speakout 9/20.4b

Touching remarks

THANK YOU for reprinting the president's remarks during the national prayer service. The national prayer service in the national cathedral was a wonderful event. People came together with great music and message. Billy Graham talked about how strange and terrible things sometimes happen to good people. Then Bush came and made very touching remarks. At the very end, he asked for blessings for the souls of the departed. It was very good. Now it's time for us to move on to the next stage and try to stop this terrorism in the United States. We don't want to hurt other people but we want to stop terrorism. May God bless George Bush. I'm so glad we have a good, honest person as president right now when we need him.

American activity

COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN. Every year someone complains about the noise of our community fair. The fair is only once a year. Remember, the fair grounds were there when only corn fields surrounded it. People were proud to build around the fair grounds. It's a place for fun, laughter, prizes, meeting and greeting new and old friends and family. When you decide to move to an area, check it out. Ask what goes on. Then maybe you can sleep at night. Our fair is part of being American.

Turn back

THE SITUATION we're in now, we kind of brought it on ourselves. We put God aside for materialistic things like big houses, thinking that would solve all our problems and take care of all the evil in the world. But now we're going to have to turn back to the Lord. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Just read your Bible, and it'll put you on the right path.

Dylan is wrong

HOW SAD that Bob Dylan trashed today's music. He's merely showing his age and not doing it gracefully. I'm not much younger than him. Maybe he's just not thinking clearly after all those years when he used to do drugs. Today's youth have a lot of outstanding performers such as Third Eye Blind, and O Town isn't any worse than the Partridge Family was. The New Radicals, Enya, Sugar Ray and LFO are good.

Open your eyes

WELL, GUN control advocates, does this terrorist attack open any blind eyes? We people who have guns have always said if one wants to kill someone, they can do it with a rock. We never thought about plastic knives in airplanes. Keep on trying to take away guns from law-abiding citizens, and only the bad guys will have them.

Don't teach hate

I PRAY that the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland realize the hate they are teaching their children and can learn a lesson from the terrorist disaster in this country brought about by hate. We all can learn.

Thanks, Casey's

AS A resident of Jackson, I want to thank the Casey's General Store for not raising their gas prices last Tuesday. Thank you so much.

Not all rude

IT'S A totally ignorant person who would blame the rudeness of one motorcyclist on the whole group of bikers. I run into ignorant people every day. Some are walking, some are driving. But I've never run across a rude biker.

Nice young lady

THERE'S A young lady who works at Fred's. A blind man comes to the store once in a while, and she leads this man all the way back out to William Street, to the sidewalk. He's got his long, white cane where he can find his way home. I have witnessed this. I thought, how nice to see somebody interested enough to help a blind person get to the sidewalk. He can get to the store from the sound of the music that they play, but getting back to the sidewalk, he's afraid, so she takes him out to the sidewalk and sends him on his way. I thought that was kind of neat.

THERE IS no weapon powerful enough to change a man's heart. We can destroy a large amount of land, we can arrest and kill the most infamous of criminals, we can continue to spill more innocent blood into the pool of blood already spilled and there will always be somebody somewhere ready to do something horribly evil. Are we ready for a war that may never end?

DOGGONE IT, Dr. Dobbins. You do a super job as SEMO president, but occasionally you disappoint to no end. I agreed with your decision to go ahead with SEMO's football game, although only a few other teams did so. However, to say you made this decision because that's what President Bush would have wanted rather than to give your own personal reasons for having SEMO play -- well, please.

What a hypocrite

I JUST heard a young gentleman on the 5 p.m. news state that, due to his religious beliefs, he could not go to war for the country. My feeling on that is, then he needs to leave our country. What a hypocrite to allow others to shed blood for his freedom. If he can't fight for this country, then he needs to find another homeland.

Stop to apologize

TO THE lowlife who ran over my kitten and kept going in Scott City, I have children who had a pet. You could have at least stopped and said I'm sorry. What goes around does come around.

Being naive

I ONLY have a high school education and it amazes me how naive some college educated individuals can be. First, it is not like Dr. Steska cares about our school. He is not quitting to go to a better job, he is only thinking of himself, and it was not him that got the taxes voted in, it was the public. We are getting smarter and tired of the waste. You have a principal in every school, so why do we need upper management?

Start older

IF THEY are going to start a military draft for the young boys, they say it will be those from 20-25. I think they should start with the 25-year-old and work their way down to the 20 year-old because the 20 year-old has not had enough worldly experience and doesn't even know how to hold a gun.

Buy a bond

JFK SAID, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what can you do for you country." I heard a congressman say on TV we could all buy a war bond. I remember in World War II, I bought war bonds. If we can we should all help our country in this time of need.