Speak Out 6/30/07

Dalhousie vs. downtown

Gary Rust is a civic booster far beyond anyone else in Cape Girardeau's proud history. That I disagree with him occasionally on the events he singles out for effusive praise pales in comparison, given the overall outpouring of his civic pride and promotion. Having said that, I must respectfully disagree with his view that the Dalhousie golf tournament was "one of the great sporting events in the history of Cape Girardeau." Aside from the debate as to whether golf is a sport, off the top of my head I can think of at least 100 sporting events that top the one to which Rust refers. I'll mention but one, since it ran concurrently with the Dalhousie event. To me, and I realize it's just my opinion, the Dalhousie tourney was superseded in quality by Cape's downtown golf tournament. In addition, Rust mentioned that Dalhousie has been ranked as the No. 1 golf course in Missouri. That may be true, but I'll bet the downtown golf course is recognized as the No. 1 urban course in the whole country, if not the entire world.

Storing the statues

It's sad to know that they are putting the majority of the World's Fair statuary at Southeast Missouri State University in storage once again. I wonder what James Parker thinks about this plan. Why move them so no one can see them? Putting only a few in the Alumni Building makes no sense. The article in the paper said the alumni appreciate them so they are moving 10 statues there. Well, the reason the alumni appreciate them is because as students they saw them and knew about them. How can the present students, who will become alumni, appreciate them when they won't get to see them? I bet the idea came about simply because they did not fit in with the new River Campus.

Where's justice?

I WOULD like to make a comment on the gentleman with the sign for his business. I live at an apartment complex where there was a drug bust two months ago. The dealer and his girlfriend spent the night in jail and this poor man gets five days for having a sign. Where's the justice in that? By the way, the drug dealer is still dealing.

Managing traffic

NOW THAT the work on Broadway is finished and traffic is again running smoothly, it is now a good time to fix the lights at Broadway and Caruthers Avenue. Many times when I go to work early in the morning, the light turns red for Broadway traffic when there are absolutely no cars at all on Caruthers. And also at Broadway and Houck Place, there needs to be a sign put up telling people that the street narrows going east from two lanes to one. I have seen many near accidents from cars with out-of-state plates.

Tourism boost

A WATER park brings in loads of tourist dollars? When I take my children to Farmington, we pack a cooker with drinks and snacks and we spend the day at the water park and then we drive back home.

Matters of color

BLACKS WANT to be treated the same as whites. Then why do we constantly break things out showing how many blacks and how many whites? Why do we say so many black people were pulled over by the police or so many black students did poorly in school? Why don't we just say there were this number of people pulled over, some were black and some were white? It doesn't matter what color you are. We should all be judged the same. If we're misbehaving and need to be pulled over, then by golly, pull us over. If we're black or white, doesn't matter. If we would just quit segregating and separating we could become one people regardless of color.

Defying the law

THE GENTLEMAN with the mattress sign was sent to jail because he defied the law for better than a year. He should have been able in a year to at least get a permanent sign.

Padding pockets

WHEN I voted for a raise in the minimum wage, I did so thinking it would help people out. As I see it, some employers took advantage of the situation, raised prices, spent more on advertising and even hired more help, using the minimum wage as an excuse to pad their own pockets. Shame on them.

Big easements

I'M CALLING in reference to the gravel roads in the county being paved. They're requiring 60-foot easements, 30 feet each way from the center of the road. We don't even have that on Highway 72, which is a state road. I can't blame the people for not wanting to lose that much property. I doubt that anyone else would. I'd like to know why they want that much property.

Paris reborn

As a result of her incarceration, I predict Paris Hilton will have undergone such a dramatic change that she will declare herself a Christian conservative Republican and begin running for public office on a born-again platform.

Golf was good

GOOD JOB, Charlie Herbst and thank you for all you do. What a great event. We'll definitely be back for the Third Annual First Ever Downtown Golf Tournament.

Inflated egos

If we get an immigration bill passed and signed into law, it will be in no small part because Congress wants to show the inflated ego radio talk show hosts that they don't run the country.

