Speak Out 7/16/12

Arrow flight

Regarding the Speak Out comment in Tuesday's edition about the deer ordinance, I have bow hunted for about 45 years. I have taken many deer. I have never seen a deer fly. In a hunting situation, why would anyone shoot an arrow high into the air to maximize the distance the arrow travels? So why are you concerned about the maximum distance of arrow flight?

Themis gate

Most evenings I enjoy walking down to the mighty Mississippi. However, as I walk to the Themis gate, many times there is about two inches of water blocking my exit. Boots are necessary to complete the excursion. Could someone in city engineering or street department check this out?

Bad example

The Fourth of July was a fun day and should have been a fun night as well. But once again my neighbors had to ruin it. Their kids were shooting off bottle rockets, which I believe were not supposed to be sold at all. The kids were shooting them at houses, at cars, at people walking past, at one another, everywhere. Yes, the police showed up and the kids ran. The father spoke to the police and we heard him say he would "handle it." Later on this same father and a male friend were shooting off the bottle rockets. They, too, were shooting them everywhere. Today my yard and driveway are littered with debris. It will no doubt lie there for all to see and deal with for days. Too bad for our neighborhood that these people have no respect for the law, their neighbors or their neighborhood.

Presidential donors

Mitt Romney has raised more money than Barack Obama. No doubt since the 1 percent is backing the Republicans to keep their tax cuts. However, a lot of what Obama is raising comes from the middle class, of which more people would be donating than just the handful of the rich. It is a shame that all the money the Republicans are spending on the election could go a long way in helping the people that need help instead of trying to get people to believe the lies that they are spreading. Bush is the one that brought our country down and they won't admit that. They keep trying to pass all the blame on Obama and the Democrats and not on the do-nothing Republican congress. The election will tell where the people stand and I am sure it won't be with the 1 percent.

Political priorities

The Missouri "pro-life" politicians are so concerned that a taxpayer dollar might accidentally be used to destroy a microscopic fertilized egg or an embryo the size of a pinhead. They don't seem so concerned about living, breathing children; instead they want to refuse the Medicaid expansion of the Affordable Care Act and thus block federal tax dollars from coming into Missouri to provide health care for poor, innocent children.

Lagoon wasteland

I went for a walk at Capaha Park this weekend and was appalled at the condition of the lagoon. There are not enough adjectives to describe the horrid wasteland it has become. The algae and trash floating in it makes one sick. A few days ago there was a photo in this paper showing workers spreading herbicide to kill the algae. In September there was almost the same photo of the same thing. In that story the mayor stated that there was a plan to "do something, probably by the middle of next year." This is the middle of next year. The city got a tax increase, hired two consulting firms, spreads thousands of dollars of chemicals a year and nothing gets done. The waterfowl population there is overcrowded and not healthy. Before the council considers some of the projects proposed earlier this year like dog parks, aquariums and museums, fix what we already have.

Tax cut

It makes me sick to my stomach to hear of those making more than $250,000 a year complaining about losing a tax cut. Poor things. The sad part is many say they don't need it, but they will take it.