Your weekly dose of Sound Off:

Fort Hood shooting
There was a violent shooting at Fort Hood today and none of the TV media could break away from their scheduled programming to report the incident. But the worst was President Obama. He was at a news conference, talking about American Indians and health care, and he appeared to have no clue as to what was going on in Texas. President Obama has to stop campaigning and start acting like a president of the most powerful nation in the world.

Obama TV time
Perhaps if Obama spent less time doing late-night TV talk shows circuity, he would have time to make a decision about adding troops to Afghanistan. He waffles and is indecisive about everything. It has become very apparent he does not have the experience necessary to do his job and be in the highest office of this nation.

Something about guns
I certainly hope that this time you are going to have something about guns in there after what happened at Fort Hood. I can't believe that people have guns and can use them any time they want. This morning on TV I saw two Republicans are running for governor and they want to do us a favor by making laws that everybody can carry a gun. Can you imagine how hectic that would be? Anytime anyone got angry, on the road or anywhere, they could take out their gun and shoot somebody. What is wrong with those Republicans?

Check your people
Every time I hear on TV that the woman got $600,000 from a nursing home because her father had bedsores, doesn't she feel guilty taking that much from a nursing home insurance? Doesn't she go to the nursing home to check on her father? That is why everyone pays so much for nursing home care, because of these lawsuits. I could see if he didn't get good care, some of her nursing home care should be refunded, but to get $600,000 is wrong. We must do something about high nursing home care. Lawyers don't need to make that much money for nursing home lawsuits. Check on people you care about in the nursing home.

Citizens only
The 15th amendment to the Constitution was ratified by the required number of states on March 30, 1870. Section 1 states "the rights of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied." Yes, U.S. citizens only. The socialistic Democrats blocked a GOP attempt to require respondents to the census form next year to be required to answer the question of if they are a citizen or not. It is the intent of the Constitution and the establishment of Congress as a democratic institution to represent U.S. citizens only. So it is time for Americans to wake up and tell their congressman to study the Constitution that supposedly they work under for all of these days that they don't show up for work.

Heroin problem
I am stunned that it took Chicago magazine November issue to highlight the heroin problem in St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia. Entitled "Trashed" by Brian Smith, it is sure an eye-opener. Our local media needs to be all over this. It's a huge problem here. I know this first hand as I am dealing with a son who is addicted to heroin. Yes, here in the Fox Valley. This seems to be a dirty little secret in St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia. Parents better be aware that these kids are being introduced to heroin in our middle schools, right here in Geneva and St. Charles and Batavia. Please educate yourselves, as I have. The drug is cheap and it's readily available.

Silly worry
I think it's silly to worry about coyotes attacking human beings. You can't get within 20 foot of them before they run off. I'm more concerned about the type of dogs my neighbors than coyotes.

Obama and Cubs
To all of you who were mesmerized by the charm and promises of Chairman Obama, are you satisfied with the changes? Look in your pockets. The only change is loose change. All the other so-called change went up in smoke. Over 10 million out of work, no more money in your pockets, only the little handed out by the chairman. What will happen when that runs out? Will the second stimulus package bail you out? Well, if you are happy with these arrangements, so be it. Like with the Cubs, there is always next year.

Free speech lessons
I saw the Miss California who got booted out on a morning news show this week. She was saying that free speech was denied her. Trouble is, I have no idea who the current Miss California is but I sure know who Carrie Prejean is. She's been on many talk and news shows, so I'm not sure how she can say she was denied her time in front of the nation. She seemed more unhappy about  things people like Keith Obermann have said about her. Trouble is, that's all part and parcel of free speech. You may not like what he says but you better defend to the death his right to say it. That … is what free speech is all about.

Dobbs to D.C.
I see that immigration activists are asking CNN to get rid of Lou Dobbs because of his stands on illegal immigrants in the United States. I can relate to Mr. Dobbs in the fact that as soon as you point out some true facts or real issues, you get accused of being a racist or a bigot. I do agree that Mr. Dobbs should not be on CNN. He should be in the White House.

Mixed messages
I am calling because I read the Chronicle every single day and I listen to the news and everything says that if you have signs of the flu, to not go to work and keep your children home from school. However, report cards just came out and much of the comments for the report cards say a reason for their grade is missed classroom time and that's a mixed message because if we are keeping them home because they have an excused absence being ill and then they are not getting the appropriate grade because of missed classroom work, should we be sending them to school even if they have slight symptoms and take the risk of infecting others or should we be keeping them home? If that's the case, especially in this time, I think the schools and the teachers should be more lenient on the missed classroom time.

