SPEAKOUT

THE 1200 BLOCK of Bloomfield is such a wonderful block to live in. It has such nice people. The beautiful Christmas lights are a joy to look at at night. I wish everyone had a neighborhood like this one. Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. Thank you.

IF YOU CAN'T trust your police, who can you trust? Thank you, Speak Out.

I THINK IT'S absolutely ridiculous to have to wait in line at the post office the way the people have to do. It wouldn't be so bad if they would have four or five tellers, which they have room for. But they only had two clerks working at the counter and people were standing elbow to elbow. I feel they should put more clerks at these windows, especially at this time of year. People should not have to stand in line that long to get waited on at the post office. Thank you very much.

NO WAY SHOULD the United States allow Saddam Hussein to threaten any of our troops or to send them home in body bags. He should be told to get out in 24 hours or we use nuclear weapons. If he doesn't do so then use them. Thank you.

THIS IS DR. Dawg and I just figured I'd give everybody my projection on why we didn't have the earthquake. I've been studying weather maps for the past month and I noticed that there is a warm front out over the west coast that moved out over the ocean and became a tropical storm. The tropical storm was upgraded to a hurricane and the hurricane was named Edith, and everyone knows that you can't have a quake and Edith too.

I WAS JUST wondering why when we got a paper in the evening, on Sunday morning we always got it by 7, and since it's a morning paper, it's always after 8 or later before we get our Sunday morning paper. In the paper it says everybody's supposed to have theirs by 6. Thank you.

Your newspaper should be delivered by 6 a.m. every day. Please call our circulation department at 334-7115 and discuss the problem with them.

I'M HERE TO tell everyone accusing Dr. Stewart of causing hysteria due to Dr. Browning's prediction that they are being very unfair. As a former student of Dr. Stewart, I know that he never opinionated himself towards Dr. Browning's prediction. Let's put the blame on the news media and the people for causing their own hysteria. As he said in class, he cannot say another scientist is right or wrong. I feel everyone is being unfair towards Dr. Stewart. Thank you.

IT HAPPENED TO Jim Berkland in San Jose, Calif. for predicting a World Series quake. It happened to Iben Browning for predicting a high-risk period of several months peaking on Dec. 3, and now it is happening to David Stewart. Could it be that the USGS doesn't want anyone invading their turf and jeopardizing their millions and millions of grant money for those who adhere strictly to their orthodox methods? Thank you.

The Southeast Missourian would be most interested in seeing any proof of successful predictions by Berkland or Browning. If the caller has any articles from reputable publications published simultaneously with the prediction or before the predicted event, and it subsequently occurred, we would like to see them.

I WAS JUST driving on Grandview Street and observed two elderly women burning some leaves in the street. I was wondering if I could request a certain officer from the police department to come handle this volatile situation? Thank you.

IN THE DEC. 2 paper, on helping needy people, there was an article on a lady who was 90 years old, and I've had that on my mind for days. I can't think of anything except that this lady or her family needs some counselors. It seems the best Christmas gift you can give this lady is some counseling because she is 90 years old and trying to hold on to her house she's lived in for 70 years or more just because she promised her husband she'd never give it up. Deathbed promises are a tongue-in-cheek thing. We should never promise anyone something like that. I think that this woman needs to be taken out of this house, out of this situation she is in with these huge utility bills, and put somewhere where she would be warmer and safer and would be less expensive to live in. If she's lived there for over 70 years, she should be thankful that she's had that many years and not be concerned that the time has come when she will have to give that up. Thank you very much.

I THINK IT'S utterly ridiculous that the seismologists are cutting Dr. David Stewart down because of his earthquake prediction. Are they so stupid as to not know that, were it not for people like David Stewart, people like myself and my family would have gone on with our heads in the sand almost completely unprepared in case we had an earthquake. For them to criticize him and to say that he caused the panic is utterly ridiculous. Even mentioning that Dr. David Stewart was at fault at anything is ridiculous. I think Dr. David Stewart is to be commended highly for the approach that he took toward the predicted earthquake. I personally went to hear Dr. David Stewart address this possible catastrophe, and his approach was not one of panic and he did not one time act like he was in cahoots with Dr. Iben Browning. What he did say was that everybody's opinion should have a fair chance and that there needed to be further evaluation done of Dr. Browning's scientific studies. Dr. David Stewart should be commended for the work that he's done for earthquake preparedness in our area. Thank you very much.

I JUST HEARD where Mike Shain said he's got some trees that are budding. Well, I've got some irises in my backyard budding. Here it is the 10 of December, and my irises are budding. Thank you.

TO WHOM IT may concern: I think teachers are too strict on kids these days. My kid came home yesterday with some slap marks on his face from the teacher. I took him to the office and the teacher denied it. I believe that teachers should pass a certain degree of strictness, and if they can't pass they shouldn't be teaching. I took my kid out of the public schools and put him in a private school. I think he might be better off that way. I think teachers should not be allowed to hit kids in school. Thank you.

I WANT TO really thank the person who found my keys in the northwest part of Cape. I lost them Saturday morning between Perryville Road and Twin Lakes. They were found and turned into the police station. When I walked into the police station Monday morning, I was happy when the policeman handed them to me. There weren't any car keys, but they were valuable keys. I hope the person who found them has a very Merry Christmas. Thanks a lot. It really was appreciated.

THIS IS TO THE person who said they had squeaky floors underneath the carpet. A possible solution: You'll have to pull back the carpet and pad to expose the floor. Sprinkle talcum powder in quite a thick layer and sweep that powder down into the cracks that may be between the floor boards, or, put a light sprinkling of talcum powder on that area where the squeak is and go ahead and put the carpet and pad back. Hopefully, in a few weeks, the squeaks should no longer be there. I read how to do this in a magazine on home improvement. Thank you very much.

I'M CALLING about Dr. Stewart and Dr. Browning. Just because we didn't have an earthquake Dec. 3 doesn't mean we won't have one tomorrow. And there'll probably be thousands of people who will survive because they were prepared. If you want to blame someone for public panic, blame the news media. Think about it.

THANK YOU. I'D just like to thank the gentleman who pushed my car off of the bridge for me and my two children last Friday night Dec. 7. It's nice to know there are still good people in the world who will help somebody in need.