JOPLIN, Mo. —

Women can handle birth control issues

This debate over a woman’s right to birth control is based on a lie. The lie is that women need the federal government to spend billions of dollars every year to keep them from having children.

I am old, yet I have always had access to birth control and so did my mother. It is simple — you go to your doctor or clinic and talk to the doctors in charge. They will explain the different methods and you choose which works best for you. The cost is low compared to abortion or pregnancy, and much safer.

It angered me when I heard a senator state that U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., wanted to keep women barefoot and pregnant. How ridiculous!

American women are the most educated women in the world. We have the greatest rights available. Most of us work, take care of our homes and take on the responsibility of birth control with no help from the federal government. Every state I’ve lived in had a program for those with low income to get help. There is no excuse. I resent the implication that women are too ignorant to take care of their responsibilities without the help of politicians. Prevention should always be your first choice.

Kay Bradley

Carthage

Show place not needed for new high school

I am concerned about the huge school bond issue voters are being asked to approve in April.

It has been my observation that children who want to learn want only safe schools and good teachers. Those who don’t want to learn will not learn in the finest show places.

We were told following the tornado that the schools destroyed were covered by insurance and would be rebuilt. Then we were told that the high school was built in a flood plain and must be rebuilt in a different location or government money would not be forthcoming.

How many times has the school ever flooded?

So many lots were bought to build it in a different place, but at what cost?

Although I live in Newton County, $693.78 of my property taxes in 2011 went to the Joplin school district.

I am fully in favor of schools, having had five kids in Joplin schools, but I am not in favor of making it harder on people who have already lost everything.

Many of our older schools need to be rebuilt or renovated, but use money wisely. Don’t waste it trying to impress those who won’t care further down the road anyway.

Norma Ball

Joplin

Cherokee Countyofficials on target

I applaud Cherokee County, Kan., commissioners for condemning certain provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. I am proud of their resolution on March 5,  2012, and of their courage in passing it.

Except during the Civil War, this nation has never before allowed the United States military to act in a law enforcement capacity. And, except during the Civil War, this nation has never before approved the indefinite detention of citizens by the military without charge or trial.

Congress and the president should be ashamed of this un-American, anti-freedom law. The indefinite and secret detention of citizens and legal residents, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the use of the military to control a nation’s citizens are foreign concepts. In other countries, citizens caught up in this form of tyranny were called “the disappeared.”

Let us hope the cause of freedom prevails before you or I or one of our neighbors become one of the “disappeared.”

David Brewster

Baxter Springs, Kan.

No excuse for not voting

I am not writing this to pick on Republicans or Democrats, but to pick on the average Joe in this country who will not even accept the responsibility of voting.

Why do we honor those who are in the service, giving their lives to keep this country free, when the population of America has the poorest voting record of any country?

If we want our freedoms, we have to stand up for our beliefs.

Why do the people in this great country not vote, especially since it in no way endangers their lives?

Instead of going on and on, I will just say that it is everyone’s responsibility to look out for the destiny of the United States by voting and thus protecting our Constitution from infringements such as the Homeland Security Act. Whenever one operates out of fear, they usually do the wrong thing.

When one does nothing, he is in effect saying that he is totally happy with what is handed to him. Those who do not vote are in fact voting for whatever is given to them. If they don’t vote, they should stand up and cheer for whatever they get handed to them. So let’s not be slackers, and show that we care by voting.

Ed Goebel

Joplin