SPEAKOUT

Proud of war vets

THANK YOU, Peter Kinder, for your eloquent and factual thanks to World War II vets in your Aug. 17 column. My father is a veteran of that war in the South Pacific, and I'm a veteran of a later generation and proud of us both. I'm sick and tired of cowardly, know-nothing liberal whiners, revisionists, and welfare blubbering against folks like you and Jay Eastlick. At least you guys do your homework and present it in an accurate manner. Those referred to above simply blow hot propaganda out their backsides. Please sustain your campaign against Senate Bill 380 and OBE fascists in Jeff City, and let's drive off the historic revisionist morons in our universities and public schools. In the interim, Pete, I'm showing your column to my father. He'll be proud and can verify your facts.

Terms and diapers

HOW COME I'm not hearing anymore about limited terms from our politicians? I don't hear anything about it from Bill Emerson, Mary Kasten, Dave Schwab or Peter Kinder. Politicians are like baby diapers. They should be changed often for the same reasons.

Lest we forget

PETER Kinder's Aug. 17 column entitled "To the veterans of WW II: Thank you" did my heart good, for I am a 79-year-old women who vividly remembers why we went to war with the Japanese, what cruel, heinous enemy the Japanese were, what a tremendous loss of life and invasion of the Japanese mainland promised, and it took the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki for the Japanese generals and emperor to finally surrender. Thank you, Peter Kinder, for an insightful column.

Salaries and buildings

A WHILE back there was an election to build new schools here in Cape Girardeau. At the time I was against it and voted against it. If the election was tomorrow for new schools, to tear down Washington and May Greene and take half the kids from Franklin and the other schools and put them in a new school and then start a middle school, I would be for it on one condition: I would vote 100 percent for it if they would cut the principals' salaries. I say cut the salaries down, and then you might get what you want. Look what they're paying the teachers. They're paying them good money also. I think if they cut it down, then they might get what they want. But if they're got that kind of money to give these teachers and principals, then they're got money to build these schools with. But if they cut them down, like I said, I will vote for the school.

Play the tapes

ONCE THE Detective Furman tapes are played for the jury in court, O.J. Simpson can start practicing his golf swing and get ready to play 18 holes. The Juice will be loose faster than the Cardinals can lose a ballgame.

Watch what you read

I READ Peter Kinder's brilliant Aug. 20 column about Sen. Bill Bradley's decision not to run for the U.S. Senate in 1996. In the column, Kinder made casual reference to having once read an article about Bradley in the New Yorker magazine. I was stunned. Kinder has impeccable conservative credentials. Yet it appears that, at least on one occasion, he succumbed to left-wing deviationism. I hope this was a one-time error, but frankly I'm concerned about a possible political Pandora's box. If that is the case, I would like to give Kinder the opportunity to purge his soul and confess. Besides the New Yorker, do you now or have you ever read one or more of the following magazines: The Progressive, Harpers, Dissent, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, The Nation? If so, whether in the past or at present, please admit the error of your ways and publicly promise to confine your reading to magazines such as Insight, Reason, The Standard, National Review, Forbes and The American Spectator, as well as any or all publications of the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.

Fix Perryville Road

I CAN'T believe my eyes as I read in the paper that Mayor Al Spradling said, "The Perryville Road project won't happen without help from property owners along the road." I supported the tax proposal wholeheartedly, called people and knocked on doors because I wanted Perryville Road fixed. I've been promised that Perryville Road would be fixed for 20 years, and I finally saw this as my guarantee that this road would be fixed. Now I read that we're backing out a week and two after the election. I can't believe my eyes.

REPLY: The mayor isn't backing out. Cape Girardeau residents who approved the sales tax wouldn't like the idea of having city residents along Perryville Road share the cost of improvements while residents outside the city along Perryville Road avoid participation. It is a matter of fairness. Annexation of the areas along Perryville Road between the city limits and the golf course would be one solution.

Different standards

SHANNON Faulkner petered at The Citadel and was unable to complete hell week, which 98 percent of her classmates did. I think there was one woman and four men who failed to complete hell week. It was obvious from looking at her she didn't have a chance of passing any of the physical tests. I'm sure if they allow more women in, they'll just lower their standards in order that their women can pass.

