SPEAKOUT

THIS CALL is in response to the person who wrote the letter regarding the hazing incident in Jackson. I think the letter writer is wrong in trying to defend the people who did the hazing. The reason people in Jackson are upset is because the hazers will not will not admit what they did was wrong and will not accept responsibility for their actions.

Guns are so easy to use

CAN WE please put an end to this ridiculous argument that guns don't kill people and that people kill people. This is wrong. Actually guns do kill people. The reason we read about drive-by shootings instead of drive-by knifings or drive-by bombings or drive-by anything else is because it's so easy to kill somebody with a gun. When you are using a gun, the difference is the ease in which you can take another human's life. Guns do kill people.

Most aren't sitting on sidelines

ABOUT THE pastors staying the course and giving the good fight, I find that rather different. You say to sit on the sidelines and not get involved. I think most of the time it's the people sitting in those pews who stand up for what they think is right and stick their neck out. They really give a good fight for such things as a national health care, something that's very much unpopular with the people, particularly the conservatives, who don't want to give the fight for Social Security and for unemployment insurance. As a matter of fact, I don't see the pastors standing up for that. I see the people who sit in the pews getting involved. So don't think most people sit on the sidelines.

Arguments about gun control

IT IS a facetious argument to claim that if we lower the number of guns in society that we will have no effect on the amount of gun-related violence. That's like saying that if we had fewer lawn mowers, it would have no impact on the way that we mow our lawns. Sure, you could go ahead and cut your lawn with a pair of scissors or cut your lawn with a knife, but you would notice the difference in efficiency. The second argument is nobody has ever or ever will talked about eliminating guns. This is another false argument. All the left wants to do is eliminate the weapons of mass destruction such as machine guns. Nobody ever talked about interfering with the right to own hunting rifles or any other commonsense type of weapon.

Republican hypocrisy on spending

HERE WE go again with the Republican hypocrisy, folks. George Will on the Sunday morning news shows, a conservative and a Republican, admitted that the Republican Congress has boxed itself into a corner and has overspent its own self-imposed 1997 spending caps. Congress now is looking at the Social Security trust fund as a way to bail out the Republican spending.

Need a big investigation

AS A resident of Alexander County I have been closely following the statements in Speak Out regarding the corruption and cover-ups in our county. I agree 100 percent that something needs to be done. I wonder why there is never a federal or state investigation. It would be a great story if "60 Minutes," "20-20" or "Dateline" would do an investigative report on the corruption in this county. They would definitely find the good ol' boy network alive and well. The citizens of Alexander County should stand up and take their county back. It is often been said the only difference between the corruption in Chicago and Cook County and Cairo and Alexander County is the number of people involved. Wake up, people of Alexander County, and speak out.

New TV shows give false hope

REGARDING TV shows like the new ones coming out about judges and attorneys and stuff: I really wish they wouldn't put those on. Gives people false hope that there are attorneys out there who care.

What's wrong with this picture?

WHAT'S GOING on? My life insurance company and my car insurance company both have class-action suits against them. Two companies I have stock in are in and out of courts, and prices are falling. Three banks I do business with have merged with other banks in the last three years. The price of gas, food, clothes and medicine has gone up, up, up. No rain. The lowest prices on farm products in 20 years. No wonder 17 million people suffer from depression. Why is the economy doing so great?

How to tell when you've won

I HAD called Speak Out earlier regarding Republicans accepting campaign soft money and accusing them of hypocrisy on this issue. A caller responded to my Speak Out column by pointing out the Democrats were accepting a lot of big-business campaign contributions as well. The difference between the two is that Democrats are fighting to stop soft money in general, regardless to which party it is going to or regardless of where the soft money is coming from. Republicans are only against soft money when it goes to Democrats. Thus, they are hypocrites. The caller's response ended with the tired and worn-out charge of calling Democrats socialists. If you want to know how you've won an argument with a conservative, wait until they call you a socialist and you know you've won. They might as well replace the word socialist with uncle.

Woman in line helps buy groceries

I'M CALLING to say there are wonderful people in the town of Cape Girardeau. For example, I was in the line at the grocery store on Sprigg Street and I didn't have quite enough money to pay for all my groceries. I was going to put something back, and the lady directly behind me paid for the rest of my groceries. She was a wonderful person. I wish we had more like her. I didn't get her name, but she knows who she is. I'd like to say thank you so very much. And God bless you.

Setting the record straight

IT IS not Florsheim Shoe that is going to help ex-Florsheim employees find new jobs. That is a government program, and it was the government that passed the law that allowed handicapped workers special treatment in the workplace.

Comments about insurance lawsuit

I WOULD like to speak out on the State Farm lawsuit. Now they're threatening to raise everybody's rates on their premiums. When you go to an auto insurance company, they ask you the year, the model and make of your car, and that is what they base the repairs on. Now they lose the lawsuit and they come back wanting to raise everybody's premiums. This is not right. This is when government officials step in and tell these people no, because anybody who takes out an insurance policy on an automobile expects it to be fixed with replacement parts manufactured by the people that made the car, not some foreign outfit in Taiwan or China.

