SPEAKOUT

Honesty is much appreciated

THIS GOES out to the lady who returned my purse to me on Tuesday. You went out of your way to bring it to my home. There are very few honest people like you, and it was much appreciated. Thank you so very much.

Heidi, don't change a thing

HEIDI NIELAND, thank you for telling it as it is. Keep it up. I look forward to hearing from you again. In the paper with the complaint, I'd read the title but not the content of your column in question. Luckily I still had last Wednesday's paper and could read the entire column. I wouldn't change a thing.

Letter writer is entitled to her opinions

THIS IS to the caller who called into attack Christine Stephens' letter in the paper. She had apparently written a letter about partial-birth abortion. She was relieved that a bill was passed to ban this in the state, and this caller was very angry and said Christine Stevens should raise these kids or take responsibility of these kids. This is a free country, and Christine Stephens has the right to her opinion. A lot of people happen to agree with her. I don't know the lady personally, but I have read her letters, and she seems to be quite a great individual in my mind. Her opinions make sense to me and to a lot of people. And to say she doesn't have the right to say these things or shouldn't say these things because she's not going to take personal responsibility for these kids is just ludicrous. That is no way that you can base laws on. Maybe someone's not going to take personal responsibility for all of the people when they get older, but we're all going to get older, and we're going to need someone to help us. It may not be Christine Stephens, but she has the right to speak up and say someone should help out older people or any human being that needs help.

Nice girls and boys don't do it

IN YOUR Sunday Lifestyle section, it says nice girls and nice boys do tattoos. I beg to differ with whatever you might have in there. Nice girls or nice boys -- anybody with common sense at all -- are not going to do tattoos. You can say, well, yeah, you see these guys running around with earrings in their ears. This is why society is going like it is right now. They don't have common sense to stay away from this garbage that has hit our society today. And this is why these young kids are coming up like they are now. Mom and Dad don't care whether they're raised right. They have them and then turn them loose. No, nice girls and nice boys don't do tattoos. They don't do earrings. It's getting to be almost as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah.

Grave concerns about molesters

THIS IS in regard to the caller saying that they would take the law into their own hands if a person were to molest their child. I believe more and more people will start feeling this way as the judicial system continues to fail us. I have heard rumors that other molesters want to move their trials to Cape County because we, the juries and judges, are easy on child molesters. Maybe our local signs will say, "Welcome to Cape, city of roses and child molesters." I feel sorry for the family who had to put their child through testifying only to get this sentence. I hope the judge read Kathleen Parker's column about how every person who commits a crime now has a good excuse, usually a dysfunctional childhood. I wish every registered voter, since they are the potential jurors, would have read this. I plan to use my voting power to elect some judges who are for child and family safety. Drug dealers concern me, but child molesters scare me to death.

Storm forecasts are appreciated

THANK YOU, KFVS-12 StormTeam for excellent reporting of the weather. My husband and I appreciate your reporting and letting us know the time a storm is to arrive in our area. We appreciate you.

Stop calling children kids

WHEREVER I go, whatever I read or see on television, I see and hear people all the time, without exception, referring to young people as kids. I'm an adult myself, but I think any person up to the age of 18 should be offended to be called kid. I have to go pick up my kid. Or how's my kid? Or your kids are in trouble. Kids: such a short, ugly, little word. It grates on my nerves. I don't know if it grates on the rest of you since you throw it around all the time. But I think they deserve some dignity and respect. Can we call them toddlers or teen-agers or adolescents or whatever is appropriate or young people or children? What's the matter with child and children? It sounds much more dignified. Kid is just a throwaway little word. I think if you call somebody kid, you don't think much of them. It's like they're a little animal or a possession, something that belongs to you.

Fans like Jerry Springer's TV show

THIS IS for all the Cape Girardeau people who do not like the Jerry Springer show. If you don't like it, then don't turn your TV on to watch it. My husband and I love the trashy show. We think it's hilarious. As far as the teen-agers watching it, most teen-agers should be in bed by 10:30. If the parents can't control what their teen-agers watch, then it's a pretty bad family situation.

