SPEAK OUT

Saving status quo

DAVID LIMBAUGH, please quit trying to convince me that Big Media is anything other than a conservative servant of scions favoring preservation of the status quo.

A real change

WHY DO so many of you get all agitated when people switch political parties? As long as the switches involve Democrats, Republicans and Independents, the changes are virtually meaningless. The differences in political philosophy and practice between these various affiliations are almost nil. It might be worthy of our attention if an incumbent politician publicly announced he was going to become a communist, crypto-fascist, monarchist or anarchist.

Art of being nice

AS I left the SEMO Student Rec Center after finishing my adult exercise program, a group of girls aged 10 to 12 or so was approaching on their way to a sports program inside. As they walked by, I heard one of them comment about someone she knew, saying "She was nice to me." What a wonderful accolade. We should all conduct ourselves so that all could say of us, "She/He was nice to me."

Reliable research

ABOUT THE comment that global warming is "horse hockey": While it is possible some groups' findings are biased because of funding promises, the truth is that most of the scientific research debunking global warming is funded by petroleum companies. The most reliable studies to date, including the Antarctic ice-core study, are either multinational government-funded or United Nations-funded. Neither governments nor the United Nations have the conflict of interest that many independent studies do, and the most important, realistic studies have proven significant, rapid global-climate change.

But not criminal

I THINK I know the reason crime declined so much in 2000. All of the criminals were in Florida trying to steal the presidential election, committing offenses oddly not considered criminal.

Pay cash for care

THE RAGS to riches story of Rush Limbaugh continues to inspire. On one of his recent talk-radio programs, Limbaugh, the founder of the Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies, said one of the things which motivated him to become successful was being able to pay cash for medical services and not have to worry about the hassles of insurance. If we all would follow his example, society's ongoing health-care problems would heal themselves.

A River City hit

ONCE AGAIN, the River City Players have put on a hit. They are a little-known treasure in our area, and we should support them. Chuck Ross gave an outstanding performance in the play they're doing now.

Clean them out

NOW LET'S clean up the rest of death row and get rid of the rest of these criminals who are soaking up taxpayers' dollars.

Execution bias

IT WAS interesting to see the bias in the media raise its ugly head once again on the morning of Timothy McVeigh's execution. I was listening to the radio. Every single person interviewed, both in Terre Haute and in Oklahoma City, was against McVeigh's execution. They were against the use of the death penalty in any case. The radio interviewers spoke to not one person who supported the execution. When they talked about the people gathered at the prison, they described it as a large group of over 200 who oppose the death penalty, and another small group were pro-death penalty. Let's stop being so biased. Over 70 percent of Americans believed he should be executed. Why don't we show a balanced approach from the media? It's not just this case. It happens in everything. The media should stop trying to shape our opinions and just reflect the life of the American public. Come on, media, do your jobs right.

Media exploitation

IT'S A shame we had to have such a circus going on about Timothy McVeigh's execution. It looks like the victims and their families are going to stay victims simply because of the way the news media has operated. I don't think they have any shame at all to exploit the people who have gone through so much pain, to dredge it up breath for breath. It's a total shame we have to put up with this mess from the news media. They have raped everyone concerned with this situation, and I'm just sick of it.

Worth investigating

THE BRANCH Davidians were not blameless. They were stockpiling weapons. Imagine if there was a cult headquarters in the middle of Jackson where the members were storing all kinds of weapons. The ordinary people outside of the cult are just living their lives. They wouldn't feel very secure. I guess there's no law on how many weapons you can have, but it doesn't seem to be a smart idea. If you're serving God, as David Koresh claimed, then why do you need a lot of weapons? Other cults don't pile up weapons. And if you're making out with 13-year-old girls, no matter how you like to disguise it, you're some sort of pervert. The government was right to look into the Branch Davidians. Women are not chattel anymore. They deserve to be treated with dignity. I think the Branch Davidians brought the problems on themselves.

Waco stupidity

WOULD YOU please, once and for all, stop the stupidity over this Waco crap? It seems like people just cannot understand that those people in Waco broke the law, killed four ATF agents, were stocking illegal guns and ammunition. That is against the law. And it's up to the government to put a stop to it. Why, just because they think they're under the guise of religion, should they get by with anything? Why won't people get their facts straight or just keep their mouths shut?

Purse returned

I WANT to thank the person who left my purse at Aldi's around Memorial Day. Thanks, thanks, thanks.