SPEAKOUT

Please return my son's bike

LAST YEAR my son saved birthday money and did numerous odd jobs to earn almost $300 for a bike he always wanted. He worked hard and gave up many other things to buy this bike last fall. Last week on his 13th birthday, he woke up to find his bike was stolen out of our back yard. He can't understand why anyone would do this. He is hurt and disappointed. There are two things I want to tell whoever stole my son's bike. First, return it and restore a young man's faith in others. No. 2, if you don't return it and this bike shows up, we will press charges. We have the receipt and model number and we are prepared to prosecute you to the fullest. Please do the right thing and return this bike.

There are plenty of takers

THESE CALLERS who keep demanding free health care from the government either don't understand that it would be the taxpayers, not the government, who would be paying for their health care, or they're among the 40 percent of households who don't pay income taxes anyway. There are givers and takers in this world, and these people are takers. They don't realize that every dollar they receive in benefits is a dollar that's been taken from someone else. Last year my wife and I paid over $12,000 in federal taxes. Some of that money went for roads and bridges, some went to national defense, but the bulk of it went to the takers. I'm sick and tired of working my tail off only to have the government confiscate a big chunk of my earnings so they can give it to a bunch of ambitionless parasites.

Support small-town businesses

IT IS hard to believe how many people live in small towns and never go in the hometown shops and businesses. If one person on each block would patronize one local business each week, it would be surprising how much it would help the town to grow. Money spent in your town helps to pay for operating expenses by generating tax revenue that otherwise goes to the larger cities. Next you ask a small-town business to donate to your fund raiser, stop and ask yourself when was the last time you patronized these hometown shops and businesses.

Dragging Waco through the papers

MY OPINION on Waco is, to quote the Bible, those who live by the sword die by the sword. They had no business stockpiling those weapons inside their compound. I don't want people to lose sight that David Koresh was grooming young girls to have sex with. I think we have to keep in mind that in no way should this man be made a hero or a martyr. I think it's a shame to have to see it dragged through the papers again.

Remember: Buyer beware

I JUST saw an ad on television for a car company, and it reminded me that I had a friend who, through e-mail, had established the cost of different vehicles and learned about their rebates and such. She went to a dealer and found, by comparing factory and e-mail prices, that the company was giving her a thousand dollar rebate, but the dealer had added that thousand dollars to the cost of the vehicle. So when they gave the thousand dollar rebate, they really had not given the customer anything. The dealer made an extra thousand dollars. I think people should be aware of this. Check things out and see if you're being tricked.

PTO money spent on school needs

THE SCOTT City PTO just approved paying $4,400 for the teachers to buy math educational materials because the school would not buy this for the students. I want to know why this money, which has been raised by hardworking parents and students, has to be used on educational materials. Why do we pay taxes? Why do the schools get federal and state money? How is this money being spent? And where is the accountability of the administration of Scott City schools and the school board to the students of Scott City?

Do conservatives reject science?

GIVEN THE track record of the Southeast Missourian, it comes as little surprise that the editors side with those who hold ideas equivalent to thinking the earth is flat. It is nonetheless disappointing that the editors should think it appropriate to castigate as liberals experts who conclude from the scientific evidence regarding the origin and diversity of life, that the process of evolution is the most reasonable explanation. The desire to identify as liberals those who understand science and the scientific evidence seems politically self-defeating. Are we to conclude, as it appears, that conservatives reject science, scientific evidence and reasoned analysis and embrace uninformed ignorance, such as the editors of the Southeast Missourian?

Truth must be told about Waco

WELL, NOW it comes out in your newspaper that the FBI has been lying to us for six years since they killed those Christians in Waco. Does this ring a bell? How long have the president and Janet Reno been lying to us? Well, the truth is finally coming out, and more truth will be revealed in the near future. In the next couple of years we'll find out lots of things that we really didn't want to know, but the truth must be told.

