Speak Out 9/14/06

World needs prayer

WHAT THE world needs is more prayer. Thanks to the Southeast Missourian for the daily prayer. God bless you. It is inspirational.

Horses in water

REGARDING THE story about horses polluting Jacks Fork River: That's so stupid. You can go to a restaurant and get E. coli from people not washing their hands. Horses in rivers and creeks aren't going to affect people. So what if there's a little bit of manure in the water?

Lorimier Courthouse?

PLEASE DON'T let a handful of people name our federal building here in Cape Girardeau. Let's give it the name of somebody we can really be proud of, like Louis Lorimier.

Too political

I AM against naming the new federal courthouse after Rush Limbaugh Sr. He was a fine man, but the name carries too much political connotation now. I do not want my tax money to support any political figure. The name should be a name that truly represents all citizens of our fine state.

Danger: People

INTERSECTIONS ARE not dangerous. Street crossings are not dangerous. Certain pathways are not dangerous. It's the people on them -- driving, walking, riding -- who make them dangerous.

Where's the juice?

WE READ Dr. Gott's medical-advice column every day. His readers have been writing about drinking cherry juice for arthritis or gout. I can't find cherry juice in Cape Girardeau.

Drop some courses

AS A Southeast Missouri State University student, I think tuition costs could be better handled by dropping some of the courses you are required to take which are not part of your major. Some of those courses are ridiculous. All it does is cost students more money. How about letting students get their requirements so they get out faster and become productive citizens? It would also reduce the debt students have.

Thanks for card

THIS IS for the man who found my debit card at a gas station in Jackson and turned it in to the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Thank you so much.

Creative counting

IN HER column Monday, Mona Charen reported that deaths in Baghdad in August were only a quarter of those reported in July. An AP story that came out the same day quoted U.S. military sources as saying the reported lower August counts had excluded suicide bombings and mortar attacks. In fact, the August total deaths were only slightly lower than the record number in July. We'd all like to think things are getting better, but wishful thinking and creative counting isn't going to help.

Not a homeland

I DO not live in a "homeland." I live in a nation called the United States of America. I did not serve in the military for a "homeland," and no matter how many federal agencies are labeled "homeland" it doesn't reduce our nation to a "homeland."

Take your pick

GET YOUR facts straight. Either President Bush is a master manipulator who can control gasoline prices in a global economy just for the sake of midterm elections, or he's an incompetent idiot who fails at every turn. Take your pick, but you can't have it both ways. I believe he'll go down in history as the most proactive, forward-thinking president we've had.

Juggling numbers

THE PROBLEM with subsidies, whether agricultural or corporate, is that they create false economic numbers because they nullify the law of supply and demand. The subsidies also create what are in effect government jobs. Welfare was never meant to be for business purposes. If it were handled by the rules of the Department of Health and Human Services, the assistance would be non-existent because assistance from HHS is based on "what you can afford on your income." HHS takes all your expenses, with you living as cheaply as possible and adds up verifiable expenses for shelter and utilities, then tosses that number for one that is much lower, based only on what you can afford on your meager income. I won't get started on how HHS juggles the numbers to say there are fewer people living in poverty.

No legal entry

THUMBS DOWN to those who say the 9-11 terrorists entered our nation legally. They got entry through fraud. They were not students or visitors or tourists who forgot to go home. They planned their murderous acts from day one. There is nothing legal in that.

Crossing borders

IF TONS of murderous drugs can cross our borders, so can other kinds of murderous terrorists.

Chubby babies

BABIES ARE supposed to be a little bit fat. They drink high-calorie formula and sleep all day. They don't have the ability to go to the gym. I have a 7-month-old baby with chubby little legs and cheeks. She didn't get those from eating. She was born with them. You can't take away food from your baby because you think it is fat. The majority of chubby babies outgrow that by their second birthday. As long as you feed babies healthy food and help them exercise, they will most likely grow up to be happy, healthy adults.