Published: Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 7:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 7:15 a.m.

Great catch

Congratulations to the residents of Ocala and Marion County. What bittersweet news that we are losing Ann Sternal. Truly a loss for Cabarrus County. However, I grew up in Ocala I can't help but to be excited for my dear friend as well as everyone in Marion County.

During her time here in Cabarrus County, she did a phenomenal job of ensuring that all organizations received the attention we deserved in our predominantly NASCAR market, all while expanding and creating new and unique NASCAR-oriented marketing campaigns.

The end result has been a huge increase in all of our tourism dollars, not just NASCAR's. From NASCAR to AAU baseball, from dog shows to our minor league baseball team, she has the best interest of everyone in mind.

Congratulations once again to Marion County. You have a great tourism director and more importantly, a great person heading your way.

Tim Mueller

General Manager

Kannapolis Intimidators

2005 S.A.L. Champions

Class A Affiliate of

the Chicago White Sox

Kannapolis, N.C.

Get out, pronto

I'm amazed at how wrong the president and some in Congress are when it comes to the message Americans are sending about immigration reform.

The president is all hyped about illegals working for citizenship, paying back taxes and learning English. What world is he and some in Congress in?

Illegals pay no taxes and to say they do is a boldfaced lie. They have no intentions of paying back taxes and could care less about learning English other than for work.

The American people have said louder and louder: secure our borders before a terrorist crosses and blows up one of our cities. Close these borders before it's too late. And do it now. Stop this posturing and worrying about who the illegals are going to vote for and close the borders.

As to the 11 million illegals in this country, send them home immediately. How? You say it would cost too much and the country needs them. Wrong on both counts. It would cost nothing if the people employing them paid a very hefty fine and all American privileges were taken from them. No driver's licenses, medical coverage, welfare. They would go home quickly.

The Mexican government encourages them to cross. Otherwise they have to pay for them. The Mexican government wants them out earning money to send home so they do not have to deal with the unemployment rates in their own country.

And then there is this felony issue. If Americans crossed into Mexico, they would be felons, subject to immediate arrest and all Mexican laws. Why do we allow them here without regards? How dumb can we be, Mr. President?

The Democrats want illegals to have voting rights. Republicans want their cheap labor. The American people, however, just want them to go home now.

Frank LaMay


All equal

My ancestors came to the U.S. 100 years ago. My father and uncle served in World War II. My brother and cousins served in Vietnam and now Iraq. We are proud to be bilingual.

The North American Indians had invaders also, the pilgrims. We are the United States of North America. There are three Americas -- North, Central and South. The term Americans does not rightfully belong to us alone. Mexicans are also Americans.

God does not teach discrimination, people do. Citizens of the U.S. commit crimes, not just Mexicans, and they too use our resources and give little back to society.

Indians are the only ones to have the right to live in this country. Who fought the Indians and took their land? The Indians lost their freedom to invaders. No one is free of sin.

Bigots emphasize how far we have to go to create equality. We are all created equal.

Christine Irish-Re'


Outward bound

During the last four years, at an increasing rate, the American economy has been moving in a new direction. Until this period both management and labor were hired from the available work force in the U.S. However, recently it's very different.

American businesses send jobs to India, Southwest Asia or China. They remain American companies in name but in fact have abandoned the U.S., in that they don't have to pay taxes or deal with laws concerning working conditions, protection of labor and child labor. They rarely, if ever, hire American middle management and most definitely not American labor. Many enterprises are now all but Asian or Indian in reality. However, they continue to manufacture goods for American consumption with cheap foreign labor and market them as American-made.

Consumers are often unaware products marketed as American have been made in China or must be repaired in India. For example, much of the technical support for Hewlett Packard is in India. In other instances you may dial that U.S. number you are given and find yourself talking to almost anyone in the world. These technicians enjoy a much lower cost of living and therefore are content with much lower compensation, thus depriving an American technician of work.

Meanwhile, outsourcing decreases the cost of doing business and stockholders and/or business owners make more. As this group becomes richer, the American worker becomes poorer and as the gap widen, the middle class is disappearing slowly but surely.

There is nothing wrong with immigrants coming here legally and getting a job, but the hiring of illegal immigrants is as bad for the American worker as the outsourcing of jobs. One would question the patriotism of those elected decision makers who implicitly allow illegal immigrants to come in and take jobs from American workers. It is a sad day for the United States of America.

John C. Weston


A plus not a must

I type 60 words per minute, take dictation, am proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel and Quicken, the queen of creating office systems, and have incredible organizational skills.

I possess charm, have a dynamic personality, an infectious smile and have even been called "pretty" before it became politically incorrect. So, what is keeping me from landing even an "entry level" job? I'm not fluent in Spanish!

Oh, I can speak: Un pocito pero muy malo. Pero ustedes entiende mi espanol. Pero, yo no trabajo!

I have just relocated from Southern California where we once passed an "English only" initiative on which the ACLU immediately suspended its implementation. Even though Southern California is heavily populated with Hispanics, Spanish is not a prerequisite for employment.

I am an American and I have a right to work, if qualified, without bias of race, creed, gender or color. I am of German-American descent. I don't know too many Americans, not of Hispanic origin, who are fluent in Spanish. This language proficiency issue seems to be propagated by legal citizens and illegal aliens of Spanish descent. So, my question is: isn't this a form of reverse racial discrimination?

Granted, this is a gray area, but I feel that speaking Spanish should be a plus, not a must.

I, too, have a right to gainful employment and definitely feel, for the first time in my 30-plus years as a taxpaying employee, the effects of racism. How many other valuable American workers are turned away and turned off by the words "must speak Spanish"?

Kyle Culley


Slow day

What in the world would make the 5x7 color (no less) picture on 4B in the May 25 Star-Banner of the inmate convicted of "aggravated robbery and forgery charges" be of redeeming value or of interest, except of course to know that he is at least off the streets for a while?

There it was, right next to the article "Marion rates near state's average on FCAT science." Apparently, it was supposed to be a contrast in values. Either that, or the paper just want to see how many of us really appreciate such wasteful use of newsprint.

It just goes to show you that a person can break the law, sun yourself in jail, show off your expensive tattoo's and half-naked body and become a "star."

Please tell me what do you people in charge of content think about? Was it really newsworthy to glorify this guy that much or was it a particularly slow day for your photographers?

Joyce Bowden



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