Speakout 11/17

Sunday, November 17, 2002

This is for all the people drawing Social Security, disabled and senior citizens. It wasn't the federal government or agencies that changed the spend-down role. The governor of Missouri changed it on his own. So I hope when it's time to vote for governor again, the disabled and senior citizens will remember what he did to us.

I'm calling about the article about hourly wages. The wage is too low and $6.50 is not very much to start out on. The public should realize that if you're a waitress in Sikeston, you only get $2.13 an hour and hopefully, tips, but that's no guarantee. I think it's wrong and has been wrong for years. The restaurant owners are getting richer and richer while poor people who work there only get $2.13 an hour wage and tips. I think this is very, very wrong.

The speed limit is 30 mph in the Mini Farms. Anyone living in or driving through the Mini Farms area should know the limit is 30 mph. Please slow down. A child was playing with his dog in our yard when a car traveling over the speed limit hit the dog and kept on going. She eventually came back to the house and said she was driving the speed limit of 45 mph. If people who live in the Mini Farms area do not know what the speed limit is here, then it is time for them to find out. My fear is that the car could have hit my son just as quickly as it hit his dog. Do we have to wait for a child to be killed before people use some common sense and slow down?

Can you find out why the schools in this area do not let out on Veterans Day when they let out on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday? If it wasn't for our veterans, this country would not be free today. Or is it just about race? I think this really puts down the veterans who risked and gave their lives so we could have a free country but then they let school out to honor one man. It's a disgrace that these men gave their lives, lost their arms and legs for our freedom and we can't even respect them on that day.

This is about Emmanuel Baptist Church on Ables Road. I would like to thank everyone who worked at the carnival they had a couple of weeks ago. My children had a wonderful time. They had great food and a great turnout and the people of the church just welcomed us with open arms. We had a wonderful time and if you are looking for a church, they would welcome you. I just wanted to thank them for that.

I have been a tree trimmer for 22 years. My company has trimmed trees all the time. I don't know of any trees that have ever been damaged as a result of trimming trees. You can control the size by trimming. The reason most people have their trees trimmed is because they get big and they get dangerous. Trimming the trees keeps them under control by saving lives and protecting homes and later trimming makes beautiful trees. If people are going to talk about trees, let's talk about how we are losing our national forests to make paper, so you can open your eyes. Something good is not bad. Bad things are where someone opens their mouth to try to hurt someone trying to make an honest living. So please, I ask you to stop trying to hurt someone by abusing local businesses that bring money to our local area. It is your return, so I'm asking you to please stop.

I'd like to comment to the person who called about "old-time farming works" in the Nov. 6 issue of the Sikeston paper. It says that the farmers returned manure to their fields. For the past 40 years you can drive out through the country, there are no farms anymore. Very few farms have any kind of livestock and I just wonder, what is generating all this manure? It sounds like a bunch of bull ----. This person should come to reality and drive out any country road and find out just how many farms are actually left. Instead of barns there are tool sheds. Tractors produce very little manure.

Mr. Bush says he is for peace. That is not the impression he leaves. All he talks about is that he'd like to go to Iraq and start war. He'd never finish the first one, so how can he start another one? He is a warmonger and that's it. He sure has gotten cocky since the election. Every time he comes on TV, I switch channels because I have no faith in him at all - never did. I wish I knew where all the jobs are that he said he has created for us. Also, the economy is lower than it has been in 10 years. He keeps saying he has done a lot. I would like to know what. He can't say what he has done because he hasn't done anything. We are worse off than we were even a year ago. How much worse is it going to get? You Republicans sure are dumb people.

I am calling about the eyesores in Vanduser. It's a waste of time to try to put them in their place.

I'm a working person. I went shopping today and there were two young people abut 24-25 years who were paying for their food with a food stamp card. Their bill was $528. My food bill was $4. 50. I had to pay taxes on mine. When you have food stamps you don't have to pay sales tax. They were wearing very, very expensive clothes and you wouldn't believe the expensive car they were driving. How can a working person beat the welfare system? If anybody can tell me how to beat the welfare system so I can get some help like these people were, please let me know. I don't know why our government and state don't crack down on welfare fraud and start doing something about this. This is getting to be ridiculous. The working people deserve a break in life. Deadbeats who have never worked are drawing everything.

A friend and I were discussing this the other day and neither of us could figure out who had the right answer to this question. If you live with someone or shack up with them for quite a few years, does the law consider you legally married or still just living together?

While some states consider such a long-term arrangement as "common law marriage," the state of Missouri does not. If the couple has lived together for a week or 50 years, they are still just living together if they reside in Missouri.

I found a man's class ring from 1966. To identify, please call 472-7950.