Don't have kids
I'm calling on some of these people that complain, especially the one "Sick of it," where the kid comes home a half a day before Halloween and lazy teachers and school board. No, I'm not a teacher, but it's your own fault. Don't have a kid. You won't have to worry about sending them to school. End of story. And also, "Beware of homeowners," potential homeowners that are able to buy a condo or home or into a senior with a homeowners' association. Yes, I live in one. Yes, they do decide what you do and what you not do but, you know what, at the end you can sell your property to people that they wouldn't actually live here and that would get back at them. There's always a way.

Chronicle readers this week sounded off about the Kane County Health Department among other government entities.

Shameful spending
In the article titled "Batavia schools aim to make cuts" on Saturday, Oct. 24, Ron Link, president of the Batavia School Board, was quoted as saying "If we could get all the money from the state, we would be in good shape." Shame on you, state of Illinois, for putting Batavia and other school districts in such a bad position. However, this isn't new. Every year, school districts question whether the state will make good on their promises and as bad as this is, school districts are used to working around this problem and they budget so they don't rely on state funding as much as they would like. Other neighboring districts budget accordingly so they are not in such bad financial problems. Shame on you, Ron Link, for trying to make us believe that the state alone is at fault. Shame on you, school board members, for not stopping the foolish spending that has been going on for the last three years in District 101. That foolish spending has played a large part in getting our school district in a financial mess.

Quit it, idiots
This is for all the idiots out there that like to tailgate school buses. Quit it. We can't see you back there and you can't see our mirrors and nobody can see each other. It's getting tiresome. And also for the idiots that like to sit at the stoplight when the light's red and trying to turn right. We cannot turn right on red, so quit laying on your horns until the light turns green. Then if we don't move when the light turns green, then honk us.

Play Sim City
A few years ago there was a game called "Sim City" that my children played because they were interested in how governments work and one of the things that was predominately obvious in "Sim City" was that if you raise taxes, the people don't like your city and they stop moving into your city and it has all kinds of other economic consequences. The same thing with prices. If you raise prices, they have economic consequences. So my suggestion is every one of our government bodies should sit down for a couple of hours and play "Sim City" to the point where they use real scenarios to see if they could alter their decision-making process a little bit and make a better decision. You don't punish the people who are paying your salary when the economy goes down and that's what all these cities are doing. The city of Batavia really does manage its money pretty well so I don't have a lot of complaints about them but I have a whole lot of complaints about Batavia School District. They have never managed their money well.

Makes no sense
It baffles me how the Kane County Health Department can expect people with conditions that make them a priority for receiving the H1N1 flu shots to stand in the rain for 2 1/2 hours. This makes no sense. The people that need it most probably are not in a condition to be able to stand in a line to receive the shots. There are a lot of people that need the shots that couldn't tolerate the line.

Sick of it
Well, another day I had to take off work because my kids are home from school because the lazy teachers and the lazy school board don't want to work. I'm getting sick of this. They need to be in school. Teachers need to be in school, or you know what, maybe we could start laying off teachers to save the money, save some money because they don't work anyway. We need to change this. Kids need to be in school. They don't need to be home a half-day because it's the day before Halloween because the teachers are so exhausted from working so hard. And I'm being facetious.

Stop huge lines
I'm calling about the county flu shot clinics. I want to know who is the person with the bright idea that the best way to give the shots to pregnant women, little children and people with health problems is to have a huge number of people all show up at the same place and stand outside in cold, drizzly weather and have to park far away and walk with little children and then stand in long lines? This is crazy. Why didn't we get those vaccines and give them at schools? Why don't we let the pregnant women get it from their obstetrician? But no, the obstetricians can't get the shot because the county scooped it all up. Scary to me to think that the people who think that this was a good idea are the same people that are supposed to protect us if we ever had a smallpox attack or something like this. Let's use common sense. Let's get these shots into schools and obstetricians' offices, and let's stop having people have to sit in huge lines and get more sick from standing out in the cold and rain than from getting the shot.

Worry about war
Why doesn't President Obama spend more time on the surge in Afghanistan instead of the surge on Fox News? What's happening to this country when we allow a president to become a dictator who is taking away our free speech? Isn't this the very principle that the United States was founded on?

Beware, homeowners
Beware, potential homeowners that are about to buy a condo, a home or into a senior complex that are run by a homeowners' association. Once you are in, your life becomes theirs to do with whatever they want. You have no rights whatsoever.

Bigger problems than lack of flu shots
It has been an interesting couple weeks watching and then listening to how people react to finding out that flu vaccines, whether for regular flu or H1N1, that they lined up to receive were no longer available at many location across the country due to supply issues. The screaming and shouting, the demand that “I need the vaccine because of my health concerns” were all shown in the newspapers, TV and radio. But no outcry about the health care changes being rammed down our throats from these same people. I cannot wait to see how people react to finding out that they need to wait months or longer for a surgery or that they should consider ending their life instead to help everyone else save money on health care costs. Wake up people. Get involved, read what the bills pending state, do the research yourself if you do not trust others, then find out how waiting for a simple little flu shot is the least of your health worries.

