Speak Out A 07/08/03

Opposing the war

ISN'T IT interesting that people are still bashing the United Nations and France even though events have shown that their understanding of the situation in Iraq was far superior than that of President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld? It reminds one of Vietnam. The people who favored that war were never able to forgive the people who opposed it just because they were right.

Perversion in the parks

CITY COUNCIL, if you cannot make the police take back our parks from the perverts who are taking them over, then don't come to me for more taxes. We can't even enjoy the parks we have because of the homosexual activity that is so prevalent in them.

God's retribution

THE ROAD map to peace is a disaster for America. I do not believe America should be involved in trying to bring about peace in the Middle East. God does not want his land divided as stated in Zachariah 12:3: "All those who come against Israel shall be cut in pieces." It is wrong for the president and Secretary of State Powell to say they are going to divide God's land. America will be punished. I believe the terrible weather we are having is God punishing our nation for wanting to force Israel to give up land for peace. The hailstones are the size of cantaloupes, and during the tribulation period they will be about 60 pounds each. I believe there is a link between the weather map in America and the road map in the Middle East.

Cite the source

A CALLER advises that states with concealed-carry laws experience a 13 percent increase in firearms violence. Would that caller please call back and state his source for those statistics?

Cut back on sports

TO THE caller who remarked that maybe Jackson schools should be spending more money on education than on the sports: I'd like to wholeheartedly agree. We have a reason to be proud of our football team. Sometimes a student can be a senior in high school and get accepted to a nice college even though he is taking ninth-grade math in his senior year because he's on the football team. I know kids who have been on the team for four years, have gone to every practice and are good players but have never got to play a game. Jackson spends a lot of money on the football team. We need to take a look at how much money is being spent on the sports programs. If money needs to come from somewhere, there's probably some in sports that could be pulled back for sure.

Ban bottle rockets

I HOPE the Jackson Board of Aldermen will strongly consider outlawing bottle rockets in the city after this year. These kids shoot fireworks with no supervision and don't know or care where the fireworks go when they leave their hands. There have been numerous fireworks violations. I've always been afraid that there would be damage to my property. The house fire last week proves it can happen.

Expressing emotion

I DON'T think the graffiti at the World Trade Center was tacky and unpatriotic. I think it's just a way of expressing an outpouring of emotion, much as when people go to Graceland and express themselves on the outer walls there. That's one of the things that Graceland's famous for.

Thanks for article

IN RESPONSE to the article "Field of scenes": I enjoyed this article very much. It really brought back good memories. The statistics and numbers of drive-ins was very interesting. I pass the drive-in at Piedmont occasionally on my way to Springfield, Mo., and I always wondered about the attendance there. Good article. Thanks.

Crimes against art

IT'S OUR downtown murals which are criminal. That is, they are crimes against good art.

Better than cartoons

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian can say what it wants about the current graffiti artist, but his artwork still is better than the poorly drawn cartoons that functions as our officially sanctioned graffiti downtown.

Claim the reward

IFIsee this graffiti artist, my first call will be to 911.