SPEAK OUT

Statistics favor speed

LOWER THE speed limit? That would only cause more problems. When the limit was lowered from 70 mph to 55 mph years ago, only a small percentage of motorists actually took their foot off the gas. For years it did no good and caused more deaths than lives it saved. Statistics will back that up (except the biased stats the highway patrol makes up). Lowering the speed limit isn't going to help because most car manufacturers have designed cars to be more fuel efficient at interstate speed.

He's getting soft

DAVID LIMBAUGH has welcomed the expulsion of the United States from the U.N. Human Rights Commission. To some, this may seem a radical stance for Limbaugh to take, but it is actually illustrative of a mellowing on his part in the sense that he tacitly implied that, even though we got the boot from the human rights commission, he favors continued U.S. membership in the United Nations. Limbaugh is getting downright soft.

Conspiracy against women

I FIND it interesting that the politicians who support legislation like the Unborn Victims of Violence Act are the same politicians who have systematically dismantled the welfare system and who scream for a return to family values with stay-at-home mothers. I observe the platform of this particular political party and all I see is a comprehensive conspiracy against women. The women in this nation who think the right wing has their best interests at heart had better wake up and start leaning the other way.

Our anthem

Oh, my home is Cape Girardeau

Where the conservatives do sow

Propaganda against the progressives.

Yes, the land where Rush is king

And the people of feminaziism do sing

Of communism, morals and other missives.

Tonight I will bed down in sound sleep

As I have become yet another sheep

And switched off my mind to new notions.

For God has all the answers I need.

(Homosexuals, pro-choicers, take heed.

Be conservative and take my bitter potions.)

This is anarchy

IT IS not axiomatic that the freer we are to comment on public issues the better it is for a free country. History is replete with examples of how liberty degenerates into license, then anarchy, then -- because the people yearn for a restoration of order -- dictatorship. Thus, when the reasons for the collapse of the United States are identified, there will a consensus that the most significant of all the reasons for our decline and fall was the Speak Out forum.

Public transportation

I JUST read recently that the No. 1 activity in the United States, ranked by dollars generated, is the manufacture, maintenance and fueling of automobiles. It's no wonder that the United States is the energy hog of the world. Is unlimited transportation freedom worth the high cost and damage to the environment? In places like Europe, Japan and New York City, most people don't even own a car and rely on public transportation. Why can't this work in the United States?

No socialism, please

TO EVERYONE complaining about their gas prices -- this is just capitalism hard at work. The gas and oil companies realize you have high demand for their product and most will pay that $3 a gallon no matter what. Asking the government to help fix prices -- doesn't that sound (gasp) socialist?

Nuisance blinders

DO THE people working at the city nuisance department live in Cape and drive the streets of Cape? If they do, are they wearing blindfolds? The people of the nuisance department could have a big impact on the looks of our city if they would only do something. And if they feel they need more help, then go before the city council and ask for more funds to hire another person. I don not see how the council could refuse.

Report the litterers

HERE SOME trash, there some trash, everywhere we turn it's trash. Hooray for Diane Bruns' speaking out against litter in Cape. As I drive through Cape each day I see trash of all kinds on the streets and public lands. And there are many yards in our city that could use a good cleaning and mowing. And how about all these folks throwing trash out of their car windows? Don't they know it's against the law? And why doesn't the city enforce it's littering ordinances? For you litterers out there, be warned: From this point forward when I see trash flying out your car window I will be reporting your license number to the authorities. I would like to advise all citizens of Cape Girardeau to do the same. Let's join together and make Cape a beautiful city.

Prom photos

THANK YOU, Southeast Missourian, for putting the photographs of the prom on your Web site.