• You can Sound Off by calling 630-845-5240 or sending an e-mail to soundoff@kcchronicle.com.

Last week, callers Sounded Off on topics such as quarantining students and teacher pay raises.

Ridiculous guidelines
I just wanted to sound off about the Geneva leaf pick-up guidelines and potential fines involved and number of pick-ups. Again, the guidelines are ridiculous. The city parkways are to be maintained by the homeowners and it's basically the city trees that are depositing leaves and if they want to keep them on our parkway and kill our grass until the next pick-up, they should have way more pick-ups. It's ridiculous the city's leaf pick-up program does not rival any neighboring city guidelines. I don't know where our taxes are going but they certainly aren't being allocated in the right direction.

Very nice money
In response to "Geneva teachers" in last week's Sound Off, I don't know about Geneva teachers but Kaneland teachers are having a swell time at our expense. In the contract approved last fall, teachers got 4.86 percent raises this year and will get 6.21 percent next year and 5.6 percent the following year. Those look anything like your pay increases? And when you consider that most of Kaneland's teachers are in the $40,000 to $60,000 range, and many making lots more, that's very nice money.

Quarantine students
I believe that when a school is closed because of concerns about a contagious health problem, all students should be quarantined in their homes to prevent them from possibly spreading the disease to the general public at places like malls and other buildings.

Medicare conspiracy
I'm calling in regard to the article entitled "Get rid of Medicare." I agree that the government should not run the health care system. This person also states we should get rid of the Medicare and the Veterans Administration. If it were not for the veterans, many of whom were injured or disabled in the service of this country, we would not be living in a free country. As his education and history is lacking, he never heard of Hitler, Stalin, Tojo or of Pearl Harbor. He is a product of our underworked, overpaid educators who did not learn or pay attention in the history classes. As to Medicare, it is a product of conspiracy by the drug companies, doctors and lawyers.

Lack of outreach
As an Army Vietnam veteran, the various veterans' groups showed no interest in me. My service was in support, which is 80 percent of all soldiers with the balance being on the front line. My unit was not part of the 1st Cav or the Big Red One but a support unit that the veterans never heard of. Because I had no war stories to tell, after the first contact, there was no follow-up. In the minds of the veteran groups or any other organization, there is a lack of outreach and there is too many inward cliqueishness.

Doesn't matter
I'm calling regarding the story in the Oct. 24 paper, "St. Charles East student faces charges in crash" by Jonathan Bilyk. I think the story is horrible. The story talks about a student that goes to St. Charles East and they were off of school Wednesday through Friday because of all of the kids calling in sick. That has nothing to do with the story. The story, according to this, took place at 9:30 at night. That has nothing to do with the kids being off of school. The story says that his alcohol was .058 and the legal limit is .08. That doesn't matter either. The fact is he has been drinking and had alcohol and marijuana in his system and he caused an accident when he didn't have a valid license and he went away from the scene. What does that have to do with the kids being off of school? I think that Jonathan who wrote the story should do a better job in writing it because it has nothing to do with the kids being off of school.

Lunch ideas
If Geneva teachers are providing lunches for students who forget theirs, those teachers should use their noodles, pun intended. The school my foster children attend has large jars of PB & J and a tin of raisins and a note goes home with every student served, asking for 50 cents. At a Catholic school I worked at, the children in the student's class were asked to share their lunches with the forgetful one and I never heard of a student going hungry. At the school my son teaches at, which has a cafeteria, parents are asked for $3 in emergency money at the start of the year. If it isn't used, it goes back to the parents. Now that's using your noodle.

Only one Fox
I'm calling about the Democrats criticizing Fox News for being an arm of the Republican Party. What about the Democrats' arm? They have CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC,  CBS and NPR. So they have many more spokespeople for them than what the Republicans have. The Republicans only have one, Fox News.

No free lunch
Without tort reform, there can be no real health care reform. Anyone who believes otherwise should remove their rose-colored glasses. There is no free lunch. The current administration has two choices, neither of which is desirable, raise taxes and/or ration services.

Unique decorations
I'm always annoyed to hear people whine about how teachers have to buy things for their classrooms. They don't have to spend an extra dime and many don't. I taught for a decade and if I needed decorations, I'd send a note home with the kids, asking if anyone had something they would like to donate or display. Often I got collections, of coins or buttons or bugs, that were much more unique than anything I could buy or put together myself. I always had much more than I could use and shared with other teachers who did the same thing.

This week, readers Sound Off on topics ranging from teacher salaries to health-care reform.

