Speak Out 6/14/14

Can them

Asian carp

Asian carp. Asian carp. That's all you hear about any more. How they are overtaking our rivers and all that stuff. Well back when I was a boy and we're talkin' almost 70 years ago cause I am 70, my father would catch Buffalo and all different kinds of carp, suckers and stuff like that, even drum fish. Mom would can 'em under a pressure cooker and can 'em in jars for the winter time. With the bones she would make fish patties out of 'em and they tasted ever good as jack mackerels that they used to make fish patties. We would eat 'em through the winter months.

I propose for us to open up a cannery over on the Mississippi River in different places and have people to bring those things in by the tons, can 'em and process 'em and can 'em just like you would jack mackerel and sell 'em. If the United States don't want to eat 'em I'm sure other countries would and even people here in America would eat 'em once they knew how to prepare 'em and make fish cakes out 'em and stuff. They're awful delicious once they're canned and the bones turn to mush --you eat the bones and all. Once you can 'em and pressurize 'em for 90 minutes they just nothing, the bones are all powdery like and ground up so I propose to open up a cannery and start canning 'em. I'm sure they can't produce more than canneries can take and can if the people would get out there commercially and catch 'em with nets and seines, spear 'em what ever they have to do to bring 'em in. Let the commercial fisherman bring 'em in by the tons. Don't put no limits on 'em. Let 'em go and bring in whatever they can at a fair market rate. There's my idea, America! Now let's do it. We've got American know-how. We can do anything we want, but a cannery on several of the main rivers would put people to work also, but let's get on it and open up a cannery and start canning these things and ship 'em all over the world.

We know the Chinese, Japanese like fresh food. Fresh fish. So let's sell 'em to them. That's my idea. Now you can take it or leave it. Thank you. God bless America. We know how to do things.

Job for the

City Council

Yes, I was hoping now that we have a different City Council on the premises maybe they can revisit the issue of the smoking in the town of Poplar Bluff. We still can't go to several restaurants. Can't go to clubs. I read about a fish fry at the Elks Club recently. We probably won't show up because I'm guaranteeing there's probably gonna be smoking. There's dozens and dozens of places still where you can't even enter because the smoke is so bad. Maybe they can do this one thing.