Speak out 5/1

No question

ANY PRIESTS who have to struggle with a decision of zero tolerance for child molesters should be removed. Child molestation is a crime, and there is certainly no place for criminals as priests.

Poor work, too

TRUTH BE told, the caller said the poor are lazy and the rich are the only ones who worked hard for what they've got. Truth be told, it's the other way around. The rich wouldn't be rich if they never paid the poor minimum wages whenever they could and tried to cheat them of what was rightfully theirs. That's how they got rich, by taking advantage of the poor, more than likely. You just don't get rich by working everyday. You make a good living, but you don't get rich.

Gambling a solution

BEEN READING in the paper about Cape Girardeau's financial difficulties. It's really humorous, admitting it, because the do-gooders in Cape Girardeau were too good to have a gambling boat in their community, but look at Metropolis, Ill., and Caruthersville, Mo., how they've improved their communities with the proceeds from the gambling boats. You missed the boat, Cape Girardeau.

Not freedom fighters

A COMMENT dubbed the Palestinians "freedom fighters." Freedom fighters are one thing, but intentionally killing the innocent is about as despicable as you can get. In a struggle, most attack military targets, but these people are no more than murderers wanting revenge. They are taught to have no compassion and will not negotiate. They hide behind their own population, showing they're true cowards and their lack of compassion. If we are in this war against terrorism, we should mean all terrorists. Liberalism shows weakness and only postpones the inevitable, and it takes more lives in the long run.

Here's a solution

I HAVE a solution for the new mayor's financial dilemma. It's the same, old-fashioned, tried-and-true method. You add up all your income and you live within your means. I'm a little tired of all the empire bills everybody gets. The school superintendents, the mayors, the public officials, all when they get into office, the first thing they want to do is raise taxes to build an empire and attach their name to it. If you revert to the old-fashioned way of don't spend more than you take in, it will all work out OK.

Can't believe it

I CAN'T believe these Palestinian sympathizers in our country. Can you imagine training and teaching and praising 14-year-old children to become martyrs by blowing themselves up and innocent people for a cause and a religion, martyrdom and a promise of heavenly blessings and rewards? These Muslims that believe in such barbaric fanaticism are the same fanatics that crash planes into buildings, killing thousands. To say they are fighting for their state is a joke. They don't negotiate, they only respect power. If they were blowing up women and children every day here, do you think the U.S. wouldn't retaliate? Get real.

Prior tornado

A LOT has been said about the tornado in Poplar Bluff and how bad it was -- the worst in Missouri history. Of course, the people who are saying that are not the older people. Looking back and remembering in 1949, Cape Girardeau had a tornado that killed, I believe, 13 people, and there were hundreds of people injured. It practically devastated the whole north end of Cape Girardeau. The Red Star District was just leveled. Of course, most people don't remember that, but it might be nice to remind the people that there have been worse tornadoes in Cape.

Appalling sentences

AS A Jackson resident, I'd just like to say I'm appalled at two sentences and the differences in them: the teacher who had the child molestation case and the woman who did. It just seems that they weren't handled in the same manner. Looks like the woman was being looked at a lot harder. Even though there were e-mails and things just like there were in the other case, she got a much stiffer sentence, it sounds like, than he did, and as I'm reading from the newspaper, she was ordered to stay away from all teen-agers who weren't blood relatives. I totally support that, but I can't understand why the same situation wasn't made in the other case.

Clean up your business

FROM TIME to time Ihear downtown business owners complain about lack of business. Well, having looked more closely at the storefronts downtown, I can see why.Most of them look abandonded and deserted, even the ones that are still open. My advice:Clean up your business.