Speak Out 6/25/08

Honoring the sacrifice

I FAIL to understand those who suggest we not name the Jackson National Guard Armory after a fallen hero. I feel all fallen soldiers deserve to be recognized for their sacrifices. To criticize individuals who are trying to do an honorable thing for a fallen comrade is selfish and shallow. Instead of complaining, take steps to lift up those fallen heroes. A building with no name is just a building, but a building dedicated to a fallen soldier inspires future generations. When we fail to honor our fallen soldiers, a little piece of America dies. Two defining forces have laid down their lives for you, Jesus Christ and the American GI. One died for your soul and the other for your freedom.

Flood Help

DUTCHTOWN HAS taken the brunt of the cost for the supplies for the temporary levee. A buyout does not even come close for the people to pay what is owed on property, and businesses are not included for the buyout. We are all taxpayers. We paid for our own sand and rolls of plastic for our levee as well as the gas for the tractors. We have done fundraisers. The levee does not just benefit the town. It will also benefit anyone who drives Highway 25 and Highway 74, including emergency vehicles.

Reagan's negotiations

IF TODAY'S conservatives had been running the show when President Reagan sat down with the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev in a series of meetings that led to the end of the Cold War, they would have been calling Reagan an appeaser (as did the Conservative Caucus at the time) and likely pressured Congress to impeach and remove him from office.

More drilling

I SEE where President Bush is being castigated for talking about more oil drilling and more energy production for the United States. And also I see that China is drilling for oil right up to our continental shelf. If the Chinese can come that close to us, why can't we go out there and drill?

Road work

I WAS wondering if somebody could tell me when County Road 383 is going to be chip-and-sealed. I heard it was supposed to be done, and here we are getting into summer. If it isn't done, it won't be done for another year.

Restaurants too cold

HEY, MANAGERS and restaurant owners, you can cut down on your expenses if you stop trying to freeze your customers. Even with a sweater on, it is still too cold in your establishments. Are you trying to please your workers or your customers? Speak Out readers, are you tired of your food getting cold before you can eat it? If you agree with me, every time you go in a restaurant that's too cold, let's tell someone in charge how you feel.

Offshore oil

ONE OF the most sensible things to do to reduce the price of oil is to do what President Bush has asked Congress to do: permit offshore drilling for oil wells. It's senseless for us not to do it. China and Cuba are drilling right off our shores. We've got to do something. We should have been doing this 25 years ago.

Good road work

I WANT to thank the Missouri Department of Transportation on behalf of the citizens of Chaffee or anybody who uses Highway 77 through Chaffee toward Blomeyer and Dutchtown. Your job on the asphalt is tremendous. It looks great. It rides great. It's safer. You need to put a little bit more asphalt on the shoulders, especially on the east side of the road because there's a drop-off there, which you're probably going to do. Thank you. We appreciate the work that you did on the road.

Watch that capitalism

ECONOMIC NATIONALISTS, unite. We must pressure the government to stop commodities speculation and short selling or we will go under. Unbridled capitalism is un-American.

Van for firefighters

I HAVE the greatest respect for firefighters. I feel so safe with them here. I have one suggestion, which would be to buy them a smaller vehicle like a van or a station wagon that they could use to run small errands. I just saw them check the hydrant outside my apartment building, and it only took a minute, but they were in the big fire truck which must use a great deal of gas.

No gambling here

I THINK Cape Girardeau is a better city for not having gambling. If a person wants to gamble, go to Caruthersville and waste money on gas and see all their friends. Keep it down there. I think it makes our town a better place for not having riverboat gambling or casinos. There are plenty of places for gamblers to go. We don't need that here in Cape Girardeau.

Homeless here

HOMELESS IN Cape Girardeau? Open your eyes. We already have them. They are human too. Bad choices? No one is promised tomorrow, and who can choose not to have disasters in their life, illness, family crisis, floods, accidents? Cape Girardeau needs a place for these people to go, Sadly, a lot of them are Vietnam veterans. A little caring goes a long way.

Dutchtown information

THIS IS for the people who keep calling Speak Out about Dutchtown not taking the buyout from FEMA. I hope they read all those articles that were in the paper. I live in Dutchtown, but I'm on a hill. I don't flood. But I went to some of the meetings, and the people in Dutchtown were told by the Corps of Engineers that if it were not for the importance of keeping those highways open through here, they would not even consider a levee. But still the people in Dutchtown are expected to pay the matching funds instead of the highway department. I don't know where these people live who think they should have sold out, but they don't know all of it, because FEMA does not buy out any of the businesses and only pays 75 percent of what the property is worth. I feel for the people who get flooded, and I'll do all I can to help them. But people who don't know what's going on don't need to be complaining about it.

Control the kids

PARENTS, IT'S after midnight. Do you know where your kids are? They very well may be the ones breaking into our vehicles and stealing our money. It's not going to be a pretty picture when the law gets them. So you'd better do your job. Crack down on them, give them a curfew and make them behave themselves. If you don't do your job, the justice system will.