Speak Out A 11/20/04

No net gain

THANKS TO the mayor and a couple of the city council members, the Cape Girardeau police and fire departments got a pretty good raise. Too bad they took money that was supposed to go to the public works employees to do it. Now public works employees are no better off than if they had kept the current pay plan and moved everyone up to where they would have been before the pay freeze a couple of years ago. Of course, the employee insurance will go up a lot more than any raise they may receive at the first of the year, so they will be right back where they started from: underpaid, under-appreciated, and overworked.

Money well spent

EVERYONE SHOULD stop complaining about the university sending computer technicians to Hawaii. The university spent millions of dollars on the new computer system, and it's worthless if the technicians don't know how to manage it.

Tougher law isn't needed

THE PROPOSED tougher laws on underage drinking are unnecessary. Minors who drink on private property aren't hurting anyone. I can't believe we expect 18-to-20-year-old men to go to Iraq and fight, but when they come home they can't even have a beer at the VFW. Leave the kids alone, and leave the laws how they are.

Party safety

JACKSON HIGH School is having its Silver Arrow Dance this weekend. All I've heard about is the after-parties. Our children will be drinking at these parties. Some will be driving. To the parents who will be providing the alcohol for these parties, you better think twice about providing them with the tool that could kill someone. We tell our children not to drink or get in the car with someone who has been drinking. Not all of them will listen. But some might. I hope mine listens and decides to call me for the ride home.

Still going strong

AFTER 200,000 miles, my Japanese car is still going strong, never had a repair and still runs as quietly as a mouse. I never owned an American car that could begin to equal it. Guess what? The next car I own will be another Japanese car.

Being led to slaughter

AS WE sit in our easy chairs in our comfortable living rooms watching our Marines fight valiantly in the sheer hell of Iraq, we see that charges are being brought against a soldier for shooting an insurgent. What's going on here? We're either fighting to win, or we're pussyfooting around with these ruthless killers. I feel that our commander-in-chief is not leading us effectively. Those of us who have sons in the military worry that they're being led to slaughter in an unfair fight. I wish the veterans would speak up.

Not always lazy

JUST BECAUSE a person is on welfare or Medicaid does not mean he is too lazy to get a job. In most cases the person cannot afford to pay for insurance or the person has been injured and can't work. You wouldn't like people saying you were lazy if you had to be on welfare or Medicaid.