[an error occurred while processing this directive] 08/27/2008

Experienced, but disastrous
Mr. Watts bemoans the lack of executive experience on the Barack Obama/Joseph Biden ticket.

Rights for health care providers
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regulation will implement 35 years of laws passed by Congress to protect the civil rights of health care professionals who adhere to life-affirming codes of medical ethics such as the Hippocratic Oath.

Obama's hut brother
Ms. Keene attributes John McCain's not being able to recall how many houses he owns to old age.

Chinese show mostly fake
Mr. Kimball loved the Chinese people cheering for everyone at the Olympics on television. Was what he was seeing real?

These answers are clear
Mr. Cooper asks if the miscarriage of a baby after a three-month gestation should be treated in the same way as a young adult who dies.

McCain's hypocrisy showing
Ms. Smith criticizes Barack Obama for not defining when life begins according to the Bible during the Saddleback Church forum.

School conditions unacceptable
The most important contribution to classroom chaos is the out-of-control students – students allowed to roam the halls, a student spewing a stream-of-consciousness monologue during class, and on and on.

Bilingual ballots unnecessary
Ms. Sanchez's column is typical of the folks who bash us for wanting English to be our official language.

08/26/2008

Job one: Getting our mojo back
Holy cow. The next U.S. president will find out this country is now essentially owned by China.

Priority for problems at home
In the past, I had disregarded Mr. Dreher as an intellectual lightweight obsessed with pedophile priests, but in the last year or two, I find that not only do I agree with him, but he makes a compelling argument.

Perpetrating misstatements
The intelligence reports that Iraq had been working on weapons of mass destruction started during the Clinton administration.

D/FW, we have a problem
In your article, a major failing (and embarrassment) of having no eating facilities outside of security was almost a footnote.

Caring parents equal caring kids
The editorial demonstrates how caring parents and caring principals can help their children achieve more success.

Performance in DISD vs. real life
Ms. Plair thinks the new DISD grading standards are a great step. Hey, she's the professional; she must know what she's doing

Busing then and now
To read that DISD is going to bus students from H. Grady Spruce High School to Lincoln and Madison high schools has got to bring a chuckle to all who attended Spruce from 1972 forward.

Engineers: supply and demand
If Europe and Asia are luring our foreign graduates with "offers of higher pay," doesn't that tell you something?

08/25/2008

Who's firing in zoning war?
The editorial characterized the Dallas City Council-appointed advisory committee's unanimous recommendation to adapt a form-based zoning code as "warring."

What Jesus thought of women
A careful reading of the four Gospels shows that after he arose from the dead, Jesus appeared first to women ...

Relax, they're only people
I probably love animals more than the average person ...

Moral point, to logical end
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said people should not be forced to say or do things they believe are morally wrong that violate their own conscience.

Science, math get no respect
This editorial points out that foreign students do better at getting degrees and that industry wants them, only to be held back by our national green card policy.

No execs on Dem ticket
Sen. Joseph Biden is a sad pick for vice president.

Raising the driving age
Whenever we are allowed to do something for the first time, it is very exciting and difficult not to overindulge.

Compare these namesakes
Mr. Davis argues that a major Dallas street should not be named in honor of the late César Chávez because, in his opinion, Mr. Chavez is not as historically significant as say, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X.

My daughter was excluded
My son will be entering the fifth grade this fall at Walnut Hill Elementary School, one of the highest ranking, exemplary schools in DISD.

I dream of world peace
As I watched the Olympics, I saw such beautiful Chinese people applauding winners regardless of their nationality.

McCain out of touch ...
As one who owns a condominium in Irving and works hard to pay the bills and make ends meet, I am amazed that John McCain can't answer a simple question about how many homes he owns.

... but what's the big deal?
The scary part is that Barack Obama and his handlers actually made a big deal out of this, acting like schoolyard kids ...

... just cut him a break
John McCain cannot remember how many homes he owns, but let's give the guy some slack.

A better late-paper policy
Sixty years ago I taught in a private high school in Los Angeles.

Riders shaken, not stirred
Nothing says “family entertainment” like drunks in those interminable lines or foaming vomit on the rides.

New challenges in the world
If the attacks on Sept. 11 ushered in a new era of international relations, the crisis in Georgia has moved us into a new post-post-9/11 world, one fraught with foreign-relations challenges that have until now taken a back seat to the global war on terror.

08/24/2008

Sunday letters: Saddleback Church forum

Sunday letters: On Points

Sunday letters: NATO expansion

Sunday letters: DISD grading policy

I picked up after you
On my walks earlier this week and the week before, I walked up to the school and back (Stults Road Elementary).

Lowering drinking age
As an alcohol and drug prevention specialist, I find the suggestion by college presidents that we lower the drinking age a timid and lame one.

This is progress?
We moved to Plano 40 years ago, when it was very small, and, every time it rained, our power or phone went out.

Loud, annoying music
Over the past few days, my daughter and I have been all over Dallas and Plano.

No good deed goes unpunished
I am a Meals on Wheels volunteer with a route in Dallas, but I live in Mesquite.

