SPEAKOUT

Maybe the wheel is turned

I SURELY think it's wrong for someone to smear the picture of Rush Limbaugh. I surely think he is wrong for him to smear the character of many people as he have over the airwaves. Maybe the wheel is turned.

Hope welfare reform really works

WE ARE going to find out if the welfare program worked. I hope it does. I say in 18 months' time if the Salvation Army hasn't asked to put in soup kitchens and the unemployment lines are not real long, I will say it worked. But time will tell. Whenever the chicken comes home to roost we will see if this welfare plan works. I hope it does. Good luck.

Look to lyrics for insights about time

J.R. KING recently wrote a thought-provoking letter to the editor about the concept of time. I've never thought about time in that fashion. I would place King's insight on a power with Stephen Hawking, who wrote the award winning "A Brief History of Time." Having said that, I have to confess I still believe the ultimate authorities on the subject of time are the Rolling Stones and the Chambers Brothers whose views on the subject were reflected in the songs "Time" and "Time Is on My Side". The Chambers Brothers were more pessimistic about the subject, feeling they were "tramped by endless time," while Mick Jagger was more optimistic with his "Time is on my side baby. Yes it is."

Watch out, now that Ross is back

OH, NO. Just when I thought we were finally finished with him, he is back. Now he will probably run for president again. Just out of curiosity, what gives Ross Perot the right to stick his nose into the Israeli crisis? Ross is not my boss.

Money is why Clinton didn't intervene

I WOULD like to respond to the caller and speak out about Bill Clinton thinking of the workers and the UPS strike and not interfering with this strike. I would like to inform this person that money is the reason why Bill Clinton does not intervene with this UPS strike. Just look at the money that the Teamsters union put into his campaign. This is the reason why Bill Clinton didn't interfere in the UPS strike. Money. Money. Money.

Enrollment decline? Fewer going to college

A SPEAK Out caller recently told us Southeast Missouri State University's enrollment has dropped off because standards for entering are more difficult. That certainly is a possibility. However, that is at best a hypothesis. The only thing we can say with any degree of certainty is that Southeast Missouri State University enrollment has dropped because the number of students choosing to matriculate has declined.

Father laments not having his children

HERE IS another newly divorced gentlemen who is screwed over by the court system -- a man who has two small kids and who wants them and loves them. The judge in his infinite wisdom has decided that this man cannot have his children as often as he would like. They deem it more necessary for the mother to have them, who doesn't stay home with them anyway. What is a man to do to get his rights as a father? How can the court tell me that I have no right to have my children as often as I would like to have them? This child-care system definitely needs to be worked over. You have a man who wants the best for his children, and the court tells him he can't.

Questions P&Z approval of double-wide

I CAN'T believe that Planning and Zoning has OKed a double-wide on College Street. Reading in the paper about the application was the first time I have heard about this. You bet I would have objected. How can you reject an application in part of the city and OK it in another? Is it because we are down south? It's a lot too small for a house or trailer. We don't want it because it will open up the possibility of there being others OKed.

No one charged with attempted murder?

SO LET me get this straight. Of the four people involved in the cemetery shooting, nobody was charged with attempted murder. How can that be? If you shot someone in the face, I have to think you are attempting to murder them. What's going on with the justice system in this country?