Speak out 4/8/08

Is this your dog?

IT WAS an exciting day when I came to live with my new family. We took walks, my pen was kept clean and it was fun being part of the family. As the years passed, I was gradually forgotten. Now I rarely get to leave my pen, which is seldom cleaned. I seldom get to be with my family. I'm only fed occasionally. Even a dog's life should be better than this. Maybe someday.

War logic

IT NEVER ceases to amaze me that people make comments using God to argue for stopping a war. When we're at war, I imagine God is in the soldiers' lives, in their parents' lives and in our government leaders' lives. But you can't compare being at war to a natural disaster. Some people's logic escapes me.

News from Iraq

GARY RUST, thanks for the heads-up regarding the positive news from Iraq. The nature of negative national news coverage sure looks like the media are in bed with those interests desiring to prolong involvement. It's pretty clear our $12 billion a month could be spent far more productively than throwing it at a country that seems to be in pretty good shape. Keep up the good work.

Financial regulation

IF THE federal government doesn't overhaul the regulatory system designed for our financial system in the 1930s, we are headed for a global depression of gargantuan proportions.

Showing compassion

WHERE AND when in our country did we lose heart? I believe it was when we started taking God out of our daily lives. Our country is going downhill rapidly when there can't be compassion for the needy. We already pay for useless state and national campaigns that are much too long and drawn out. We pay out our nose in taxes that support foreign countries, I could go on and on. Why can't we pay for the ills of our own and come to their aid with our hearts instead of malice? If the amount that the Shank family received raises premiums for Wal Mart employees, then something is drastically wrong.

Not a depression

OUR COUNTRY isn't in a depression. Believe me, things would be a lot worse than this during a depression. Talk to someone who lived during the Great Depression. They will tell you we're not in one.

Stand up for kids

TO ALL of those who had children or grandchildren who were involved in the incident where the school bus driver dropped off young students to walk through a flood: Please take the time to write the Cape Girardeau School Board and let board members know you are not satisfied with the disciplinary action taken. If we do not take action, nothing will be done about it. Stand up for your kids. Now is the time to take action.

Public scrutiny

BELIEVE ME, Wal-Mart did not act out of altruistic motive or goodness of its heart in the Shanks case. It acted out of pure self-interest, brought about by public pressure, scrutiny and media coverage. Good job, John Q. Public.

Objective media

ALTHOUGH IT apparently carries a negative connotation for David Limbaugh and other negated neoconservatives, I see nothing wrong with the phrase "mainstream media." To me, the words refer to media that are centrist, moderative, objective and level-headed. That's the way it should be. The radically partisan, out-of-the-mainstream media can be entertaining but are worthless as a source for presenting news in as objective a manner as possible.

Surrogate mothers

THIS IS in response to a comment about servicemen's wives acting as surrogates. Women who are surrogates are carrying a baby that is not theirs. The surrogate is just the carrier. The baby biologically belongs to the parents. Infertility is a real issue that has an immense impact on people's lives, an issue that few people take the time to pay attention to. Any woman who is willing to act as a surrogate is a gift from God and a true blessing to the biological parents. It is the furthest thing from "giving a baby to someone else."

Proper sentencing

THANK YOU to Judge Ben Lewis for sentencing Timothy Krajcir to 650 years in prison. We hope that is enough time that he will never get out and harm another woman. I am pro-life and opposed to death sentences, but this is an opportunity to leave Mr. Krajcir in prison for the rest of his natural life and let God call him home. Maybe he can become a Christian, and God will welcome him into the kingdom.

Making up

SCHOOLS WERE closed in Cape Girardeau this winter for severe weather nine days total. Part of this time has been added on to the end of the school year. Teachers do not have to make up the rest of the time but the classified workers do by coming in early or working over. Once again the school staff is split into the elite and the not-so-elite.