Speak Out 3/13/06

Out of business

When we were hiring help at our shoe factory and wanted our jobs to stay here in America, you were buying foreign shoes and complaining that our shoes cost too much. Because you bought foreign shoes, you put us out of business. Now, car manufacturers and other places are being put out of business, and you're blaming everyone for driving foreign cars. The ones who are putting you out of business are the same ones who put us out of business. Complain all you want. It's OK to put someone else out of business, but when it's you, it hurts, doesn't it?

Missouri worries

ACCORDING TO foreign-policy experts, Iran will be our biggest headache in the next 10 years. Maybe so, but with some of the goofy things the legislature is doing or attempting to do, I think local residents should be most concerned about the threat posed by Missouri's state government.

A better grasp

STATE REP. Nathan Cooper was quoted as saying he could see why many people are concerned about the proposed resolution that Missourians live under a Christian God, because we don't understand it. That's probably true and makes me proud that we have a state representative like Cooper who is smart enough to grasp the meaning of things the average Missourian cannot.

Tickets for students

SPEEDING IS a crime. High school kids who can't obey the law should get a ticket, regardless of where they are.

A matter of safety

THE POLICE who patrol around Central High School are needed. When the students leave, some -- not all -- drive recklessly and endanger others on the road. The street becomes a racetrack. How can you not care about the safety of our students as well as those who travel the streets? The officers involved were mostly off-duty officers working overtime. The money came from a special grant aimed at seat-belt use among teenagers. No tax money was used for this. The program occurs every year around this time. The police in Cape Girardeau seem to care more about safety in automobiles your kids drive and ride in than you do. Next time, call the police department and find out what this week was all about.

Role reversals

REGARDING THE comment that if men had babies there would be an abortion clinic on every corner: If women had to pay child support they would probably be more careful and allow men more say about whether or not they want to become fathers.