Speak Out A 07/19/03

Recipe for disaster

I CAN'T think of a better recipe for getting us out of this meaningless war in Iraq than the ideas which were suggested by a Speak Out contributor: Send in several hundred thousand more troops. Then reinstitute the draft and blend in several hundred thousand more troops. Add 10 years and 30,000 or 40,000 dead American soldiers. Mix.

Always complaining

I GUESS it is in our nature, but it seems people just want something to complain about. And we give others reasons to complain about us as well. From school issues to government taxes to crime, there is always plenty of criticism going on. With all these experts, why aren't things any better? "Do all things without complaining and disputing." Anybody know where that sentence can be found? If this is the Bible Belt, why is it that I see and hear more belt than Bible? Live it or walk away from it. Stop being hypocrites.

Lessons for the Georges

IT WAS because we started sending in more and more troops that Vietnam turned into an quagmire, which did not end until our last troops were helicoptered out of Saigon. They didn't want us there. No number of American troops would have won in Vietnam. It's the same with Iraq. We taught this lesson to England's mad King George 3 in our own Revolutionary War, and we taught it again to his feckless son King George 4 in the War of 1812. How long will it take for George 41 and his son George 43 to figure out this basic law of history? How many will have to die?

Safer part of trail

FOR THOSE disgusted with bicyclists on the bike trail, try walking from Shawnee Park toward Bloomfield Road. The traffic is considerably less than by the Osage Community Center. In defense of bicyclists, they too also have a right to utilize the trail. Maybe all that is needed is patience and understanding of other people.

Not a place to visit

TOURISM IS not booming in Cape Girardeau because there's very little for tourists to do here. Giving Cape a new $42,000 nickname isn't going to change that. Cape is a great place to live, but would you really want to visit?

Too hot for school

I AGREE that Cape Girardeau schools are starting way too early. It is too hot. Ask any teacher how good the so called air conditioning in the schools are. The doors to the schools are always left open, making the hot air even worse. Then add P.E. and recess and coming back to a hot classroom. Add in the four hours of homework every night, 15 minutes for lunch if they are lucky, no study hall in high school and a very short summer, and the problem of overcrowding will no longer be a problem when we all home school our children.

Grateful for raise

THIS IS one Jackson school teacher who is not complaining about the raise we received. In this fiscally tight year, we should be grateful that our salaries weren't frozen. That was a real possibility. Having worked in other schools, I can tell you that we are very fortunate our Community Teachers Association and salary committee worked as hard as they did. It's time to suck it up and go on, folks.

Not a tourist town

CAN ANYONE give me a reason to vacation in Cape Girardeau? How many days would it take to see all the things that are interesting to tourists? I'd rather go somewhere that has something of real interest. This isn't to say that Cape isn't a great town, but a tourist town it is not. There are many things that can be seen in Cape while people are here for other reasons like shopping or eating. The water park was a good idea, but the city's way of paying for it wasn't. Until the citizens of Cape realize that other strengths need to be capitalized on instead of tourism, the CVB will continue to waste money.

What others see

WHY ARE some people so closed-minded when it comes to hiring a consultant to develop a slogan for the city? We don't need to know what we see. We need to know what a detached observer feels is important. If the new slogan brings in tourists and other businesses, the $42,000 will have been well spent. If it doesn't, it didn't take food from your mouth. Let's just see what happens and judge then.

The cost of war

THE COST of our first four Persian Gulf wars (Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq) is approaching $100 billion. For that price we could build a 2001-style space station, establish a permanent human settlement on the moon or send a crew to visit Mars. If we had not decided to go from a $200 billion yearly budget surplus to a $400 billion yearly budget deficit, we could do all three of these things plus reinforcing Social Security, extending Medicare funding to all working Americans who do not have health insurance and provide a true prescription benefit to all those over 65. Instead, we have chosen wars and ineffectual tax cuts.