Speak Out 4/22/11

Program idea

WE'VE got 54 million people in this country drawing Social Security checks. If they're on Social Security, they're not living on much money at all. So why can't we get them some money to start a business and let them work? They could make crafts or all kinds of things to earn income.

University planning

Why didn't Southeast think about the hotel idea for the arts center a long time ago and do some planning? Then there are the capital improvement projects on the main campus. They should have spread those out a little before hand and not done it all at one whack and relocate everybody.

People need sleep

THERE are stories of truck drivers, bus drivers and doctors working long hours in their internships and getting very little sleep and messing up. Now there are stories of airline pilots, people in the control towers, federal government and businesses working so many hours that they can't get enough sleep. What is it going to take for business, government and everybody else to realize people need to sleep?

Tea partiers

I believe these tea partiers are nothing but troublemakers with too much time on their hands.

Civil War

I keep reading in the paper about the Civil War, but the war between 1861 and 1865 was not a civil war. A civil war is where both sides want to take over the same government. This was a white war for southern independence. The North wanted to put a morale tariff on the South and the South did not want it. As a result, you wind up with a war that the politically correct people call a civil war. But it was not civil and it was not a war where both sides wanted to take over the same government. One side wanted to get away from the other one.

Liberals' view

I'D like to make this comment regarding the Glenn Beck situation. Hasn't anybody ever noticed over the years that when liberals always say they stand for free speech, it's only for their freedom of speech, no one else's?

Paying attention

I have been listening to the Republicans wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare. We senior citizens had better start paying attention to how the elected officials are going to treat us when we go to vote or we may be hunting for a poorhouse soon.

Going to sleep

I guess Congress will have to pass a law that if any of the airline traffic controllers are caught sleeping on the job, they can never again work for the government. They'd be fired immediately and lose all benefits. That would stop most of the sleeping.

Bike paths

I personally think homeownership should give you the luxury of a parking spot in front of your house. There are certain privileges that homeowners have. The typical house doesn't have a way to park two or three cars in the driveway and the street would be a necessity. I also thought it was going to be very foolish to put in all those bike paths, so I'm glad to see the city of Cape Girardeau come to its senses.

Dandelions

ONE of my neighbors has a yard full of dandelions. It's driving my wife crazy. If you want to get rid of dandelions, mowing them with the lawn mower will not kill them, they'll just come right back. What you've got to do is spray them with some type of chemical that kills dandelions.

Bicycle tax

I think the people riding bicycles on our roads and highways who hold up traffic should be licensed and taxed as they are in many states. They may be saving gas if they are used for transportation, but it costs all the rest of us who have paid for these roads through gas taxes.

Amen

AMEN to the person who said pray for your enemies.

Help seniors

THERE are many jobs out there but none paying as good as unemployment. We need to stop unemployment. Seniors can't work, and we need to help them instead of ignoring them.