SPEAKOUT

People can change the world

NEVER DOUBT a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Meth addicts are unreliable

I WOULD like to voice my opinion on some of the news that I've been reading in your paper about the methamphetamine problem we have. I've been around some of these people who are on meth, and they're completely unreliable. They're crazy. You never know what they're going to do next. They get violent. They have no respect. They think they're above the law. And then I hear some of the family and friends of the man executed for killing a highway patrolman tried to implicate the patrolman by saying he might have been involved in methamphetamine. I think this is just outrageous. It just goes to prove what kind of people we have out there. They'll say anything, do anything to get somebody in trouble with no regard for human life.

Old bridge would be tourist attraction

REGARDING THE old Mississippi River bridge: Why not keep it? It would make an excellent walkway and bikeway. Sure it would take a little bit of work making sure people can't fall off, but think of the view you could have just gazing out over the majestic Mississippi River right from the center of the river. And it would probably be the only place you can do that on the entire Mississippi. It would make a good tourist attraction. It's already part of downtown, and the bridge does have some history. I think should be looked at.

Cleanup scavengers fun to watch

THE SPRING cleanup was more fun than a giant garage sale. The neighbors and I put out worn out furniture and junk we wanted to get rid of at the curb, and then cars and trucks came by and picked all the stuff up. It's more fun than I've ever seen before. Let's do it again.

Jobs will head for Chile now

WELL, BILL Clinton is out of the country once again to Chile drumming up free-trade agreements. All this is to take American jobs to Chile, because these people will send in as much as they want to, and our politicians will do nothing but sit on their duffs and let American workers lose their jobs. I don't think it should be left up to any one person to negotiate these free-trade agreements. We have seen it in the past, and we will see it in the future. Our government does not have our country at heart when it comes to protecting the American workers. I have seen too many jobs leave this country and go to Mexico, Taiwan, China, Japan, and now we're going to see them go to Chile. You cannot go in a store hardly nowadays and buy clothing made in the U.S. God help the United States.

The tobacco issues is about money

RECENTLY I noticed a poster that stated secondhand smoke kills 6,000 children a year. We've also heard wide-ranging figures from various heart and health organizations and politicians on how many thousands upon thousands of people are killed by secondhand smoke. Well, guess what? Last week, in probably the most under-reported story of the century, the World Health Organization released the findings of its study on the effects of secondhand smoke which said breathing secondhand smoke has little or no adverse effect on one's health. So, whom do we believe? If the World Health Organization's research is correct, then all of these people have been blatantly lying to us for years. I suspect the answer is somewhere in between, which means secondhand smoke is not completely harmless as the WHO would have us to believe, but not nearly as harmful as the various health organizations and politicians want us to believe. There is one fact that we can count on: The war on tobacco is about money. The politicians want billions from the tobacco companies and billions from the smokers. The worse they can make tobacco look, the more they can justify confiscating people's money. If these political parasites are successful in their endeavor, they will have learned that vilifying a certain industry or practice means more money for them to buy votes. When they start taxing your Big Macs or Chevy Suburbans or home air conditioners -- naturally all in the name of saving our children -- then even you teetotalling, anti-smoking zealots might even see the light.

Heckemeyer's attack was out of line

AS A resident of Scott County I was sickened to read about the partisan and mean-spirited attacks that state Rep. Joe Heckemeyer has made against Mary Kasten. Anyone who has even a basic understanding of Kasten's career knows her to be one of the most pro-education members of our General Assembly. Heckemeyer's efforts to demean her and to mischaracterize her positions are sophomoric and inexcusable. It's time to rid the Missouri House of Representatives of people like Heckemeyer. Let's all remember this in November.

Switching from a no-news doctor

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with the caller about doctors' taking too long to let you know the results of your tests. Recently I waited so long for the results of my test. I asked my doctor what happened, and he said, "Well, I didn't bother to let you know because no news is good news." And I said, "Well, I just got me a different doctor."

Judge gives molester maximum sentence

THANK YOU, Judge Syler, for giving a child molester the maximum sentence. I wish we would see this more often and that the law would be changed to an even longer prison term.

Lower fees equals more students

SOUTHEAST Missouri State University was quoted as saying it needs and wants more students. The next day, the university is quoted as saying it's thinking of raising fees. If they want more students, why raise the fees? What's wrong with the student union right now? It seems the university is shooting itself in the foot. It needs to lower the fees, then more people will come.

JACKSON Mayor Sander stated he dislikes MoDOT's No. 1 choice of Highway 34-72 West. Sanders says he does not want to make a very narrow, two-lane bottleneck through Jackson into a modern five-lane highway that MoDOT has suggested. Instead, he favors a route completely outside of the city limits of Jackson taking traffic directly into Cape Girardeau. I am glad Sander was not mayor 10 or so years ago when the city cooperated with the state to make the eastern part of that highway to I-55 five lanes. That five lanes has built Jackson and made Jackson a very progressive city. Land value along that highway has skyrocketed, and so will it along any bypass. I am sure Cape Girardeau agrees with Mayor Sander to bypass Jackson. What a bonanza for Cape. Remember, all those proposed bypass routes will make some large landowners smile all the way to the bank. I believe Mayor Sander's major concern should be upgrading Highway 34-72 to five lanes through Jackson and eliminating that terrible and dangerous bottleneck we have at present.