SPEAKOUT

Children need both parents

IT NEVER ceases to amaze me how our society continually condemns fathers for failure to pay their child support. At the same time, our government cries out for fathers to become more active in their children's lives. But for some reason our judicial system continues to look at fathers as nothing more than sperm donors with paychecks. Fathers are treated as if the only thing they're good for is to foot the bill, and when a father seeks to have a relationship with his child and become part of the child's life and the mother refuses, no legal action is ever taken even though there are laws in place. But if a father misses his child-support payment, he is condemned as a deadbeat and is persecuted by the law and, in some cases, is taken as far as putting him in jail and destroying his life when a mother can do whatever she wants, can take the child, move halfway across the country and no action taken against her even though she is violating court orders and has been found in contempt. No one seeks justice for the children. The children need their fathers and mothers. I think John Guild put it best when he said, "In a divorce, the children need both the mother and the father."

Jefferson would be Libertarian today

I'M CALLING in response to an item in Speak Out about Thomas Jefferson being a founder of the Democratic Party. He was not a founder of the Democratic Party. If anything, he was anti-big government, which is hardly Democratic. He was, by today's standards, leaning more toward the Libertarian viewpoint. The previous caller may want to check his facts.

Pick up food in bag on doorknob

I THINK the food drive that the Boy Scouts have been having is something really good. But for the past two years they have sent their bag up to my house on my doorknob. The last two years, I have filled it with canned goods and have never come back to pick it up. I am getting tired of it. If they can put the bag on my door, then they can at least come back and pick up the canned goods that I put in the bag. From now on, I'm putting the bag in the trash.

Reasons not to show support

ANY RICH rich person who would vote for Jo Ann Emerson for Congress in the future or voted for her in the past cares nothing about the poor, and any poor person who votes for her is just a plain fool, simple and short. And any black person who would vote for her is an Uncle Tom. She's no way for the poor. She is against everything the poor man needs, such as medical care and strong support for the labor unions that helped the working people. No way should a poor person or minority vote for her.

Red-light district at every corner

MAYBE PEOPLE around here run through red lights because they have high morals and want to get away from them. It could be that they think the lights are advertisements for houses of ill-repute.

Columns are trite, not funny

I PROBABLY read more than most people, not because I have superior intelligence, but rather to get a new perspective on things or to see things in a different light. I always read the various columns written by your staff writers, but I've been increasingly disappointed as to their lack of depth or even a basic new thought-provoking idea. One of your staff writer's column had to do with her most catastrophic event in her life: losing her purse. Another had to do with not shaving her legs. And lastly, there was the Halloween column about smelly feet. These columns are shallow at best, and they're not cute. I hope they would try in the future to write things that are informative, thought-provoking and show some writing skills. I'll be reading and watching.

Widen Broadway to solve problem

TO REMEDY the traffic around Franklin School is simple. Hurry up and widen Broadway Street.

Satellite dish brings in WGN

THIS IS in regard to the person who called in complaining about cable TV bringing back WGN. It's never going to happen. The cable company is the evil empire, and the only way to rise up against the oppression of the evil empire is to buy your own satellite dish. You can get WGN on that. Just wanted to let you know.

Wider street would relieve traffic

PLACING FOUR-WAY stops at two intersections on Themis will not help any at all. You've got to get the traffic off there, and the way to do that is to widen Broadway. That would lessen traffic on Themis more than anything else.