Speak Out 11/17/09

Veterans salute

AS a Vietnam vet, I want to thank Applebee's in Cape Girardeau for the free meal they offered to all veterans and active-duty personnel on Veterans Day. I also want to thank radio station C106 for having a "Salute to Veterans" program all day. I speak for all the veterans who enjoyed the meal or listened to the radio station. You got our attention. Thank you.

Against seniors

I have been a member of AARP for many years. It is selling seniors down the river, and seniors do not realize this. I was signing AARP petitions and making donations and thought I was signing something to defeat the health care reform bill. Then AARP sent me a long letter of explanation. It's not for the seniors at all. It's sad that it takes every penny we scrape together to buy medications and pay for insurance. Just because we're old, we don't have to let people walk all over us.

No savings

IT must be corporate math. After years of paying car insurance, my insurance premium finally became happily affordable. Then I bought an old car to play with. My insurance more than doubled. To save some money, I dropped the coverage on the old car. But my insurance premium only dropped less than a quarter. Now I'm paying almost double on my original car. I hope I do better with the cable people, because I've got a great idea on how to save some money with those guys.

The Lord's day

I was disappointed that Sam Blackwell did not mention observing the Lord's day in his column, "Keeping Sabbath." He had a really good column, but I read nothing about worshipping the Lord. The Jewish Sabbath is on a Saturday. The Christian Sabbath, called the Lord's day, is on the first day of the week, which is a Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out of the spirit in Acts 2:14. It's not just a day of doing what we want to do and whatever pleases us. We'd better be pleasing the Lord and remembering it is he who we are to serve, not ourselves.

Honoring veterans

KUDOS to Applebee's on Veterans Day for giving a free meal to the veterans. That was awesome. The veterans deserve that and more for keeping us free and safe all those years, putting their lives on the line with their loved ones at home worrying.

Recycling glass

I have been recycling since the city started the program. This included glass items. With the new system, I'm supposed to use my gasoline to drive all over town to find a glass recycling bin. How long does it take glass to deteriorate in a landfill?

Helpful fireman

WE hear about the many bad things that happen. I want to tell you about my experience as an 87-year-old woman on the Walmart parking lot in Jackson. When I finished my shopping and came to my car, one of the front tires was flat. I needed help. A young man came to my rescue. He changed the tires and would not accept any pay. Jason was the only name he gave me. He is a firefighter in Cape Girardeau. Thank you again, Jason, and may God bless you for your kindness.

Between the lines

I don't know if this says more about Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh. Anyway, El Rushbo recently said that Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," is the most substantive policy book he has ever read.

Trying terrorists

FIVE jihadist defendants will be brought to New York City for a trial. Not surprisingly, Republicans are claiming that U.S. civilian courts are not capable of trying these people. How sad that Republicans would be reduced to criticizing our civilian courts for political gain, particularly in light of the fact that hundreds of terrorists have already been tried and convicted in U.S. civilian courts.

Burning plastic

IT'S one of the last beautiful, mild Saturday mornings of the season and my neighbor in Westfield Subdivision in Cape is again burning plastic in his burn barrel. The smell is so noxious I had to bring my children indoors and will have to drive them out of the neighborhood to play outside. Please, if you have to burn your garbage, follow the law and common sense and don't burn plastic. It affects everyone in your neighborhood. It can make us physically ill.

Smoking, drinking

Why do people defend public smoking by suggesting the effects for other people in the room are similar to drinking? A person could be sitting next to me in a restaurant drinking a cocktail, but I wouldn't know if it's a screwdriver or merely orange juice unless I asked. It would be painfully obvious, however, if the person next to me lit a cigarette, especially if I was still trying to taste my food.