OpinionJuly 2, 1998
SPEAKOUT
MR. CLINTON is making a big show in China at Tiananmen Square, supposedly concerned about human rights in that country. What about the human rights violations in this country? Just try to speak out about the U.S. government and see what happens to you. This is not a free country...
What about human rights here?
MR. CLINTON is making a big show in China at Tiananmen Square, supposedly concerned about human rights in that country. What about the human rights violations in this country? Just try to speak out about the U.S. government and see what happens to you. This is not a free country.
And now a household hint
HERE'S A tip for the women who read your newspaper. The rubber bath mats in your bathtub sometimes get dirty. Instead of trying to scrub them with a brush, stick them in the dishwasher. Put the dishwasher powder in, run them through a cycle and they come out like brand new, no dirt, no mold. It's an excellent way to clean them.
Report shows students do well
SENATOR KINDER, please read your own paper, Page 12A on June 28. You never seem to give public schools any credit. Maybe you have, and I missed it. If you have, only Lord knows how many times you have run down our public schools after the times you gave credit. The headline is "Test shows Missouri elementary students rank high in science." It also says public school eighth graders are about even with their counterparts of the world in math but test a lot better in science. That's not an opinion. It's a report. Either accept that, or will you claim it false or incorrect?
Doctors should hand heads in shame
THE CANCER doctors named in the June 28 Missourian should hang their heads in shame. They make money selling tobacco that kills people, then they make money trying to heal them -- and then to say their tenant is 84 and he hates to make him change crops at his age. What about the young kids you are helping to get addicted to cigarettes? I call that greed, not compassion for your fellow man. My husband and brother are two people your crop helped to kill. Why not plant soybeans or cotton? That would be a better crop. In my view doctors who raise tobacco are drug dealers. I am very angry about what I have read in the paper.
Eagleton column was excellent
TOM EAGLETON'S column on Monica Lewinsky in the June 27 newspaper was excellent. Without a doubt, it is the viewpoint of many citizens, and it should be required reading for every congressman in our country.
Ashcroft didn't take on Big Tobacco
UNSURPRISINGLY, state Sen. Peter Kinder heaped praise on U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft for voting against the tobacco bill. He referred to Ashcroft's vote as one of "moral courage." According to reports available from the Federal Election Commission, Ashcroft received thousands of dollars from tobacco concerns in campaign contributions. Thus, I think the senator would have been worthy of praise if he had the intestinal fortitude to take on Big Tobacco. Sadly he didn't.
Get on with the world's problems
THE JUNE 27 paper has a column by Tom Eagleton entitled "We've got Monica" couldn't be truer. We have so many issues that face Congress that Congress seems to ignore. Who cares about Monica? Let Monica go. Get off Monica, and let's get on with world problems.
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Patch concrete on levee
IT GREATLY would be appreciated if the city street department would repair the concrete on the dirt levee on Big Bend Road. With all the heat we have had, there's a big chunk of concrete that has broken loose, and it's right at the crest of the knoll. It's very dangerous. This concrete has been replaced several different times on this levee. It doesn't hold. It's just like going over a washboard. The city seems to ignore it. There needs to be something done about this stretch of road because it is heavily traveled and people have to travel this road twice a day to and from work. It's very frustrating to be hitting all these chugholes. Thank you very much.
Gas used in Waco was deadly
TO THE Speak Out caller who said Bill Clinton never authorized using gas in the Branch Davidian compound in Waco and said it was not some poisonous gas but tear gas: The caller is badly misinformed. The gas used in the Davidian compound was CS gas and cyanide, and it was authorized by Janet Reno, Bill Clinton's attorney general who cleared it with him before she authorized it. It might help to get your facts a little straighter before you start criticizing a religious group to which I hold no affiliation and don't believe in their system. But they had the right to be there and Clinton, and his proteges all the way down the line should not have burned them down.
Regarding doctors: What do you expect?
I'M SURPRISED that the editors of the paper think doctors would make money from tobacco. In a country where medical costs are 50 percent more of GNP than any other country in the world, what do you expect? In a country were doctors are charging 50 percent more and the life expectancy is less than almost all the other industrialized countries in the world, what do you expect? In a country where a preponderance of doctors are Republicans whose party is getting most of them money from the tobacco industry, what do you expect. In a country that shares with South Africa the distinction of being the only industrialized countries in the world without a national health care, what do you expect? Our doctors are a money-grubbing bunch, and you better believe it.
Glass at post office wasn't funny
I VISITED my aunt at Jackson, and on my way back to Cape I stopped to mail some letters at the post office. At first I didn't notice the glass on the pavement. Once I dropped my letter in the box, I looked back. Someone had deliberately placed glass the entire length o the drive only on one side. To drive near enough to drop mail in the boxes, you would end up having glass in two tires. It couldn't be avoided. This joke or prank wasn't funny. Whoever did this should start volunteering at food pantries or start peeling vegetables for the seniors at their center. Do anything worthwhile instead of being destructive.
Republicans have short memories
IS THE symbol of the Republican party the elephant, and aren't elephants supposed to have an excellent memory? The irony of that is that you Republicans have the shortest memory I have ever seen. You seem to have forgotten about the Nixons and Bushs and Reagans. This newspaper is the most biased newspaper I have ever seen. I know many people who don't even buy it because you can't believe anything it says.
Not getting the right message
THIS IS in regard to the article about stolen newspapers costing the Southeast Missourian $33,000 last year. I moved to Jackson four years ago from a state north of Missouri. From where I came from it would be a rare occasion for anyone to steal a 50-cent newspaper. I have always heard about the Bible Belt in Missouri. I am surprised that people in the Bible Belt would have so little integrity. The people must be sleeping in church, or the churches must not be preaching the right messages.
Donate the tobacco profits
ARE THE doctors who own tobacco farms going to donate the money from their farms to the Cancer Society to try to cure cancer?
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