Speakout 10/10

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

I just returned from watching the Cotton Carnival Parade, and while I enjoyed watching the parade, I was appalled by the eyesore of litter and trash along the parade route on Malone Avenue. The people in this town are very inconsiderate and have no respect for other people's property. After the parade, employees of businesses along Malone were out with trash cans and brooms cleaning up this mess. It is understandable that a parade does generate some trash, such as gum and candy wrappers, but it was the other things I saw that was sickening - soda cups, water bottles, fast food bags, not to mention all the propaganda from the politicians and churches which nobody really wants. If you bring the trash with you, take it with you. The streets are not a dumping ground for your trash. Those who dump are very low-class, lazy people who are not respecting their city and making the place where they live look bad. The people of Sikeston should be ashamed of themselves. The organizers of the carnival, city leaders and law enforcement need to take a hard look at ways to alleviate this problem in the future. One street sweeper after the parade isn't going to do the trick. This is a total embarrassment to the city.

This is in response to a speak out article about Christians against stem cell research. I know of no educated Christians that oppose adult stem cell research, and to state that which one does not know is to speak out of ignorance. Amendment 2, if passed, will mandate the cloning and destruction of human life at taxpayers' expense. Before you vote you need to read this amendment. Embryonic stem cell research is not against any state law, so why do we need a constitutional amendment for embryonic stem cell research? Currently, all embryonic stem cell research has to be funded by private funds. These medical research groups can't get venture capital groups to fund their research so they are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Missouri voters. The second reason for the push for this amendment is that adult stem cells which have provided many treatments and hold great promise can't be patented. However when a human is cloned and the embryo is destroyed the person whose cells were taken no longer exists and the cells can be patented. Thereby we the taxpayers will pay for the research and in the unlikely event a cure is discovered the medical companies will patent the cure and make millions. Furthermore, our elected officials cannot limit the funding in any way, so no matter what the cost we pay. I am 100 percent for adult stem cell research that has provided treatments for more than seventy ailments to date. But I'm opposed to embryonic stem cell research that after more than twenty years of research, has provided no cures or treatments. Get educated then vote your conscience on amendment 2. It is not a ban on cloning, but rather a mandate for our taxes to fund human cloning and then destroy the clones before they are 14 days old. It is for these reasons that I'm voting no on amendment 2.

In response to your article in SpeakOut. I have been Christian for fifteen plus years and I have to tell you, it is amazing how many denominations there are. One believes you can get saved, live the way you want to and still go to heaven. Some believe you need gifts, some believe you need to confess to a priest, some believe they need to protest funerals of our fallen heroes. The Bible says the devil is going to deceive the very elect. Who are these people? (the ones in these churches). The Bible also says you have to work out your own salvation and it has to be worked out before He comes back or you're too late. The best thing to do is put down the phone book and get in your car and go visit different churches and let God lead you where you need to be. Remember (salvation) is the key. Thank you and have a blessed day.