Speak Out 12/14/06

Confine your dogs

TO THE people who live on County Road 318 with the two large dogs running loose: Please have some consideration for your neighbors. No one but you lets their dogs run around the neighborhood. Please build a fence or keep your dogs inside like the rest of us do.

Better health care

NO ONE favors socialized medicine in this country. It's a misnomer used by those who have a vested interest in keeping business as usual. What the American people want is a single-payer system (the federal government) while maintaining, perpetuating and streamlining private competition among medical providers in the currently broken system. It can be accomplished, though the usual suspects with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo will scream "socialized medicine" to scare the American people into approving a health-care interest that will best serve all the people.

Funny cat story

I'M A woman, and I have cats. I loved Rush Limbaugh's story. It is so true in a humorous way. I know he was joking. You would have to be dumb not to understand what he meant. My husband and I laughed because he thought the same thing. Women are independent and have their own minds. If you treat them well and respect them, they will stick around, just like cats.

Leaf night shift

I'D LIKE to suggest that Cape Girardeau's leaf pickup program run a night shift to pick up leaves sooner. They're blowing all over the place at my house, and we worked hard getting the leaves pushed to the curb. Please think about this.

Mulch, not burn

I'VE BEEN troubled by the news that people are going to burn all the downed trees and branches from the recent ice storm. With the problems that the world is having with global warming and all the unnecessary carbon dioxide escaping into the atmosphere, wouldn't it be better to make mulch instead of burning the wood and destroying the atmosphere a little more? If everybody would do his part, maybe we could slow global warming and our weather wouldn't be so crazy.

Pets and smoking

I'M A cigarette smoker. and I've been reading about how it's not good to smoke in cars with children. I don't do that. I don't even smoke if someone else in the car with me isn't a smoker. I've been hearing about second-hand smoke causing deaths to people. In the last year or so I've taken my dog to three veterinarians, and I've asked if they've heard of a pet dog or cat getting sick from second-hand smoke. None of these vets ever heard of it, but they said it's possible. But if dogs and cats haven't been dying from second-hand smoke, how do people get sick from second-hand smoke?

Affecting values

I'M A senior citizen and a veteran. I raised a family on blue-collar wages. I've always loved this country, and I thought America was the hope of the world. But lately I'm so ashamed of our country, which allows aborting children, gay lifestyle and the filth of TV, movies, Internet and print. We have trashy comedians on TV hurting the moral values to our children. Our students' grades are dropping faster than their IQs. God's values are never mentioned in most homes, and many don't know why Father's Day is celebrated. Family life has become a parade of unwed mothers, deadbeat dads, TV, cell phones, trash movies, alcohol, drugs and self-indulgence with no values. You reap what you sow, my friends.

Bad hunting

The person who poached a doe and dumped part of it on Reiman Road and Highway 3 should be caught and never allowed to hunt again. This is awful. Real men don't do things that way.

Blowing smoke

TO THE person who recently said he had read 10,000 Americans died annually from smoking: Do you believe everything you read? Everybody knows the surgeon general's report on second-hand smoke is a bunch of crap. Until recently I considered quitting smoking, but I never will now. I'll smoke until age 80 and blow smoke in yourdirection.

Out in the public

HOW RIDICULOUS to be upset at Matt Sanders for mentioning Sara Evans' divorce. She's the one who put everything out in the public. She happens to be a talented singer, but she put her public life right out there when she quit "Dancing With the Stars," and she told the press that her husband was looking at Internet porn.

Gifts for everyone

I'M A single mom with three children and no other means of support but my modest job. Never have my children not had gifts under the Christmas tree. I frequent thrift stores, yard sales and dollar stores to shop for new gifts all year. I don't smoke, drink or go out to eat, and I watch every penny. We make homemade gifts for friends and relatives that they treasure. The only reason a child doesn't have something for Christmas is lethargy on the part of the parent and their entitlement mentality.

Appreciating classics

MATT SANDERS' column about how orchestras are boring was extraordinarily offensive. It would take a biased, uneducated person to say such things about classical music. People who don't appreciate classical music don't appreciate it because they're not educated enough to know what classical music is.

Doing a good job

AMEREN-UE's getting a lot of flack about the power outage due to the severe ice storm. I have a solution. Make every landowner trim his trees. If it had not been for the tree branches, the ice would not have broken the power lines. We'll see how landowners react. I think Ameren is doing a wonderful job with the monstrous repairs they had to do,