Geneva teachers
This is in response to the comment titled "Happy now?" about teachers' salaries. I'm assuming it was the contract for the Geneva teachers. There were several misstatements made here. First of all, the raise is not 3 percent a year for three years for almost 10 percent. In reality the first year is a very minimal pay increase, no pay increase the second year and a minimal increase the third year. There was also a reference that these parents need to feed their children. Teachers do the same thing when a student has forgotten their lunch or the parent has not packed them a snack. My daughter is a teacher and she spends upwards of $1,000 each year of her own hard-earned money, stocking her classroom with the nice extras that make her students' learning experience more enriching. She doesn't ask for reimbursement from the district or from her students' parents. She does it because she loves making a difference in her students' lives. My wife and I have raised our children in Geneva and we have been very pleased with how the district puts their emphasis on providing the citizens of Geneva a quality education for their children. We are entrusting our children's education and the future leaders of our country to some of the most qualified educators in the state. I applaud the Geneva School Board for spending our hard-earned money wisely.

No raises for anybody
I'm trying to accept the fact that Social Security will not be increased this coming year but I'm hoping and praying that I don't see that our congressman and senators and all the other people in public office, I hope and pray that they don't end up getting cost-of-living increases. One year we received 1 1/2 percent and they ended up with a 3 percent increase. If we don't get one, they don't get one. They can give up part of theirs to help the older people.

Taking down red ribbons
Does Geneva now have a Parents Supporting Drugs Committee? Well, somebody, some lady, was seen taking down the red ribbons off light posts in downtown Geneva before Red Ribbon Week was up. Could it be she is forming a new group?

Spread good will
It's evident that Obama has always been interested in government and its workings. I feel he has studied the mistakes and policies of past presidents and has put together a plan to change the way government works, especially the corruption that has become rampant during the last eight years. I read where Obama's plan for health care reform is identical to the plan that Nixon tried to introduce in 1971. Ted Kennedy led the critics, saying it was a bad idea. Now, reflecting back, Kennedy said we should have jumped on it, that we missed a good opportunity. I feel people need to relax and have faith in our new president, who seems to be in full control, even under adverse situations. Obama is right on the money about spreading good will around the world and to eliminate nuclear weapons. If a nuclear war were to break out, any life left on earth wouldn't be worth living. All it would take is one mad man to pull the switch.

Enemies list
President Obama, House Speaker Pelosi, Sen. Reid and the rest of the Democratic Congress are starting to act like President Nixon. Nixon had an enemies list and it is exactly what the current administration is forging. The enemies are all the conservative talk show, radio personalities such as Rush, Glen or Sean, Fox News and all the other media that are against the Obama administration for his increased taxes, control of the auto industry and financial institutions and forcing Obama health care on the taxpayers. It is time that Obama starts working on the reason for his Nobel Peace Prize within the United States.

Twisted logic
In last week's Sound Off a proponent of government health care used twisted logic in an attempt to persuade us to be in favor or more government in our lives and economy. The writer imagined that an example of government doing good with our money is the fact that it spends more on medical research than the drug industry. What the person doesn't understand is that success is not measured by the amount of money you can throw at the problem, but it is achieved by results. In the case of medical research, if the government is spending much more on research then why isn't the government developing the life-saving drugs that are now patented by the pharmaceutical companies? Wouldn't it stand to reason that if the government was having success in medical research that we would be spared the cost of expensive prescription drugs sold to us by the drug companies? That is why there is opposition to an expansion of government power in the health care industry. We already have too many examples of the government spending money and getting no positive results. We don't need more.

This idiot
Who is this idiot that thinks we should get rid of the Veterans Administration and Medicare? The people that are getting Medicare and Veterans Administration help have earned this. This isn't something that is just given to us. We have earned it. If this idiot doesn't think so, he better look at what the veterans have done for this country to protect their freedoms.

Untouchable pensions?
Have you noticed that when our local, county or state governments talk about closing their budget shortfalls, they all offer no wage increases, lay-offs or cuts in services. No one will talk about their pensions. Why not? What makes their pensions untouchable? It is time to stop complaining about our government and to do one thing, get out and vote in the primary election in February. If you do not vote in the primary, you let a small group of people decide for you who will run in November. Won't you bet it will be the same candidates who are in office now and the pensions will never change? It is time for new faces in our government.

Insurance costs
This is to all of those hysterical [tea-party protesters] who think that the health care system is just fine. I have an insurance policy for just me, just me. I have a $2,000 deductible and a $3,000 out of pocket and my premium just went from $449 a month to $614 a month, effective Jan. 1. That's a 38 percent increase. So all of you people who think that the Republicans are right and like oh, no, no, no, we can't change the health care system because it's good the way it is, everybody loves their insurance, I've got news for you. This may cause me to have to cancel my insurance and I can't get any because I have pre-existing conditions, so I guess it's OK with you and the Republicans that I die.