SPEAKOUT

Pro-lifers are thinking right

I'M CALLING in response to the Speak Out comment from the individual who calls pro-lifers extremist and makes the statement, "Right-thinking people should say, `Enough!'" The right-thinking people are those who are against abortion. This pro-abortionist obviously doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. They are the ones who need to start thinking right instead of telling those of who believe in saving unborn children. No one has the right to murder unborn children.

Doctors want to make millions of bucks

LATELY THE Southeast Missourian has done a really good job of exposing what goes on in the hearts and minds of our local physicians. I would ask if they are continuing to do this, though, that they go back to an evening paper, because I can't take reading this kind of stuff first thing in the morning. It puts me off my food all day long. I read about the people who want the Mississippi Valley surgery Center. I got to the part where the surgeon said the doctors were going to work to offer indigent care. That was it for me. That just makes me gag. I can't believe anyone would believe that the doctors are doing this for any other reason than to make as many millions of bucks as they can off our community. If this surgery center is approved, I have lost all faith in our system of government.

What they all have in common

WHAT DO Rusty Weston, Peter Kinder, Charlton Heston and a box of rocks have in common? They all have the same amount of sense about gun control.

Joke was too real to laugh at

I WENT to bingo at the Arena Building. The bingo caller made a joke. The joke was, "What do you tell a woman who has two black eyes? Nothing. You always tried to tell her twice." I understand it was just a joke, and everybody laughed. But I felt as if I were on stage and everyone was laughing at me. You see, when I went home and washed off the makeup, I looked in the mirror, coming face to face with the scars -- the scars that remind me of the screaming face telling me to shut up, the smell of blood after being punched in the nose or waking up unable to open my eyes. I thought that if anyone ever knew, they would all laugh at me. Well, they did. But I guess it was just a joke. I'm sorry I didn't think it was that funny. But then again maybe I'm just a little too slow.

Concentration camps for young thugs

A SPEAK Out caller wants young thugs to work on a farm. That reminds me of a system they had in a country in Europe maybe 50 or so years ago. Maybe they ought to call them concentration camps. Just work them and feed them a slice of potato and some thin broth and call them concentration camps. That's what I perceived the caller wanted for the young thugs.

Threat of St. Louis takeover unwarranted

I READ in the history books about the communist scare of the 1950s. I used to wonder how reasonable people could get so hysterical and panicky about the threat of the red menace. I think we are seeing the same thing in our community over the supposed health-care threat from St. Louis. A lot of people are trying to amass money and power, doctors and hospitals alike, by waving the threat of the terrible health-care systems in St. Louis. If we don't give the doctors and hospitals here what they want, St. Louis will somehow do damage to our community. I have been to St. Louis. They speak English up there. I think they even live in the same state. As opposed to one group who wants power and money over another, I recall don't see a whole lot of difference. I think we need to take a deep breath and look at this matter calmly and look at what this community wants.

Print the names of juvenile offenders

I'D LIKE to comment on these children who commit crimes. Why are their names not printed in the paper. Their right to privacy is not worth more than other people's right to know what kind of people they are. If their family's don't like it, they should teach their children better values. I think their names should be broadcast like everybody else's when you get arrested or get a speeding ticket or whatever. I think juveniles should be given the same privilege. We should be entitled to this information, because as a business owner I might hire one of these people, and I want to know what they did in their past. If they are going to commit adult crimes, they should be treated equally as adults and have their names put in the paper also.

REPLY: By law in Missouri, the names of juvenile offenders are not public records. However, if the Southeast Missourian obtains the names from sources other than public records, there is nothing to prohibit it from publishing those names, and it has in high-profile criminal cases. From time to time there have been efforts to take away the secrecy about juvenile offenders. It's good to know there are readers who would support this effort.

Patients choose to go to St. Louis

I WAS reading the articles about the doctors wanting to build their own clinic versus using the hospital. I tell you the problems with the doctors is you can't get in a doctor here in town. That is the reason the patients are going to St. Louis. You can call St. Louis and set an appointment, and you've got one in two or three days. You call here and you've got to be dying, and then you're lucky if you get in in a month. It is to my benefit to drive two hours and sit 10 to 30 minutes and drive two hours back versus sitting in Cape for two hours waiting to get in. The least you'll wait in a doctor's office here in town is one hour. If they can do it in St. Louis, why can't we do it here. It's not the hospitals' problem that the patients are going to St. Louis. It's the doctors' problem they are going to St. Louis.

Considerate acts are appreciated

THERE IS no season for acts of kindness and consideration. My sincere thanks to whoever recently left sweet peas at my front door. And thanks again today for bringing my empty garbage holders to my garage. I don't know who you are or if more than one person participated. But these unexpected gifts of thoughtfulness are deeply appreciated. You have made these days special for this Gordonville lady. May God bless you.

Expect big impact on hospitals

OPEN YOUR eyes, Cape Girardeau and those from surrounding towns. The latest announcement of the group planning to build another outpatient facility here in Cape is just another duplication of services. This one would cause some drastic changes in our fine hospitals when you consider outpatients make up 50 percent of surgeries done. I think it is a terrible injustice on the part of the physicians. Some people may lose their jobs at the hospitals, because such a move will make an impact. Are these doctors caring for the community or just looking out for themselves?

Plenty of dry land for golf course

SUDDENLY, SOUTHEAST Missourian editor Joe Sullivan's apparently dormant dream of a downtown golf course is said to be on the verge of being realized. Evidently, analyses of data published by a Southeast Missouri State University professor shows global warming will turn the Mississippi River into a semi-desert, making it perfectly fit for the construction of a down-by-the-river golf course. If the professor's data is accurate -- and I have no reason to believe it isn't -- the dramatic and permanent drying up of the Mississippi River will occur tomorrow.

Spruce up around post office

WE HAVE a very nice post office in Jackson, I am proud to say. But on the outside there could be some improvement. Especially the shrubs and ground cover need attention. There are sprouts growing in the shrubs, and the ground cover needs weeding. Also some sweeping and cleaning of the pavement outside are needed. There are cigarette butts and other debris. I can't imagine why people would clean their ashtrays in front of a public building like they do there. Don't they realize they are littering? I hope someone will see the need and clean up the outside and keep it more attractive.

Docs don't want competition

KUDOS TO whoever had the guts to say in Speak Out what I have been waiting to say for years. And kudos to the Southeast Missourian for printing it. The ortho docs have had a monopoly for so long. The callers hit the nail right on the head: big egos with mediocre skill. Recently an independent doc who is very good has tried to make a practice in Cape. They did everything to run him off and tried to keep him out of the hospitals. I think Cape definitely needs another choice. But my question is, with three -- soon to be four -- existing outpatient surgery centers, why do they feel the need to build their own?