SPEAKOUT

Outlaw the amplifiers

I'M CALLING in regard to the Speak Out commenting about how they ought to cut down on the loud stereos like they do drunken drivers. That's a ludicrous idea. I don't believe they ought to do that. What I do believe they ought to do is when a police officer hears that -- there is a noise ordinance in Cape Girardeau -- the officer should pull that vehicle over. But as far as stopping them in roadblocks, I think that's just going a little bit too far. Drunken driving is a big problem in our city. It's a big problem all over the country. I look in the paper every day and see more drunken drivers have been arrested. What I don't see is people being cited for the noise ordinance. I hate those loud stereos. They're a nuisance to those who don't want to listen to it. Outlaw the amplifiers. There's your problem solved, plain and simple.

One-sided conversations

I WANT to talk about strange people in Cape. I was driving up Kingshighway at lunchtime, and this woman -- I don't know who she was talking to -- was yelling inside of her car, and it didn't look like she was yelling at anybody. In the afternoon, I saw another woman that was just talking to herself and yelling and stuff. I mean, talk about weird people in this town. What has this town come to? How many people do you know who talk to themselves and yell at themselves? This needs to be printed. I mean, there are some really strange people living in Cape.

What's the difference?

THE WORLD is about to put Pinochet of Argentina on trial for atrocities during his time in government. He allegedly killed people just to keep his government propped up. There is a very similar accusation that our president bombed a pharmaceutical factory in the Sudan, killing African workers in order to keep his government propped up. What's the difference?

Eloquent description

I'D LIKE to comment on the Dec. 1 letter written by Mr. McClarney headed "President is sick, pathetic man." That was one of the most eloquent descriptions of this sicko who is now defiling the White House. I sincerely hope the blind people who keep supporting the man can read and heed this particular letter.

It's up to the court

THIS CALL is in response to Robert Cron's Dec. 1 letter. Mr. Cron quotes many Founding Fathers to the effect that the Second Amendment protects all private ownership of firearms. This is clearly incorrect. The Supreme Court so held more than 60 years ago. Mr. Cron can quote all the Founding Fathers he wants, but the issue is not for him to decide until he gets appointed to the Supreme Court.

Lights are being stolen

WHOEVER IS out stealing Christmas lights, I hope you enjoy the lights. You take the beauty away from people who are trying to make the holidays happy, and you're just someone that steals the lights. It's disheartening, especially for older people.

Paving priorities

OUR COUNTY road program is similar to the state's road program. It does not make much sense. The county paved about four miles on County Road 222. After counting traffic, County Road 327 has 50 percent more traffic. I live in Jackson and work on Nash Road, and County Road 327 is used by a lot of people who work in the south section of Cape Girardeau County. It does not make sense to pave a road that has less traffic than another road has.

Conflicts with church

I'M WITH the person who wants the parade on Friday or Saturday night. I'd like to have it on Saturday night, because we have church on Sunday night, and it's too late to get home from the parade in time for church.

Exams denote preparation

YOU KNOW, this is really a sad situation. When did greed take over in the school system? Why are you able to forgo an exam that will tell if you're able to go out in the world prepared? I know the school gets paid from the state for each day that a student is at school, but if you're not willing to make sure a student is prepared, I don't know what you've come to. Why not make it if you maintain a certain grade average to forgo an exam? At least then you would know if the student was able to go out and be prepared for what he's going to have to face after high school. I'm just glad that my child does not go to Cape schools.

REPLY: In addition to perfect attendance, students also must have a C average in order to skip finals.

He's laughing at us

I WOULD like to make a comment about all the people who would follow Bill Clinton straight to hell if they thought their pocketbooks were doing good. Would it change your minds if you just happened to find out that Bill Clinton is laughing at you? Think about that. He goes home every night thinking, Can you actually believe these people are believing us?

Perjury particulars

OK, LET'S get this straight once and for all. Perjury is not simply lying under oath. Perjury is lying under oath about a matter germane to the case. For instance, if I were being questioned about my whereabouts on a certain day but as the initial part of my testimony and an attorney asked me my date of birth and I misstated the year I was born in, that would not be perjury even though it would be a lie, because it was not germane to my whereabouts. So, lying is not perjury unless it is lying about the specific issue about which you are to testify.

From Nana to her granddaughter

IF I may, I'd like to make these remarks for my 1 1/2-year-old granddaughter so later she will know exactly what the truth is and exactly how her Nana feels in this matter of Bill Clinton's possible impeachment. I grew 30 miles from Bill Clinton's hometown of Hope, so I too am an Arkansan. By the way, we were taught in the '30s and '40s that we were Arkansawyers, and we were all so proud to finally elect an Arkansan to the highest office in this land. Now I am ashamed that such an immoral president as Bill Clinton came from my home state. Perjury is perjury. Infidelity, although not an impeachable offense, is still a sin against God and against the spouse. A lie is still a lie, but under oath it's perjury and an impeachable offense and a disgrace to us all. So, my little Riley, now know how your Nana thinks and feels, and I hope you grow up that way, Darling.

