Speak Out B 09/14/01

I've had it. Tuesday we had a tragedy, and most gas stations started raising prices. You interviewed one owner who said his suppliers had raised his price by 15 cents, which he was passing on to the public. I have a problem with this. His suppliers shut down their pipeline for one day. Nobody got any new gas on Tuesday. Yet what was in the tanks at the gas station already was bought at a cheaper price. When a new load of fuel comes in, then raise prices. I saw stations raise their prices, making as much profit off this tragedy as they could. I will never buy gas from these people ever again,

Fuel warning

WE GET half our fuel from foreign suppliers, mostly Muslim countries. Now we are at war with Muslim terrorists. Last year I warned about our fuel supply and said, would it take another Pearl Harbor to wake us up? Now we will be forced to do something to conserve fuel.

Cousin on plane

I think this is an extremely tragic and terrifying experience. The terrorists must be tracked down and punished. My cousin was on the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. She is now dead, but her spirit will always remain with us.

Freedom is intact

I was shocked and saddened at what happened Tuesday. My first reaction was anger. How could someone be so cruel? But now all I can say is that the people who are responsible for this terrible tragedy can take away our sense of security, but only for the moment. We are still a strong nation full of brave and wonderful people. They took many things from us, but they can never take away our freedom or the fact that we are still proud to be Americans.

Wear your seat belt

The person who suggested it is the right of the driver to decide whether or not to wear seat belts has obviously never considered the impact not wearing seat belts would have on car insurance rates. Accidents are more likely to send people to the hospital if they are not wearing their seat belts. This translates into higher medical bills, which are paid by insurance companies. The insurance companies then would have to raise rates across the board in order to pay those bills. Be smart. Be responsible. Be a role model. Wear your seat belt.

Prayers and sympathy

I sat in my living room watching TV in utter astonishment. Although I am miles away from where this happened, it's heartbreaking to see this being done to our country. Only cowards would attack innocent bystanders without warning and then hide. My prayers and sympathy go out to all those who lost a family member or friend in these horrific acts.

A time for unity

Our nation has been getting further and further away from God. America has had God's protection and blessing for a long time. God will use this opportunity to draw our nation to him once again. We must get back to what we have believed in for so long. Members of Congress singing together is a great example of the unity we are already seeing.

Disgusting gouging

Tuesday I was driving and heard a local oil company executive on the radio urging citizens not to panic. He said there was no need to be waiting in lines at the gas pumps. As he said this, I drove past his crowded station, which was jacking up prices, taking advantage of an international tragedy to gouge the citizens of his own community. How disgusting. In the future, I will only do business with those that kept the price at $1.45 a gallon.

Placing the blame

I feel for the people who lost family in the disasters in New York and Washington. I blame numerous people. I believe that Osama bin Laden was responsible for it because he was the one who has been threatening something like this. I also believe Saddam Hussein is responsible. It is too coincidental that this occurred not long after reports that another one of our unmanned planes was shot down in Iraq. I also hold Bill Clinton responsible for this. He cut our military so badly that we were not prepared for this. I hope America hits those responsible for this and hits them hard.

Counting the profit

The events of Tuesday made one observer comment, "Today we have seen both the best and worst of mankind." On the local level, it was interesting to note that most citizens responded to the disaster by immediately seeking to donate blood. The immediate reaction of some gas stations was to bleed the public by raising gas prices before the dust of the disaster had even begun to settle. While the nation was solemnly beginning to count the bodies, were our region's gasoline dealers gleefully counting their profit?

Hurting ourselves

REGARDING ALL service station operators that participated in price gouging: You should be publicly horsewhipped. The terrorists were foreigners hurting Americans. The price gougers are Americans hurting Americans. They should be punished publicly.

Circle the wagons

SEPT. 11 was Black Tuesday again. I want to point out that it was a horrible tragedy and should never have happened. There are people crying that this is going to cause a recession. We already have a recession. If anything, I think companies are going to start tooling up, and there will be more employment. We Americans may shake our fists at one another, but in times of crisis we circle the wagons and work together. We will survive this.

Solace for students

I THINK Southeast Missouri State University showed an amazing lack of respect for the tragedy that occurred in this country by not allowing students to go home and seek the solace of their families, prayer groups and friends.

Simply disgusting

THE GAS price gouging in this city in the face of this national tragedy is simply disgusting.

Thanks for the flag

UPON HEARING the horrible news Tuesday morning, my first thought was, "Let's fly our flags." But after having moved to my present home, I had downsized so much that I didn't have my flag with me. Lo and behold, Wednesday morning I open my paper and find a flag to display in my window. What a brilliant, wonderful thing you did, Southeast Missourian. I immediately displayed it on my window with pride. Although it's paper, it is a flag. I am so proud to display it in my window. I'm also thankful for Jon Rust's column encouraging people to pray and go on with our daily lives.

Investigate the prices

IT SURE didn't take the local oil companies long to show where their interests lie: the big buck. There was no reason for them to raise prices the way they did Tuesday. It's an outrage and should be investigated.

Pity the owners

STAND UP, Americans. Be tall and proud. Don't lose hope. They might have bashed us, but they haven't got us. And I think any filling station owner in America who jacked up prices is to be pitied. Americans shouldn't take advantage of Americans in a situation like this.

We protect others

WE HAVE gone to war to free Kuwait. We have gone to war to save the Albanian Kosovars. Both were Muslim states. Why in the name of reason won't this country go to war to protect its own citizens?