Speak Out 5/13/07

Jumping on board

MY PREDICTION is that all the Republicans up for re-election will start to join the Democrats in calling for troop withdrawal. This either is in their hearts or they are trying to get re-elected. If it is their heart, they failed us. If it is to get re-elected, they failed us. To cover a president when he is wrong is against the reason they were elected. Let's see when the crawfishing starts to happen.

Run by the government

IF YOU like what you hear about our VA health-care system, you are probably going to vote for Hillary Clinton. She wants a national health-care system. We can all see the VA system's failure. It is run by our government. Does our government run anything right? Let our government officials run your health care and you will be begging for good care for the rest of your life.

Pothole alert

THERE ARE more potholes on Perryville Road going south. One is directly in front of the church before you get to the Cape Rock Drive four-way stop. Another is at the top of the hill before Cape Rock Drive.

Firefighters' good deal

REGARDING THE disgruntled firefighters: They make good money in the Cape Girardeau area doing a job that does not require a college degree. They work 10 days a month and are upset that they get only 32 hours of vacation time in that period. They get 21 days off every a month. They have a job that allows them to work an additional job to make more money. And they still complain. I have a hard time feeling sorry for them.

Military ripoff

A SERVICEMAN is sent overseas to an area where his family cannot accompany him, although not a conflict area. The military pays the family left behind a hefty allowance for housing. The wife and children move in with the man's parents so she can save that housing money, but then the military agrees to also pay several hundred dollars a month storage fees for their furniture. A small thing? Perhaps. But multiply that by all those who might be doing the same. Shame on the family for ripping off the taxpayers, and shame on the military for allowing it.

Fire-free smoking

MISSOURI IS in the minority when it comes to passing or introducing legislation requiring cigarettes to be fire free. Since we continue to smoke like collective smokestacks, this is shameful. In this instance, the Show Me State has been shown evidence from other states that demonstrates fire-free cigarettes save lives. And, what do we do? Nothing. Why not? The tobacco lobby.

Technology in schools

BEFORE TECHNOLOGY is blamed for the lack of learning in schools, a separation needs to be made. The laptop concept is failing because the Internet is assumed to be technology. It is not. Computers in schools still remains a terrific option for learning, but the Internet simply isn't necessary. Technology allows students to learn in ways we cannot even fathom and, with the proper controls, can engage creative, safe, non-hostile, dignified learning environments, something traditional methods cannot provide.

Out of control

WHEN THE government tells parents how to parent their children and outlaws spanking and brainwashes children to believe a spanking is child abuse, you get out-of-control children who grow up to be out-of-control adults. We were spanked. We deserved it. We are model citizens. The government seeks to make children equal to their parents, which is absurd.

Eroding pavement

DOES IT bother anybody else that the newly renovated William Street near Interstate 55 is already starting to wear down. Can't have a new road without having holes in it only months later?

Altering animals

THE HUMANE society does not go to someone's home and force owners to have their pets spayed and neutered. An unaltered animal from Cape Girardeau must be a repeat offender for that situation to come up. The owner is responsible for an animal's containment and safety. There are laws made by your elected city leaders that ban animals from running at large. That means an owner has to be caught breaking the law twice before an animal must be altered. Someone has to be responsible for these animals. If your objective of owning a pet is to profit from their over-breeding, either protect your investment better or live where there are no laws.

Job exports

MANY ECONOMISTS do not consider the trade deficit to be a problem for our nation. I will continue to agree with these distinguished economists until my job is exported.

Impact on students

TEACHERS NEED to remember they can make a great impact on kids' lives. They can either raise their self-esteem or keep lowering it to do some terrible damage. Please take time to think before you speak to the kids. You are their authority figure from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each school day.

Wrong precedent

THE BOLLINGER County prosecuting attorney recently agreed to lower a third DWI charge to a misdemeanor. This was the first time this prosecutor had allowed such a reduction. Why this case? This is a slap in the face to the highway patrolmen who are doing their job. The people of Bollinger County need to let the prosecutor know this is not the precedent this county wants.

Give me a break

I FIND it fascinating that Cape Girardeau firefighters are unhappy because newly hired employees won't receive the 300 percent more sick time and vacation given to firefighter hired before 2007. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, firefighting does not make the list of top 15 most dangerous jobs. Firemen work in a relatively safe environment, work out at the gym on duty, cook out and eat on duty, wash their cars on duty, watch TV on duty, sleep on duty and have their family visit while on duty. As John Stossel of ABC News says, "Give me a break."

Don't blame Hillary

IT STRETCHES credibility beyond the cosmos for columnist David Limbaugh to try convincing us that Hillary Clinton should be blamed for the Bush administration's misrepresentations, faulty intelligence and downright lies that led us into the Iraq war. She put her trust in the intelligence and, like the rest of us, didn't realize that the White House had politicized it to reach a predetermined to invade Iraq.