Just one vote

I WONDER how many political candidates realize that very little of what they said had much influence on voters, who know the candidates can't do what they promise. They only have one vote if they get elected.

Best subdivision

I AM a property owner and resident of Whispering Oaks subdivision in Cape Girardeau. I don't think there's a nicer subdivision in Missouri or in the United States. We have gated entry. We have beautiful trees. We have wonderful streets. We had a developer who planned the subdivision to the utmost perfection. What is the problem with those who don't understand restrictions?

Take a worldview

THIS Missouri Baptist Convention held in Cape Girardeau is puzzling to me. I'm a retired Navy officer. As a naval aviator I flew all over the world and had contact with all kinds of religions. I grew up in Southeast Missouri and attended a General Baptist church that was across the street from my one-room school. I learned quite a lot in that one-room school, and we had quite a bit interaction with the church. I went to school at Puxico High School and I became the valedictorian. I didn't have any trouble with religion. But this Southern Baptist thing troubles me. What are they talking about? Have they ever been around? Do they know anything about the world? Have they ever traveled? Do they understand what the world stands for? I wish they would look at the world and understand what's against us. These people are not against us. It's just some people who are radicals.

Tax-cut benefits

LET THE good times roll. I just read in the Southeast Missourian that the economic situation is really great for labor: "Employee compensation climbed by 5.3 percent over the past year. That gain matched a 12-month increase ending in the late 1990s and was the fastest since a 5.8 percent rise in the 12 months in fourth quarter of 1982." And people are still wanting to end President Bush's tax cuts out and go back to a system that would destroy the benefits for the people who are working and making this money.

Don't understand

IRAN IS one of those countries that gets upset if someone makes fun of the Islamic faith. Yet its leader can make fun of the Holocaust. On the other hand, if you can dress up as a devil on Halloween, why can't a person dress as Hitler? "The Producers" was a Broadway hit. It was a joke. So why can't a student elect to dress as Hitler? Sometimes I don't understand where people's heads are.

School nutrition

I'M A parent in the Scott City School District, and I have been reading Speak Out about students dieting and exercising. I recently had to take my daughter to the doctor because school officials thought she was underweight from malnutrition. So she's on vitamins still has to walk the track. Then they have all diet food at school. I think it's unfair for me to have to pay for my children's lunch that is all diet, and my children are having to be seen by a doctor, as the school demanded, because she's underweight.

Democrats in military

A SPEAK Out comment said all Democrats hate the military. I'm a hard-headed Democrat from a family of Democrats who have volunteered and served in the Marines. I was wounded. A brother died from Agent Orange. So how dare anyone say Democrats hate the military. We fly our red, white and blue with pride. Stupid is as stupid does.

No correlation

THE CORRELATION between the amount of money spent per child in the education system and his achievement is zero.

Church is for everyone

CHURCH IS for everyone, even screaming children. I think it's better that everybody is in church to show their faith toward God. You can thank God anywhere, anytime. It doesn't have to be in church.

Threat continues

WHEN THE United States left Vietnam, the Viet Cong did not follow us home. But be assured, when the United States leaves Iraq, al-Qaida will.

Avoiding the leaves

WHY IS it that Jackson uses its expensive street sweeper machine to make two or three runs through the clean center of the streets in Indian Hills while carefully bypassing the accumulation of fall leaves along the curbs? About this time each year, I watch in total amazement as this redundant tax-funded exercise is repeated every week or two. Do the Jackson city maintenance supervisors ever check the work their employees do?

Government monitor

A NOTE to the terrified person who says our Bill of Rights is dead: Your fears are probably justified. You are being searched out and staked out to see why you live like you do. Get real. It's paranoia that creates unreasonable fear. The only ones who need to fear are those who deal with terrorists and subversives. If all the government has to do is to listen to my phone calls, monitor my Internet use and watch me go to work, to church and to the stores, then it's because there are no problems in our country. I'd cherish the reality of no problems.

Fantastic job

I WOULD like to thank all the workers who had anything to do with the beautiful job they did on Route K and U.S. 61. They did a fantastic job in a little time.

Poor timing

WOULDN'T IT have been better if they'd shot Saddam Hussein when they found him instead of this mock of a trial and a death sentence two days before the U.S. elections? They held Napoleon on an island. Why couldn't we have done the same for Saddam Hussein? Let him live out his life on an island. The whole trial procedure seems absurd. Look at all the innocents who we have killed since we started this war in Iraq. Somehow we see ourselves as better. President Bush ought to be ashamed to have Saddam's death sentence come out two days before the election. Couldn't the results have waited until after the election?

Shouldn't complain

A TRUE Christian should not complain about who's sitting in church. A child will never learn to stop screaming if you keep giving in to every whim.

Government goodies

GREAT JOB, Scott Moyers. It's a hoot to read about developers who no doubt boast of the virtues of being self-made fall all over themselves in attempting to get taxpayer-financed government goodies.

Talented teens

CONGRATULATIONS to Cynthia King and the cast for a wonderful rendition of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap." It was fun, flawless and fulfilling to see teens with so much talent.

Small-town living

WHAT A wonderful town we live in. I went to the church in my precinct to vote. I use a walker, and three people stopped to see if I needed any help. Another opened the door for me. That says a lot for small-town living, doesn't it?

Parental involvement

I CAN predict the success of students by making a list of the parents who come to parent-teacher conferences and those who don't. Get with it, parents. You do your job, and I'll do mine, which is teaching your child. It's not being forced to make daily phone calls to beg you to come to school for a conference.

Quick executions

IF SADDAM Hussein is hanged in February, the time from conviction to execution will be three months. Why can't we have the same process here instead of wasting all of our tax money letting those on death row live? Example: Scott Peterson. It will be at least 10 more years until he is put to death. Do the math. That is a lot of tax money spent on him to live. Now add up all the people on death row in the United States.

Disband school boards

WHILE I would credit those who suggest that too much government intervention fails to provide quality education, I would also suggest that local school boards could stand to be disbanded. For some reason, people think that because they give birth to children that they know how to educate them. They aren't raising them at home, so why should we expect them to raise them in school? That's like me going to a construction site and demanding to be a construction crew leader because I built a planter box on the weekend. Teaching is a craft, not a right. It is odd that we place the people who are the least knowledgeable of educational techniques in the forefront of education decisions. While I do hold the government responsible for sweeping rhetoric that says nothing about real learning, and the state for adherence to internal policy over the value of the child, the first key step in education reform is to remove people who think they know best by virtue of raising the child and replace them with people, like teachers, who are trained in learning techniques. Disband school boards with local agendas and you'll begin to see what real educational growth is about, because teachers are the ones who are trained to know.

Wonderful finish

CONGRATULATIONS TO the Central Marching Tigers on winning second place at the Greater St. Louis Marching Competition. What a wonderful finish for this year's season. If you have not been able to watch these talented and dedicated teens perform, you can hear them as they march in this year's Veterans Day parade.

Not that stupid

A PERSON came to my front door Tuesday and wanted to know if I had voted. He offered to take me if I needed a ride. Why would I get in a pickup truck with a complete stranger? Better yet, why would I leave my house unattended so he could tell his friends to rob me while I'm gone? I may be old, but I'm not stupid.

Rowdy disruption

WHEN I go to an establishment for coffee and conversation, I don't want it ruined by rowdy children whose mother ignores them while they run amok. Control your children or stay at home and teach them some manners. If they don't listen to you now, what are you going to do when they get to be teenagers?