Speak Out 10/8/12

I was very pleased to hear Colin Powell's speech at the Show Me Center. However, I was embarrassed that no one adjusted the lighting when Gen. Powell chose to move away from the podium. He spent most of the evening moving in and out of a shadow. Could no one working at the Show Me Center operate a spotlight?

Well the fish kissers and tree-huggers have gotten their petition signed and now we have to put up with the lice laden, flea carrying, tick spreading, yard damaging, car crashing deer for another year.

I don't know where the outrage is, but we were promised in Cape Girardeau County that if we passed the county sales tax that they would never, I repeat never, assess a county property tax. Well, that has turned out to be a huge lie. The big spending, out-of-control county commissioners must be voted out. I don't care what they say now, or who they are; they must go. We can't afford big spending liars for county commissioners.

I am not worried about the economy; it will recover as soon as the government stops trying to fix it. This election is a fork in the road. Do you want socialism or free market? For those of you who think Obama's socialism is a good idea, look at Greece. The root problem of socialism is that eventually the taxpayers get tired of giving their money to people who want the government to provide for everything in their life. When the government cart gets too loaded for the taxpayer horse to pull he won't pull anymore.

Concerning the "stolen" dog issue at the Humane Society in Cape Girardeau: I think I heard on the TV news that the animals had been picked up as strays in a certain neighborhood. Were I investigating this, I would ask around that neighborhood until I found someone who knew to whom the dogs belonged, or at least who had seen them before. I am sure it was highly inconvenient and costly for the dogs' owners to pay the fine associated with the stray pickup and the tags that were needed to release the dogs; so cutting the fence was just cheaper and easier. Doesn't the human society have security cameras? If not, why not?

Why does Councilman Lanzotti want to make decisions for scooter operators? What sort of authoritarian uses the city government to coerce the law-abiding scooter-operators of Cape Girardeau into wearing helmets? Aren't the laws of the state restrictive enough? Apparently the city council doesn't think so.

This is the first step in the right direction. There is something that would help drastically not only scooters, but motorcycles, bicycles and people that insist on using motorized chairs on public roadways. It is something that is cheap, very effective and is required in several other countries: a florescent vest. In several countries a neon green vest with reflective trim is required for these vehicles. As humans that drive, we are conditioned to look for other cars, but small vehicles tend to blend into the background. When a driver hits a person and says, "I never saw them," chances are, they are telling the truth. I am a former police officer and have logged several thousand miles in a car. I cannot count the numerous time I have almost turned someone into a hood ornament because I did not see them. Had they been wearing something that did not blend into the background, things would be different.