Speak Out 11/21/07

Change the leadership

IF GOD let's me live till February, I will be 50. I can't begin to believe how much this country has changed since my teen years. I believe America will soon witness things on a biblical scale. Have we not already? I don't understand how we can sit back and do nothing about those in charge. There was a time when people would band together to make things happen. I wonder if our forefathers would approve of what our leaders have done to this great country.

A rocking evening

CONCERNING THE Daughtry concert: It's about time. A real performer with a great band and a packed house. We did ourselves proud, Cape Girardeau. Daughtry made a comment about how great and loud the audience was. He said he'd played larger venues and not heard anything like us. Thanks for coming to Cape, Mr. Daughtry. It was a great evening. You rocked.

Cycling wisdom

CYCLISTS HAVE the right to operate on our roadways, but let's use some common sense. Operating on a hilly, winding road in the dark while commuter traffic is at its peak is an invitation to disaster and martyrdom for your cause. I am a motorcyclist, but I don't operate my motorcycle when conditions make it too dangerous, regardless of my so-called right to do so. Like my mother told me when I was learning to drive, "You can be right, but you can also be dead right."

Taxing the rich

WHAT DOES David Limbaugh think about Warren Buffet's statement about the rich should be taxed more? What does the Southeast Missourian say about it? I have read article after article about how the poor rich pay way too much taxes. Talk to Warren Buffet, please.

Fix the stoplights

WHY DO the traffic lights at Broadway and Caruthers Street turn red for Broadway traffic when there are no cars on Caruthers? Traffic backs up, burning $3 a gallon gas, and city officials wonder why more people don't go downtown. It's time to fix the lights.

Homework is a burden

PARENTS DON'T like homework because it's more work for them unless everything goes like clockwork. At our house, we nag our children to do their homework. What keeps your children off the streets is not homework. It's having your child involved in other interests. Sometimes homework can get in the way of that. Activities like Scouting, league sports and church activities make your child more well-rounded.

Ethanol problem

IT IS generally recognized that small amounts of water can get into gasoline storage tanks either through condensation or leakage when caps are not tightly closed. This is usually not a problem because the heavier water goes to the bottom and can be drained or pumped out, leaving only gasoline. The problem is that gasoline-ethanol blend creates a different situation. The ethanol molecule blended with gasoline and exposed to water will attach to a water molecule. The ethanol-water, being heavier, will separate from the gasoline and sink to the bottom of the storage tank. Since a gasoline engine will not run on the ethanol-water suspension, it would have to be pumped or drained out, losing the ethanol. To make matters worse, it is difficult to determine where the gasoline on top ends and the ethanol-water suspension on the bottom begins. Even with the best effort, some may end up in automobiles or other gasoline engines. There have already been reports of autos using ethanol-gasoline blend that stop running in the middle of the road due to ethanol-water suspensions in the tank.