Speak out 4/12

Skaters' behavior

THIS IS to the person who said the city should pay for a skateboard park because the city pays for all the baseball and the softball fields and soccer fields. That's wrong. The city didn't pay for all of them. Many of those fields were financed by parents, just like the original caller said should be done with the skating park. We paid for dirt brought in. We paid for backstops being built. My daughter plays softball. The softball league paid for all those equipment buildings and for most of the equipment. I have several kids who have played in baseball and softball leagues. In the last couple of years, we've had real problems with skaters coming over after they've been skating, and they are absolutely horrible. Their language and conduct are horrible. They smoke in the park. Do I want my tax dollars to go for a group that has already proven how disrespectful it is? Why would we want to spend more money on them when they don't respect what we already have?

Fatherless children

THE RATE of fatherless homes in our society is a disgrace. In the black community, it's 66 percent. The damage to the children is a tragedy and a shame of our country. The NAACP and black churches talk about civil rights, voter drives and political parties. How about taking on an issue that is hurting the black children of America? Not putting this problem on the top of their list is unbelievable. It takes character, moral values and guts -- not excuses -- to turn this around for all races.

Slap in the face

DURING A press conference, Ari Fleischer was asked what President Bush was going to do if Ariel Sharon didn't pull back from the occupied Palestinian territory. Fleisher said, "Nothing." Teddy Roosevelt is probably spinning in his grave at this answer. Teddy said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Bush is a blowhard who carries a feather. To be told to go to hell by Sharon when Israel is a large recipient of American foreign aid is really a slap in the face to our government. The idea of a Jewish settlement in the middle of an area where they are out numbered by 75 to 1 with hatred going back for thousands of years was a stupid idea from the start. In a war of attrition, Israel could slowly lose a Jewish minority and could become an Islamic state through the birth rate of the Islamic population, which is much higher than the Jewish population.

Safety accounting

I WAS told by a city police officer that the reason they were doing all the reconstruction of I-55 was due to accidents. I'd like somebody to count all the deaths and accidents after they finally complete this and see if it was worth it.

Poor local support

AT THE crusade Friday night when John Hagee was there, he asked for a showing of hands of all the Baptists. The Baptists were well-represented. Then he asked how many people were from out of town. Most of the crowd stood. I would say there were 200 people from Cape Girardeau proper. That is a disgrace. Everybody came from somewhere except Cape Girardeau. This is why our country's in the situation it's in and the moral decay: because the churches are playing games.

Telling the truth

SOMEONE COMMENTED on the crusade at the Show Me Center and said there were too many big-name preachers who hurt the attendance because they were too controversial. It was because they were not afraid to tell the truth. They also hurt the feelings of many Christians who vote for politicians and political platforms that support abortion, homosexuality and other things denounced by the Bible. Many of the clergy will not tell it like it is. They are afraid they will hurt someone's feelings. If you sit in church, squirming every time a preacher's mentions a sin being perpetrated by you or your political party, you need to change or find a church that tries just to pamper the members instead of preaching the truth. These men did a great job. It's a shame more churches didn't give them more support.

Lack of coverage

I WAS very disappointed in the lack of coverage of Tim Lee, who did the speaking for the veterans at the Hope for America crusade last Friday. This man fought for our country and stepped on a land mind and lost both legs fighting for our freedom. His name was not even mentioned in the article. He did a dynamic job with his message. It was so outstanding. I just think it's terrible that our Southeast Missouri paper did not mention this man, the job that he did for our country and the talk that he gave. It's a shame that Cape Girardeau did not honor this man's name in our paper.

Center is big enough

I HAVE been in Florida and just returned home. Going through my papers, I saw where the Jackson Senior Center wants a new center for all those millions of dollars. I don't think they need one. They've got a nice place there, and it's plenty large for no bigger crowds than they have.

Help with flat tire

I WOULD like to thank Food Giant very much for helping me April 12. As I pulled in the parking lot, I had a flat tire. One of the gentlemen who works there came out and changed my tire. May God bless you.

Keep it simple

BASED ON personal experience, I strongly recommend that anyone calling Speak Out not use satire or historical allusions. Apparently most people will miss the satire and not make the historical connection. I'd advise anybody calling Speak Out to state what they have to say in a simple manner.

They're murderers

I AM so sick, sick to death of hearing about terror and terrorists. Why in the world doesn't the news media call a spade a spade? A murderer is a murderer. I'm sick of hearing them being called terrorists. It's ridiculous.

Change the world

I WAS at the Show Me Center and watched Pastor Hagee. I've listened to him for 20 some years or longer. He's sent from God. There are a lot of churches that need a man like that. It's a shame that more of our churches don't have people like that. It would change the world.

THE CATHOLIC who complained that the Catholic pedophile scandal is making the church the victim was unbelievable. The comment complained about one bad priest when the number of pedophile priests has grown to a very large number. It complained of one tiny bad seed, but the problem is widespread among the hierarchy of the church and seems to have been a church-sanctioned problem. Let's focus on the real victims here: the children who were abused.

Too much littering

I'M CALLING about the trash we see thrown out of cars and pickups in our city. Today I saw the driver of a pickup throw out an empty cigarette package. Recently I've picked up trash along my property. I picked up 10 to 12 garbage bags full of junk. Why can't people have a better attitude and a more environmentally friendly attitude in regard to our property? I especially noticed the huge number of empty cigarette packs that were thrown out. If smokers want to keep smoking, can't they have a little trash container in their vehicles? This is something to really think about for our community.

I'M GOING across the bridge to buy a Big Game ticket to win the lottery. If I win, these kids here in Cape Girardeau will have a skateboard park. They need something more than just to loaf at night and get in trouble. We complain about our children being in trouble all the time. Why don't we furnish them more to do so they can have something to look forward to?