SPEAKOUT

I TALKED WITH a gasoline wholesaler Dec. 17. The wholesale price of regular no lead on the date mentioned was .92 to .93 cents per gallon. Retail pump price for regular no lead in Cape Girardeau and Jackson on this same date was approximately $1.16 per gallon. It would seem there is approximately a 23-cent-per-gallon difference between the wholesale costs to the retailer and the retailer's price to the consumer. Now, my question is, who is the culprit? Thank you.

I DISAGREE WITH the "Oprah Winfrey" show very much today. They're talking about homeless children. Why don't the parents get out and work? Then they might have a future for the children. Thank you.

HEY, SCOTT CITY is just a small town in southeast Missouri and they've got their problems. They might not be as big as some of the big cities, but they are small-town problems, and the reporter who does all this reporting on them is not making things any easier. If they would just let up a little bit and let things come to a head, and then go down and find out what's happened, I think things would be better for Scott City and all the state of Missouri, really. Thank you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, SPEAK Out. I can't begin to guess where the caller got his information on wife beaters and child abusers in the state of Arkansas, but being a native of that state I can tell you first hand that he is very much mistaken. In that regard the same laws apply in Arkansas as in any other state. All the wife has to do is file charges against the abuser. However, if the caller arrived at such a conclusion from watching television, he must have been watching Dan Rather or "The Beverly Hillbillies." Most everything you see and hear on television or read in the newspaper you can take with a grain of salt, with the possible exception of the obituaries. Even then the obituaries can be mistaken and make misleading statements and omit pertinent facts, as well as get their facts wrong. To play it safe I believe only half of what I see happen with my own eyes because every story has two sides, and I believe perhaps one-third of what I see and hear on television, if any at all. For example, look how Dr. Dave Stewart was misquoted and quoted out of context by the media. So just sit back, relax, and be thankful that we have hope in the birth of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Speak Out.

I'D JUST like to say to West Park Mall that the older man who plays Santa Claus is the best I have seen in a long time, with his natural beard. He really looks the part of Santa Claus being old. He's the one they have on the commercials and they did a fine job this year of picking a Santa Claus. Thank you, West Park Mall.

I'D LIKE TO thank the gentleman who gave me a ride home Friday night. Thank you very much. I'm doing fine. My car's still going.

I WOULD BE SO happy if before I die the public would wake up to the fact that nine times out of 10 the director of a movie, the writers, and the publicity agent, make the star, not the star's acting ability. A director is stuck with a pretty face, the boss' daughter, the lover, the wife, the relative, the debtor of Superman's body or the relative of one who has a big name, and it's up to that director to make that person look like he can act. As an example, Roseanne Barr has a good writer, a good director, a good publicity agent. She knows somebody or knows something on somebody. Without those things you wouldn't look at her twice. She couldn't act her way out of a wet paper sack without her director. She looks like a slob and has the manners of a pig. If anybody can make a star out of that, then just imagine how many others have fooled you. Give credit where credit is due: to the directors, the writers, and the publicity agents, rather than to those they made stars. Thank you.

IN REPLY TO the uninformed source who made the statement that he would trade Michael Dukakis or Ted Kennedy for Margaret Thatcher: Well, to begin with it was the people of Massachusetts who elected these two people. They felt that they served them quite well during the past years. They felt that they had concern over the needs of the people, the aged, and the working poor and the poor. This fellow had better get the meaning of the word liberal. That means generous, something that Mr. Emerson could be more concerned about for the working poor and the needy and national health care insurance. Thank you.

THIS IS SOMETHING I feel should most definitely be said now. It must be either terribly boring or unbelievably elating to be perfect. Even though the theme today is thou shalt not smoke, there are still some of us who have not attained such perfection. In pushing the thou-shalt-not-smoke view, some non-smokers have lost sight of what is polite and what is downright rude. Some have begun or perhaps continued to think only of themselves, their own comfort and wellbeing, and nobody else's. I gave up a community service job on election day on my own volition because some 60-year-old woman, whom I had never seen before, was also working at the polls with me. She objected to my smoking on the premises, even though I asked for permission to smoke. However, she did not object to sitting in an unheated barn for 14 years in below-freezing weather on a concrete floor at her age. She would have died from pneumonia sooner than from my cigarette smoke. I ask you which is better? To insult, embarrass and humiliate somebody and live to be a disliked 150-year-old, or to be polite, understanding and tolerant, and die at age 60 dearly beloved. You're going to die whether it be from cigarette smoke or old age. Ignorance and ill-manners run hand-in-hand apparently. Thank you, Speak Out.

