Speak Out 8/27/06

Annexation's cost

LET'S HAVE Cape Girardeau annex more land for the city so the population can grow, so that our schools will have more students, so our city utilities can be expanded, so there are more streets to maintain, so that our trash, fire and police departments can be stretched, so that Mayor Jay Knudtson and company can eventually moan and groan about a lack of money for city services, so that unthinking city voters can be persuaded to approve more tax increases. Isn't annexation a wonderful idea?

Bring back coupons

THIS NEW taxi system is too expensive for most people, and the bus stops are too far for most people to walk to. Why can't we bring back the coupon system to be fair to everyone? This is a hardship for people who are not able to drive.

Life goes on

CALLIE AND Bob: I will really miss your columns, your witticisms and your all-around good writing. But life goes on, and people have to move on also. So good luck in your new venture, and I hope to hear from you in the future.

Tired of strays

FROM NOW on when strays get dropped off around my house, instead of feeding them I will bring them to the Cape Girardeau city limits and drop them off on your front doorstep. Last week we bought four 20-pound bags of dog food. We only have two dogs ourselves. Get ready for a lot more animals.

No accountability

IT IS interesting that your reporting does not include some questions to those who live off of the donations of others. What happened to objective journalism? All we ever see anymore is biased journalism that is too afraid to rock the boat and hold our so-called community leaders accountable for their poor choices.

The impact of waste

THE UNITED States is going backward. When did it become cool to waste the earth's natural resources? Sport utility vehicles suck down gasoline, and bigger houses waste energy. What about the environment? And what about the poor guy just getting by who can't afford paying higher prices that are driven up by the huge demand for energy? In the name of environment, we downsized our cars and built modest homes. We insulated and shopped for Energy Star appliances. And we were proud of our 30-mpg cars. We saved money and conserved resources so we wouldn't become more dependent on foreign oil. We were cool. What happened? Waste hurts everyone.

Billboard suggestion

I SEE where the federal court struck down Missouri's ban on sexually suggestive billboards. That's something to applaud. Speech control along those lines was clearly unconstitutional. That said, the overturned law targeted billboards that were tacky. Purveyors of porn should do better than the trash they used to put up. Give us elegant and suggestive images, not garish yellow XXX stuff, and we can all gain from the ads.

Wouldn't be missed

PUSH DRUG dealers and users into the river? Amen to that. They are a menace to society and wouldn't be missed. A dopehead will steal from and lie to his own family and anyone else around him. Very few will get the help they need and stay clean after treatment. Put them all in one place and let them steal from, lie to and destroy each other and leave the rest of society alone.

It's an objective

DURING A recent news conference, President Bush said our strategy was to bring democracy to Iraq. Bringing democracy to Iraq may be a worthy objective, but it is not a strategy. If we have a commander in chief who doesn't know the difference between an objective and a strategy, we are in big trouble.

Can't hide subsidies

CROP SUBSIDIES may be a complicated form of subsidies, but the complication no longer serves its purpose of masking the fact that it's welfare.

Things are looking up

I PAID $2.46 for a gallon of gasoline in Jackson. My friend in Iraq told me that the streets of Baghdad are the calmest he's seen them in months. And the president's approval ratings are up to 43 percent. Looks like things are OK to me.

Great cleanup effort

I LIVE in the area that got hit hard by the storm on Saturday. I must say that Cape Girardeau crews cleaning up the trees and aftermath did an excellent job. Thanks for your hard work.

Too casual for church?

KUDOS TO the judges for demanding proper attire in the courtroom. We need more of this in our society. We are becoming too lax in our respect for people and places. Take churches, for example. On almost any given Sunday you can see shorts on people of all ages. To me this shows disrespect for God. Granted there are some churches where a relaxed dress code is appropriate, such as the Cape County Cowboy Church. For the most part, though, shorts in church should be for young boys. It has not been that many years since suits and ties were the accepted dress in church. Have we become too casual?

Focus in the city

REGARDING annexation: Think about the people in the city and stop thinking of ways to annex land into the city. Fix the roads, parks and downtown areas. Clean up the trash. Put in lots of things for kids to do. Put your money back into Cape instead of land that is not in the city. Money was wasted outside the city for water and sewer. I would not like to live in a town that takes your tax money and uses it on land that is not in the city. Cape, go up instead of out.