Speak Out 5/12/07

Money for police

PRAISE THE Cape Girardeau City Council for standing its ground on firefighters' benefits. The council needs to redirect some of the money the fire department receives to the police department. For years the police department has been forced to use outdated and unsafe equipment while the fire department gets new equipment.

Adjusting to increases

IT'S THE shock of going from about $1.43 to almost $3 a gallon of gasoline in a period of three or so years that has us angry and trying to adjust our budgets accordingly. If the gas prices had kept up with inflation over the past couple of decades, we would be paying at least that much for our fuel now, the difference being that we would have adjusted to the price over the years.

Abusing the system

HOW STUPID is it to say that this latest batch of alleged terrorists "entered the nation legally"? If they intended terrorism instead of vacation or schooling, they gained entry through fraud. That means they did not enter legally. They abused a slack legal system.

Do as they please

NOT AGAIN. Do Cape Girardeau officials think they can do what they please? First they think they don't have to pay their employees minimum wage. Now they think they can cut the firefighters benefits after the people of Cape Girardeau voted for a fire tax for better pay and benefits. I wonder what the city has up its sleeve next?

Turning in circles

PRESIDENT BUSH says this surge will allow us to turn the corner in Iraq. We have turned the corner so many times in Iraq we are one of two things: Going around the same block, or so lost we will never get where we are going.

Protecting sewers?

IS ANYTHING being done to try to protect the sewer system during the flooding period?

Too many gadgets

AS A retired teacher, I campaigned against calculators in the classroom except for higher math and science classes. But it was easier to teach how to add, subtract, multiply and divide with a calculator than by learning tables. I campaigned against computers in classrooms but was told I was old-fashioned. Now we are at a point that most people under 30 can't make change without the cash register telling them what to give back. Administrators, school boards and parents: Please take us back to learning multiplication tables, how to divide by longhand and how to add columns. We are in dire straits.

Double parking

IT'S IRRITATING to go to the Jackson post office when people cannot park in one parking spot. Not only did one person do this, but two. There are limited parking spots to begin with, and traffic is a bottleneck through there. The least everyone can do is be courteous to others and learn to park in one spot, not two.

Living on credit

PLEASE. WE all live like our government -- on credit. If we're running low, we borrow more. That's what keeps our system going. That we are in effect taxing future generations is of little or no concern to us. Pass the pork tenderloin, please.

Appreciating teachers

KUDOS TO the administration at the Oran School District. The administration provided substitutes and a nice lunch for every teacher in the district for teacher appreciation. What a thoughtful act. Teachers hold our future and should be shown appreciation. I hope other schools follow the leader.

Ready, Set ...

Congratulations to the grads.

You've faced both stress and strife.

Now, all that's left to do

Is deal with real life.

A stacked deck

THIS IS to the gentleman in Scott City who doesn't want his air polluted by the proposed ethanol plant. If you think you can buck your city, county and state officials on this issues, you'd better think again. Most of these people are in bed with the ethanol plants. There's a lot of them invested heavily in the plants. These people don't care about you or your neighbors as long as they can line their own pockets. The environmental problems of this planet is scary, but you're bucking a stacked deck.

Dogs with bad reps

I AM so tired of hearing how certain breeds of dogs are dangerous, such as pit bulls and Rottweilers. I have owned many breeds of dogs, and they have been the best dogs I've ever owned. If you train a dog to be mean, it will be. It doesn't matter what breed it is. If a dog feels threatened, it will defend itself.

Not my fault

I HOPE I never have to appear before a judge for any reason, but if I do my defense will be the same as all the Republicans: Mistakes were made, but it wasn't my fault.

Go to jail

I JUST finished skimming George Tenet's book. If it is true, he and a lot of others should go to jail. I would suggest everyone should read this book. I don't want to sell books for him, but you will be sick to your stomach at the revelations about what they knew, what they said, what they didn't tell us, who was lying, who was running the show and who didn't speak up for the American public. Now close to 3,400 of our young are dead, and they still are not in jail.

Blocking the view

WHEN PEOPLE plant trees and bushes close to the streets where they block view of drivers entering from driveways, they should be responsible for the cost of an accident. There should be a minimum distance trees and bushes have to be from the street.

Gene is there

THERE WAS an article about women having both breasts removed because of a family history of breast cancer and having their ovaries removed. I'm 83 and from a family of breast-cancer survivors. What will guarantee that the gene won't occur in the liver, colon, lung or somewhere else? They just can't keep removing parts of the body. The gene is there, and there's no mistaking it.