OpinionSeptember 14, 2007
Speak Out 9/14/07
Speeding tickets; Long commitment; Defending freedoms; Turn right; Armband limits; Abrupt end; Middle of the road; Highway 72 speeders; Pool covering; No dogs at fair; Terrible image; Social reality
Speeding tickets
ONE OF the major reasons motorists use the center turn lane in Jackson to merge into traffic is because of the speed of the vehicles and the lack of speed enforcement during peak hours on East Jackson Boulevard. Issuing speeding tickets should be the bigger priority than turn-lane violations.
Long commitment
I'M GLAD the military surge is working. But, as Clausewitz knew and Gen. David Petraeus knows, military victory is meaningless without progress on the political front. That's where our focus must be. A drawdown of troops is inevitable, but we should be and, I think, will be prepared to retain 60,000 to 100,000 troops in the area for decades and keep our fingers crossed that a viable political reconciliation can be worked out.
Defending freedoms
HOW CAN anyone not support the war on terror after reading or seeing what Osama bin Laden has recently had to say. We have two choices: convert to Islam or they'll continue to kill us. I don't know about you, but I plan to maintain the faith of my choice. It seems that those who continue complaining about the war are those who forget that we only have our freedoms due to the fact that our brave men and women continue to defend them so they can continue to complain openly.
Turn right
I WANT to thank all the city officials and law enforcement in Jackson. Enforcing the turn-lane law is great. Just today I was going to make a left turn into a gas station and could not because someone was sitting in the turn lane and using it improperly. If you can't make a left out of a location, make a right turn, turn around in a parking lot and make another right. It won't take that long, and you won't be putting others in danger.
Armband limits
AND I thought only the carnival games were shady. On Saturday afternoon I went to the fair and purchased my children armbands for the rides. The brochure read, "Band honored after 5 p.m. but not sold after 5 p.m." So we bought the bands and left planning on a night of fun when we returned from church. But when we returned we were informed the bands were only good until 6 p.m. I paid $72 for armbands, and my children did not get to ride one ride. When I tried to get in touch with Pete Poe (who I was told was in charge of the midway) he was nowhere to be found.
Abrupt end
I WANT the people in charge of the River City Music Festival to be relieved of their positions. I paid $5 a person for my fiancee and I to get in at 11:20 p.m. Saturday, plus I bought an additional $12 of beer tickets. Ten minutes later they shut everything down before I got a chance to redeem my beer tickets or listen to any of the music. The staff just said "Tough luck" and laughed at us. What a rip-off.
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Middle of the road
GOOD ARTICLE regarding our U.S. representative, Jo Ann Emerson. She does a great job and stays in the middle of the road. That is what I like about her. She takes on the conservatives and the liberals. She is all about the everyday, average, middle-class, hard-working American, and that is what counts. Keep up the good work.
Highway 72 speeders
IF JACKSON doesn't stop people on the new Highway 72 expansion, how does it expect people to abide the 40 mph speed limit? The norm is 50 to 60 mph now that it is open. Another letter to the state may be in order if things don't get better soon.
Pool covering
THE CENTRAL swimming pool is being covered with the mold-prone plastic bubble again. Soon our beautiful pool will be turned into a health hazard, with children getting sick on a regular basis for breathing toxic gases that stay in the air because of poor ventilation. But the bubble won't last long. It's full of holes already, and the pool will be closed for the winter. The losers? Our children, of course. The winners? City officials who do not care about it and won't budget a much-needed permanent cover of the pool. Let's stay at home watching TV and getting fat over the winter.
No dogs at fair
I ATTENDED the SEMO District Fair Sunday and took my dog with me. There are no signs posted that pets are not allowed. A security guard said we had to leave because there were no dogs allowed. I saw several people with dogs at the fair, including people working at the fair. My mom pointed out that it is a city park, and the security guard said, "Not this week it isn't." I don't see how this is fair when the workers are allowed to have pets but the paying patrons are not. Why does the fair have a pet parade if you cannot have your pets on the fairgrounds?
Terrible image
I SAW the front-page headline of Friday's Poplar Bluff newspaper about the two men from Cape Girardeau who tried to kill deer in Cape Girardeau with a rifle. Then the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an article about 26 high school soccer players and two adults from Cape Girardeau trapped in the glass elevator at Mid Rivers Mall on Saturday. They had to be rescued by firefighters. It's hard for Cape Girardeau to have a reputation as a progressive city with intelligent people with headlines like that. What were these people thinking?
Social reality
AN INCONVENIENT truth: Nations in northern and western Europe have the highest income per capita, most productive workforce per capita, longest life spans, highest quality of living and lowest rates of crime, poverty and disease. These same nations have a casual attitude toward organized religion and traditional family values. Furthermore, each of these nations has universal health care, no death penalty, legalized abortion, paid maternity leave and mandatory four weeks of paid vacation each year. Comparatively, nations with the highest rates of organized religion and which profess traditional family values have the highest rates of crime, poverty and poorest health.
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