School work didn't get done

YOUR FRONT-page article Aug. 27 paper was about the schools opening without a hitch. And board president Ferrell Ervin bragged about the fact that everyone said it could be done and it got done. No, it didn't get done. We were told air conditioning would be added at some schools this year. We were told these things would be finished. But they're not finished. The job did not get done. When we passed this bond issue over two years ago, we were told these things would be in place by a certain date. That's not the case. I can't tell you how many days this summer I've driven to Alma Schrader School and there were maybe two pickup trucks sitting out there in the middle of the day. Meaning only maybe or four or five people at the most were inside working. This is ridiculous. They should have had crews there around the clock and the construction companies should have had to pay them overtime. When we got talked into passing this bond issue, they went on and on and on about how this was for the kids. That should have made it top priority to get that air-conditioning work done. Granted, the first day of school was not a very hot day, but no one could have predicted that. I resent the fact that the tax issue was passed two years ago, my taxes have been higher, and my child is now going into a school every day that is being worked on. The noise is terrible, the dust is terrible, she has allergies, and no one cares about this. I guarantee you, if she gets sent home with an allergic reaction, they'll count it against her attendance. No, Mr. Ervin, the job didn't get done. You all failed to do what you told us you would do. Remember that when you ask us to vote for another bond issue. As long as you're on the board, I won't be voting for it. All of you need to be kicked off, and we need a new board.

Clinton years have been good

I'M IN my early 40s, married for 20 years and would like to state that in my adult life, these years Clinton has been in office have been the best in terms of low interest rates, low gas prices and better employment opportunities. While I know he isn't fully responsible, I also know that if these things were reversed and in worse shape, he would be getting the blame. I know the farmers are having hard times, but I was raised on a farm, and I know that the farmers are always struggling. I'd just like to state that, in my opinion, these Clinton years have been some of the better years in our economy.

History may repeat itself

LIKE ALL Republicans, Charles Evans Hughes, former Supreme Court justice and candidate for the presidency in 1916, believed that in serving the rich, he served God. He never drank and did not use drugs. He needed no refuge. His theory was God bestowed upon good men the wealth of the nation, by this condemning bad men to poverty. He was a good talker about citizenship and money, but he never took into consideration that the poor voting man had brains and used them. That is why Woodrow Wilson was re-elected. Think about it. Is George W. Bush a Charles Evans Hughes? History has a habit of repeating itself.

Abortion, birth control are related

I KNOW there will be a rally in Jefferson City for the partial-birth abortion veto override. I think abortion is wrong, but I keep thinking of the hypocrisy of most who oppose abortion. Most practice birth control, have small families, have tubal ligations and think a large family is too expensive for them personally. They shake their heads if a family has more than three children. Why do they want someone else's child born, but limit their own? The priests and ministers are too scared to talk about birth control, but I see that and abortion as closely related. Any other comments?

If things are so good, why ... ?

CLINTON'S NOT the cause of the success in this country. Alan Greenspan controls this country's economy. Why do we have so many places that have food banks and used clothing? Why is there such an increase in the need for more money for the United Way to help these organizations help other people? If Clinton is so great, why do we have all these things?

Check your own closet first

GOOD MORNING, Speak Out. In your Aug. 27 paper, there was an item in Speak Out that says ask Hillary Clinton the same questions that they're asking Gov. George W. Bush about drug use. This person states reporters need to ask her about her college hippy days and her extramarital affairs and her drug use. But the caller said "it's certainly immaterial to me." In my opinion, that caller lied. If it was immaterial, he would not have even put the piece in Speak Out. But I do have some advice for the caller. Before you go around saying the press should ask about other people's lives, check yours. Somebody may open your closet door and find a skeleton in there. God bless you.

Homosexuality and evolution

I DO not believe in the theory of evolution. Most evangelical Christians do not. I think it is safe to say that most non-evangelical Christians, however, do. Since it is the case that most people who are sympathetic to homosexuals are non-evangelical Christians, then it follows that most people who are sympathetic to the gay agenda believe in the theory of evolution. Ultimately, there are only two options concerning the origin of the world as we know it: creation and evolution. Evolutionists maintain that genes mutate over eons, and those mutations that enable a species to better survive are preserved and passed on to successive generations. This notion of reproductive success is the whole basis of the theory of evolution. But surely, homosexuality by definition cannot promote reproductive success. By its very design, homosexuality, if it were genetic, would be eliminated from the gene pool.