Speak Out 07/16/04

Pool closes too early

HERE IT is the middle of July and the hottest day of this year so far. It's hard to believe that for all the taxes Cape Girardeau residents are made to pay that we have no access to a swimming pool past 5 p.m. during the week. I guess we just have to drive to Jackson pool, which is open until 8 p.m. daily and only costs $1 per adult, and children 4 and under get in free. Where are our tax dollars going?

Diversion tactic

IF THE voters have really improved their ability to see through cynical attempts at manipulation, as Gary Rust claims, then they will understand that the so-called marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an amendment everyone knows won't get through Congress, is a mean-spirited attempt on the part of the Bush administration to re-ignite the divisive culture war and get the voters minds off Iraq and other issues.

Danger: Holiday lights

SOME PEOPLE are comparing fireworks to Christmas lights. Yeah, I've often had to pick up Christmas lights before mowing, and I'm always having to stop driving down the street to wait for inconsiderate people to throw their exploding holiday lights into the street in front of me. I really hate the way the lights hit my house at two in the morning waking me. Maybe a better analogy would have been the idiots who fire guns into the air on New Year's Eve. They seem blissfully unaware that bullets leave the guns and eventually return to the ground, possibly striking something other than the dirt. Better not blame them though. It's gravity's fault.

Unbending convictions

I DON'T put much stock in the recently published quote from humanistic psychologist Rollo May, who praised those who have the courage of their convictions and are, by extension, unwilling to bend. What makes this country great is the willingness to compromise. In the political arena, if you're looking for someone who had the courage of his convictions and was unwilling to stray from them at all, you need look no further than Adolph Hitler.

Higher pay for grads

GARY RUST recently pointed out that "technically trained employees often make more than those with college educations." This may be true in individual instances, but on average college and university graduates make far more money than graduates of technical training schools.

Cameras in police cars

I'VE NOTICED that none of our local law enforcement officers have cameras in their cars. Not only would cameras protect the people, but they would protect the police as well. It is about time we catch up the times.

No comparison

THE COMMENT made comparing Fourth of July with Christmas decorations is ludicrous. Christmas decorations don't keep you awake when you have to get to bed. It's like apples and oranges.

City's water hazards

IT SEEMS that Cape Girardeau has a double standard. As a private-property owner, I am required by law to have a fence around my pool or be subject to fines. But the city has at least three major drowning hazards that nobody seems to care about: Capaha Park lagoon and the Cape County North and South lakes. These places see a lot more children come through them than my backyard does. I want to know why the city does not have fences up around these water hazards.

Taxes and trains

SCOTT CITY wants to extend the sales tax to buy the caboose parking lot because residents have invested a lot of time and money in the property. The city should have spent the time and money repairing the roof of the municipal building and maintaining the city ditches to help curb flooding. I heard of a 70-year-old woman who is recovering from injuries she received when she was trying to clean out a city ditch behind her house because a police officer served a notice to remove dead tree limbs from that ditch.