SPEAKOUT

Some idiots on the road

I WOULD just like to say that anybody who drives 40 mph in the fast lane is an idiot and anybody who doesn't use turn signals is also an idiot.

Look what they're handing out

I WOULD like to make a comment on how the liberals are getting on TV saying the Christian conservatives want to push the agenda. Let's look at the schools. I don't see the schools handing out Bibles. I don't see the teachers saying Bible messages. But I tell what I do see them handing out and making accessible to kids: "Heather Has Two Mommies," condoms and, maybe in the near future, hypodermic needles because they're claiming now this will prevent AIDS from being spread if they get needles.

Liberals will take your freedom

I WANT to comment on what liberal government can do for people. I would like to talk about England. They've got Tony Blair now as the prime minister, and they've banned all gun ownership. I saw on TV that they've got a new deal to help people. They've got TV cameras on, over 100,000 of them, and they're keeping tabs on private citizens. This is right out of Orwell's "1984." I'll you what, if the liberals aren't stopped, they're going to have us all in some kind of a police state, because you cannot have liberalism and communism and socialism without having a strong terrorist organization such as KGB or some group keeping tabs on the people. We're headed that way. They may take their guns now. They'll be after your freedom next.

No help for parent in need

JO ANN EMERSON will help someone get a purple heart. Let's see how much you get if you're a single parent in need of help for huge medical bills and a deadbeat ex-husband. The answer is none. Who figures?

Highway 25 sale a big success

I WANT to thank everyone who helped us have a good yard sale on Highway 25. We had a great yard sale and met a lot of out-of-state people. I'm looking forward to next year.

More problems in Chaffee

I HAVE been a resident of Chaffee for 11 years. I'm a senior citizen and mind my own business. I keep a very nice lawn with flowers. Last June, a young couple moved in the house right on the left of me. They have a big female dog that had six puppies that grew up and tore up my flowers and lawn. They wouldn't do anything, so I went to the Chaffee police. All they said was I'd have to sign a property-damage form. I don't want any trouble with anyone. This year the female dog has seven puppies. Where are the ordinances in Chaffee about dogs being behind a fence? I went to the Humane Society about the dogs being abused, no food nor water, left for a week on while the couple was on vacation with no one to take care of them. My daughters, when they came by to see me, would bring food and give the dogs water. The Chaffee police, instead of talking to me, went to a neighbor on the other side of the young couple. The dogs are on my side, so nothing's being done. If the puppies tear my flowers again, which I'm sure that they will. I'll go and sign a property damage form. What are the police doing around here? Why are we paying taxes around this town? Seems like they're not doing anything at all.

Well, you've gone to the dogs

PUBLISHING SPEAK Out poetry about the new SEMO president Dr. Ken Dobbins' cat confirms my belief. The Southeast Missourian has gone to the dogs. I love it.

He was self-taught but educated

AS A longtime educator, I was really bothered by seeing Dr. Chapman's father being referred in the Missourian as uneducated. Years spent in the classroom and degrees do not necessarily mean that a person is educated, and the lack of years in the classroom and degrees does not mean that an individual is uneducated. There are those who have spent years in the classroom and have many degrees and remain uneducated in true sense of the word. There are also truly educated individuals who spend few years in the classroom and lack formal degrees. I did not know Mr. Chapman, but what little was said about him in the article suggests to me that he was in fact an educated man, although he was self-taught and learned through living and from his life experiences.

Ready to pull the plug

I READ in Cal Thomas' column where CBS is going to be canceling "Promised Land." Now, why on Earth would they cancel one of the best programs on TV? What are they going to do? Replace it with another excessively violent program like "Walker, Texas Ranger?" As far as I'm concerned, they're only half a dozen good shows on CBS, including "Early Edition" and "Touched by an Angel." What's going to be next? Are they going to take all of them off too? I am about ready to pull the plug on the TV altogether.

Road repair needed on Big Bend

I WOULD like to know who's responsibility it is to maintain Big Bend Road to the city limits. There is a culvert on Big Bend Road just a little north of Sylvan Lane. If this is not repaired, it's going to cause a bad wreck. Pavement keeps breaking away, and they just put blacktop in it. It isn't but a day or so until that's down again. If this is the state's responsibility, it needs to be looked into. And if it's the city's responsibility, then the city needs to take care of this. This is a very busy thoroughfare, and people are dodging this cave-in to try to keep their cars in alignment. It is time that the city or the state does something about this problem.

Too many police in Cape

I'M WONDERING what's going on in Cape Girardeau. There's enough police force out on the street to make a Blues Brothers movie. They're going to have to build bigger courtrooms just to accommodate all the speeding tickets they're writing. It's unbelievable how many speeding tickets they're writing in this town. People get tired of getting caught in all of the speed traps. Everybody ought to drive 15 mph and choke it up for a little while and see what they think about that. Let a teen-ager get out there and they're all over them too. Unbelievable. I cannot believe it's coming from this fine city.