Speak Out A 05/25/02

Vigilance still needed

ANYONE WHO thinks we were more safe and secure during the Cold War needs a reality check. I remember fallout shelters and atomic-bomb drills in school and bad dreams about nuclear holocaust. We were in danger then, and we're in danger now. The best we can do is to be vigilant.

Bunch of whiners

I AM just curious, O wise ones of Cape Girardeau. Whom do you think built your floodwall? I bet it was the Corps of Engineers or some other tax-dollar funnel. Quit criticizing. The people in Dutchtown and Commerce pay taxes too. You people are a bunch of whiners.

Patriotic inquiry

IF WE can't raise questions about the terrorist threats, then this is not America. We certainly have the right to know what happened, because it happened to us. And we need all the information we can get in order to reduce the chances that it will happen again. I resent the accusation of being unpatriotic just because I want an inquiry.

Follow the lead

NO POLICE car is going to pull you over for speeding if the officer is speeding to a non-emergency situation. I see it all the time, and I use the speeding patrol cars to my advantage. If a police officer is speeding and not going on an emergency, I get right behind. Who better to lead you than a officer of the law?

Possible reaction

IF THE Cape Girardeau City Council has the audacity to implement the TIF program for the rich, then the outraged general public will have no alternative but to instantaneously implement the process of circulating recall petitions.

Disaster irony

IT ONLY stands to reason that a revival of survival-of-the-fittest, social Darwinist thinking would manifest itself in the form of snide and smug Speak Out commentary directed at recent flood victims by telling them to move if they want to avoid danger. The irony is that those who make such anti-altruistic comments themselves likely live along the New Madrid fault zone and smack dab in the middle of tornado alley and would be, if a surviving victim of one of these natural disasters, the first to scream for state and federal assistance.

Paying for sewers

IF THERE are health concerns and the city is aware of this, they should be fixed. I lived in the country club district back in the 1970s and had a good septic system at that time, but I was ordered by the city to pay $12,000 because the city was attempting to do away with septic systems under federal guidelines due to ground runoff. This money was hard to raise for a 20-year-old just starting out with a family, but I still had to pay. Just think what I could have done with this money properly invested for 30 years. Anyway, these people deserve a sewer system in such a prime area as Perryville Road.

Synchronize the lights

WHEN ONE has to stop at every traffic light, it is no wonder there are traffic jams in Cape. Why can't the lights be synchronized as they are in other towns the size of Cape? Trying to get from the bridge to I-55 is an unbelievable experience.

Saving the memories

I'M REALLY disappointed with all the Southeast Missourians who are griping about people in Dutchtown and Commerce who asked for help with sandbagging. Yes, it's a floodplain, but consider this for one minute: If it was your family home and had been for years, would you want to give up all the memories of where you and your children grew up? I think not. If you don't want to help, don't help. But don't tear down other people who are giving or receiving help.

Teaching tools

NOW YOU'RE getting somewhere. Your endorsement of using Spiderman comics to teach physics parallels and validates the use of Speak Out to teach civics and current events.

Let government decide

I agree with the caller who complained about the wages paid to soldiers and teachers compared to others in our society. I cannot imagine why we pay someone who can hit 500 home runs thousands of times more money than someone who can help 500 kids get a high school diploma. I say let the government decide the relative worth of each occupation and then set the salary, irrespective of gender, race or creed of the employee. That way, the government could say the teacher and soldier are worth $100,000 or more a year, but the athlete is only worth $15,000 or so. Picture a world where young minorities would clamor to get a job in the teaching field instead of the NBA.

Legislative review

It was humorous to read the op-ed pieces by the speaker of the Missouri House, Jim Kreider, and the Senate president pro tem, Peter Kinder. Each set forth their partisan agenda and congratulated themselves and their respective partisan chums. One even mentioned property-tax relief as an accomplishment. What a laugh. They now prohibit drive-by tax assessments. This is not true tax relief, merely common sense. To my knowledge not one true tax-relief bill was passed by either the House or the Senate. I think Kreider gets a higher grade this session, however. Not for what he got passed, but for what he stopped: the stadiums bill.

Most safety for all

IN RESPONSE to Joe Bob Baker's column concerning the Highway 34-72 ordeal in Jackson, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved what was presented to them for the safety of all, not for a select group of people. They're looking for safety for everyone for the future. If Baker doesn't like this plan, would a bypass around Jackson suit his business interests better? The petitions being circulated have many duplicate names, and many of the names are invalid. Let's look at this thing in a neutral perspective, not just in a personal perspective.

Stifle yourself

THE BUSH administration is on record as saying the war on terrorism will be never-ending. Vice President Cheney implied and a Republican congressman said that to criticize the president concerning the war effort is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. So if you have the urge to criticize the president on any aspect of the war on international terrorism, I strongly suggest you stifle yourself.

Won't do the time

I LOVE it. The judge gets a DWI, and he still sits on the bench. What a great example for the community. You kids pay attention. Do the crime, but if you have friends in high places, let someone else do the time.

Plutocratic tool

Using TIF to build what you termed "a posh subdivision of homes" is so appalling I'll conclude that the Cape Girardeau City Council is a tool of the plutocracy if it even considers it.

Ultra-nationalism

Putting a state-mandated Pledge of Allegiance back in the public schools is in ways an ultra-nationalistic sign of the times. Still, it's not all that extreme. During the Crimean War, a Russian soldier was a little slow to stand up and sing the Russian national anthem. He was summarily shot on the spot.

Fainting spells

My spouse revived me after I conked out for 60 seconds. She was on the verge of calling 911. After I came to she asked what I thought had caused it. Still unable to speak, I pointed to a comment in the Southeast Missourian made by state Sen. Peter Kinder. It said in part, "True political leadership is about reaching across party lines." She's OK, but after reading it my wife also fainted.

A lot of interest

ARREST PEOPLE for looking at the Diversion Channel? Never. Flooding doesn't happen all that often, and people should be allowed to look at what interests them.

I HAVE children who go to Scott City Elementary School. I think banning parents and preschoolers from play day this year was ridiculous, and I think charging what they did for a bracelet so kids could play one time is ridiculous. The people who are unhappy with the way it was handled should be allowed to have their money back. You can go to the fair and pay less than that and have more fun.

Build another bridge

WHY DID MoDOT tear out a good bridge over the Diversion Channel? They should have built a new bridge where the old U.S. 61 bridge was. Then we would have another way to get from Scott City to Cape. They know they will eventually have to do this to handle all the traffic. I don't understand why they tore out a good bridge.

Raise the highway

CONCERNING THE Dutchtown temporary levee, I think it's a great waste of money if you're going to be flooded every 10 years. As for the Corps of Engineers continuing to do this, they should have just built the highway another three feet higher to begin with. Why not just blade the gravel out and put blacktop on top of it? Then they've got their levee rather than doing this every few years.