Speak Out 9/13/05

Need consequences

PEOPLE SHOULD not be allowed to cry "Rape!" and ruin a man's livelihood and reputation and then say "Never mind." There must be some consequences for this woman's actions, or else no man is safe in this community.

Put them to work

I WOULD like to know why the government does not hire the people in New Orleans who don't want to move out to start cleaning up the area instead of moving them out and recruiting other people to go clean everything up.

Not much studying

MY SON takes nine hours at Southeast Missouri State University. I'm wondering if he should be studying more. He studies two to three hours a week and gets Bs. It sure wasn't like that when I was in college.

Paying for disaster

I FEEL sorry for people who live in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but it makes me angry to think my taxes are going up and my insurance is going to go up to cover up what I have here in Missouri because those people chose to live in what they call paradise. I am paying everything I can to keep my head above water, and now I am going to have to pay for people living down there. That's not right.

Why the blame?

EVERY DAY I drive past Charleston Baptist Campground, and there are more and more volunteers going there all the time, helping people who survived the hurricane. It's really nice. Our area has been great. Our area is really helping these people. But what bothers me is the politicians in Louisiana keep trying to blame somebody, and they're acting mad like we're not giving them enough. How ungrateful can you be? The people up here are gracious. I'm sure the people receiving the food and clothing are gracious. I don't understand blaming somebody else when we're trying to help.

Time to help

I'D LIKE to comment about the looters in New Orleans. I'm disappointed by Speak Out comments defending these people. You don't need to have a plasma TV or $100 sneakers to survive. Let's stop playing the race game and get these people help. There will be time for the blame game later.

Firsthand information

TO THOSE of you making comments from second- and third-hand information, let me set the record straight from some firsthand experience. When my National Guard unit entered the grocery stores in and around Louisiana, we found shelves full of canned goods and bottled water but empty of liquor and tobacco. When we dealt with the so-called abandoned citizenry, we were greeted with a mob that had no respect for authority or desire to be helped. Were there exceptions? Absolutely. Yet the norm remains that many of you will not see the inside of the grocery stores because the media has an agenda in New Orleans, just like they have an agenda in Iraq. Talk to the soldiers and responders on the ground when they return, and please reserve judgment until then.

Defining a refugee

THE DICTIONARY definition of "refugee": 1. One who flees in search of refuge. Definition of "refuge": 1 Protection or shelter, 2. a place providing protection or shelter, 2. a source of help, relief or comfort in times of trouble. Calling someone a refugee is not a derogatory comment.

Angels in disguise

ON THE evening of Sept. 7, my family and I were dining at Chinatown Buffet. Toward the end of our meal, the restaurant's owner approached us to let us know that a kind, young man sitting close to our table had paid for our meal. As a family of four staying with my sister and her husband and having fled the storm with very little, we were extremely touched and grateful for this beautiful unselfish act of generosity. May you be repaid in abundant blessings many times over.