O Lord Jesus, thank you that through you we can have eternal life. Amen.
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Fix Social Security with ownership, not more government (5/18/24)2Star ParkerThe trustees for Social Security have just issued their annual report. And, as we have learned annually over recent years, the system cannot meet its obligations. According to this latest report, the Social Security system will not be able to meet its obligations to retirees by 2035. In 2035, the system will be adequate to meet just 83% of its obligations.
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Biden has disastrously misplayed the politics of Gaza (5/18/24)Rich LowryIt’s bad enough that President Joe Biden is playing politics with the war in Gaza, but even worse — at least for his purposes — that he is doing it so poorly. Biden may imagine that he is maneuvering with incredible skill — subtly balancing geopolitics, alliance management and domestic imperatives — when he is really upsetting all sides in the course of further undermining his already-rickety presidency.
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Shafik, other college presidents have mission confusion (5/17/24)Betsy McCaugheyColumbia University President Minouche Shafik is urging university leaders across the country to do some "serious soul searching." Good advice. She should start with her own soul. Shafik has the wrong idea about the purpose of a university. She and likeminded college presidents are turning preeminent universities into factories, churning out social activists who are adept at shouting down their opponents, squaring off against cops and vandalizing buildings but who acquire little knowledge and few reasoning skills during college.
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Biden still trails Trump; It’s more than inflation, Gaza, age (5/16/24)6Jonah GoldbergA batch of new polls from the New York Times, Siena College and the Philadelphia Inquirer has very bad news for President Biden: He’s losing. Among registered voters, he’s significantly behind in five of the six battleground states that are most likely to decide the election. He does slightly better among likely voters but remains behind in five key states.
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Rooting out antisemitism on campus (5/16/24)Jason SmithLike so many Americans, I have been absolutely appalled by the rampant antisemitism we’re seeing on college campuses. It’s unacceptable that in America in 2024, vicious mobs are harassing, chasing down, and blocking students from entering buildings on college campuses because of their Jewish faith. And let me be clear: these mobs aren’t anti-war protestors; they are terrorist-supporting hate groups.
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A presidency in its dotage (5/15/24)3Rich LowryIs anyone surprised that Joe Biden is caving? It’s what he does. In a disgracefully craven move, President Biden has paused weapons shipments to Israel to try to prevent the Jewish state from launching a full-scale offensive against the remaining Hamas military stronghold in Rafah.
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Political influence and development (5/14/24)The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge turned 20 years old in December of 2023. The estimated cost of the bridge was $100 million. The shared investment was $10 million by Missouri, $10 million by Illinois and $80 million by the federal government.
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Legislation could prevent big crop loss (5/9/24)With rising prices and global instability, our country’s food security has never been more important. The recent passage of HB 2763 in the Missouri House is a significant milestone in protecting access to American-made glyphosate, an essential product used to control harmful weeds on farms, which is critical to maintaining strong crop yields and ultimately keeping prices low for families around the world.
In case you missed it
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Speak Out: Speak Out 5-16-24 (5/16/24)Visit Cape decision Visit Cape, in its current form, operates autonomously, allowing it to craft tailored strategies and initiatives that cater specifically to the needs and demands of the tourism sector. However, integration into the city bureaucracy will strip Visit Cape of this autonomy, subjecting its operations to broader municipal agendas that may not prioritize tourism. As a result, the tourism industry risks becoming just one of many competing priorities within the city government structure. Resources and attention dedicated to tourism promotion and development will most certainly dwindle, leading to stagnation or decline in visitor numbers and economic impact. This was a poor decision by all involved and set this community back even further than it already was in tourism. Hotel/motel tax numbers being up consistently is an excellent metric, but it is not all there is to tourism. If those in charge had even taken a moment to consult educated individuals in the industry, they would have known and realized this was not the solution.
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Column: The long haul of love (5/15/24)Kathryn LopezWe cannot live without mothers. That seems like it should be an obvious point. But we have examples in recent culture and politics that suggest otherwise. The vice president of the United States recently visited an abortion clinic. As much as the issue of abortion has been important to the Democratic Party, no president or vice president had previously made such a visit. At his own abortion-rights rally, our Catholic president made the sign of the cross, as if to call upon God’s blessings for more abortions.
