Speak Out 8/17/06

Coping and thriving

I GOT my tattoo when I turned 30. It helped me cope with growing old. I am comfortable with my self-esteem and am a thriving member of the community.

Lots of confidence

I AM a woman with two tattoos that are neither dirty nor gross. I have them in places that can be covered when they are not appropriate, such as weddings and funerals. That is not because I am ashamed of them. It is a matter of respect for the situation. I will be graduating in December with a degree in accounting. I will also be starting my master's degree. My husband and I have worked hard being self-employed to pay every cent of my education with no grants or loans. I definitely qualify as not being a loser. I have no problem with who I am and what I can contribute to society, so I don't have self-esteem problems either. I don't have a problem with me, but if people do, I am confident enough in myself to not care.

Changing minds

CONSIDERING THAT the same complaints keep appearing week after week, I have come to one conclusion: Once a topic becomes hot, the concrete of the mind becomes set. An individual who changes his mind is mocked, but in reality one who never changes his rhetoric is a fool.

Say nice things

I AM 26 years old with several tattoos that cannot be seen by anybody without my showing them. I am a successful businesswomen. I am married and have a great family. I'm not too shabby for my age, and I don't have a low self-esteem. I was always taught that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

We aim to please

DEAR ILLEGAL foreign national: We provide bilingual teachers, police, doctors, store clerks, official documents and services, bank accounts, home loans, officials who wink at your illegal status, employers willing to lie and cheat to hire you and citizen status for your children. Don't hesitate to tell us if there is anything more we can do for you.

Nuisance ordinance

IF THE mayor's stated objective was to clean up the tattered banners on Kingshighway, then I understand why the banner patrol was not sent to Wal-Mart. However, I do not understand why the diversion to Town Plaza. And I do not understand why this problem could not have been remedied under the nuisance-abatement ordinance, eliminating the need for this terribly flawed sign ordinance.

Military tattoo

FOR THE record, you can enlist in the Army if you have a tattoo.

Courthouse protection

I CAN only assume that the people who, in your online poll, indicated they were not concerned about courthouse security do not work in that courthouse on a daily basis.

Tough teaching

IT IS difficult to teach free-market economics in school. I try, but it's tough. The pressures from corporate concerns, businesses, farmers and organized labor to keep the welfare coming and to downplay the benefit to consumers of unrestricted competition are tremendous.

Line in the sand

KUDOS TO the commentator who called for an end to cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to further undermine competition, the bedrock of unrestricted capitalism. It is sinister. It must be stopped. A line must be drawn in the sand.

Impact of raises

IT ALWAYS amazes me how little people understand about economics. If the minimum wage is raised, the cost of everything goes up because the baseline of the economy goes up. A raise only hurts people who have worked to earn more than the minimum, because they will not get a raise to match.

In agreement

AFTER READING Joe Sullivan's column Friday, I only wish we had 200 million like-minded people in the United States.

Pipeline puzzler

IT SEEMS strange to me, with all the money the oil companies are making and having this Alaska pipeline almost 30 years old that they aren't in the process of building another pipeline. To be relying on a 30-year-old pipe is silly. If the pipeline goes down, the price of oil goes up 4 percent for every 1 percent we lose in production. There's something drastically wrong with the control that's being put on those people.

School's rules

I APPLAUD schools for establishing a dress code. Children who push the line have no limits at home and don't think the rules are for them. They are just children. It is up to the parents to stand firm with the school and show them how rules are made for a reason and for their own good and protection. Lifetime rules never end for anyone.

Nail on the head

DITTO TO Joe Sullivan for his Aug. 11 column. He hit the nail right on the head.

Also tired

I WOULD like to commend R. Joe Sullivan for a wonderful column in Friday's paper. I too am tired of the same things.

Try it, Governor

I THINK Gov. Matt Blunt ought to have to live on minimum wage to see what it's like. I'd like to see him pay for insurance and buy gas and everything else his family needs at minimum wage.