SPEAKOUT

Depends on your definition

A SPEAK Out item claimed Mr. Gore was an upstanding man, whatever that means. If upstanding means supports abortion, gay marriages and adoptions, has been caught in almost as many lies as Clinton, admitted taking illegal Buddhist and Chinese campaign money, said he invented the Internet, the movie "Love Story" was written about him, and he constantly is praising an adulterer who had oral sex in the White House, he is upstanding.

From a repairman's wife

THIS IS in response to comparing prices regarding the TV repairman versus the doctor. My husband is a heating and air repairman, and yes, he did have to go to school and he is constantly reading material about changes in his job. He gets a whole $14 an hour and pays $70 a week for health insurance. He gets to stand in sewer water. He goes in the tightest and hottest places to repair air conditioners. People do not change their filters, and you can guess what happens, especially if they have animals. As far as the salary, the owner makes the big bucks, not the employee. The doctors do not go to school half their lives, and when I go to the doctor I usually have to tell them what to prescribe and what tests to run. And I'm a high school graduate. Figure it out.

Thanks for the flowers

THANK YOU, Melvin Gateley, for the beautiful jonquils that you planted for our city to enjoy. They are so pretty this year, and I've gone by several times just to see how nice they are. Thank you very much.

Does this make sense?

I'M A golfer who often plays at the city golf course. Part of the benefits package for city employees is free golf. I'm often on the course with off-duty police officers. Like a lot of golfers, these guys sometimes drink two or three beers during a four-hour round of golf, and maybe a beer or two at completion. If the legal blood alcohol level is lowered to 0.08, our police officers will be committing a crime when they drive home from the golf course, although any reasonable person can see that they're stone sober. Even our state lawmakers say that a person with a 0.08 BAC is not intoxicated but will be charged with being intoxicated if stopped for a moving violation. Does this make any sense?

Vote yes for schools

I LIVE in Jackson, and a Speak Out item the other day bothered me. We have an elementary school on the east, north and south sides. Why in the world would we want one on the west side? Because there are ritzy homes? Those people have jobs and mortgages just like we do. Go take a shower and wash Mr. Ugly away and vote yes for our schools. My kids are grown and gone, but I'm voting yes for the kids who are up and coming.

Wouldn't help the truckers

I SEE that our local politicians are starting to do the usual political posturing, hollering about a 4.3-cents-a-gallon fuel tax being repealed. If they think that amount of money is going to help a trucker, I think they're badly mistaken. It's not going to save money for anybody. It's not enough to make a difference. They need to do more about getting better mileage out of the vehicles and cut back on unnecessary horsepower in a lot of vehicles rather than repealing a little fuel tax that doesn't amount to anything.

Thinks about this scenario

THE TRIGGER lock argument is just as simple as the gun argument. If you had to get to your gun to prevent your wife or children from being raped or murdered, would you want a trigger lock on it?

Too much basketball

SO NOW I have it. I'm an Anglo-Saxon heterosexual male and, I might add, I'm going to include on my census form that I'm a native American after all, I was born and raised in this country just like the Indians, and they migrated here too. Anyway, as a white straight guy, I've finally achieved minority status. According to the radio and TV programming managers around here, I'm a minority because I hate pre-emptive programming for all this basketball and baseball crud. The station won't cite where they get their survey statistics from, but I personally have not talked to one person yet who will sit on his duff and watch or listen to all this basketball garbage being crammed down our throats. It's for betting purposes, folks. But, on the positive side, you sponsors out there, I don't see or hear your ads because I turn you off and catch up on reading and other more important things. Is there anyone else out there who wants to chime in with similar opinions?

There's plenty to do

THIS IS to the person who doesn't have anything to do but hopes the Show Me Center gets some cool bands. What is that, a couple of evenings out of a boring life? If you want something to do, I'll give you a list. Go to the library and read a book. Or better yet, help teach someone else to read. Do your homework. Volunteer at a nursing home or a hospital. This may make you realize how lucky you are to be healthy. Mow the yard. Help around the house. Cook a meal. Take your younger siblings for a walk or to the park. Visit the neighbor who may need some help. Wash your parents' car. Get a part-time job. If you're doing drugs or alcohol, please don't volunteer, because you're too lazy and stupid to care. Alcohol and drugs are only a temporary solution to long-term problems caused not by this "lame town," but by the foreign junk you put in your body.