Speak Out 9/11/06

Good students

I AM a parent at Jefferson Elementary School. I was disheartened to read that someone thinks children at Jefferson will lower test scores at "good schools." My children come from a two-parent household. My husband works 12-hour days. I go to school full-time and manage to raise three children. That includes studying with them every night along with my homework. There are good teachers at Jefferson and smart children. Some parents need to take the time to study with their children. I don't believe my kids would mess up anyone's "perfect" school.

Ringing endorsement

DAVID LIMBAUGH tacitly implies that the GOP goofed up in Iraq but that the Democrats messed up just as much. That's a ringing endorsement of our two major political parties.

Immigration crimes

THUMBS UP to our forefathers whose blood, sweat and brains built America. Thumbs down to citizens who allow our leaders to turn the country over to millions of immigration lawbreakers. Yes, Mr. Employer, that's you, too.

Keeping the fat

"ISN'T HE cute. Look at that baby fat. He's adorable." Part of that assumption, now proven to be fallacious, is the idea that the toddler will outgrow the baby fat. Science has proven that to be wrong.

9-11 holiday

I BELIEVE a law should be passed by the president stating that on Sept. 11 all businesses should be closed like on other national holidays. Sept. 11, 2001, was a horrible day that affected this country, and we should all take that day off to reflect, remember and support those who lost loved ones.

Wearing our best

WHEN I go to a wedding, funeral or party to honor someone, I wear the best I have, I don't wear shorts and flip-flops or torn jeans and a sloppy T-shirt. I want to honor the occasion. It should be the same when I attend worship. When I go to worship my God, I wear the best I have. That doesn't mean expensive clothes, but good, clean, decent clothes. The whole purpose of going to church is to worship and to give praise to God for all he has done for me. I'm to forget myself and my selfish thoughts and wishes and to honor God with the best. Didn't he give his best -- his own son -- for us? Do we not owe him the best we have?

Soldier's lament

I AM a soldier who served in Iraq. You say we are not winning the war. Thanks for beating me down. You say what I am doing is wrong and the people we fight against are innocent. Thanks for beating me down. It is hard for me to walk down the street wondering what people think of me. Thanks for beating me down. I am dealing with depression not from the war, but from how the media have wrongly portrayed me and my brother soldiers. Thanks for beating me down.

No consequences

A FEW days ago I was at the stoplight at Silver Springs Road and Highway 74. My light turned green, but I hesitated before I pulled out, which was a good thing. A flatbed truck that was obviously speeding blatantly ran the red light. If I had pulled out, I could have been seriously hurt or killed. A city policeman was sitting opposite me and witnessed the entire thing. He did nothing. It is no surprise that people in Cape Girardeau constantly run red lights. There are no consequences.

Exercise caution

I SAW the recent comment about the careless highway worker with his back to the traffic. It is sometimes necessary for someone to face away from traffic on the highway to complete his job. It is the motorist's responsibility to slow down to a safe speed in a work zone to help safeguard those workers who may be in a risky position trying to make the roads safer.

NCLB is a failure

FROM RECENT comments, it seems that people are finally waking up and seeing No Child Left Behind for what it is: an attack on public schools. It is almost impossible to meet the adequate yearly progress standards. If one sub-group of students fails to reach a certain grade, then the entire school is marked as a failure. How soon before every public school is failing?

Medical needs

I HAVE been denied Medicaid and disability even though I am disabled. If I were pregnant, I could get Medicaid with no hesitation. I just spent several days in the hospital, but because my Medicaid was denied I could not afford my insulin or medications. Where is the logic in that?

Give your best

MUCH IS being said about how we should dress to go to church. While it is true one should not allow what we wear to determine if we go to church or not, it is also true what we wear reveals what we think about the one we are going to see. If you were going to visit a president or some other individual in high office that you really cared for, what would you wear? If you didn't have the right clothes, you would find a way to get them. The problem with churches today is that we are taking God for granted. We think we don't have to give God our best. If you're looking down on people at church because of the way they dress, you have a problem and need to get right with Lord. But if you're going to church and not giving God your best, you have a problem and need to get right with the Lord also.

Support teachers

TEACHERS ARE appreciated by many. It takes a special kind of person to teach our children for the pay that you are given. There has to be motivation other than pay or days off to do what you all do every school day. My son is a second-grader at South Elementary School in Jackson. His teacher is excellent and deserves every penny and more. To put any teacher down or complain about having to pay more or for having to take extra supplies to school is plain stupidity.