SPEAKOUT

Let the majority decide

HISTORY IS history. The Civil War is past history. A lot of men died and suffered for their beliefs on both sides. But it is history. If they want to fly the Confederate flag in South Carolina, that is their business. If they want a plaque on the courthouse in Texas, that is their business. This is a democracy. A democracy is supposed to be ruled by the majority of the people. Why are we allowing 15 percent of the population of the United States to dictate what most of the people do?

No moral conscience

CAN YOU believe these Clinton worshippers talking of the good job he has done and about the negative people who criticize him? To have no moral conscience because he's in your party is being without character, as he is.

Don't tell OPEC what to do

I'M CALLING in regard to this gasoline price and the price of oil. To me it's utterly ridiculous to expect other countries to increase their production and reduce their price. That's like telling the people here in Cape to start working 12 hours a day and take a $2-per-hour cut in pay. They'd think you were crazy, and yet that's what we're telling the OPEC nations to do. I don't like paying high prices for gas any more than you do, but it's ridiculous to think that they ought to increase production and charge less per barrel. I can't imagine a sane person thinking this is something OPEC would want to do.

No pay for stupid actions

PEOPLE ARE being paraded on TV who have been smokers and have lung cancer or lung problems and think the tobacco companies should pay for this damage they've done to themselves. Tobacco won't hurt you if you leave it alone. Anybody who has smoked in the last 20 years had done so knowing the potential for health problems. Yet they continued to smoke. They don't have any right for anyone to pay for their disregard for their own health, be it the tobacco companies or the taxpayers. No one owes them anything for their stupid actions.

Bring the troops home

THE UNITED States should pull our troops out of those Arab countries and develop our own oil resources. Bring all our United States servicemen home from Bosnia and Kosovo. We are not baby sitters. We need our men home to protect us.

Just the rural folks should vote

I JUST read in the paper that Cape Girardeau and Jackson are for county planning and zoning. I don't feel you should be able to vote on it unless you live on or own property in an unincorporated area of the county.

Let them pay their share

I AM livid. I just read in the paper about the visit of Gerald Jones and other county officials to Germany to try to entice a business to locate here. Again, tax breaks for a corporate entity, yet Jackson homeowners are told their taxes have to go up to support the schools. They have got to quit giving these tax waivers to these companies. Let them bear their fair share of the schools too.

Pastors should smile more

THIS IS to the pastors in Cape Girardeau who need to realize that sometimes the only Jesus people are going to see is the Jesus they see in the pastors. When pastors are out and about in town, they should at least try to carry a smile. I know they have troubles just like everybody else, but pastors need to acknowledge and be friendly when people speak or smile, not just ignore people.

Show me the money

RECENTLY YOUR newspaper reported that former university president Nitzschke is receiving a good salary plus expenses to raise funds for the university. How much funds have been raised?

We don't need county P&Z

AS A county resident, I'm against the county planning and zoning without knowing exactly what they're going to do. They just want us to vote it in and let the bureaucrats decide what's good for us. We have enough of that coming out of Washington. We don't need county planning and zoning. Let that stay in the cities.

Conservatives don't conserve

YOU'D THINK these conservatives would be for conserving land. You'd think they'd want to conserve farmland and beautiful forests. But conservatives seem to be on the side of developers who want to destroy nature and build subdivisions and parking lots and ruin hunting grounds and wildlife habitats. Conservatives seem to hate the environmentalists.

Tornadoes need higher priority

AS THE editorial of March 28 points out, tornado season is indeed upon us. The city fathers are not prepared. As the editorial states, we will not be given any advance warning of severe weather due to the shortsightedness of the city in pursuing an effective warning system. The editorial also suggests investing in a NOAA weather radio warning system that will activate automatically if the National Weather Service of Paducah issues a warning. The transmitter for the Southeast Missouri region is located near Sikeston. Due to the geography between Cape and Sikeston and the inherent capabilities of radio waves, Cape Girardeau cannot receive this life-saving signal. The National Weather Service in Paducah knows Cape cannot receive the warning signal. As Jim Drury's full page ad a few days ago addressed, the city should put its money into worthwhile projects that benefit the city as a whole. The city planners need to get their priorities straight.

Fix the stop sign

I WISH MoDOT would do something with the stop sign with Scott City before somebody gets killed.

Drivers have responsibilities

THE NEWS about the train hitting the school bus down in Georgia is terrible, but why don't buses stop and look both ways before they cross the tracks? I thought that was a law in almost every state. Trains don't run that often, so people get complacent and don't look. They just drive on across and get hit. Then they want to blame the train or the crossing warnings. Aren't people responsible for any of their own actions?

No penalty for mistakes

I'M WATCHING the news about the NASA program to Mars. Someone is bragging that no heads will roll because they've been embarrassed. We didn't have any heads roll because government employees screwed up. They probably were promoted and sent to another position. They're definitely not dismissed or barred forever from government employment, as they should be. They just go ahead and spend our tax money. Who cares?