Speak Out A 09/09/01

Modern language

A PERSON uses profanity and vulgarity to make up for lack of intelligence and lack of vocabulary. That seems to describe television and movie screenwriters.

Poor planning

IT'S REALLY interesting and enlightening to see Mayor Al Spradling's response to the community uproar about these torn-up streets. Obviously, he forgets that he serves us. We're unhappy with the situation. Instead of rectifying the situation, he fusses at us for being unhappy. We had one of the mildest springs we've ever had with the least amount of rain, yet they put off doing the street by Arena Park until the summer so that there was no way it can be completed in time for the fair. That's just poor planning, one of the many examples.

We don't want it

I'D LIKE to add another comment on the power plant they want to build out at Crump. I saw that Ameren withdrew its request for the permits for the plant in the Ozarks after our state officials complained they didn't want it there. As they put it, "We are opposed to blowing off the top of Church Mountain and replacing it with a limestone bathtub." Are Ameren and the rest of them trying to put it down here in the southern part of the state where they think we're too stupid to know any better? If they don't want it in the Ozarks, we shouldn't want it here either.

What's it for?

I WANT to remind the people of Jackson that a tax was voted in for trash collection. The more people move in, the more tax that's collected. What is it they have decided to use this tax money for instead of trash collection? We'd like to see it put in the paper and discussed. What are they going to use our tax money for? They say the revenue will be used for other projects. We'd like to know what these projects are.

Trash in Jackson

WE JACKSON residents need to take special notice of our electric bill this month. It includes a survey about the city wanting to charge for trash pickup and also start recycling. I'm totally against this. I already recycle in my own way. My whole neighborhood passes around their daily newspapers, and whoever ends up with them burns them in their incinerator. Time is money, and I refuse to wash out plastic bottles and jugs and foil pans. If Jackson goes through with this against our wishes, they'll have more trash on the ground than they already have. I'd like for City Hall to realize that most Jackson residents do have a brain and like to take care of our property and our trash. Please leave things as they are. Don't fix it unless it's really broken.

Teens: Don't smoke

I'D LIKE to make a few comments about this law in Missouri that just went into effect prohibiting teen-agers from smoking. I saw these children on TV the other day asking why they should quit smoking just because a law was passed against it. I can tell them firsthand why they should quit smoking. Your health. Right now I'm dying from cigarette smoking. I only wish these children would follow me one day and see the suffering that I go through. I wish they could also see the medicine that I have to take to try to stay alive and get my breath. Cigarettes did this to me. I'll be the fifth person in my immediate family to die from cigarette smoking. So children, if you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, quit. This is coming from a senior citizen who knows what he's talking about. Tobacco will kill you, and it's a slow, agonizing death. You're sick all the time, you can't do anything, you're just like a piece of wood. You're just waste. Please take my advice and throw those cigarettes away and don't ever light up another one. It would make me proud to know that one person quit smoking because of this phone call.

Perfect candidate

JANET RENO'S reward from the Democratic Party is she's going to be a candidate for governor of Florida. Her poor judgment is a joke. She is perfect for the Democratic Party's agenda.

Spending problem

THE BIG question in Washington was why the annual federal surplus is getting smaller. The big question ought to ask why the federal government keeps getting too big. It's doubtful that most Americans have a true sense of the massive annual increase in federal spending. From fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2001, federal spending increased $68.5 billion. That's more money than last year's annual revenue for 24 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. How much will the government increase next year? Maybe an Intel's worth, or an AT&T's worth. It is spending that is the problem. It is non-defense spending that is at the root of the problem. Since 1989, non-defense spending has soared, while defense spending has fallen precipitously. Defense spending is about $110 billion a year less than a decade ago, while non-defense discretionary spending is $60 billion higher.

Uncertain terms

THIS IS in response to "Shoot the messenger." Joe Sullivan states exactly what he thinks. He just couches it in the rhetoric and comedy that he is known for. He is putting Al Spradling in his place in no uncertain terms. If someone doesn't realize he's doing that, read between the lines.

Clinton's gap

I HAVE seen people calling in to say that George Bush was only for the rich. If that's the case, then why has the report come in that all through the 1990s the gap between the rich and the poor got bigger? And you thought Bill Clinton was for the poor man.

Caring for veterans

THE BUSH administration promised to fix health and insurance for the older people. Premiums have been raised $68 a month. I'm an 85-year-old veteran, and I'm ashamed about the way the politicians have taken care of us. You'd better hope there isn't another war.