Blame Republicans and Clinton

LET'S GET the facts straight about Clinton's being to blame for this trade agreement abroad. Most Democrats like myself were opposed to at the time, and I'm still opposed to it. But you're missing one thing. It was those good old Republican congressmen and Republican senators who were all for it too. They were right in there, along with the late Bill Emerson. So, they were right there too. That was strictly like a Republican-instigated idea. Clinton made a big mistake with Gore, and he's been a great president, but that's one thing I deplore, this trade agreement. From year one, the Republican Party wanted to break the unions. Like another caller said, they started off by going to the rural towns, then they got greedier and started manufacturing abroad. So you can thank your Republicans along with Clinton. They were in it too.

What's next on sore-losing schedule?

WHAT NEXT? What will the sore-losing, snot-swallowing, whining Republicans find to cry about next? Why doesn't the Missourian print a schedule so we will know what to look forward to in the upcoming weeks ahead?

Church-state issue not in Constitution

ONE OF your callers thought it was unconstitutional for Poplar Bluff to pray before football games. I'm sure most readers of the Southeast Missourian have read the U.S. Constitution and know that separation of church and state is not in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, many of the founders of different states helped established church religions, and they also wrote the U.S. Constitution. That's why some states like Virginia have a state religion of the Anglican church and the state called Pennsylvania has a state religion of the Quaker church. There was nothing in the Constitution that said states could not have a state religion. Most of your callers know that. That's why Poplar Bluff can pray before games, and Cape Girardeau ought to.

Thanks for helping with stray cattle

WE'D LIKE to thank the highway patrol, the sheriff's department, neighbors and people driving on Highway 25 for helping to get our cattle in Saturday night.

Swampeast contest was all-time low

PERSONALLY, I think that your newspaper does a great job with the news and other happenings for this area and that you are very deserving of any and all awards that you receive. Congratulations! But my humble opinion of the Swampeast Missouri contest is that you have stooped to an all-time low in publication. What a pathetic use of paper and ink. I strongly disagree that the majority was poking fun at themselves. Honestly, now, weren't they being critical, some cruel, and some even vulgar? Please say that you are not planning an annual repeat of this contest.

Get off Kathy Lee's back

THE HOURLY wage in some other country is none of out business, and I don't care how old the kids are in some other country who may work for a living. That's that country's problem, not ours. I'm sick and tired of people being on Kathy Lee Gifford's back about the small amount of money these kids are making to supposedly make the clothes that she sells. That is not Kathy Lee's problem. More power to her. The cheaper she can get the labor, the better off for her and for this country and the people in this country.

Thanks for heartwarming columns

IF I had a hat, I would tip it to Tamara Zellars Buck column. Even though we're from different ethnic backgrounds, her from the South and me from St. Louis, I too had a grandma who made scratch biscuits for us kids, who watched over us and who even gave us whippings when we needed a whipping. It's nice to know that there are other people in the world who come from the same place, a grandma who loves kids. I just appreciate her columns. I think they're very heartwarming and very touching. Thank you, Tamara Zellars Buck, for giving a new light to my life just by reading your columns on Saturday.

New Yorkers are smarter than that

IF NEW Yorkers vote that feminist into the Senate who swears like a sailor and fights with her husband like a man, then they deserve Hillary the Hun with all her vengeance. I don't think New Yorkers are all that stupid to put her in the Senate. Let's hope not.

Want to remember who we all were

I AGREE with the caller who said it was disrespectful and irresponsible not to include the pictures and names of all the members of every club in the JHS yearbook. Every other club in the school had pictures of all its members and officers with all of their names. That includes FBLA with over 190 members, which is even larger than the 183-member band. There also was room for other pictures of FBLA activities taken during the year, a short history of the club and a summary of what the club did for the 1998-99 school year. I was a member of the band. When I look at my yearbook years from now, I would rather remember who we all were and not just what we did.

He's more body than brain

JESSE VENTURA is evidence that Neanderthal man is not extinct. Of course, we have to give Jesse credit. He's never claimed to be Jesse the Brain. He's always claimed to be Jesse the Body.

Strict policy on school absences

MY CHILD is in kindergarten, and he loves school. My husband worries that our child might miss too much school because of the possibility of flu or colds. They're really strict with the absences. I can understand their concern for good academic attendance. They need to find out why a child is missing so much school.

Players prefer grass to artificial turf

GETTING BACK to this artificial-turf issue. Around the NFL, they are taking out artificial turf and putting in grass. Case in point, Giants' stadium in New York next year will have natural grass. And 85 percent of all the NFL players would rather play on grass than any synthetic turf, artificial turf, whatever you want to call it. Source: USA Today.

Parents: Keep quiet at games

I JUST saw on television a coach in Ohio saying parents and fans need to keep their mouths shut during soccer games and let coaches do their job. Too many parents are yelling directions, and the parents are confusing the kids. This should apply not only in soccer, but all sports. Let the coaches do their job. Parents, don't yell and belittle your children.

Buchanan's thoughts about Hitler

YOU KNOW what Pat Buchanan really reminds me of? A few of you may remember the picture, "The Best Years of Our Lives" with Dana Andrews about this Navy war hero who lost his hands. He was at the drugstore lunch counters, and this man came along and told him it's a shame he had to lose your hands for him to read the newspaper. In other words, we should have been on the side of the Nazis. A fight commenced after that. The one that played the sailor -- I can't remember his name -- won the Academy Award. The movie was about heroes out of work when they came home to look for jobs. That's what Pat Buchanan reminds me of. In other words, we were all chumps. He's implying in a roundabout way we should have fought for Hitler.