Pride: The great mistake (04/29/09)
There is a Proverb quote that goes something like: "Pride and poverty don't get along, but often live together." Very poignant stuff and also something that I found to be true this last week. Everything started so innocently as it most often does. I was sitting with a couple of co-workers, typing up track results, when the topic of how fast we could or couldn't run came up. ...

Speakout (02/11/09)
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Your View: Be Like Abe (01/28/09)
Throughout his campaign, Barack Obama invoked the name and memory of Abraham Lincoln. Initially, I thought he was simply reaching out to middle America. But he continued after the election, when he no longer needed to. In his election night speech in Grant Park, he said: "Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. ...

Speakout 1-28 (01/28/09)
It seems funny, this old man comes around sticking his nose in where he's not wanted. I don't see why he don't go home. He doesn't have any relatives down around this town. I'll sure be glad when Obama gets to be president. I've never been so tired of every time you turn the TV on, his picture is on and they're telling something about him. ...

Super Bowl just isn't that super (01/28/09)
I was not going to discuss today's subject out of fear of personal embarrassment. I have no desire to be labeled unmanly or unAmerican. But as the day draws closer, it's time for a confession. So here goes. I couldn't care less who plays in - much less wins - Sunday's Super Bowl. There I said it...

SpeakOut 1-27 (01/27/09)
Can the recently mentioned grocery angel reduce food prices? Mike, I was very disappointed not to receive the weekly TV guide last week in my Sunday paper. Thought it was just a problem in the delivery to your paper. This week it is missing again. What's going on? I know the daily schedule is printed in the paper each day, but I sure liked having the separate guide to plan out my TV viewing for the whole week. ...

Responsibility begins with you (01/21/09)
I had no plans of revisiting the Obama inauguration in today's column because you and I both know that more than enough words have been spoken or written about this special event. But I cannot escape the news that surrounds me and for some unknown reason, I am compelled to write one final time on the emotions that blanket our nation.\...

Speakout 1-17 (01/18/09)
President Elect Obama has called on all Americans to make Jan. 19, a day of public service. This doesn't have to be a big, organized project, and since many of us will be working that day, it doesn't require an all-day commitment. Take a moment and look around your neighborhood or workplace. ...

Let's celebrate changes ahead (01/18/09)
History will be made Tuesday with the inauguration of Barack Obama as our nation's president. For those of us who did not favor his candidacy, it's time to shelve partisan politics for the moment and to celebrate the peaceful, democratic change in our government...

SpeakOut 1-16 (01/16/09)
One of the many things I've had trouble coping with is that the future just isn't what it used to be This is in response to the idiot who called saying that Sikeston has only had a decent team since 1971. That is the most ridiculous comment. Sikeston has a great team and it isn't only Mike who contributes to the team - look at Cal, Qualin, Darryl and the others. ...

Your View: Where's the news? (01/15/09)
What happens when the U.S. Military wins a war that liberals officially condemned as a war that couldn't be won? Well the news media they control has to remain silent. And we have to search for the truth from some other source than the main stream brainwashing machine controlled by Liberal Democrats who would rather see our troops defeated and America to be subservient to Anti-American interests, than recognize a successful Republican initiated response to Islamic terrorism. ...

SpeakOut 1-15 (01/15/09)
This is in regards to the Xanax article. I am very grateful to my doctor providing it for me. Without it, my life would be very stressful. I have severe panic attacks, and I really feel like it helps me when I take it. I don't take it daily, just when I feel a panic attack coming on. ...

SpeakOut 1-14 (01/14/09)
A home schooling mother was asked, "Aren't you concerned about your son's missing out on the socialization with other kids?" My wife gave this response: "Go to your local middle school, junior high, or high school, walk down the hallways, and tell me which behavior you see that you think our son should emulate." Sure, Sikeston has the best schools in the nation, I know, every community feels that way. ...

Accountability, respect is needed (01/14/09)
I'm not at all certain just how you accurately gauge the decline in civilization but I know it when I see it. We can discuss until we're blue in the face exactly why violence is such a part of our society. Experts tell us that poverty (the oldest excuse in the books), lack of a two-parent households or the media are somehow to blame for the ever-increasing level of violence within our society...

SpeakOut 1-13 (01/13/09)
I agree with the SpeakOut commentator who said farmers work 10 times harder than the ordinary guy. For one thing, carpal tunnel syndrome is running rampant among many landowning farmers who own land all over the Bootheel. That is because of having to spend virtually all day raising and lowering their windshields...

SpeakOut 1-12 (01/12/09)
Thank you for hitting the nail on the head with putting some of the blame on retailers and especially pointing out the rudeness of some of their employees. At one certain chain store we were shopping at this Christmas season we ended up pushing our basket of merchandise aside and walking out of the store due to the very rude remark a sales clerk made to us when we asked for a particular item. ...

Endless rhetoric is becoming numbing (01/11/09)
I'm tired! I'm tired of reading bad news and I'm tired of funerals. I'm tired of hearing how my success - limited though it may be - should be shared with others. I'm tired of reading where the outgoing Blunt administration has spent $1.5 million trying to avoid releasing emails from the Governor's office...

SpeakOut (published 01/11) (01/11/09)
Trophy trashing I would like to comment on the tournament held in Poplar Bluff last week that the Bulldogs were in. I witnessed poor sportsmanship from a certain member of the team. After he accepted the trophy, he walked by and acted like he was throwing it in the trash. ...

SpeakOut 1-09 (01/09/09)
This is to all the stores that claimed they have lost so much money this year all because people aren't buying like they once did. What do they expect from us? They all had this big idea, let's close our stores down over here in U.S., and open up stores where we don't have to pay our workers no more $5 a day, and no health and dental insurance. ...