Speak Out 4/4/04

Theater experience

"SOUTH PACIFIC" was sensational. All the things we go to the theater for were there: the enthusiasm, the ability to take you away and a wonderful job with the music and the orchestra. It was a true theater experience.Can't take the heat

WHEN GASOLINE prices were high during the 2000 presidential election, candidate George Bush advised President Clinton that his job was to tell the oil cartel to "turn on the spigots." Now gasoline prices are high, and White House spokesmen for President Bush tell us that the issue is more complicated than that. This issue exemplifies the overriding problem with this administration. They love to give heat, but they have no ability to take it in return.Drives business away

I LIVE and work in Jackson. I cannot believe that the police department marks tires and writes parking tickets for the folks who have business in the courthouse. Why aren't they writing tickets while there is no court in session? This is a bad way to make money for the city. What if everyone quits doing business in Jackson?Gambling money

THERE WAS a comment about bringing riverboat gambling to Cape Girardeau. Not only does Metropolis, Ill., have money, it has a beautiful town with beautiful schools. But gambling is bad, so we shouldn't bring it to our town. Instead we will just send our citizens to other towns to spend money that could have been spent in Cape.No early birds

THANK YOU, Southeast Missourian, for making my garage sale a success. I advertised my sale and had a great turnout. But to the rude woman who showed up at my door an hour and a half before my sale was scheduled to start: Shame on you. You rang my doorbell three times, waking my entire family. When the sale starts at 8, come at 8. If you are having a sale, state "No early birds."Hearing loss

I FIND it amazing that those who were so eager to believe everything negative about President Clinton are now angered and cannot believe what they are hearing about President Bush.Pack those lunches

TO THE person who thinks Jackson has skimpy lunches: I work at a Jackson elementary school. The kids don't touch more than half their lunches. It all gets thrown away. So pack their lunches. It's cheaper anyway.Suing for wealth

MEDICAL TORT reform will not prevent redress of grievances in our courts. What it might do is reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, a problem all across our nation and not just in the medical field. Americans see it as a God-given right to use the courts to make themselves wealthy by taking away from others. I know a physician in private practice who begins his day at 5:30 a.m. visiting his patients in the hospital. He usually gets called away a couple of times during the day on emergencies. He generally sees his last scheduled patient around 5:30 p.m., then it's back to the hospital for evening rounds. Of course, he is on call around the clock. He has been in practice for 15 years and has never been sued. His malpractice insurance premium is over $8,000 a month. Why? Because of the possibility of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. I'm surprised anyone wants to be a doctor. It's worse than being in retail.But it won't work

I AGREE with the reader who thinks we should try to get to the root of the terrorism problem and try to appease them. Yes, we should let those bloodthirsty murderers have whatever they want. That should make them happy. Then we'll deal with the next group that thinks it needs its noses wiped and spoon feed them so they don't become terrorists.Starvation diet

HOW CAN chicken, fries, veggies, fruit and milk served at school for lunch possibly satisfy growing children? Tell that to the millions of kids in Mozambique and Somalia.Low-cost permit

IT MAKES me glad I live in Scott County, which is charging $38 for concealed-weapon permits. The legislature allowed $100, and Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties are charging additional processing fees. At least Scott County isn't money hungry.Problem with welfare

I THINK Jason Crowell's guest column on Medicaid should enlighten lots of people. Our welfare system is much too liberal. I don't think we should bail out people making $60,000 a year. I never made that much when I was raising a family, and we got along quite well. If they can't manage on less than that, something's wrong with their abilities.Better for business

THERE WAS a comment in Speak Out saying it was a waste of time to maintain the two-hour parking limit in Jackson. As a business owner in uptown Jackson, I would like to say parking is a big concern. The fact that the police enforce the two-hour parking limit is appreciated. Important situation

I WOULD like to thank Jason Crowell for his excellent guest column on the Medicaid situation. I wish the article could be printed in many statewide newspapers to inform the rest of our population of that important situation.They've got money

AMEN TO the article about senior citizens and their so-called plight. Many of them have money for bingo, the casino, trips and eating out more than at home. You're right on target when you say the young families with children are the ones that need the break, not the seasoned senior citizens.Safety at home

I JUST heard on Fox News that immigration and customs offices have a hiring freeze. I read in the Missourian that the Missouri State Highway Patrol is shorthanded. It would seem to me that our country is very at risk for terrorism. We have 100,000 soldiers in Iraq. I think we need to get our guys home. We need them here. Let Iraq work on its own problems.Don't forget Stalin

WHY IS it that the world is not reminded of the millions of the Russians who were murdered under Stalin? We hear that Hitler murdered millions of Jews, which we should never forget. But we should also never forget the millions Stalin murdered.Part of the family

IF YOU don't like dogs, you don't need to gripe about us who do. That's our choice as Americans. We can have dogs or cats or whatever we please. I have a dog that is part of my family. He goes with us everywhere. He's sociable and friendly, and I take a plastic bag to pick up his mess.Older students too

I HOPE that if Keith Brion ever comes this way again to portray John Philip Sousa that they'll have a showing for the Jackson Junior High School students. So often it seems the grade school students get to do these things, but the older kids are left out.Knees together, please

I CANNOT believe Michelle Malkin, a syndicated columnist, can't find something better to write about than Courtney Love. It doesn't bother me that Courtney flashed her breasts to David Letterman. The only thing that bothers me is that Courtney was never taught to shut her legs even though she was wearing green tights. That was a little bit more than I could handle on Letterman. At least she was turning towards Letterman when she was flashing the breasts.Don't blame carbs

CARBS DON'T kill people. People kill people. The choice is yours. Eat less, get out of the house and take a walk. You'll live longer. It's pretty easy.Yummy starch

I CAN tell you why people get fat. It's because starchy food is the cheapest to buy and the most pleasant to eat.Time to move on

I DON'T know if anyone else is tired of hearing about the 9-11 victims. Yes, our hearts poured out at the beginning. Yes, justice was sought. But there becomes a point where you move on. Now it seems we're bogged down in hearings. We were so close to catching the No. 2 guy in al-Qaida, and I don't want anything to take us from that mission of getting Osama bin Laden or cleaning out the top-ranking al-Qaida members. There comes a point to move ahead and not bog down our nation.Better spending

I WISH the U.S. government would give up this deal about going to Mars. There's too much going on down here in this world without spending billions of dollars trying to get to Mars. Take that money and find an alternative fuel. Put it on research for diseases and new medicines.Getting to work, school

I DON'T think ticketing speeders on Lexington Avenue, as suggested by a caller, is a good way to raise revenue. People are trying to get to work. People would rather pay a little higher taxes and be left alone by the policemen so they can get their kids to school and get to work. It would be nice if senior citizens, if they are in no hurry, would get in the slow lane. If they can tell there's a kid in the car and a parent needs to get them to school, they should move out of the way.