SPEAKOUT

I JUST WANTED to say that the person that called in that was upset with all the churches endorsing the removal of a feeding tube from Nancy Cruzan and favored abortion should go to Iraq where there is only one religion allowed. Thank you.

I HOPE THAT your newspaper is going to keep us informed about how our members of Congress vote on these debates that are going on in the Congress at this time. It would really be interesting to see how all of them voted. Thank you.

THIS IS IN response to the person about the liberal Methodist. I don't know the other religions that well or their belief so I won't comment on them but I've been a Methodist woman all my life, almost forty years. I do know all the Methodist do not condone homosexuality or women priest or abortions. We do have women ministers but we don't call them father. We respect our ministers no matter what sex they are. We've never had a woman as a minister in our church but I see nothing wrong with having anyone who can preach the gospel. As for the Cruzan family my heart goes out to the family. They knew their daughter, you didn't. They knew her wishes, her parents raised and loved her and she probably told them exactly what she wanted done and no one has the right to play God. Thank you.

DOES ANYONE HAVE any idea where we can get information on the spring driving tour?

COULD SPEAK OUT tell me how the sections of Cape Girardeau Red Star got its name? I would be interested in this information. Thank you.

I DON'T REMEMBER his name but the man that took Margaret Thatcher's place, couldn't he go speak to Saddam Heussin and maybe that's all they need is an excuse that it wouldn't be an American. Thank you.

ON DECEMBER 29 there was a car accident on Hwy. 34 near Burfordville on the bridge. During this accident there was a quilt misplaced. The girl who had it said she left it in a white Camaro. The quilt has sentimental values and anyone with any knowledge of its whereabouts please contact Teresa at 238-3081 or at 238-3301.

I GUESS I should title these comments as "Lawyer who misses point in human compassion story." I read Ken McManamans??? letter to the Public Mind about Dr. Sacha's situation with disappointment. I don't know Dr. Sacha but I interpreted his situation as an extremely difficult and painful one. I don't think Dr. Sacha was complaining, rather he was stating facts. Ken McManaman's judgmental tone and moralistic comments really shocked me coming from an attorney. At least I'm glad I know where he stands, I can steer clear of him. I only hope that if he is called and is forced to leave his first wife and three kids that he may leave them in good mental and physical health. He might want to pause and remember the quote "There for the grace of God go I."

YES, I'M A Democrat who didn't vote for President Bush but as he's our commander and chief I back him up all the way on his decisions about going to war. As far as getting an okay from Congress, the only thing Congress seems to ever be able to agree on is another pay raise. Thank you.

YES, I'M CALLING in regard to Kent Library at SEMO. I would just like to say I think it looks like a disgrace. The outside of the building is very tarnished from weather and I'd like to suggest they sandblast it or do something, acid or whatever it takes to make that thing look better. Right now it looks ugly and I'm embarrassed to be a part of SEMO.

ON WEDNESDAY MORNING I turned the radio on KZIM at approximately 9:45. To my shock and amazement I heard two men who MC a local talk program have a discussion about penises. It was not a medical program but an embellishment of a HBO movie that one had viewed the night before. Repeating any of the content would serve no purpose but trash like that should not be allowed on the air. KZIM should apologize to the public and put something decent in place of this local talk time or at least have someone MC a program that has put some preparation behind it. I have enjoyed this station in the past but this shocked and angered me that they have no more respect and concern for the public than to air this type of material.

WHAT'S THE MATTER with you people in Scott City? Is everyone afraid of Alvin Modglin?

TELL ME, IS there any such thing as a health inspector for restaurants any more? In the last few times that I have been out to eat I have watched enough nastiness in the restaurants to shut them down such as wiping off the seats and then washing off the table with the same cloth, dropping utensils on the floor, picking them up and sitting them on the tables, long hair, freaky uncleanly clothes. Now, you know I don't believe anyone is paying any attention to them. I don't believe there is anybody keeping the places clean or watching them. I don't see the Grade A stickers on the windows anymore around here. Other places yes, but not here. So, would you please bear in mind that we all would like to have a few clean restaurants. Would you comment on it? Thank you.

DEAR SPEAK OUT. We think the people who work in Cape and live in the surrounding small towns and counties should help out the city of Cape by being assessed an earnings tax on wages made in our town. Let us hear from others on this matter. Thank you.

PETER KINDER DOES not care what is right or wrong about the issues of our country. He only wants to put the Democrats down. Now he says that Gephardt is just a frivolous man, an empty vessel, an idle chatterer, a cork bobbling on the sea. If Gephardt is a carp bobbling on the sea the way I see it Peter Kinder is the worm below the cork.

