SPEAKOUT

Bigger classes

JACKSON NEEDS to figure out another solution for crowded hallways. Maybe a little more planning instead of asking for money. I don't see how the kids will be missing out because of increased class size. Teachers used to be able to handle more kids. They send more homework home now than they did then. Teachers used to have to work harder then, and they were appreciated more too. Teachers need to work a few night shifts or out in the heat or cold. Then they might appreciate their job enough to not complain about having a few too many kids in their room. They chose this profession. Was it because it was supposed to be easy, or because that's what they're devoted to? I'm ready for the growth to stop, or we'll be in as crowded living conditions as the large cities with all the problems they have. We have a nice town. Now let it be a nice town for a while.

Remove the beam

DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, liberals, conservatives, blacks, whites, Latinos, Orientals, Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals, pet owners, Jim Drury, River Campus, yadda yadda yadda. Don't you folks have anything new to call in about? Doesn't the Southeast Missourian have anything new to print? Every one of you should get a life and remove first the beam from your own eye so you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Who's a servant?

LAST WEEK a well-known Jewish leader and rabbi said that Hitler was acting as a servant of God. In today's paper, the Jewish senator and candidate for vice president, Joseph Lieberman, declared Democrat Al Gore to be a faithful servant of God. Huh?

On the button

PAUL J. Allee's column regarding conservatives is right on the button. He expressed my opinion completely. Let's hear more from him.

Form of government

PAUL J. Allee is articulate and writes beautifully. I very much enjoyed reading his column. The thing I find disturbing about what he says is that after thousands and thousands in our country have given their lives and been maimed for life fighting for the principles of democracy, and I use the term advisedly, the general population has decided that it would rather live with the comfort and security offered by a socialistic United States of America, or a quasi-communist form of government. I have no problem with people having the form of government they desire, but it is sad to sacrifice men and women for one form of government, and then decide that it's another form of government that is desired.

Elderly benefits

I'VE READ and heard a great deal lately from candidates on the conservative and on the liberal side about the need for a prescription drug bill and lower prescription drug prices for the elderly. And occasionally I've even heard that prescription drug companies as a whole need to lower their charges for everyone. I was wondering if anybody out there in Speak Out land could take the time to tell me why it is that the elderly are more entitled to lower prescription costs than drug companies are entitled to the profits that they make for the work that they do? What is it about the elderly that makes them entitled to free or low-cost drugs more so than young people? Why aren't drug companies entitled to the profits they make as a result of their research? Please don't throw at me this business about old people giving up the best years of their lives for this country, because while the older generation has certainly done a great many things for this country, the idea that their actions were entirely selfless is ludicrous. The betterment of this country comes as a peripheral result of their work to raise families and make life better for themselves.

Voting in Jackson

I GUESS we finally have enough Cape people living in Jackson now that we can't even pass the school bond issue over here.

Who cares?

TO WHOEVER called about the Iowa Speak Out couple, calling them the Children of the Corn, congrats, you got me to respond. The kids from Iowa don't have power over us. They just know how to get a reaction in a big way. Trust me, no one notices my comments either, though I call in frequently about animals and their safety. I wish someone cared.

Need P&Z facts

WHEN IS the county planning and zoning commission going to hold the public hearings they promised to let us know what we're supposed to be voting for this fall, whether to implement planning and zoning? I don't think they need to hide any more. We need to know the facts.