SPEAKOUT

Scare tactics

I KEEP hearing the most stupid things, like the Republicans want to cut Medicare to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. The Democrats in Congress are part of that very wealthy. We pay them a big salary, and they work mostly for themselves and their wealthy contacts. To get more perks we pay for the very best medical care for them and retirement in the millions of dollars. They have all kinds of perks and laws to protect some of their salary from taxes. Stop frightening people about Medicare. It has to be changed or we will lose. Most of us do not have multimillion-dollar pensions.

Guilty verdict

ABOUT the O.J. Simpson trial: I'm a 70-year-old white male, and I have no doubt that O.J. Simpson is guilty. I've watched most of the trial. I have no doubt that he was at the scene of the crime and that he killed Ron Goldman. His hair particles were left on Ron Goldman. His blood was left at the scene. Ron Goldman's blood and Nicole Brown Simpson's blood was in his vehicle. He left his gloves at the scene and at his home with blood on them. He's guilty. If I was on the jury, I would vote without a doubt that's he's guilty.

Critic and critical

I WOULD like to know who died and made Sam Blackwell music critic. I'm referring to his review of Holly Dunn. Another thing: Men and boys who stand there during the National Anthem with their hats and caps on -- I'd just like to slap them. Didn't their parents teach them any respect?

Library reciprocity

AS SOMEONE who lives in Cape Girardeau but not in the Cape library district, I am very interested in the 18-cent Riverside Library assessment. That would represent $27 of my real estate taxes. Since the only library I would reasonably be using is the Cape library at a yearly fee of $24, my annual library bill would be $51. Now if a reciprocity of library usage could be negotiated with the Cape library or, better yet, a merger of the Cape library with Riverside, we would have a library system the entire county could support.

No cruise, no fee

IF THE gambling boats are not going cruise the rivers, then they should not be allowed to charge a entrance fee to get on the boat.

Save the barn

I'M CALLING regarding the article on developer Steven Strom and his log barn that he's offering to the city. If he feels like it's worthwhile keeping, why doesn't sacrifice some of his money that he hopes to earn and preserve the barn himself?

Letting O.J. speak

THANK YOU, Judge Ito, for allowing O.J. to speak. It convinced me of his guilt.

Environmental jobs

I WOULD like to know what these environmentalists who are demonstrating in the Shawnee National Forest do for a living. Do these people work or are they on some kind of aid? I'd also like to know what kind of houses they live. Do they live in mud houses?

Compassionate column

HEIDI NIELAND, you're going to make a good journalist after all. Thanks for your column saying goodbye. It had much compassion.

Cause of death

IT'S MY impression that a newspaper is supposed to print the news. So why does the Missourian have it's policy of never printing the cause of death in it's obituaries?

REPLY: The Southeast Missourian respects the wishes of family members regarding death notices.