Speak Out 6/6/08

Parental caution

A REMINDER: School is out and thefts are up. Don't leave anything in your vehicle that would tempt others. Parents, know where your children are at all times.

Winning team

MANY THANKS to the community of Scott City for the overwhelming support that was given to the Scott City state champion baseball team. And thanks, team, for bringing out Scott City's true colors.

Neal Boyd on TV

I THINK it's awesome that Neal Boyd is going to appear on NBC's "America's Got Talent." I've heard him sing many times, and he is great.

Build up that wall

FOR A long time right wingers have been successfully tearing down the wall of separation between church and state. The one good thing about the public nuttiness coming from all these preachers during the presidential campaign is that it sends a clear message that we need to reconstruct that wall as soon as possible and make sure that this time it is totally impenetrable.

Holding signs

SIGN HOLDING is a short-term job. Let them work. When a business closes or the tax rush is over, the sign holders are gone. Holding signs is done in business areas, not beautiful neighborhoods. Safety problems come from the children working at car washes who hang into the streets flapping their signs and yelling at motorists.

Electronic signs

IF THE mayor is truly concerned about public safety on city streets, he would lead the charge against electronic signs. I've nearly been in two accidents because other drivers were distracted by those signs. Banning someone on the side of the road promoting mattress sales isn't going to have the same impact as stopping electronic signs.

Discriminatory law

WHAT IS the rule for one should be the rule for all. If businesses cannot hire people to stand on the street with a sign, then I do not want to see cheerleaders, church groups or anyone else standing on the street trying to sell me something. How can city officials even think about a law that is so blatantly discriminatory?

Deafening silence

I REMEMBER David Limbaugh condemning the government for sending Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba, for the botched raid at Waco and for allowing the plug to be pulled on Terri Schiavo, who was said to be in a persistent vegetative state. I have always appreciated his stand in favor of individual liberties, particularly religious liberty. That is why I am dumbfounded by his deafening silence concerning the overreaching of the government of Texas in its raid on the polygamous compound. Even I am not cynical enough to think that in this instance Mr. Limbaugh succumbed to crass political considerations. What is the deal?

Affording a house

EVEN GOING to school cannot guarantee you will be able to buy a house. I went to school and still couldn't afford a house. It's what jobs pay, not schooling, that determines if you can buy a house. I never depend on the government to help me out.

Dire predictions

REMEMBER ALL of those gloom-and-doom commentators who were telling us that crime, out-of-wedlock births, teen suicide, divorce and declining SAT scores were leading our nation to an inevitable collapse? These dire predictions have not come to fruition. Improvements in all of these categories are substantial. Politicians are always trying to exploit these societal issues and make it seem as though things are getting worse. They're not.