SPEAKOUT

The tear-jerker argument

CLINTON ALWAYS throws in his tear-jerking favorite line about children to gain his war-making way, saying our children need a stable Europe. Well, our children need their fathers, and they won't have them if Clinton has his way. America does not want war. We are a peace-loving nation.

None of our business

HAVE YOU ever looked for Kosovo on a map? You're not going to find it, because it's part of Yugoslavia. It's not a separate country. Our country and the NATO forces are saying that Yugoslavia has to let this region secede from the union of Yugoslavia. Does that make any sense? And we're going to bomb over this. Does that make any sense? That's sort of like if the South wanted to secede from the United States again and the United Nations said you had to let them go and if you don't let them go, we're going to come in and bomb you. We'd be just as mad as can be, and we wouldn't want the South to secede. It's the same deal. We should get out of this thing about Kosovo and leave it alone. It's not our business.

Where are war protesters?

WHERE WERE all the war protesters which Mr. Clinton was one of now? What's the difference between the massacres in Kosovo than the North Vietnamese massacres in South Vietnam which I saw. What a bunch of hypocrites led by this two-faced scum president.

Taxi service was outstanding

I WOULD like to offer a public compliment to the taxi service of Cape Girardeau. For three months, my daughter and I were without a vehicle and totally dependent on cabs. We spoke with someone named Jeff who arranged to pick us up on a daily basis and get me to my to work and my daughter to school, and the cab drivers were generally very courteous. Jeff would tell me if cabs were running behind when we had a doctor's appointment or something urgent, being very flexible and upfront with me, and I appreciate that. Furthermore, I would like to indicate that there was a cab driver by the name of Pete whom my daughter called her "own" because he really went out of his way to make sure that my daughter got into the sitter's house properly before driving away and that she felt very safe with him even though she's a young child. I know that the public transportation system gets a lot of criticism. I want to say I am very thrilled with the response I got for three months on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day.

Support your local bands

I WOULD like to respond to a comment about local bands and not deserving to get to play during the Riverfest. I believe local bands need more local support from the community so maybe they would have a chance to go on tour and have a chance of succeeding in music.

Bands needs to start somewhere

TO THE person who called Speak Out about bringing a big touring band for Riverfest: I take issue with your attitude about the local bands. You say they don't get out or do tours. How do you think the larger bands you advocate got started? They did not spring forth fully formed with a record contract. They had years of playing in their hometown, years to gather local support before continuing on to the next step. Playing in a band is a time-consuming, poor-paying and expensive second job to most of our local musicians simply because of attitudes like yours. Support local musicians.

Prop B signs explained

A SPEAK Out caller recently noted that pro-Proposition B signs say in part "don't give up your right." The caller seemed puzzled as to what that meant. It is a little complex, but in very simple language the words mean that you should not be in favor of giving up a right you don't have.

Bridge limit is a joke

ON THE Mississippi River bridge, the 25-mph speed limit is a big joke. If you try to do 25 mph, you're going to get run over. The big 18-wheelers on the Missouri side get a big run on the bridge because they're going uphill. From the Illinois side, it's the same way. Whenever they hit that bridge, they're going 50 to 60 mph. And they don't slow up. They just keep on a moving unless there's a group of cars in front of them.

Which morals, exactly?

I WANT to talk about something I heard Bill Clinton say. He said that if we hadn't bombed Yugoslavia, it would have been a moral outrage, that his morals told him to do it. What morals would Bill Clinton be talking about?

Redistricting research

I'M CALLING in regards to David Goncher's comments in the paper this morning regarding the Cape Girardeau Schools redistricting efforts. I would like to tell Mr. Goncher that if you want to know where the research is, I suggest you read Dr. Robert Barr's book "Hope at Last for At-Risk Youth." This book is a compilation of many pieces of educational research which says we can predict with frightening accuracy a child's chance of success in school based on only four variables: 1. A child is poor. 2. A child attends classes with other poor children. 3. A child is retained in the first three grades. 4. A child can't read by the end of third grade. If these four variables occur, we can predict with 90 percent accuracy that that child will drop out of school.

Trucks deliver the goods

TO THE person who wants the big trucks kept off the Mississippi River bridge: Are you willing to pay more for everything you buy to cover the extra cost of longer trips? I'll bet you have no idea how much the cost per mile is to run one of those big trucks. Also think about this: If you bought it, a truck brought it.

Reasons for outrage

THE PRESIDENT and his estranged wife want us to be morally outraged at what is going on Serbia. I have been morally outraged for the last six years. I'm morally outraged against partial-birth abortion. I'm morally outraged at his conduct in office. He has proven himself to be a reckless individual, and he has no right to swag his finger at me and tell me that I should be morally outraged at a country trying to put down a civil war.

Fee increase makes it harder

I'M A student at Southeast Missouri State University. With a tuition raise, it's going to make it a lot harder for me to take 15 hours and also work full-time jobs to pay the SEMO bills and to pay the other bills that they have. I have hard enough time paying my rent and my bills and my tuition to SEMO let alone to increase another fee. I'd like to tell the regents they need to reconsider this and think about the people who don't get scholarships and grants and who have to work their way through college.