Speak Out 2/25/07

Sharing the blame

THE UPCOMING corn shortage and the inflation that will follow can be attributed to three groups of people: environmental fanatics, businessmen and politicians who think they can make a buck from the situation, and gullible taxpayers who allow it to happen.

Teaching manners

MOST OF today's American children might benefit from etiquette classes, not just the ones "who are not exposed to fine dining at an early age." Parents do not want to teach their children even the simplest of table manners anymore, whether at home or in a nice restaurant. Heaven forbid, that might stress those children or make them angry. Sadly enough, most children obviously have no embarrassment about their lack of manners, even when they are grown.

Break for landlord

WHERE CAN I get in line to get screwed by Cape Girardeau for owning a business in Town Plaza? I scrape together enough to have a business, and the city wants to raise my taxes and give my landlord a break. Is the landlord such a bad business manager that he does not have income to cover the short and long term expenses? Who should get a break on their taxes at Town Plaza, the landlord who leaves the road unrepaired for how many years or the many businesses that actually generate the jobs and sales taxes?

MSHSAA questions

FROM THE April 9, 2006, article "MSHSAA suspends Scott County Central's Heeb": "After Heeb's departure from Bell City to Scott County Central, the MSHSAA received a complaint filed by Bell City, according to correspondence obtained by the Southeast Missourian in an open records request." If MSHSAA made this information available through an open-records request then, why not with the Bell City case now? If this is indeed a violation to release records about students or school personnel, somebody owes David Heeb an explanation. Has MSHSAA broke the law?

Safe arrival

REGARDING THE story of the truck driver falling asleep and having an accident on I-55. Most trucking companies expect their drivers to make it from New York City to Los Angeles in two days. Two days? Laws need to be changed so drivers and freight get to their destination safely and wide awake.

Seeing the future

REGARDING THE op-ed column "Corn famine?": Thank you for bringing this information to light so that everyone who takes time to read it knows this is what the future Looks like.

The other side

"SELDOM HAVE I encountered more genuinely warm and welcoming people." This statement was in Jackie Brandtner's op-ed column. I laughed as I read it, knowing very well how welcoming the people in Bell City can be -- welcoming, that is, as long as you're doing things their way. As soon as things aren't going their way, they'll run you out of town and do everything in their power to make life miserable for those who are no longer a part of their inner circle. Some may call the folks in Bell City warm and welcoming. I would call them two-faced and back-stabbing.

Good for the gander

JACKIE BRANDTNER calls Joe Bowling "a man who clearly has an agenda and who has a spotty record of presenting himself truthfully." However, Bell City tried to use Bowling as a witness against David Heeb and Scott County Central. The MSHSAA even called Bowling a "credible witness." You can't have it both ways. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

Need park work

PLEASE, PARKS department, mayor, Kiwanians or somebody who cares. Do something to keep the wonderful Kiwanis Park looking great. Please fill and grade the deep, muddy ruts some uncaring people continue to make. If necessary, put up boulders or barricades like those in Arena Park to force people to drive on the hard surface. It is a disgrace to allow this to happen in such a beautiful park.

No assistance

I GET tired hearing people talk about being required to wear seat belts is taking their freedom away from them. If they don't wear a seat belt and are incapacitated in an accident, they want the government and other people to take care of them. You can't have it both ways. You can't expect people to take the responsibility for your lack of common of sense. If you choose not to wear them, there should be no financial help of any kind. It should be up to you, since you think you're so smart.

Parade money

THE MARDI Gras parade downtown was a great idea to help others, but keep the money downtown, maybe for downtown security.

Investigate the facts

INSTEAD OF publishing articles full of unsubstantiated accusations and innuendo regarding the Bell City basketball program, assign your reporter to practice professional journalism in the form of investigative reporting and then present your readers with some facts regarding the issues in question.

Fighting for freedom?

IF YOU believe that the Iraq War is truly a fight for our national freedom, then you have a moral responsibility to join the Army, encourage your children to do so, support a reinstatement of the draft and increase taxes as necessary to pay for the war effort. If you are not willing to make these sacrifices, perhaps this is not truly a war for our freedom.

Fighting back

I THINK it's great that Daniel Ayers is fighting back. Take it all the way to the top. I'm tired of law enforcement being crooked. It's time someone stands up and fights back.

Socialist agenda

THE REASON socialists always find resistance in America to their ideas is that many Americans still find the idea of taking one person's money by force and giving it to another group who demands it repulsive and immoral. Empathy and guilt are often used as tools to coerce us into submitting to the socialist agenda. Use charity, not the tax code, to help people in need.