Sound Off for Nov. 1

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Adding up the change

Posting its results at Recovery.gov, the White House claimed 640,329 jobs have been created or saved because of the $159 billion in stimulus funds allocated as of Sept. 30. The White House argues the actual job number is larger than 640,000 — closer to 1 million jobs when one factors in stimulus jobs added in October and, more important, jobs created indirectly, such as “the waitress who’s still on the job,” Vice President Joe Biden said today. So let’s see. Assuming their number is right — 160 billion divided by 1 million. Does that mean the stimulus costs taxpayers $160,000 per job? “Change” you can believe in.

Stressful teen years

For almost 20 years the education of our young teens who attend Harrison County’s North Gulfport 7th and 8th grades has changed very little. Why? When other 7th and 8th grades have around 200 students per grade why is it allowed for almost 1,000 kids to be crammed in one school? It’s inhumane to do this to our teens at the time of their lives that is the biggest adjustment for them. Tight quarters breeds stress for all. It’s pretty bad when teachers won’t even allow their own kids to attend the school where they teach or the district they work for. There is federal money available because of growth for our community. Since pleas from many parents continue to go unheeded maybe it’s time for this issue to be investigated by the media and discussed by the masses. Don’t tell us again the kids just have to “toughen up.” Most are actually there to learn, not have to watch their backs.

Do not disturb

My parents have recently been experiencing massive amounts of hang-up calls. As soon as the telephone is answered, the phone hangs up. Never do they hear a voice I have researched the cross directory only to find out that it is a cell phone. When I call the number back, I get a busy signal every time. When I sent a text message to please stop calling, I got a text message that said they were not able to send the text message. This has got to stop. Whoever you are, do not call again.

Vaccinate the children

The news reports 19 children in the U.S. have died this week alone from H1N1. At least send us enough vaccines for our children.

What’s your function?

Lighthouses are devices used to warn mariners of dangerous obstacles on prominent headlands, on port or harbor entrances. The Biloxi Lighthouse does none of these. It stands along the Coast that is more or less identical from Pascagoula to Henderson Point. Why was it built? Did the city of Biloxi fund its original construction as an object of civic pride? Was the federal government coerced into building it by Mississippi’s congressional delegation?