SPEAKOUT

Some seniors have no pride

WE ARE between 75 and 85. We have done without luxuries which we don't need. We have paid for our insurance all our lives. I see people all dressed up with jewelry on every finger, fancy hairdos, nice clothes, taking trips all the time. Griping for help from the government for their medicines so they can keep spending their money for pleasure. Some seniors have no pride. They can still buy their insurance and spend their money otherwise.

Other things more dangerous

NOW THAT Clinton has said he wants to impose penalties on teen-agers smoking, when will we do the same for teen-age drinking, sexual promiscuity and, most of all, drug use? Drugging, drinking and driving are much more dangerous.

Beats driving to St. Louis

ROCK ON, Cape. I'd like to thank whoever is responsible for bringing Def Leppard and Joan Jett to the Show Me Center. I attended this show and was very impressed with the high-quality production and the huge crowd loved it. Please bring more rock shows to Cape. It sure beats driving to St. Louis.

Did they just sell out?

I COMPLETELY agree with the Missourian editorial in regard to the Show Me Center. If you're going to prostitute yourself, go for the big time. Whatever happened to freedom of choice ? Did you guys just sell out? Sure, they donated an old building. But the giver has apparently decided he wants something in return. He wasn't giving from the heart.

Six months and no arrest

THIS IS in regard to "It takes too long." There was a warrant out for my ex-husband's arrest. It was issued on Aug. 24, 1999, for criminal non-support. His second offense. The prosecuting attorney is the one who filed the charges against him. It is now Feb. 5, and he has never been picked up on these charges. He lives approximately five miles from the sheriff's department's office in Scott County. On three occasions I have called and told them that he was at home. Yes, it does take too long, and I feel sorry for this caller, because it's the people like us who are suffering.

Suggestion for unbiased news

I JUST wanted to say to the person who wants an unbiased news media, order The Washington Times. You will be amazed at what you'll find out in that paper.

Equal penalty, unequal offense

I FIND it very disturbing that our county commissioners and prosecuting attorney think the punishment for abusing and killing a child should carry the same weight as leaving some tires stacked up by my neighbor's fence.

Go after cigarette trashers too

I HAVE a question for Morley Swingle regarding the recent article on the anti-trash ordinance. If you're so concerned about public health and trash, start prosecuting people who smoke cigarettes and empty their ashtrays in the streets or throw out their hot cigarette butts on the grass and possibly cause a fire. There is something else that's bothering me. You get the same jail time if you break this anti-trash law or if you're involved in killing a baby. Sounds fair, doesn't it? What a country.

Tips for good driving

WHY DON'T you have one of your reporters do a piece on how to drive an automobile. He or she could start out by explaining that the lever on the left of the steering wheel is to let people know that you intend to turn right or left. If you pull it down, you are telling others that you are going to turn left. Push it up, you are turning right. If you come to a turn zone, you put your car between the lines and don't leave the end of the car in moving traffic. If you come up to a corner, you stay to the right if you're going to turn right, or in the middle to turn left. If you stop at a red light, if everyone would watch the light, everyone could start up at the same time, letting 15 or more cars through instead of only 10. If you come to a red light and you want to turn right, if no cars are coming, you are supposed to stop first. When you come to a yield sign, it means that you are supposed to yield, not the other person. In winter, around 5 p.m., you should turn on your lights so others can see you coming. You should check to make sure that both lights are working.

Giving the U.S. to foreigners

MY WIFE returned from a shopping trip this afternoon in our fair city of Cape Girardeau. She was going through our purchases and noticed that everything had a tag on it saying made in China, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Russia. This gives us a good idea where our country is headed, and it doesn't seem like a very good future to me. Perhaps one day we will have a president from one of these countries. After all, our American factories are closing down because the greedy owners want to go to lands where labor is dirt cheap. Well, someday they're going to run out of customers. Then what's going to happen?

Don't call Nazis right-wing

WE HEAR reports that the Nazis have taken over in Austria. They have been elected to the new government, and they're called right wing. Well, I object to them being called right-wing. Conservatives in this country are called right-wing, and conservatives are for smaller government and more freedom for the people. The Nazis, on the other hand, are for less freedom of the people and more government. They're the exact opposite of conservatives here. In fact, they often call themselves socialists. They're much more like the liberals over here. They should be called left-wing government and not right-wing government, because they are against freedom and for big government. Think about it.

When views, actions collide

SOME OF my friends tell me that they're going to take their guns away. They say the morals of the country are terrible. They think gay rights in the military is absurd. And can't understand why anyone would have an abortion and pray for these innocent children. Yet would you believe they all vote for the Democratic Party every election? Then say, "It's the economy, stupid." I say, "It's hypocrisy, stupid."

Wrong to go after lottery winnings

I THINK Attorney General Jay Nixon is wrong in trying to make Borman pay for the cost of his 20 years in prison just because he won the lottery. He has been out for eight years working. Why didn't they garnish his wages if Nixon wanted him to reimburse the state? What he did was wrong, but he has paid with 20 years of his freedom. That looks like he will be paying twice with this lawsuit. I don't know him, but I still think Nixon is wrong.

Your time may come

I'D LIKE to address the person who wants to bring Hoover back. I'm for the Republican Party, but I disagree with your thinking. I'm a senior citizen, and I've worked all my life. Even though I'm retired, I still work. I couldn't save money because I was a single mother -- and yes, I was married. But due to unforeseen circumstances, I raised three children on my on, working 40 and 50 hours a week in a factory and doing ironing all weekend. No, we're not your problem, but you are self-centered and probably a lonely person because of your ideas. I never had TV, let alone cable, and I rode buses to and from work. We always ate what little we had at home, not in a pizza parlor. Let it go on record: I paid my own way and have since I was young. But God has taken care of me and my children, and we all do well because we try to help those in need, and God has blessed us for it. Don't be too high and mighty, because someday your time might come.

Not everyone has silver spoon

A SPEAK Out item, "Bring back Hoover," said they should abolish Social Security. I'm a 49-year-old who is a hair stylist. I've got a degenerative spine condition and I'm losing my seventh vertebra. I've worked so hard all of my life, and you have the gall to say take Social Security away and bring back the Hoover days. The wealthy can squander their money. The people who are down on their luck are on their own. I think you should search your heart and look to God, because anybody with a sane mind would have some compassion for their fellow Americans. Not everybody was born with a silver spoon in their mouths. God forgive you.

Work for your health care

TO THE people who call Speak out and think the government owes them health care: Who is government? It is you, me, your neighbor, your relatives and your friends through the taxes taken from them. Why do you think all these people owe you health care? Get it like I do. Go out and work for it.

If you're wrong, I'll help out

HERE'S A handy hint: When you're calling and you get an answering machine, say the full and complete name of the person that you're calling first, such as "I'm calling So-and-so." That way, when you get my answering machine by mistake, I'll be more than happy to call up your friends and tell them that you're trying to get a hold of them. Otherwise, you never know, and they never know you got the message. Think about it. Shakespeare could have written a tragedy over that. So when you're calling, say who you're calling. I'll pass the word on when you get me by mistake.