Speak Out 8/22/12

Dirty ads

I had to laugh today when I heard a commercial on television; it was a speech that President Obama was giving, I think in Colorado. He was talking about the dirty politics and the dirty campaign ads on TV. I thought the Democrats have some of the lowest, dirtiest ads against Romney that I have ever seen, and here's Obama talking about how dirty the Republican ads are. That is strictly the pot calling the kettle black.

Hunting concerns

I'm reading the proposal for allowing for hunting deer in the city for 16 weeks, and there's no limit on the number of deer they can get. I'm just wondering where are the people in this area? How are they going to be safe with an arrow flying around? I'd be afraid. I'd be afraid to step out of my house.

Romney's taxes

That should lay the issue to rest. Mitt Romney has told us to trust him in telling us that he never paid less than 13 percent on his taxes. Case closed.

Balance budget

Rep. Paul Ryan, who is now a vice presidential candidate, has a plan to slowly balance the budget and actually pay down the debt in the next 38 years. That's a good idea; that's a good start. But we really ought to balance the budget now and pay down the debt in the next 20 years. If you buy a house you try to pay it down in the next 20 to 25 years. The government needs to do the same thing. It's time to balance the budget and pay off the debt.

Moral test

The Ryan budget does not pass the moral test. Says who? Me, along with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Sadistic movie

The problem with the modern Batman movies is that the violence is sadistic. It's one thing for good to battle evil and violence to be an aspect of the battlefield. It's another thing to seemingly celebrate sadism, which the Batman movies certainly do. No one needs to see that kind of stuff -- except when learning, at an appropriate age, about the atrocities of history. Let the worst evil be talked about only in the context of "never forgetting history," rather than having it simply be a device for degrading entertainment. Making sadism entertainment makes it more normal -- and more likely to happen. Shame on the Batman producers and director.

Space exploration

In response to the Speak Out comment about Mars being a waste of money when people are jobless and hungry: NASA's Curiosity program has created thousands of jobs over several years. This mission didn't just happen overnight. Years of planning, designing, testing, etc. You have to look back to the 1400s. If it weren't for the Portuguese and the Spaniards exploring the oceans when they, too, had jobless and hungry people, we wouldn't be living in the United States. What makes human beings superior to other species is our curiosity. Our need for exploration. This is why we are and should continue to be on Mars.

Enthusiasm gap

I'd like to congratulate Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Reid on setting the Democrat Party back 50 years and erasing the enthusiasm gap we'd gained after George W. Bush left office.

No trespassing

In regards to deer hunting and those who don't want the hunters on their property. It is illegal for anyone to trespass on your land now. No signs are needed and you can have them arrested. Give it a chance, just one short season. Then if it fails, the city can say no more.

Greedy CEOs

Jay Leno and David Letterman have taken pay cuts to help keep others working, but you don't see any of the 1 percent CEOs doing the same. They are greedy and taking more raises. The only thing is it won't all fit in their casket when they leave this world. But they sure think so. Congress is right there with them. They want to get their sticky fingers on some of the money.

MAP scores

Since there is no longer any accountability, there is really no need to publish the MAP scores. MAP has gone the way of many other government mandated tests and it's about time. Good riddance and back to business as usual, finally.

Sanders column

Matt Sanders' piece on Cape's hate crime was an example of journalism at its finest and so exemplary it is imperative that Mr. Sanders must give serious consideration to sharing his insights with us on a regular basis.