Speak Out 11/3/08

Good driving

I WAS in Cape Girardeau. A huge truck with this a big piece of equipment was pulling out of Southeast Missouri State University. There were all kinds of red flags and yellow lights. I followed the truck down Broadway. People were passing him on the right and on the left, and they were crossing the yellow line. The driver was doing the best he could. He did one heck of a job. I followed him to Jackson, where not one motorists tried to do anything wrong. Jackson must be the place where all the safe drivers are. I commend that truck driver. He did one heck of a nice job.

A shocking plan

WITH MEDICARE going broke by 2019, Social Security not far behind and America being in $11 trillion debt, something must be done quickly. I think the answer is euthanasia for the elderly. I know, it sounds shocking. But we have accepted abortion, thus eliminating more than 50 million babies since 1973. The irony is that so many who supported abortion or did nothing will be silenced. But something must be done.

Money hassle

MISSOURI HAS a lot of problems in the Division of Employment Security right now. My girlfriend has been out of work for almost two months. She has yet to get an unemployment check. The computer shows her money is coming, but the card got lost in the mail. Now we can't get any money. Every time we call the state, every supervisor gives us a different answer. This girl has worked hard. Our family's paid our taxes, and we're watching it all go down the drain because we can't get money that's owed to us. It's not fair.

Buy American

I HOPE that all those businesses that went overseas for cheap labor now realize that it hurts the United States. More than ever, please buy things that are made in the U.S.

Special recognition

I WOULD like to thank the Jackson School District and all those responsible for the "Everyone Counts" message. I am a parent of a child with a disability. Although my child does not attend Jackson schools, I was proud that the district recognized her and her importance. And I am proud to be part of this wonderful community.

Slanted commentary

I COMMEND the comment from an individual who was as baffled as I was that someone complained that this paper is too liberal. But I will disagree with the second comment and say that this paper clearly has a far-right bias. Every week there are no liberal voices, one moderate voice and at least five far-right conservative columnists. That's pretty unbalanced. Ironically, this comment was right underneath a column that berated national health care. It's a lot better than no health-care coverage.

County spending

I AM concerned with the way the county commission is spending our tax dollars. Commissioner Larry Bock used a Jeep Cherokee station wagon for 13 years, but now with just two months left in his term we've got to buy a four-door, crew cab, gas-guzzling 3/4-ton pickup. The highway engineer says we're buying it because the highway department has the money. Why not save the money and buy something less costly to operate? Furthermore, why couldn't the county have one or two vehicles for commissioners to use and leave them at the county office building? Let them drive their personal vehicle back and forth to work like everybody else. Tax money is going to run out sooner or later. We can't keep paying for these people to have all these perks. You'd think they would be thinking about the taxpayers a little bit more than they do.

Appropriate payoff

JOY IS a reward for being kind.

Lower speed limit

AS A parent of a student at South Elementary School, I appreciate the attempt to help the traffic by lowering the speed limit. But if Jackson police don't enforce the new limits, it will never work. People are still going crazy through there.

Trash greets visitors

I WAS on my daily walk downtown among all the Homecoming parade trash, picking up what I could. I was so embarrassed when I kept running into tourists from the riverboat. I apologized, but you could tell they were not impressed.

Effective research

FEDERAL SPENDING on the study of fruit flies was recently mentioned as an example of government waste that serves no public good. This is a gross misstatement. Chances are most people reading this have received or know someone who has received some treatment that's only possible because of research into fruit flies. This research isn't for the sake of insects. It's done for the benefit of people. Countless people are alive and healthy today because of research programs that rely on the organism Drosophila melanogaster, otherwise known as the fruit fly. It could be argued that they're more beneficial to human health than any other creature, though researchers partial to Mus musculus (the common lab mouse) may disagree.

Do it yourself

I CANNOT believe what a bunch of crybabies live in Cape Girardeau. My husband is 75, I'm 60. And I have a torn rotator cuff. We live in the woods in Indian Hills. When we had the ice storm in the spring, nobody helped us clean up our limbs. We got them to the curb, and the city got them. When we had the wind storms, nobody helped us clean up our limbs. The city didn't even pick them up that time. We got rid of them ourselves. Quit being such a bunch of crybabies and always expecting someone else to do your work for you. That's what's wrong with this country. Nobody wants to take responsibility.