Speak Out 3/25/06

Social question

LET ME get this straight. If I patronize the Purple Crackle when the new management takes over, does that make me a gentleman?

Course of action

I THOUGHT George Will's column Tuesday was brilliant. Now that we've invested three miserable years in Iraq and now that the results are not going to be a simplistic quick fix, I think it's time we do one of two things. Either we cut our losses and get out, letting the chips fall where they may, or let's get serious about the lives of our dead soldiers that we've invested in this Iraqi occupation. We need a new course of action. I say let's institute martial law, bring the oil home and hold a zero-tolerance toward insurgent terrorism.

Insight from fiction

I WAS completely won over by a recent comment on Islam being intolerant of other faiths. The two fictional novels written by the cited authors surely are the definitive word. Now I will put down the history books, forget all about the Muslims I know and gain all further insight from fiction books.

Bigger concerns

I WOULD venture to say that few of us in this area are worrying about starving to death, dying of AIDS or being bombed while we sit in our homes. However, we still find the time to complain about potholes and flowers. Instead of complaining about trivial things, try complimenting something that is good. Or be thankful to be an American and live in a free country where we have the right to not believe in abortion and the right to believe in abortion.

Biblical caution

COMMENTS ARE quick to point out that the Bible condones punishment in the Old Testament while forgetting what Jesus said in the New Testament. As with most religious debates, people use passages that fit their beliefs while ignoring many others. Maybe we should lock up people who work on the Sabbath.

Good place for pets

IF ANYONE is looking for a wonderful pet, I suggest looking at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. We adopted our dog in August, and he is such a wonderful animal. The humane society has a lot of dogs and cats and sometimes other animals to choose from that would make a great addition to anyone's home. Please check out the animal shelter or go to the humane society's Web site: www.semopets.org.

In need of support

I'M RETIRED, and my wife is still working. She has banned me to a section of the laundry room where I keep my stereo, computer and magazines. Even while she's at work, I feel guilty sitting in the living room. I think Sam Blackwell should form a support group for isolated men who want more but don't want to make waves.

Hearts and minds

BILLIONS OF dollars are spent on smart bombs and efficient ways of killing. We have put our hopes and dreams into the technology of warfare but continue to neglect the other side of war: the ideology. Anybody care to call to mind that phrase from the Johnson-Nixon war about "hearts and minds?" It makes one shudder about the near future, does it not?

Living with dumplings

YUCK! PEANUT butter and tofu dumplings as a substitute for good old fashioned chicken and dumplings? Don't listen, Sam. Get yourself some of the real thing. After all, life without chicken and dumplings isn't really life at all. It is just existence. Live, Sam, live!

Representative decisions

THIS IS in regard to the comment that a democracy runs on a majority-rule concept. He's right. That's why we don't live in a democracy. We have a republic with elected officials to make decisions. Otherwise we would have mob rule.

Doing great things

WHEN IS the last time that this newspaper printed a report about the heroism and the greatness of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan? Our troops are doing great things. They're building schools, saving people's lives and getting rid of land mines. Is there ever a story about the greatness of our troops?

Repave the streets

RECENTLY PART of Cape Rock Drive was torn up to provide services for a new subdivision. When the street was put back, dips were left in the concrete. These dips hold a lot of water for days. Please get this situation corrected. I'm tired of having to drive through water every time I'm coming home.

State responsibility

KINGSHIGHWAY IS a Missouri route and is not maintained by Cape Girardeau. The Missouri Department of Transportation has a place on its Web site to report potholes.

Protesters do harm

FEW THINGS make me angry, but those so-called peace protesters do. I realize that anything you say to them only energizes them. If only it was understood that peace is not the absence of conflict. The protesters would tell you that they wouldn't harm anyone, yet they are hurting the soldiers they seek to bring home. They are harming the citizens of Iraq who want freedom. They are harming themselves by the deception they have been fed and continue to eat. To pull out of Iraq would empower terrorists not only to destroy Iraq, but to set their sights on America and every other county in this world. To roll over and let them come would mean destruction to the very core of our society.

Wrong diagnosis

I CHALLENGE you to find a doctor in this area who knows what sensory integration dysfunction is. Many of the doctors in this area want to label these kids with autism or attention-deficit disorder.

Tissue isn't a life

OTHER COUNTRIES have taken steps to allow mercy killing of those that are suffering. The dying in Oregon have the right to physician-assisted suicide when their lives are no longer of value. They have the right to choose when they die. I don't remember ever hearing about killing tissue, though. Correct me if I am wrong, but can't you only kill living things? Since when is tissue a living thing in those terms? And don't refer to a baby in such terms, no matter how small it is.