GOOD OLD Jimmy Carter. I enjoyed him last night on television very much. I hope a lot of people listen to him. He was on channel 8 interviewed by Jack Nielson. We sure need more men like Jimmy.

HI. I WAS wondering if you could tell me what the deal is with certain kids getting out of Jackson School on Thursday stating that it was a day off and the next day they are to have dress up day. To me it is kind of weird. They never had things like that when I went to school. I don't think that is what school is for. I believe you are there to learn not to dress up. Please answer. Thank you.

DID SOME OF the kids have a day off at Jackson West Lane School today which is Thursday? I know Jackson had school. My kid came up with the excuse that tomorrow which is Friday they will be having a dress up day. Please find out. The school doesn't want to tell me anything. They act like I'm crazy. Thank you.

THE UNITED STATES has nothing in the world to gain and much, much to lose by going to war with Iraq. May I suggest that those nations who would stand to gain supply the troops and the money.

YES, THIS IS SEMO Alliance for disability and dependents, 334-1959. We wanted to thank everyone for responding to the last Speak Out where we had inquired about accepting greeting cards from Christmas from anyone who wanted to dispose of them. Well, we've gotten a good response and we really appreciate it and want to thank everyone that has responded and also to reconfirm that we will take any kind of greeting cards all year round. In other words, Easter cards, Mothers Day cards, any kind of cards. You may want to clip this for a future reference. Thank you.

YES, I'D JUST like to say something about the Oprah Winfrey Show, the show they just had on sex. I want to say something to the girls and guys in the counties of Cape and everywhere else. If you're going out with a guy or gal you become sexual action, you break up, you can send back their class ring, you can send back their class jacket or sweater, you can take all their mementos they gave you and stack them in the driveway and burn them, but remember this, you can not give back the memories. Thank you.

IN RESPONSE TO Mr. McManaman's letter to the Public Mind. I felt his letter was totally unfair and it sounded more like a personal vendetta rather than just an opinion. Only an inhuman person could write such a letter. I hope Mr. McManaman is not in a foxhole beside me where I would need his loyalty.

WHAT THIS TOWN needs is a newspaper that uses the plastic bag that keeps your newspaper from getting wet. Every time it rains, whether it's in a sack or not the paper gets soak and wet. Is there anything we can do to prevent this? Thank you.

COULD YOU TELL me the address of our illustrious heroic leader, Vice-President Quayle? The people who are leading us to war are the same ones that got us in the Savings and Loan mess and all this other stuff. Thank you.

I AM 11-YEARS-OLD. I am very mad with the letter I read in the Public Mind from Mr. McManaman about a local doctor. He failed to paint the picture as it really is. His statements are further from the truth.

AS I SIT here looking out the window at all the ice and at all the people that can't get out and go to work, a lot of people can't even get their car out of their drive. Well, there are people that will get angry because the mailman doesn't run on the ice covered roads. I know of two men that had four wheel drives that they put chains on both front wheels so they could go. When your lid on your mailbox freezes shut, how many people knock the ice off so the lid can be opened? When the highway trucks push the snow to the side, how many will clean the snow from in front of their mailbox? Instead of running your mail carrier down, praise him for what he does do. He's only human.

I HAVE THE perfect cure for the declining population in Cape Girardeau. Don Pritchard for mayor, Don Pritchard for city manager, Don Pritchard for city council. He can just run the whole show. Thank you.

I AM DISGUSTED with hearing about the reservist who would now prefer to renege on their agreements when they signed up and started receiving their money and other benefits. First we have the wimp doctor crying about his stepsons and begging to be released. Then the young woman with the great education making $100,000+ a year being called up. She never dreamed she would be called. What would she be earning without the reserve education she received? Both signed the contract. Now that it is no longer convenient for them and they have gotten the goodies they don't want to pay up. They don't want to play anymore. I bet they miss the targets on purpose. Thank you.

I WOULD LIKE to say a big amen to the letter written by Commander McManaman. As a member of the Missouri National Guard for the past 11 years and a regular Army enlistee from 1958-1967 I know the hardships created by separation from home and family. I have several reasons why I wouldn't like to be activated but none of these would make for juicy reading and I wouldn't express them to the media anyway. I, too, feel that when a person takes from an organization knowing full well the possibility exists for just the very thing that is happening now he should go and keep his objections to himself. Thank you.

THIS IS IN response to the caller a few weeks back asking about any group protecting the involvement in the Persian Gulf. A group of concerned citizens are holding a weekly peace vigil every Monday from noon to 1:00. Monday, Jan. 14 it will be held at the Federal Building and the Monday after, the 21st, it will move back to the Newman Center on Campus where it started. I urge everyone to come join us and let your voice be heard. If we hope to have any emphasis on our government we must be willing to stand up for that in which we believe. Thank you.

