, there is no excuse for that. Parents can raise their children that way and be married two and three and four times and have that many kids and those kids turn out to be just like their parents. I have been married 31 years, and my children would never act like that.

Wisconsin news

Gov. Scott Walker took over Wisconsin when it was badly in a deficit. He balanced the state budget according to the state constitution with the help of the legislature, and then unions tried to do a recall on him. He won the recall by 7 percent, and this newspaper puts the story on Page 9. This is front-page news. A governor has the guts to balance the budget and wins re-election. Yes!

Food, for thought

I have got to do a Speak Out about Mike Jensen and his comment in Wednesday's paper about us helping support and feed those who cannot feed themselves. He is talking about the $55 billion we spend worldwide. Much of the money we spend on so-called helping someone eat properly is for people who will not feed themselves, not people who cannot feed themselves. We have developed a society that says you owe me and they sit and wait for you to hand it to them. They are brought up this way. If you look at the people in the United States who are in most food lines, probably at least a third are overweight or obese people. If they were skin and bones, then you would know they were starving. So let's get things straight and quit fantasizing on things that make us sound good.