Save Internet radio

I love to listen to Internet radio. Today, all Internet radio stations went silent in order to protest efforts by AM and FM satellite radio stations to drive them out of business. If you are a fan of Internet radio, please contact your representative or senator in the U.S. Congress. Ask him/her to sponsor and support the Internet Radio Equality Act.

Funeral advice

Your reprint of Yogi Berra's commencement address to SLU grads inspired me to look for more wisdom from Yogi. One gem of the many I've found is Yogi's advice to "Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise they won't come to yours."

Voting biases

I suspect the number of women who will vote for Hillary Clinton only because she is a woman is less than the number of men who will vote against her for the same reason. The same can probably be said about Barack Obama's skin color and Mitt Romney's religion.

Playing politics

Apparently having two master's degrees and a doctorate does not prevent you from being blind. Hillary's experience? There are many qualified people in both parties with substantially more experience in office. Intelligence? Oh, please, do not give me that "smartest woman in the world" stuff again. My wife, and most women I work with, could run circles around her on any given day of the week. Unfortunately, none of them can afford a publicist. Integrity? I may stop laughing sometime next week, There is no integrity in politics. It's all about power. In all your studies, did you look into a study in reality and common sense?

Seeking listeners

LIMBAUGH, HANNITY, Savage et al. are successful because they bring in advertising dollars to the radio station. Why? Because people want to hear what they have to say, and that translates to sales for the advertisers and advertising dollars spent to advertise on their shows. Who would pay for the opposing viewpoint on the radio stations? Airtime is not free. The government, meaning the taxpayer? The Constitution guarantees everyone the right to free speech, but no one is guaranteed a paid public forum to express their opinions. I suggest that you try to help the left to find someone who will draw a national audience large enough to draw the advertising dollars required to make such a show work.

Trial needed

Why does the city of Cape Girardeau refuse to allow Dennis McDonald a trial as provided by the Missouri Revised Statutes? Is it because they know that he will win if he ever gets a real trial? Giving him "shock time" is equivalent to the bully on the playground who puts his hand on your throat and squeezes until you give in.

Male rights

I am a disgruntled male rights advocate. There are two reasons. 1. SHE magazine has objectified men with its sexiest man contest. 2. I wasn't nominated.

Enough taxes

To the person who said what is the big deal about a half-cent tax increase consider this: Every time they add a new tax, my family suffers. I make no more money today than I did six months ago. It is time for the government to be more responsible with its planning and spending. Gas prices are going up, milk prices are going up, meat prices are going up and the government wants to take more and more of my paycheck. I say enough is enough.

Keeping score

You deserved a birdie for your initial coverage of Dalhousie's golf tourney. It was reduced to par when you began to patronize Dalhousie-ites. When the praise began to be effusive your newspaper coverage score dropped to bogey. Today, the repetitive nature of your editorial heaping still more praise on what is, after all, only a golf course, earned you a disappointing double bogey.

More equal

Is there any difference between a government where laws are selectively enforced and a dictatorship? This question was posed by a Speak Out caller. The answer is yes. Selective enforcement of the law is exclusively characteristic of representative democracies whereby everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.

Women administrators

It's a really bad thing that people in Southeast Missouri think that only men have what it takes to be good administrators. What am I going to tell my daughter now? Should I tell her that the Lord wrote in the holy book that women are not good enough, that they are supposed to be housewives forever and should stay put forever? I am a man, and I am appalled at views like these. I want my daughter to grow up to be whatever she wants to be, to go as high as she dreams. But apparently this is against God's will. Oh the places you won't go.

Powerful voices

Congress has lost control. There are at least three forces more powerful in influencing and even controlling public opinion in this country. They are, in ascending order: 3. cable TV 2. talk radio 1. Speak Out.

Wrong lesson

I'M HAPPY to see our athletic director and assistant principal at Jackson has resigned. I know he hasn't been found guilty yet, but he was proved drunk while driving and had drugs with him. The only problem I have is that our superintendent says something in the paper about he provided a great service to the community and the district. I, as a taxpayer, severely disagree with that. He did provide a service to the community but in doing so he taught the children the wrong lesson.

Nobody cares

I'M JUST a lonely old person, just do my work in pain. Nobody cares. According to my spouse, a couple gets married just to make sex legal. Love doesn't enter the picture. Go nowhere to have fun, nothing but four walls.