Speak Out 8/22/05

Wasteful scam

THIS IS in regard to the scam and the remark by chief deputy Tom Beardslee of the Scott County Sheriff's Department about the criminals being greedy and stupid. Criminals have eluded the police for so long that the police had to come up with a fake scam. And then they get on TV and put it in the newspaper about the scam. Now you tell me who is stupid when you tell the world what you're doing. These guys wasted taxpayer money and got a whole 22 out of 500 criminals.

Common roads

REGARDING THE comments about Route W and Route U: I have lived here 60 years ago, and I want you to know County Road 346 is in as bad a shape as it has ever been. It is not one iota better. What a shame that Cape Girardeau County has more common roads than Bollinger County does.

Better lifestyle

REGARDING THE comment, "Chemicals concerns": Many of our wildlife species are more abundant now than when Europeans set foot on these shores. Anything can be used wrongly. Maybe herbicides are at times. But herbicides help to provide the person who made this comment with a lifestyle that he enjoys and the food he enjoys eating. That's reality.

Worse than prisons

I AGREE that Central Junior High School is hot. It's sad whenever we see that our prison system is building five-star hotels for criminals when we have children being educated in such dilapidated surroundings.

Partly mowed

I CALLED Speak Out a few days ago about the high weeds at the Route W-Kenneth Avenue intersection. I'm happy to say that this is the third or fourth time the city has responded to Speak Out comments concerning this intersection. There's one problem. The city crews only mowed one side of the street. They left the side where the stop sign is located unmowed. The Johnson grass is now 6 feet tall.

Out of line

REGARDING THE woman in Crawford, Texas, who is demonstrating against President Bush. This woman is a Democratic operative. She's prolonging the war by giving aid and comfort to the enemy the way Jane Fonda did during the Vietnam War. This woman's son volunteered to go to Iraq. He supported freedom for the Iraqis. Now this woman is making speeches about foreign policy and about how the Israelis should turn Israel over to the Palestinians. I feel sorry for the loss of her son, but she has no business talking about U.S. foreign policy. What about other people who will lose their sons because of her?

They've already met

THE PRESIDENT met with Cindy Sheehan in June 2004. After the meeting, she had nothing but praise for President Bush. I'm afraid this woman is being manipulated. The more coverage she receives, the more absurd she becomes. It's time to end her 15 minutes of fame.

Liberalism's diversity

THE CENTRAL thesis of "Academic tilt" put forth in Nat Hentoff's column is bunk based on the old bunkum that liberals are all one thing and conservatives all one thing and a majority of us college professors are out there radicalizing your children. Such stereotyping generalizations -- racial, political, religious -- just don't hold water. Liberalism is itself widely diverse on campuses as in the larger world, just as conservatism among college professors and all the rest of us comes in diverse shades and hues. Professors on the whole are more apt to push spelling skills than any particular ideology. But this does not mean that a liberating education will always be warm and cuddly and easy to swallow. Most college professors would demand only that the Hentoffs of the world sit in on an actual class and give us a chance, in the words of Tom Jefferson, to educate their sensibilities.

Too much credit

I HAVE lived in Oran all my life, and even before the new police chief came in, Oran was a safe place to live. You are giving him a little more credit than he deserves.

Lower-court repairs

I HAVE to ask this question of the Jackson Board of Aldermen and Alderman Phil Penzel: If the upper tennis courts get so much attention with $40,000 worth of work on them, why not apply some of that same rehabilitation to the lower courts? Those courts are in worse shape and have been for a far longer time. Be equal and fair.

Wholesome activity

LET THE kids play dodgeball. They never hurt anyone playing on the tennis courts in Jackson. They found something to do that is drug- and alcohol-free, fun and in some ways an exercise for kids who might not otherwise see a weight room or work out on a regular basis.

Religious influence

I NOTICE that a lot of people say religion plays no part in this or that and that morals should stay out of the decision-making process. Without religion playing a part in the forming of this country and the morals and values of our forefathers, we would not have the right to hear anyone's opinion. Those of us who were around in the 1960s and 1970s have seen what happens when you throw away the morals and beliefs that were held dear by our forefathers. As a result, we got AIDS, flesh-eating viruses and children who don't know who their fathers are.

Make a dodgeball area

THE NEXT time there is a complaint about the youths in Jackson not having anything to do, we know whom to point a finger at: Alderman Phil Penzel and the rest of the board. To wonder "what kind of damage could occur by playing dodgeball" on tennis courts is absurd. People running around and bouncing a rubber ball isn't going to cause real damage. If the youths were riding skateboards or bikes there, I could see this action, but to stop the dodgeball is pathetic. When will Jackson build a fenced area for the dodgeballers?