Heidi's column is rude, crude

READING SPEAK Out, I just had to call in and agree with the two Speak Out comments complaining about Heidi Nieland. I have often thought there was no need for her column. It's just complete nonsense, plus it's crude and rude. I would be very happy if she were discontinued in our newspaper.

Heidi's column is relevant, entertaining

IN RESPONSE to the complaints of Heidi Nieland's column, I think she is always relevant, entertaining and thought-provoking. And her award was well deserved and the idiots deserved far more. Good work, Heidi.

Ideas should be freely expressed

WHAT'S WITH these people who, because they don't like something on television or something they have read in the paper, think that thing shouldn't exist? What type of mentality is that? I find it more and more in Cape Girardeau as I read this paper. There are many things in the paper and there are many things on television that I don't like, but I have a off button or I can simply ignore it. Because I don't like it doesn't mean other people shouldn't have the right to read or see or hear or whatever. To me, this is just inconceivable, and it goes beyond the definition of democracy. Who are these people?

Antidrug funds should target tobacco

AT LEAST one Speak Out commentator has recently suggested the focus for drug-related problems should place emphasis upon those persons using methamphetamine not cigarettes. Each year many more persons, 430,000, die from the accumulative effects of smoking than from all the illicit drugs combined. It is estimated that illicit drugs collectively account for about 20,000 deaths annually. This annual death rate for all illicit drugs is about 5 percent of the rate caused by tobacco. If money is to be allocated for the major drug problem, it would be to reduce the detrimental effects of tobacco. All too often when specific designations are made, more than 5 percent of the funds are allocated for drugs other than tobacco.

Christian homes don't have gun problems

EVERY TIME I hear of children killing their parents, I always think of what Jesus said in Mark 13:12: Children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. This is Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes all across this nation. I blame the parents for letting their children have guns and for not teaching their children about the Lord at an early age. Christian schools and homes do not have these problems, and I pray that young people will turn to Jesus, who is our only hope.

Society is brutal, and so are our children

IT'S 3 p.m., and the kids are home from school now. What's on TV? "Mortal Kombat." It starts out with killing, then later switches to more killing and finally finishes off with brutal violence and killing. Men, women and children are all killing and being killed. People of the '90s, we need not wonder why our children march into the school and unload their anger and hostility at teachers and peers. Notice that they start at home by killing their parents first, then finish the job at school. Kids of the '90s are raised by television sets and violent video games. The music they hear has been violent and Satanic for quite a while now. What goes in comes out sooner or later. I saw on the Discovery Channel that a kid in this country sees 200,000 violent acts on TV by the age of 10. Can you fathom that? Then you add the fact that the majority of homes are split or dysfunctional with no one there to give stability, security or to teach and train and nurture until they drag home too tired from a low-paying work place that's so stressful sometimes it's as sad and violent as the television set. Who's to blame? In my opinion, we're all dirty here. Big business no longer values the worker because they're not forced to anymore. In our own state of Missouri, many don't realize that if you're injured on the job, no matter who's at fault, you'll probably lose your job if you can't perform all the physical functions that you did before. The ADA doesn't protect you. Workers comp in this state is a joke in my opinion. It favors the employer big time. Parents are frustrated for the most part and then they either go on to their second minimum-wage job because of enormous financial cost of raising a family or they drag home and maybe by the grace of God can get it together and have enough energy to squeeze out for the kids. Our society is rampant with adultery and divorce and so many kinds of addictions and spiritual and moral bankruptcy. Blaming guns is just too simplistic and not in reality. We're all at fault here. I try to protect my kids from television but let's be honest, the only way to prevent them from seeing the brutal violence is to get rid of the TV and video games.

Children should play more games

OUR DEAR children don't need more gyms. They should play games like Monopoly, checkers and chess, dominoes and many others. They have tournaments set up for that. Gym is just an expensive something for them to go to and have more trouble. They should make their time worthwhile and play games like I mentioned.