SPEAK OUT

Massaging egos

I SAW on TV that New York has banned the use of handheld telephones while driving cars. This is something that is ridiculous anyway. There is absolutely nobody, unless in case of emergency, who should talk on the phone while driving a car. It only massages their egos. Time is not that important. If it is, then leave earlier.

Build it in Texas

WE HAVE a power company from Texas wanting to build a plant in Missouri and pollute our air to sell power to Oklahoma. Why don't they build the plant in Texas? It is closer to Oklahoma than Missouri. Please go somewhere else.

Somebody's back yard

THIS IS to the people in the area who are opposed to the power plant in Cape County. Just think of it this way: Somebody, somewhere lives next to the power plant that supplies your home with electricity.

What you expect

ALCOHOL HAS been responsible for more deaths than tobacco products: broken families, ruined lives, medical problems, traffic deaths and ruined careers. It's the politicians who cry out that tobacco products are killing the population. What hypocrites we have representing our nation. Be honest. Both alcohol and tobacco endanger your life. But to pick one for political gain is about what you could expect from a lifetime politician.

Discrimination abounds

I REALLY don't care what anyone else has to say about this topic. Everybody who is alive or breathing discriminates in one way or another every day of his or her life. That is a fact. You can preach discrimination or anti-discrimination till heck freezes over. We all discriminate, and if you say you don't, you're not telling the truth.

Need role models

THERE'S AN article in the July 2001 American Legion magazine titled "The fight for moral rights: Boy Scouts stand tall after Supreme Court victory." I'd like to read one paragraph of it: "The opponents of Scouting have demonstrated that they are unwilling to tolerate the views and values of others. They often advocate diversity but tolerate only the large-step cadence of political correctness." As a Scout myself as a young fellow, Scouting teaches a set of values that are right anywhere today, especially in troubled inner-city neighborhoods. Perseverance, personal responsibility and self-discipline are the primary things Boy Scouts learn from the moral code they have. I believe they need the continued support of the American Legion, and veterans of all stripes should be urged to step up as role models for American youth and support the Legion as it stands in opposition to the political correctness of today's society.

Time to drop it

I WAS very happy to read in the paper where the appeals court said the city of Cape can't put money into the River Campus. What I'd like to know is what part of "no" Mayor Spradling and the city's attorney and the university have trouble understanding. The voters don't want this. It's time for the university and the city to drop it. I don't know what's wrong with the city and its love affair with that school up here. Anything that school wants, they get. It's time to stop this business, or the university is going to own all of Cape.

Same old mindset

A SPEAK Out caller said he deserves better health care. Where in the Constitution does it say you deserve someone else's tax money for your health care or anything else? How about freedom to do what you want with your income? And take some responsibility. It's the same old mindset of the Democrats. Someone owes you something. You owe nothing to no one.

Thank goodness

WELL, WITH the new development on the hotel-motel tax, maybe the city officials will start favoring the taxpayers as they should, instead of Southeast Missouri State University. Thank goodness for our Jim Drury.