SPEAK OUT

THERE YOU go again, David Limbaugh. To posit that it is "morally imperative" to proceed with Star Wars will no doubt have the dubious distinction of being ranked No. 1 by whoever decides to write an up-to-date history of hyperbole.

No summers off

TEACHERS DO not get summers off. That is because they work to support themselves, because they do not make the $25,000 to $30,000 a year that one caller recently reported. Teachers get weekends off, like many professions, but they do not get to go home by 4 p.m. Most stay after every day of the week for faculty and department meetings. Many stay after to help students with sports, academics or extra-curricular clubs. The time-old myth about teachers working 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for nine months a year is, to quote another Speak Out caller, horse hockey.

Conservative cows

WHAT WOULD the founders of modern-day conservatism think of politicians who claim to be conservatives? With a few very honorable exceptions, I believe Bill Buckley and James Burnham would go ballistic. Frank Chodorov, Wilmoore Kendall and Russell Kirk would have cows. Frank Meyer would freak out. And Whittaker Chambers would seriously consider a reconversion to communism.

Unreal choice

GOV. BOB Holden's appointment of Farm Bureau president Charles Kruse to an agriculture panel is the peak of political naivete. There's no way Holden can smooth over their strained relationship and co-opt Kruse. It would be comparable to Bush choosing a task force on the environment and naming as its head Al Gore.

Excess tintinnabulation

I RECENTLY visited my family in Advance. They live near one of the most beautiful churches in that area. My parents and I enjoy being outdoors. It is a tradition in my family to sit outside under an old tree. The church has the bells playing a song and tolling the hour from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. This can be heard throughout the town. Although there may be some who enjoy this on the far side of town, those who live within a block find it very annoying. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing. When I visit on Sunday, the bells have a beautiful sound, but ringing every day and every hour makes me want to leave the town.

Action -- finally

CHEERS TO the Cape Girardeau City Council for bellying up to the bar and revoking the Taste Lounge's liquor license.

Build what we need

WHATEVER HAPPENED to the beautiful hiking trail that would be so peaceful and serene at Cape Rock? Whatever happened to the children's skate park? You've already built the college the Show-Me Center. Come on, city, do something for the people. You know you've got the money.

Wrong worry

FORGET THE headline "RU486 abortion drug comes with risk for women." If a woman is willing to murder her unborn innocent baby, she shouldn't be concerned about her own life. That's my opinion.