Speak Out 8/21/05

Intelligent life

THE ARGUMENTS about intelligent design and evolution seem to have moved to the front burner. What's the answer? Michio Kaku, one of the top physicists and author of "Hyperspace," catalogues what civilizations may be out among the stars into three categories. A Type I civilization would be similar to that of earth. A Type II civilization is more advanced. And a Type III civilization is "one that controls the power of an entire galaxy. For a power source, it harnesses the power of billions of star systems. It has probably mastered Einstein's equations and can manipulate space-time at will." Has it ever occurred to these scientists that the more advanced and intelligent life could be God?

Guzzling lawn mowers

AS A consumer paying high gas prices, I'm complaining because new lawn mowers have no useful throttle to help save our precious gas.

Back to business

WHERE ARE the police when you need them? We still have people hanging out on the corners of South Ellis Street doing things they aren't supposed to do. What happened to the police? The neighborhood was quiet for a couple of weeks, and now the hoodlums are back to the same old thing.

Look at Fair Tax

I ENCOURAGE U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to look at House Resolution 25, the Fair Tax. The idea of eliminating all income taxes and employment taxes would be great for making the United States run more efficiently. Income taxes discourage people from having income or, in some cases, reporting it. So it causes people not to want to work. Employment taxes discourage businesses from hiring people. If we could go to the Fair Tax, everybody would have more business and do more work, the country would be much better off and more prosperous and the United States would get just as much money from the Fair Tax as it does from today's system.

A good laugh

REGARDING THE Aug. 16 editorial cartoon: Thanks for the good laugh. That is really true and to the point.

Excess profits

U.S. REP. Jo Ann Emerson, U.S. Sen. Jim Talent and U.S. Sen. Kit Bond are quiet about the gasoline situation. It is time to have a surcharge on excess profit by the gas companies and the filling stations. They are profiting from what they already have in the tank. It's time to put a stop to this.

Better traffic flow

THE MISSOURI Department of Transportation is working on the shoulder at Center Junction. Extending the right-turn lane going to I-55 South would help traffic flow. It's been needed for a long time. If MoDOT would look around, it could see a lot of small improvements that would improve traffic flow.

Self-defense

THE ASSOCIATED Press reported that Britain's crackdown on radical Islamic activists after the July bombings in London would be a rollback in civil liberties and that England and the United States were getting into some dangerous civil-rights territory. Islamic activists have already created dangerous territories in many countries with their bombings. Any country has the right and the duty to defend itself and its people.

Basic economics

I'M CERTAINLY not an energy expert, but I did take college economics. I understand that high gasoline prices are a result of demand being higher than supply. We've seen it with coffee, sugar and other commodities. I even remember when canning jars and lids went sky high because the demand for them out stretched the supply. We need to reduce demand by driving less and buying more fuel-efficient transportation. We need to increase supply by removing many of the unnecessary regulations which prevent oil exploration and refinery construction. Only then will pump prices fall.