Speak Out 7/21/05

Call to action

IT SEEMS like the Hanover Street incident just won't go away. It's just the beginning. I grew up in California and worked as an armed guard in south-central Los Angeles for several years. I watched some decent towns go bad rather quickly. I see the same thing taking place here in Cape Girar-deau. It's not any one person or problem. It's the community as a whole that needs work. The police need to step up training in areas that are common in the larger cities and take a no-tolerance stand on a lot of areas. As for the rest of us, stop watching your town go down the toilet and get involved in a watch program and take back your streets.

Fuel for terrorists

TAKEN TOGETHER, the July 18 columns of Kathleen Parker and Michelle Malkin suggest a tiny shift to the left in right-wing attitudes regarding the so-called war on terror. Malkin decries sloganeering about terrorism, and Parker demands that we recognize, in the clearest possible language, Islam's role in it. Both columns tacitly demand a re-examination of our policies in Iraq. Malkin especially seems interested in paying more attention to our own borders than to Iraqi insurgencies. Meanwhile, the Rove debacle adds turbulence to the already troubled waters surrounding our going there in the first place. Parker's column recognizes the role of religion in keeping human beings mired in tribal warfare, but it does not go far enough. Religion separates people into factions that will always end up at one another's throats. How sad that we still want to fight over magic and myth and stories. Our capacity for wonder no longer demands belief in invisible beings or hidden paradises. Parker and Malkin need to recognize, as do we all, that those beliefs, transformed into fanaticism, drive terrorists. Not just Islam, but religious fundamentalism itself is killing us.

Wholesome activity

ANYONE WHO has a problem with mud volleyball or other activities that reflect poorly on our children needs to spend some time on Friday nights at the Jackson and Cape Girardeau volleyball leagues. There you will see over 100 kids having a good time. No one's getting hurt, and no one's getting in trouble drinking.

Owners responsible

IT SEEMS silly to me that someone thinks the city should spray the weeds along the sidewalk from Cape Rock Drive to Sprigg Street. Property owners are responsible for the removal of weeds, not the city.

Dirty windows

IT MAKES you wonder about restaurant owners these days. When I first started working, fast-food restaurants kept you busy making sure everything looked nice. You pull into some restaurants today and the windows are dirty. During slow times, an employee could wipe the windows. The owners of dirty restaurants don't have the same standards of cleanliness as other places that keep their establishments clean. It also makes you wonder what the health department is doing. Dirty windows are usually a sign that the rest of the restaurant dirty.