SPEAK OUT

Reading suggestions

CONTRARY TO what David Limbaugh believes and espouses, man is irrational by nature. We are and should be more guided by our gut-instinct moral compass. Rather than trying to suppress our feelings in favor of false reason, we should be cultivating our emotional intelligence. Limbaugh should immerse himself in Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" and William Barrett's "Irrational Man."

Skaters raising money

IT'S SO wonderful to know that there are so many loving and caring kids in this area. Skaters at the Plaza Galleria have taken their time to put on an ice show for 12-year-old Ryan Miller. The money raised will send Ryan and his family to Michigan for two weeks so Ryan can walk independently. Come out and support these loving and caring kids at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Plaza Galleria and show our young kids we appreciate them.

Problems everywhere

REGARDING THE police department's morale problems: I have no idea what kind of a manager Chief Hetzel was. I do know that the police officers I have encountered are professional, and I am impressed with their demeanor. I also am impressed with how safe my city is. I am greatly impressed with the involvement this chief had in the community and would be very interested in the newspaper listing the many wonderful programs he started. My children and I have benefited from them. So he must have done some things right. I also would venture to say that if a survey were done of every single employee at Procter & Gamble, the university, the newspaper, the hospitals or any other large, complex organization, the exact same issues would be voiced: Turnover is high, and morale is low. Fortunately, they wouldn't have to be faced with it being made public and put all over the front page of the paper.

Parasite plague

THE OTHER day I was watching my granddaughter play in the park when I got stung by a yellow jacket. My face swelled up the size of a beach ball. As if that wasn't enough, the mosquitos took over next. My legs looked like I have chickenpox. I wish that was the worst of it. I was so engulfed by mosquitos that I jumped in the lake at Cape County South Park. When I got out I was covered by the biggest leeches I have ever seen. My 83-year-old body is flabby and wrinkly, but I have never been called a leper until now. The city needs to do something before the parasite population overwhelms the human race.

Name the roundabout

I KEEP hearing all this jabber about the roundabout. People are neglecting the key issue. The roundabout deserves a name that is creative and gives people a good feeling when they drive through it. I was contemplating "The Circle of Roses" to go along with the city's theme. Or perhaps "The Destination Loop." A structure as heralded as this must have a justifying name.

Stem-cell information

I WANT to thank the Southeast Missourian for the very balanced report on fundamental facts about stem-cell research. I've been watching TV, and it's tough to understand what these people are talking about. Your story reported the facts in a fair way and allows me to make up my own mind about this issue. The only complaint I have is that the headline on the chart said "Public backs stem-cell research." I think it's too early in the information process to say that for sure. This is a very complicated issue, and it's not clear to me whether the question in the survey was about embryonic stem-cell research or adult stem-cell research. Many people can support one and not the other, although probably not vice versa. Your story explained this, but your chart did not. Overall, though, your story was very fair. Thank you.

Forced to join

HOW STUPIDLY partisan can a Democrat be? A caller said state workers should be allowed to join a union and criticized Peter Kinder for opposing collective bargaining. State workers already had the right to join a union, but few did. What Gov. Bob Holden has done is force them to pay union dues even if state workers don't want to join.

Noisy church

PERHAPS I have a very good suggestion concerning the Methodist church bells ringing every hour of every day in Advance, Mo. The public is well aware of the well-kept church with the beautiful stained-glass windows. We don't need the bells daily to remind us. If the congregation wants to hear the bells, let them stay an extra 30 minutes each Sunday. Make it mandatory since it is those members who want them. Leave them off the rest of the week. If this was not a church but a citizen making that much noise, the city police would have already been at the church's door.