Hooray for the letter

HOORAY FOR Richard McClarney on his letter to the editor. Bill Clinton is a disgrace.

New gun law is a joke

WITH THE new background check you have to go through to buy a rifle or shotgun, what keeps a criminal from having a friend or relative buy a gun for him? Nothing. This is a joke. As far as crime going down, it's mostly in states that have a right-to-carry-firearms law where people are given a course in handgun safety and the proper use of a handgun. This way the only one can carry a gun isn't just a criminal.

Rent the video

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian is so good about printing comments about our president being a pervert. The Orrin Hatches and the Archers and all these radical Republicans seem to want a blow-by-blow description of the president's activities. If they're that engrossed in it, why don't they go to one of these pornographic stores and rent themselves a video? You talk about being perverts. The president hasn't said a word about it, only that it was indecent and he apologized.

Military warning

READING IN the Nov. 27 issue of Human Events magazine, I've run across a paragraph that verifies what I have suspected about Clinton. Our military has gone so far down the pike that we don't really have an effective organization any more. Let me quote for you one paragraph: "Military leaders distrust the dark side. That's the name given to the top leadership of the Navy by some subordinates, according to John Hillen of the Council on Foreign Relations. `They call them the dark side because they don't think they're honest anymore,' Hillen told Investors Business Daily reporter Brian Mitchell. Enlisted men and lower-rank officers of all branches of service are angry over the joint chiefs of staff's failure to admit, until recently, that military personnel lacked the time and equipment to carry out their duties. And as budgets and personnel numbers have dropped, the number in ranked admissions have increased."

Farmers are giving hogs away

I WOULD like to know what percentage of the general population in Southeast Missouri is aware of the unimaginable low prices the individual pork producers are receiving for hogs at this time. I would think a very low percentage falls in this category. Today the price the American farmer is paid for a market hog at the local market is 10 cents a pound, which is not far from the prices during the Depression. When you go to the local grocery store, how much are you paying per pound for bacon, ham, pork chops, pork steak and sausage? What's wrong with this picture? Granted, this is why it is good to be diversified on the farm. However these prices are frightening, and I believe the public should be made aware. My husband has not been in the hog business in the past few years to any large extent, but in May 1998 he purchased 29 pigs for my son's FFA project in school. He paid in average of $35.18 a head for the pigs. My son had the joy and pleasure of feeding them for several months and recently sold the last of them for $29.02 a head. Oh well. Recently, we decided that if we would have had several more, we would have taken them to Cape Girardeau and turned them loose on the West Park Mall parking lot with red bows around their necks. Maybe we would have been placed in the gift-giving spirit. After all, the American farmer is giving them away at the market anyway.

We'll get it anyway

I'D JUST like to make a comment about the city council supporting the River Campus after the voters of Cape turned it down. It looks like they're going to do another job like they did on the Osage building. We're going to get it because they want it, regardless of what the voters feel.

Questionable GOP leadership

PEOPLE ARE saying that Ken Starr has a tin ear when it comes to being in touch with the voters. But he can't hold a candle to the Republican hierarchy and its selection of leaders and spokesmen. Every time I hear Henry Hyde being an attack animal, I'm reminded that he had an affair that lasted several years. He broke a marriage with his adulterous affair. And then for months you had Dan Burton calling Bill Clinton a scumbag, and Burton is the one with the illegitimate son. Now you have J.C. Watts in a position of leadership, and he has two illegitimate kids. Please get rid of your sinners from leadership or otherwise independents like me will get totally fed up with your party and candidates. The recent election should warn you about hanging on to trash like I named, otherwise we'll be laughing in your smug, sanctimonious faces and kick your rears right out the door.

Let them hear from you

WHAT HAS Congress accomplished this term in office? I paid my taxes yesterday, and I would like to know what they will be using the money for. How about a report from them? If they could see how they look to the citizens of the United States, they would crawl under their desks. Everyone should write his federal legislators about how you feel about what Congress is doing. It's ridiculous.

Hearing the voters

I WOULD like to make a comment on the people who get on these TV shows and say the public has spoken in the last election. Well, if they have spoken, they must want President Clinton impeached, because there are some places that were controlled by Democrats for years and now those places are run by Republicans. And as far as the voters speaking: They must have, because most of the seats stayed the same.

There's that tax again

AL GORE said the Internet was tax free in a speech he gave on C-SPAN. Then why do we all pay an extra Internet tax on our telephone bill? Just more lies to the American people. As usual, the working people have to pay the taxes on these enterprises of the government. They speak of the billions of dollars Internet commerce is earning. Then why are we taxed on our telephone bills?

Statistical friends

HOW MANY international criminals have you had to your house? Drug dealers, illegal arms merchants, Lebanese gangsters wanted by Interpol? The number for the president and first lady is one of each of the above. How many of your friends or business associates are convicted felons? The number for the first family is 14. How many people do you know who have died under other than normal circumstances? Our president is tied to literally dozens.