Speak Out 4/13/05

Don't spoil the soup

IT WOULD be nice if a few of these complaining parents would go to college and get their own teaching credentials and find out what it's like instead of giving the teachers so much advice. Parents think it all revolves around their kids. Teachers are trying to do the best with what they've got. If there are too many chefs, it will spoil the soup.

Yard-sale locator

YARD-SALE advertisers: Do yourself and your customers a favor by listening what major street your house is near, such as "off Mount Auburn Road." This will enable us to find you. I have lived in Cape Girardeau all my life, and some streets are not familiar, especially new ones.

Not appropriate

JUST FOR future reference, everyone should know that proper flag etiquette says it is inappropriate to lower the U.S. flag at the death of any foreign religious leader, be it ayatollah, pope or dali lama.

Statewide school tax

I VOTED against the Jackson School District bond issue. I feel I am paying too much in taxes already. I can't afford to pay another $200 stuck on to my real estate tax. We're being overtaxed, and we need to look at a different way to fund school needs. Maybe we can go to a statewide tax for schools. That would be better. Everybody would pay their fair share instead of the property owners being penalized for owning property and carrying the load.

Biased poll questions

HAVE YOU ever received poll letters? If so, you may have noticed that pretty much all the questions are biased. Have you ever taken college classes in statistics? If so, you know how easily statistics are manipulated and how easily the American public is swayed by questions that are intended to do your thinking for you.

Medicaid fallout

VOTERS HAVE short memories. If I am still alive when the next elections roll around, I will be reminding everyone not to vote for those who took away the health care Medicaid provided for so many unfortunate Americans. If I die before then, my relatives, friends and neighbors all have copies of my files filled with reasons why the Medicaid bill was unreasonable and with suggestions how Medicaid could have been made more efficient and less costly. House speaker pro tem Carl Bearden said, "State government does not have a moral obligation to provide these services." I believe taxpayers should have no obligation to support our employees such as Bearden in the grand style to which they have become accustomed.

Selfish, irrational

THOSE WHO voted against the Jackson School District bond issue were selfish and irrational. How can you deny an entire school district the facilities it needs because you're upset over a firing? If you have a problem with board members, vote against them. Better yet, run for office yourself. Another person voted against the issue because the schools were overcrowded "several years ago." This only proves that this problem has been with us for years and will not go away.

Pitiful plea for pills

I long took Vioxx, then switched to Bextra.

Now, both drugs have been banned.

Will a caring soul in this great land

Step forth and give me some extra?

Thanks for the help

THANK YOU to a very sweet lady from Malden, Mo. She was at Saint Francis Medical Center April 4 and assisted my grandparents in getting into the hospital. She saw that my grandpa was having trouble transporting my grandma by himself and happily volunteered to assist him. I hope we can return the favor some day. It's good to know there are still good people out there.

Smell test

THE CAPE Girardeau City Council wants to change the way council members are chosen. Council members want to raise fees without limits or voter approval. They want to get rid of the ethics commission. This is like having a loaded gun pointed at your head and you vote by pulling the trigger. This reeks just like Worldcom, Enron, Tyco and AIG.

Thanks for cleanup

THANK YOU, Boy Scout Troop 11 and Jackson Rotary Club for cleaning up U.S. 61 north of Jackson. It was a job well-done.

School voting

I VOTED in the Delta School Board election. The turnout might have been a low percentage, but those of us who voted got the results we wanted and made a change. I hope we make another change next year. The school board we have now has an agenda for all the kids.

The cost of obesity

YOU KNOW what is a bigger problem than litter, overcrowded schools and potholes? Grossly overweight Americans. I am disgusted by all the fat people. They cost taxpayers and insurance companies millions of dollars each year in medical bills. I have never been overweight and never will, because I care too much about my health to ever let that happen. I wish everyone would care a little bit more about their own health.

Fuel wake-up call

WITH SO many smart people in this world, why hasn't anyone come up with a car that doesn't run on gas and is affordable for everyone? Will it take $10-a-gallon gas before we wake up? I love my bike.

Part of history

JACKSON NEEDS a bigger and better high school, but the school district is asking for more than it needs. I also think the district should leave the old buildings alone just fix them up. They are a part of history.

Investing to retire

EVER SEE what happens when a spouse on Social Security dies? Payment for the remaining one is reduced. From your own retirement account, it won't happen. Do you want your spouse to live on half of what you live on now, or would you rather there was more so they could be comfortable? My family deserves the balance of what I invest to retire.

Sad about Rockview

I USED to live in Rockview. It used to be a cute little town. It is horrible now. There are buildings falling down, more old cars than trees and litter in almost every yard. It is really sad to see this. There are still a few nice homes there. I feel sorry for them. They are the ones who have to see what has happened to their town every day. It's just sad.