Speak Out 4/19/09

Bestowed beauty

IT was so pleasant to read the editorial about the beauty of spring in Southeast Missouri. You are right. This is one of the most spectacular springs in years. Thanks for pausing from all the hard topics to encourage everyone to enjoy the beauty that God has bestowed upon us all around.

New possibilities

I'VE heard a lot about new possibilities for Cape Girardeau lately. I think the minor-league baseball team, the aquarium and the water park are great because they are something different. Another amphitheater seems awfully redundant. We can't even fill up the Show Me Center. The hotel and University Village would only be a drawback to the other things considered. That should be dropped or considered somewhere closer to the university.

We are brothers

IN Acts 10:24-28, Peter reminds Cornelius the it was against Jewish law to go into a Gentile home, but "God has shown him a vision that he should never think of anyone as inferior." Please love your fellow man. We are all brothers in the same boat together.

Quitting cigarettes

I have been a smoker for seven years and during that time the price of cigarettes has doubled. I agree that it is a nasty habit and leads to all sorts of health problems, but it is hard to give up. Instead of taxing our addiction, use some of that tax money to set up a community service to help us quit smoking through our health department.

Listen to the expert

JOE Sullivan, I hate to put a damper on your apparent belief that walking relatively long distances has anything to do with weight loss. I thought it did as well until the authority on that and everything else said exercise of any kind (which he said he abhorred) did not. He said it's strictly caloric intake. He is currently on a diet and said that after he loses 75 pounds he will be able to enjoy life again by gorging himself until he puts all of that weight back on. I would have paid little attention but the man who said this is none other than the all-wise, all-knowing, current leader of the Republican party, Cape Girardeau's own Rush Limbaugh.