OpinionDecember 27, 2010
Speak Out 12/27/10
I keep reading about smokers' rights. Sorry, but there is no right to smoke. Nowhere in the Bill of Rights does it state you can smoke. There are no laws stating smoking is a right. No courts have ruled that you can smoke anywhere you want. However, you do have the right not to be harmed by others. That can be found in the Bill of Rights, there are laws addressing being harmed by others, and courts uphold those laws daily. So stop spouting off about smokers' rights. They don't exist...
No right to smoke
I keep reading about smokers' rights. Sorry, but there is no right to smoke. Nowhere in the Bill of Rights does it state you can smoke. There are no laws stating smoking is a right. No courts have ruled that you can smoke anywhere you want. However, you do have the right not to be harmed by others. That can be found in the Bill of Rights, there are laws addressing being harmed by others, and courts uphold those laws daily. So stop spouting off about smokers' rights. They don't exist.
Treatment, not cure
SOMEONE called in and said there are cures for breast cancer. They are woefully misinformed. To begin with, there are several types of breast cancer, with different treatments for each type. Furthermore, chemo, radiation, etc., are treatments, not cures. My mother had breast cancer last year, and we saw some of the best cancer specialists at a cancer treatment center in Oklahoma. The oncologists bluntly told us that there is no real cure for breast cancer. They said they treat cancer, and, depending on several factors, some people are cured. There's a big difference between there being a cure and a treatment that is not always effective.
Obama is just mean
WHY is President Obama so mean spirited? He continually demeans any person who disagrees with him, even people in his own party. This seems like an unnecessary lack of professionalism and just a plain old mean streak. Does he feel that he is so omnipotent that no one should dare to have a different point of view? Wasn't he going to be the president who "reached across the aisle" and brought everyone together? If he did reach across the aisle, it was only to poke his finger in someone's eye and to call them a few names while doing it.
Asbestos and smoke
IF a business had asbestos fibers and benzene fumes floating through the air, no one would question the safety risk. Customers who were exposed would worry about their health and some may even sue the business for the exposure. Yet, because a minority of the public are addicted to cigarettes and refuse to acknowledge they are harming others, we tolerate secondhand smoke. If you want to smoke, do so where you won't harm others. Keep it out of public spaces.
Check, please
YOU have to be kidding me! The mayor and the city leaders don't think it's necessary to do background checks on people who do business with the city? They aren't concerned about the fact that the CEO of their new "dream business" is on probation for writing $90,000 worth of bad checks. Are you kidding me? Ever wonder why lenders check your credit score before lending you money? It has been reasonably proven through experience that people tend to repeat bad behavior. Also, to do what he did suggests some possible character flaws. Does the city really want to do business with people like this?
Stop spending
WE voted in November to cut federal spending. We all know that the government is in debt and we have to cut spending. Now with this new spending bill, the politicians are loading it up with billions in earmark extra spending. It is like they are trying to make us go bankrupt on purpose.
Smokes and phones
I am disappointed that the Breathe Easy Cape campaign is trying to force privately owned businesses to succumb to their will, but there is no cell phone ban that has been established in Missouri. If these people are so set on this being a health issue, then I take issue with those of you that drive while talking on your cell phone. You are not only putting my life at risk, but more importantly, my 1-year-old daughter's life.
Lost at early ages
THERE is a lot of discussion about Cape Girardeau schools' graduation rate and at-risk students. The fact is, there is not a lot being done for these at-risk students who become dropouts. Students are not lost at high school. They are lost at junior high and middle school. The Title I teachers who should be working with low-income and at-risk students, work instead with students who are on the bubble of being proficient on the MAP test. In truth, there are no true at-risk programs available in Cape Girardeau schools.
Thanks for the help
I want to thank the couple who helped pick me up Wednesday morning when I fell by CiCi's Pizza. I just hurt my knee, it was bleeding, and my little finger. Glad I didn't break anything. And thank you for walking me to my car. I hope I didn't make you late for your lunch. I hope you read this. Thank you so much.
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Thanks to heroes
I just want to say kudos to the police officers, the firemen and the paramedics who helped out with the Shop with a Hero program. They did a good job. I worked with them a couple years ago on it and all I've got to say is way to go and thanks a lot.
Where are the jobs?
HEY, you Republicans out there, where are the jobs Jo Ann Emerson was going to bring back that she and Bush took over to Mexico? Where are they at? And by the way, what's Jo Ann Emerson doing about gas? Not one thing, is she? She doesn't care about you. That proves right there that she doesn't care about anything but her pocketbook. Hey, Jo Ann Emerson, what are you doing about it?
Improper advertising
I was just driving down William Street, and I saw a big van for The Pony, the strip club across the river, in somebody's driveway, right there on William. I guess there's no laws prohibiting people to park their vehicles there, but I doubt that's his personal vehicle. I really think the city should watch things like that. I mean, can I park somewhere and put some advertising out there, like putting a portable sign, and especially the strip club? I just don't think that's appropriate for William Street. Looks like advertisement to me, not somebody's personal vehicle. Just my opinion here.
Perpetuating stereotype
I found it rather sad that the Southeast Missourian chose to perpetuate the stereotype by having a picture of an African-American person on the front page of the paper Sunday. There are plenty of white-skinned, yellow-skinned and red-skinned people who would have been equally at home in that picture.
Background work
THE city manager said he doesn't normally do background checks. What? I wonder if he'll ever collect rent from Commander sometime soon also.
Appalled at the process
THIS is in regard to the CEO article in Sunday's paper. I am appalled that the city manager of Cape Girardeau does not run a background check on every person or company wanting to do business in Cape Girardeau. Most employees are subjected to background checks, so why not these persons or companies owning or operating the businesses? How many other felons or worse do we have in our city?
Stop hollering
FIRST I want to say I am an 80-year-old senior citizen, but I am sick and tired of hearing so many senior citizens hollering about the government owing them money, the government should give them a cost-of-living raise. Do they realize that at the inception of Social Security by FDR, the object was to put the money aside and when you became a certain age, you were to receive that money? It was not to be money that was going to be added to. You were to get back exactly what you paid in. Through the years, the government, in its wisdom, has added money to what we paid in. Actually, the only thing that you deserve and are entitled to is what you have paid in. And these other things they call entitlements are not really entitlements because people have not paid into it. Will the senior citizens that are hollering for the cost-of-living raises realize they should be grateful for what they have and thank the good Lord that he blessed us with what we are getting?
My paper man
I appreciate my paper man. I received a Christmas card, but it only has his signature and no address. There's no way I can put a card of appreciation out there and I'd like to say, let this be my Christmas card to my paper man, if he would put an address or something on his card, it might be easier to remember him at Christmas.
What can we afford?
HOW can the government cause people to buy health insurance or be taxed or charged with a penalty for not buying? If you can't afford to buy the insurance, how can you pay the penalty?
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