The ticket line

I WOULD just like to say that I don't think it's fair to sell tickets to the Vince Gill concerts to the parents of the SEMO students. Why can't they get out and stand in line just like the rest of us? I just hope I can get a ticket. I'm glad he's coming to town.

Petition for sidewalks

I AM going to get up a petition for the city council and Mayor Spradling and tell them that we want this town to have sidewalks in it, especially where there is no sidewalks. They say that they're going to fix up the sidewalks with this money. Well, I think what they need to do on these streets that they're going improve is to put sidewalks in. You take out here on William Street, anybody going to Hardees or going to the mall have to walk in the streets. They don't have sidewalks out there. Along Independence, they don't have sidewalks. They don't have them out here in the Alma Schrader school district. I think they need to put sidewalks where there are no sidewalks instead of fixing up the sidewalks that don't need being fixed up.

School uniforms here

I'M A parent of a child who goes to St. Vincent School here in Cape Girardeau, and I read your Aug. 17 article in Aug. 17 about the uniforms the children are wearing. The person in the article said that they would like to see a retailer in the Cape Girardeau area sell the uniform pieces so they wouldn't have to go to St. Louis or Perryville. I found them. They are sold at Target at Cape Girardeau. They're beautiful, they're inexpensive and they do wonders. Everyone needs to know that they're here.

Eggplant marinade

JOE SULLIVAN'S marinaded eggplant absolutely made my mouth water. Could you persuade him to share his secret recipe with us please? Thank you.

REPLY: There is no magic. You can make your own marinade if you have a good recipe, but there are plenty of prepared marinades, both in bottles and dry mixes, available at your favorite supermarket. At the Sullivan home, the preferred marinade comes in a bottle. Simply slice the eggplant in thick slices (leave the peel on) between three-quarters and a full inch thick. Put the slices in a bowl with the marinade and cover tightly. Refrigerate overnight or all day, depending on when you intend to grill the eggplant. Grill just like you would chicken or fish. It is scrumptious.

Let's vote on zoning

LET'S PUT county zoning back on the ballot. Cape Girardeau County needs some form of zoning regulation. It would protect homeowners from developers' building apartment buildings in a residential zone or other large business in a residential zone. We need someone to start circulating a petition so it could be put back on the ballot. We could have zoning with less stringent laws.

Smoking and strokes

IN THE September issue of Reader's Digest, there's a supplement health guide which has an article in it entitled "What you need to know about strokes." There's a paragraph I'd like to share with the general public, especially people if they read it and dealing with cigarette smoke. "Cigarette smoking doubles the risk of a stroke. Smoking damages the cardiovascular system. Nicotine increases blood pressure and carbon monoxide in the smoke reduces the amount of oxygen your blood can carry to the brain. Plus, cigarette smoke causes the platelets in the blood to become sticky and to cluster, making it more likely to clot. The smoker who stops smoking today, however, would significantly cut the risk of stroke and the variety of other diseases within two years."

Employee fairness

Employers expect two weeks' notice for termination of employment and scheduled days off. Shouldn't it only be fair when a employee schedule changes weekly for the employer to supply the employee with his or her new work schedule more than one day in advance.

Street is too narrow

SOMETHING IS wrong with a city that would fight so hard to widen Lexington and turn around and lay such a narrow new street as they have at the end of Sherwood. We were there this morning. There wasn't even room to get between two cars parked on each side.

Working in the heat

I JUST read the comment about "Watching the workers." These guys are out in the heat, and so what if they don't work for a while? I'm sure they earn their money. I'm sure whoever wrote this is a suit man who sits behind a desk pushing a pencil in air conditioning. He needs to take a second look at the workers out there. I'm sure they are working, just because he happens to pass by and they're not working. Maybe he needs to look at himself and analyze what he does in his job profession. It must not be beneficial to cut down the workers working out there in 100-degree weather. It's pretty poor taste.

Citadel disappointment

I'M VERY disappointed in Shannon Faulkner. All the time she was fighting so hard to get into The Citadel, I was rooting her on. But I'm so disappointed in her that she did not get in shape, keep in shape and get ready. She's let all women down by proving to men what they long known: We're not physically able to keep up with them. I'm disappointed in her. She could have gotten ready for this. She could have worked out every day and been ready for this and been able to withstand the pressures.