Speak Out 7/7/06

Overtime duties

COME ON, city council. We're paying somebody overtime to take down yard-sale signs. Is that a security risk?

Vote on signs

I BET if you let the residents of Cape Girardeau vote on the sign ordinance, you'd have a little different outcome. I'm sure they're really happy to have paid 40 hours of overtime to police officers taking down garage-sale signs here and there. Maybe the city council ought to rethink what the people want and not just what it wants.

Self-service is best

I MUST object to the comment in Speak Out about the Schnucks self-service checkout lane. I am thrilled to see it. Self-service lanes are so much more efficient and much faster. I can check myself out in about one-third the time it takes for the cashier lanes. I use them every time I can find one.

Enforcement pride

HOW PROUD a policeman must feel to tear down a sign advertising a garage sale. I'm sure when he enlisted to be a policeman, that was his primary goal. But please leave that political sign alone, because it is considered free speech. There's something wrong here.

Teacher seminars

IT IS a given that the teacher in Jackson who resigned should not have said she went to a seminar when she didn't. Having said that, most seminars are worthless if not downright counterproductive. They are filled with meaningless recommendations for teachers. Seminars give teachers a break from the classroom, and this may be good, though hiring substitutes is a big part of the school systems' budget and the bill is footed by the taxpayers.

Crazy sign law

ALTHOUGH I do not live in Cape Girardeau, I agree the new sign ordinance is crazy. If the sign is in your own yard on your own property, why should that be a violation? I offer a suggestion: Tape the signs in your vehicle side window and drive around. If the sign isn't blocking your view, it shouldn't be illegal. It's no different than posting a for-sale sign in your car window. I say think creatively. The city should be ashamed of admitting it wasted 40 hours of overtime on this nonsense. Catch some criminals and quit wasting the taxpayers money.

Religious freedom

I FOUND June Seabaugh's column to be scary. I don't want to live in any country where fundamentalist Christians run my life according to their strange worldview. I see an America that sticks to the separation of church and state envisioned by Jefferson, where people have freedom of expression and choice about religion or the choice of no religion at all. God help us if people like Seabaugh have their way. It won't be America any more if they do.

Where were you?

WHAT I find so humorous about the sign ordinance is what happens with so many ordinance: No one complains until it is in effect. Where were all you gripers when the sign ordinance was being considered? Like so many with voting, it wasn't important to you until you were affected. You want no part of the process, but you are there to complain afterward and yell about those who passed the ordinance. To make a difference means you get involved all the time, not just when it affects you. Either stand up and be counted or sit down and shut up.

Press freedom

PEOPLE LIKE columnist Kathleen Parker have fed the anti-media frenzy for years and are having second thoughts because they realize they've created a monster. It's too late. Freedom of the press will soon pass from the scene.

Too much taxation

STOP ASKING for more laws that give government more control over how we choose to live. And all you tax lovers should stop trying to give more of our money to the government. Can't you see the government's appetite for money and control is insatiable? How much will you give up before you say enough is enough? Your government is supposed to serve you, not the other way around. Have you ever seen a law or tax you didn't like?

Wrong priorities

I'M A little confused. With all the speeders and loud car stereos, both illegal, why is the police department making garage-sale signs its top priority? These signs do no harm whatsoever, but speeders can kill and loud stereos are an assault on your hearing. It seems there needs to be a little reshuffling of priorities. Spending all those extra hours on garage sale signs? Give me a break.

Socialist economics

SOCIALISM IS an economic system, not a political system as Forbes publisher Richard Karlgaard and, by extension, Gary Rust, attempted to convince us. Socialism can exist along with any form of political system from democracy to dictatorship. Capitalism is also an economic system and can exist within the framework of any political system. For example, the U.S. has a regulated capitalist system but is moving in the direction of a political dictatorship.