THIS IS TO whomever wrote in today's paper that if Heussin threatens to put our men in body bags then we should "nuke" them. Well, I have news for you: If we nuke them we'll all be in body bags. Thank you.

I'M JUST CALLING to say how much I enjoyed Dr. Crowe's list of new last names for Iben Browning. It provided a much-needed laugh after a very tense time. Thank you, Speak Out.

I WONDER WHEN the minimum wage will go up in Missouri. I believe employees of (a store) should be paid more because they work extremely hard to please the customers they wait on. This goes for all the stores that pay a grand total of $3.80 per hour. Thank you.

THIS IS ABOUT the Martin case. I'd just like for this paper to know that there are a big number of citizens in this territory who think your Speak Out is a phony. It doesn't speak out the true statements that have been called in there, and it's just not being done the way it's supposed to be done. I ain't worried about you printing this because you haven't printed anything else in support of Mr. Martin pertaining to this police officer. I just want to know what the general public in this area right here thinks about you. Thank you.

We don't know how you think Speak Out is supposed to be handled, but we're handling it the way we think it should be, and that is responsibly. In doing so, some comments are not published. It also sometimes is necessary to omit portions of comments as, you can probably tell, we did from yours.

I'M CALLING in reference to the person who wrote that the Speak Out column was the most stupidest thing they had ever read. I have lived in 39 states and in three countries. I always get the community paper. I think this is great because people are allowed to speak their mind. I see that you don't put the names in there. I think it's great; people ought to have something they can speak out for, and if they want their name put in it I think it should be put in there. Thank you.

We will publish in Speak Out the names of callers if they so wish upon confirmation that they are who they say they are.

I WOULD LIKE to make a comment about a radio announcer for a local station. This morning he made the comment that we should feel sorry for Willie Nelson and that it was a shame that the government was going to take away all of his property because he had failed to pay $10 or $15 million in back taxes. I think at a time when our government is having financial difficulties, that was an irresponsible and stupid statement to make. Thank you.

MY HEARTFELT thanks to the person who found my handbag by the blood-pressure machine on Saturday in Schnucks supermarket and turned it in to the service counter. Many, many thanks. You know who you are. Thank you.

TO WHOM IT MAY concern: I would like to put something in about the article concerning the golf course hiring a pro. I would like to know how many times Al Spradling has been at the golf course and how many times he has played the golf course. If he hasn't played it in the last year or two, and hasn't seen improvement, he doesn't have anything to say about the golf course. As far as Mary Wulfers saying something about it, she has never played it and has never been at the golf course one time. So, if they haven't played it within the last year or two, they don't have anything to say about it. Thank you very much.

IT SEEMS STRANGE to me that our Congress and senators spent a month or so trying to figure out how to cut the budget, but they can't figure out how not to take a raise, which will take all the money that they cut to try to save the budget. Thank you.

IN RESPONSE TO the party who presumed to tell these people who had their decorations stolen that they hate: I think this person is presuming a lot. I don't think there was any mention of hating people. I think it was the fact that anyone who did this certainly did it to be mean. There's no other reason for it. By the way, I do believe you have to ask for forgiveness before you're forgiven. I don't think there was any mention of hate. I think it was just righteous anger. Thank you.

TO THE PERSON WHO called into Speak Out saying that it was a stupid thing and everybody ought to have to print their name: Why didn't they print their name? Thank you.

THE COMMENTS I gave you about Jim Berkland were misquoted. So, if you want the full story on his earthquake predictions, get a copy of the old Farmer's Almanac for 1991. On Page 40 it will tell you how he makes his predictions, and in what newspapers they were printed. So you can research it and find out if it's true or not.

We apologize if we didn't understand you correctly. Thank you for calling back.