I COULDN'T AGREE more with the writer in the letters to editor about the doctor with the handicapped and ill stepchildren. I was completely put off by the doctor's remarks in the original news article about it. If he is or was so concerned about the children, why didn't he resign from the Reserves at the time of their marriage? I feel he wanted all the benefits of being a Reserve and thought he would be able to some way dodge his responsibilities. Would his wife not have the same two boys had they not married and with all the same problems? They get no sympathy from me.

I'D LIKE TO make a few comments about the VA home located in Jackson. The price is $1,100 a month, it should be lower in cost. A boarding house in Jackson costs about $500. I do not understand why a boarding house costs half of the VA home. They give service the same as VA does, 3 meals a day, wash your clothes, take patients to the doctor when needed. They also have nursing home assistants on duty to help those who need assistance. Thank you. Please print.

I WOULD LIKE to ask a question, maybe someone could help me. The guy that was running for president, Gary Hart, I know after the Vietnam War was over he joined the Naval Reserves right before he run for president. Now I was just wondering, is he over in the Middle East aboard one of these ships since he was in the Naval Reserve? The rest of them around here are getting called up. I was just wondering if he is. I'm really interested, especially in liberal Democrats like that, see how well they serve their country. If anyone knows I would like to know. Thank you.

IT'S ABOUT TIME something good has happened in Scott City. A certain police officer finally resigned. Thank you.

IN MY OPINION Roseann Barr is a total disgrace to the human race, especially when she tried to sing the National Anthem and when she spit and grabbed her ... at the end. I believe she had to feel about five rows down before she could grab what she was after. Now I hear she's changing her last name from Barr to her husband's name Arnold which is very appropriate, as in Arnold the Pig.

I WOULD LIKE to share one of my thoughts about road improvement in this county. I saw in the paper the other day where the widening and resurfacing of Rt. K is going to take place this spring. If the workmanship and the inspectors don't do any better job than was done on resurfacing Hwy. 61 between Jackson and Cape and Route B from Millersville north to the county line, the state might as well flush our tax money down the commode. Thanks.

WHY ARE YOU rerunning the CBS Good Morning show the same hour after hour?

YES, I WOULD like to state my opinion about when President Sprout, I mean Bush, started sending troops to the Middle East. The Congress was so busy after trying to get the budget balanced and voting in raises that they didn't have time to think about the Middle East. Now the Congress think they should get the vote on declaring war. I feel that Congress ought to keep their trap shut and start thinking about where their next raises are going to come from. Thanks. Taxpayers.

MANY YEARS AGO I was spending a night in the children's area at a hospital in Cape. In the room was my little son who had had serious surgery there that day. In the long hours of the quiet night I became aware of activity in a room across the hall. Nurses and a doctor were quite busy for some time and then that doctor spent most of the rest of the night in the room with the child, an infant with all sorts of tubes attached. I was impressed then and have continued to be impressed over 30 years by the image of that doctor in a long vigil by the child during many hours of that night. I wonder if the parents ever knew of that vigil and I wonder how many other such vigils he has kept over his more than 40 years of faithful dedication to the children of the area and their parents? How privileged we in the area have been to have a pediatrician of such capacity of mind together with that tireless dedication. Thank you, Dr. James A. Kinder.

IF PRESIDENT BUSH'S new world order consists of soaking desert sand with American blood, I'll take something else. Thank you.

TO ALL THOSE people who think this action in Saudi Arabia is just about oil, please read this piece written by Martin Niemoeller, a Lutheran pastor in Germany. "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me." This is how it is when a man like Saddam Hussein gets more and more power, as smaller countries are gobbled up and the rest of the world doesn't speak up and do something to stop the threat. We must not wait until no one is left to do anything to stop him. I think President Bush is right to stop this man, as mad as Hitler. Thanks.

GAS PRICES ARE higher in Cape than most other towns including St. Louis, Fruitland or even Chaffee. One station in Cape is selling unleaded regular at $1.11.9 while the rest are getting $1.16.9. How can we expect industry to relocate into Cape, with our stations pricing their gasoline higher than neighboring towns? And, to top it off, at least two of our city council members have and own gasoline stations. Yes, people, "welcome to Cape Girardeau the home of the highest priced gasoline around." I like to help the needy not the greedy.

I'D LIKE TO address the fact of need of a drain at the corner of Fountain and Broadway near the access to the sidewalk for the handicapped. This is a much used location in this capacity as it is our local Federal Building. Our city street department should certainly give this top priority. Every time it rains, the rain water gets about 4 to 6 inches deep and remains standing for days on end and of course, if it freezes, and it has been freezing weather, then the situation is nothing short of a disaster. I certainly don't mind for anyone to know who has had this item published in Speak Out - my name is Thad Bullock.