SPEAKOUT

Raise the standards

AS LONG as teachers and administrators lower their standards to where second graders could be passed to third grade without being able to read, I would say there is a problem there. Of course, the parents felt part of the solution. But the problem is that we've lowered our standards so low and we've followed this touchy-feely stuff so far that it doesn't mean anything to graduate from one grade to the next. That's where we need to focus.

Smile goes long way

I WOULD like to thank the teen-ager who gave me thumbs up and a beautiful smile for this 69-year-old lady's performance switching lanes on William Street. You made my day.

Who else attended?

I WAS just curious. I was wondering who else from this area besides Vicki Abernathy attended the Democratic convention. I know Dr. Bergerson from the college did and I would be interested in his views, not from someone who's only interest was to beg a ride home with the President.

At least three people were quoted in local Democratic convention stories. Vicki Abernathy was the only delegate from the immediate area. We interviewed Dr. Bergerson on several occasions during the week, but he wasn't a delegate. We also interviewed a delegate from Dexter the weekend before the convention began.

Hurricane alphabet soup

WE HAD hurricane named Fran and then we have one now named Hortense. What happened to the one that started with a G?

The Worldwide Meteorological Association establishes the list of names in advance. The names have a definite international flavor. The tropical storm Gustav faded out in the mid-Atlantic before achieving hurricane status.

No burnings in Arkansas

I CAN prove to you that Bill Clinton is a liar. I, too, am from Arkansas, Texarkana. My entire family has been there since before Texarkana was a town. I went to school in Texarkana then I went to school at Hendricks College in Conway, Ark. Bill Clinton lied when he said he remembered church burnings in Arkansas. It never happened. There have never been any black church burnings in Arkansas.

Let's declare war

I THINK it's about time that our showbiz president went to Congress and ask them to declare war on Saddam Hussein because Congress is the only one that can declare war.

Conservatives should rejoice

EVEN THOUGH Bob Dole trails in the polls, conservatives should feel good about today's political landscape. Bill Clinton leads because he's promoting conservative themes. Sure, he did the same thing and once elected he reverted to his true liberal agenda but the Republican landslide in 1994 sent a message to Clinton and his fellow Democrats that liberalism has been tried and failed and the overwhelming majority of voters want nothing more to do with it. Democratic officeholders are being forced to become more conservative in order to retain their offices. Democrat and Republican are simply party names. Conservatives should be rejoicing because their ideas are being carried out by politicians of both parties.

Proud of FFA

MY HUSBAND and I are from Illinois and we have always been big supporters of the FFA. We just wanted to commend the two young gentlemen from Delta and Meadow Heights who took enough pride in their FFA and their school and wore their official dress proudly in the cattle judging contest at the SEMO District Fair. Their school and their parents should be very proud of these young men.

Why are they using B-52s?

I HEARD on C-Span this morning that the bombers being used in Iraq are the good old B-52s. How much of your money, your tax money, has our government spent on the newer B-1s and B-2s? Billions. The B-1s were obsolete before their time because they were built for nuclear warfare and the B-2s, which John Casey fought against and the Pentagon didn't want but Congress approved anyway, are few in number and are not tested through for use. Billions of our tax dollars wasted because the B-52s will do the job and the Democrats and the Republicans are both responsible.

Setting record straight

I JUST hope all the people who have been bashing the president and wondering why he has the support he's got reads George Will's column in the Southeast Missourian Thursday morning. Read it a couple of times. This is why the man has the support he has from the public today. All the character bashing cannot take away from his record. He has done a good job.