Speak Out 1/26/03

Tourist saboteurs

THE IMMIGRATION and Naturalization Service had better shut down further immigration into America at this time of possible war or our nation will be filled with a million so-called tourists saboteurs.

Highway paving

I'M CALLING about the article saying there are 50 miles of smoother roads coming to Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Perry and St. Francois counties. The busiest county, Cape Girardeau County, has the most people and also the most traffic. It is getting 4.1 miles of paving. Everybody else got quite a few miles: 17.7 for St. Francois County, 17.9 for Bollinger County and 13.8 for Madison County. MoDOT skippingly blacktopped Highway 25 last year. Please tell us why they can't do something to Highway 72. Can somebody explain that?

Regulate porn signs

I DO not believe porn stores should be allowed to open anywhere near a church. There must be some other place they can locate. Also, I do not believe they should be allowed to have those huge signs. I think it's a sad day when you can't travel America's highways and have signs like that lining the road when you want to take your family for an outing.

Start at home

IN THIS day and age, you are taking a big chance to allow your kid to go to a park and play without you. If your kids are hanging out at the mall, it's not my fault. Make your home environment a fun place for your kids. Teach your kids that they're not to be out wandering around. Make your home inaccessible to drugs. The answer is caring at home and not putting the responsibility on the community. Then the kids don't become society's problems.

Changing the message

SOME OF those celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday have forgotten his message and Christian beliefs. They use his name to get a liberal message across. How hypocritical to suggest he supported abortion, the gay lifestyle and single-parent families and the liberal political agenda. Anyone who would suggest it must believe it. This compassionate Christian leader of a great movement is being used and misquoted and misrepresented. Some people are changing his message to fit their political views.

Retirement planning

SOCIAL SECURITY was not meant to be used as the only income you retire on. Let me put my Social Security tax money in my own retirement plan, because I believe I can manage my money better than the government.

Education is the answer

IF MARTIN Luther King were living today, he would not be proud of the number of black men who are in prison. He would not be proud of the number of students who are not in school. It's time for people who are responsible to teach these young men that crime does not pay. There is no future in it. School is the answer. Education is the answer.

Crow's comments

DR. ROBERT Ward recently took issue with Sheryl Crow's comments regarding the war in Iraq. I disagree as well with Crow's comments. However, I don't subscribe to Ward's notion regarding Tony Soprano's leverage against people by taking away their livelihoods. One might be reminded of the fact that Crow donates a lot of her time to the university. I do agree with her right to express her opinions. Ward's opinions suggest to me that he feels the First Amendment isn't worth fighting for.

Love of money

GOV. BOB Holden said if legislators don't approve the tobacco-settlement bonds, then the university could lose $8 million. The president at the college said the students would get the pinch. It's funny to me that we don't have money all of a sudden. It's just like the gas taxes. Every time we talk of war, gas prices go up. The love of money, the Bible says, is the root of all evil.

SPIKE LEE has no sense of humor. We're told if you can't laugh at yourself, then you're taking life just a little too seriously. I'm glad Cedric the Entertainer had guts enough to be in "Barbershop" and do that role. I'm glad he can make light of things. What I tell my children about Martin Luther King is that he was a great man but had flaws. Kids should have long ago learned something about Rosa Parks and King before they saw "Barbershop," which was one of the better movies made last year.

Keep sick children home

THIS IS to the caller who thought germ warfare might be responsible for the recent flu-like outbreak. The germ keeps progressing because parents keep sending their kids back to school when they're still sick. They need to keep their children at home. That would stop it.

Entitled to opinion

DR. ROBERT Ward's comment about Sheryl Crow were unbelievable. Who wouldn't like to think war is wrong? I believe we have done everything as a country to not go to war, but we have to do what is necessary. Isn't she entitled to her opinion? She is saying we need to do everything possible to try not to go to war and that we should all be kinder to one another. Crow is one of the few rock stars that people of all ages really enjoy. She has kept that respectable look that makes everyone in this area proud, yet she is loved by the younger fans too.

Frightening comments

I NEITHER know Sheryl Crow, nor have I ever heard her concerts. But Dr. Robert Ward's condemnation of her comments is frightening. Why does he chastise her for her comments but feels he can express his? Is that what America's freedom of speech is about? His threat of withholding money from SEMO is both childish and immature.

Low-river treasures

With the river so low, I'll bet you can find lots of treasures.