A fuzzy patriotic moment
I attended an anniversary party for longtime friends and, among other delights, we watched the American swim team and Michael Phelps win and then accept their medals for a successful effort.

Are we nuking our nutrition?
The FDA's recent OK to irradiate lettuce and spinach is but another step to degrade the nutritional value of our food.

A worse wicked lie
You castigate China for allegedly telling a wicked lie when it denies religious persecution.

School expenses? Get real
Your story on the high cost of schools was a bit on the ridiculous side.

Drinking age common sense
The proposal by many college presidents that the legal drinking age be lowered to 18 is just common sense.

Buffett no tax dodger
The points made in Mr. McKenzie's column are well taken.

The good side of HOAs
I spent my career in sales for a large corporation and, through the years, relocated seven times.

08/22/2008

Jenny needs new digs in a jiffy
I respect all animal rights deeply.

Lawsuits are real motivation
The argument that, if we allow 18-year-olds to vote or volunteer for active duty in the military, we should allow them to legally drink is ludicrous.

DISD is a liability I can't afford
When the next series of school board elections occurs, I, and no doubt thousands of others, will certainly remember those who created the new grading policies of DISD.

Ties to GOP are tenuous, at best
Mr. Richter's argument regarding black people having an inferiority complex is rife with stereotyping.

Armed teachers can save lives ...
You should try the "common sense test" regarding teachers keeping guns in schools.

... be victims of friendly fire ...
I believe Gov. Rick Perry is creating another problem for the police.

... or the only real defense
I have two questions regarding the editorial on carrying concealed weapons on campus.

08/21/2008

GOP not what it once was
Yes, Abraham Lincoln was a great Republican president. But the Republican Party of today is not what it once was. I used to be one, until the far-right neocons took it over.

We need more nuance ...
The prevailing wisdom seems to be that Sen. Barack Obama's remarks are too nuanced and difficult to comprehend.

... but not this stammering
Barack Obama's struggle is not with how to define himself; rather, it's how to define himself in a way that is palatable to the voters.

Why not shut the door?
I totally disagree with your assumption of inevitability for future population growth in this country.

Diagnosing a health plan
John McCain's health plan does not solve my health insurance dilemma, which does not address the problem that someone with a "pre-existing condition" has buying decent insurance at an affordable price.

McCain has lost touch
After reading this story, I am even more confident in voting for Barack Obama for president.

Fence these snobs in
I am thrilled that Stonebriar Village is a gated community, because if I thought for one moment that these pompous people could get loose and into my community, I would build the fence around them myself.

A tale of two students
Imagine this: Little Billy and Tommy both have a math test Wednesday morning.

Consider the land
Grapevine homeowners in the Shadow Glen subdivision were surprised by the waiver/variance that was slipped in, and that, in some cases, homeowners were pressured to sign, which reduced the 1,000-foot drilling setback to 300 feet, according to The Colleyville Courier.

Make grading even easier
Congratulations to Michael Hinojosa and the DISD Board of Trustees on their new grading guidelines.

Keep DISD standards up
As one who has taught in DISD for 32 years and as one of the district’s greatest cheerleaders, I am absolutely stunned by what I have just finished reading in The Dallas Morning News.

08/20/2008

When teachers are armed
The school board of Harrold, Texas, has seen the light.

08/21/2008

Don’t plan meals for me
Poor Ms. Tebeau. She writes that she reluctantly eats at home. I love eating at home. I love cooking, as does my husband.

08/20/2008

Maybe he'll get lucky
Mr. Stein writes that he would prefer independence from his wedding vow of monogamy to energy independence.

Students fail on their own
The story referred to "high school teachers who fail more than 20 percent of their students." I was a teacher for more than 15 years and still know many in the profession. This statement does a great disservice to those professionals.

DISD is selling kids short
Thank you, Ms. Floyd, for nailing what is going to happen when our new "effort-based" grading policy goes into effect.

Remembering Don Flusche
This man was a real hero who asked nothing in return for a lifetime of service and sacrifice for the city of Dallas.

Governing on the lazy side
I elected my City Council member to do what is best for the city.

McCain plan doomed to failure
Under John McCain's plan, the youngest and healthiest workers will opt out of employer-based health care in favor of cheaper individual policies.

Praise for animal control
It's easy to hate dog catchers.

They're not a gang
I take offense at Steve Thompson's description of the Patriot Guard riders as a "motorcycle gang" in his story.

My PASAR wait was different
I too stood in line, but my experience was extremely different. You see, I took notice of Program PASAR's multiple e-mail reminders during the summer about a registration deadline in order for children to start attending on the first day of school. My line was considerably shorter because I registered my child in early July.

Dumbing down DISD
I am reeling from the latest guidelines for the DISD grade policy.

Third World education
Congratulations to Michael Hinojosa and the members of the school board for finally acknowledging their goal to bring a Third World level of education to Dallas school system.

Security, or lack of it
My wife rides the DART light rail system, and several times in the last few months she has witnessed fights and disturbances both on the light rail and at the rail stations.

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