RUST COMMENTARY: FOR A BETTER LIFE: YOU CAN READ ENTIRE BIBLE IN JUST 78 HOURS

I spend a better part of my days READING ... and I owe whatever understanding and success I have to the information and ideas I glean from others.

Wendy and I are taking another Bible study course under the leadership of DAVID LIMBAUGH. This one is "The OLD TESTAMENT," and Dave's summary outlines and overview have been excellent.

One thing I've learned (which takes away the excuse of not enough time) is that at a normal "readout pace" ... you can read the ENTIRE BIBLE in just 78 HOURS.

Of course, you'll never completely understand it, but that's certainly a doable figure. Just trade a little unscheduled television time for a better life and understanding.

Though I've read it and heard sermons about the old testament before ... this study promises to be something special.

Another book I've almost completed and given three away for others to read is "BUILT TO LAST" ... which explores the deep reasons behind long-term corporate success stories in the United States.

The most common similarity appears to be a core philosophy based upon honesty, fairness to customer and employees, quality products, high performance standards, and an openness to new ideas from ALL of the employees who have a pride of what the company is and an awareness of where it might be going.

I also read a composite of at least four daily newspapers and various newspaper trade publications plus Advertising Age, Forbes and Discount Store News.

Another book I've started is "The STRANGE DEATH of VINCE FOSTER" with remarks by William Session, former FBI director. You won't want to read it if you want to accept the reports without questioning.

Too much of my time is necessitated in keeping up with the activities of federal, state and local governments. Especially state and federal, which can drastically influence our businesses in ways you cannot anticipate.

I hope few are comfortable in thinking others are watching the activities of government entities.

I'd rather take government on at the ballot box rather than at the barricades ... which is what I witnessed in a scene from the moving musical theater production "LES MISERABLES" which we saw last week in St. Louis.

One should get little comfort in dying for a cause when you live in a free country which, however, requires the participation of the citizenry.

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Southeast Missouri State University's HOMECOMING had some of my favorite people being honored. Faculty teacher of the year BOB HAMBLIN; Business School alumni of the year TOM WOODS (vice president of American Business Journals and former president of the Copper Dome Society) and JANE STACY (celebrating 25 years at the university) among others.

In a videotaped roast, President DALE NITZSCHKE displayed a rare touch of dry humor which entertained the Saturday morning breakfast.

It was a beautiful day for a football game, and the SEMO INDIANS played great. Only a blocked punt with 2 minutes and 30 seconds to go dashed their hopes against the preconference favorite as the ball was recovered for a touchdown in the end zone converting a victory to a 14-10 loss.

As we all experience in life, when it rains it pours, and man does not control his own destiny. The SEMO INDIANS have had such a year.

The HOMECOMING PARADE was one of the finest ever, and it's nice to have some of the raunchy activities of the past behind us (at least publicly).

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Snags in rail freight are affecting business all over the country, and it's expected to take at least one year to untangle the mess.

Due to shortages of locomotives and crews because of a misread by Union Pacific, it recently laid off crews, closed rail yards and consolidated routes and now cannot handle the demand.

Truckers are trying to meet the extra demand of our healthy economy but have a severe shortage of an estimated 300,000 drivers.

Many delays of deliveries to customers of finished goods and of delivery of materials to manufacturers will pose hardships this fall.

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Basic cable networks achieved a parity in viewers with broadcasting's Big Three, further signifying television's changed landscape.

During prime-time hours in July, August and the first two weeks in September, an identical 20.7 million households were tuned into the cable channels as were watching NBC, ABC, and CBS, according to Nielsen Media Research.

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The most sensible people to be met with in society and in the world are men of business and of the world, who argue from what they see and know instead of spinning cobweb distinctions of what things ought to be. -- William Hazlitt

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Our prayers, thoughts, and best wishes are with Gene Huckstep and his family today. Gene (former presiding commissioner of Cape Girardeau County) is undergoing major surgery at a local hospital.

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It's "Deja Vu All Over Again": Most older Americans remember the field day the liberal press had with the famous "18- minute gap" that turned up on the audio tapes President Richard Nixon finally turned over to Senate investigators. The White House at the time claimed to be mystified. President Nixon's longtime secretary, Rose Mary Woods, loyally stepped up to claim the blame. She must have accidentally erased the tapes while taking a telephone call on another line, she said. The press snickered at the ungainly pose struck by the poor lady when she was challenged to demonstrate how she might have done that.

Now, we have another White House tape incident. This time, they're videotapes. We have 45 videotapes showing President Bill Clinton entertaining his guests at those famous coffees of his. And, guess what? We only have 44 videotapes with sound. The audio portion of one tape is missing: the one that features John Huang. He's the man Bill Clinton named as assistant secretary of commerce, who got a "golden parachute" from the Lippo Group, who received top-secret security briefings when he had no security clearance, who took cab rides in the evening to the Indonesian Embassy and returned the next morning from the Chinese Embassy. How could the audio portion of this particular videotape turn up missing? It must be an accident. The White House is mystified. -- Washington Update

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Big Part of the Problem: America lags behind much of the world when it comes to casting ballots. An average of just 44.1 percent of the voting-age population has turned out for national legislative elections in the 1990s, putting the U.S. in 139th place among 163 countries surveyed by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. -- Time

We Don't Need Reform: What is the answer to the dilemma of money and politics? Disclosure -- full, accurate, daily disclosure.

What do you suppose the voters would have decided if what we now know of Al Gore's solicitations from the White House, the Chinese connections and the cost of nights in the Lincoln bedroom had been reported nightly on the evening news in the last two weeks before the election? A well-informed electorate will safeguard American campaigns far better than any group of Washington regulators. -- Pete Du Pont, editor, Intellectual Capital

Giant Irony: By all accounts, the Ronald Reagan Office Building, nearing completion a few blocks from the White House, is too big (one-third more floor space than the Empire State Building), too expensive (three-quarters of a billion dollars) and ugly (a mausoleum-like structure spread over five city blocks). Did we also say inappropriate? The two agencies slated to occupy it -- the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for International Development -- would be out of business had Reagan prevailed against Congress. If the economy were not so strong -- thanks in no small part to Reaganomics -- this white elephant would have gone the way of the air controllers' union. -- National Review

~Gary Rust is the president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.