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Editorial: Enjoy all the free band concerts available in the area (5/15/24)One of the more relaxing ways to spend a few hours is sitting outside on a late spring evening listening to a big band play. Cape Girardeau and Jackson area residents are fortunate to have three weekly opportunities to do just that.
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Column: Try a little honesty about Israel (5/14/24)4Victor Davis HansonScan news accounts of anti-Israel campus and street protestors. Read their demands and manifestos. Collate the confusion after October 7 from the Biden administration. Here are 10 of their most common untruths about Oct. 7 and the war that followed.
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Column: From teacher raises to opioid prevention: What Missouri’s new budget means for you (5/14/24)Holly Thompson RehderHi y’all! What a week it has been in Jefferson City! There were certainly some highs and lows, but in the end, several bills were passed in the Senate and the fiscal year 2025 state operating budget was sent back to the Missouri House of Representatives with the Senate’s changes. It should pass smoothly and make it to the governor’s desk before the 6 p.m. deadline Friday evening. Granted, we cut it closer than almost any other session in history.
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Editorial: Celebrating Southeast Missouri’s top students, dedicated educators (5/13/24)As we celebrate the close of another academic year, it’s a time of recognition for the exceptional achievements of our local students and the educators who have guided them. We have much to be proud of in Southeast Missouri. Not only have three of our students been named to the prestigious Missouri Scholars 100 list, but two others have earned spots on the Mizzou 39 list...
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Column: Campus protests are just pale imitations of the 1960s (5/13/24)4By Christine FlowersIt seems silly to write a column about the recent college protests. It’s not really news when privileged students who have never been in the line of fire and whose most pressing concern is what pronoun they’ll use on any given day decide to rise up against the establishment...
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Column: Is the union resurgence real? Does it matter for workers? (5/13/24)By Veronique de RugyUnions are said to be having a moment. The story goes something like this: Helped by a presidential administration that touts itself as the "most pro-union in history," labor unions — after decades of decline — are winning big victories against anti-union corporations and extracting impressive concessions for their workers. But is it all true?...
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Column: It takes courage to write in the digital age (5/13/24)By Bonnie Jean FeldkampErma Bombeck was right when she said, "It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else." I thought of this quote when my friend Gina Barreca recently asked on social media, "Writers: Why is it hard to hit 'send' even after all these years?"...
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Column: Why I’m grateful my mom didn’t let me quit piano (5/11/24)5Lucas PressonGrowing up, I didn’t experience a major rebellious phase. I’m sure I had my moments, but frankly, between my parents’ guidance and church involvement, I stayed out of trouble for the most part. Looking back, I’m grateful for the direction they provided. However, one memory stands out—a conversation with my mom when I was 12.
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Column: Guest commentary: A mother’s role in advancing shared parenting in Missouri (5/11/24)1Linda Reutzeln this Mother’s Day, Missouri has much for which to be thankful. We became the fifth state to pass Shared Parenting legislation in 2023. Shared parenting advocates are pro-mom and dad! But they are especially pro-children! Motherhood is a blessing to me, and I will readily admit that the challenges of working and nurturing children at home are hard to handle all the time. Of course, that’s the beauty of shared parenting, sharing those responsibilities. I have met so many women in the movement who are mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers and aunts. This movement couldn’t have had the success it’s had without women stepping up to the plate.
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Column: Add Sen. Tom Cotton to VP Shortlist (5/11/24)Star ParkerHeadlines are now filled with names reported to be on Donald Trump’s "shortlist" of possible VP candidates. These individuals, some of whom I know, indeed have serious qualifications and experience and are appropriate to be considered for the No. 2 position in the executive branch of the nation’s government.
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Column: Colleges side with radicals to detriment of students (5/10/24)2Betsy McCaugheyThe Left and their media allies want you to believe the protests roiling college campuses are spontaneous uprisings of morally fervent students worried about Gaza war victims. Don’t fall for that claim. It’s a scam. These protesters don’t represent most students or the American public. Yet Monday, Columbia University canceled graduation ceremonies, kowtowing to the radical fringe, with whom they largely agree. Students and their families be damned.
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Column: House Republicans challenge Biden’s economic policies amid rising living costs (5/10/24)5Jason SmithLast week, President Biden called for the expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, President Trump’s signature legislation that jump started the best economy of my lifetime and that continues to provide needed tax relief to working families today. In one statement, the president promised American workers, families, farmers, and small businesses that they would see their taxes go up – breaking his promise that families making less than $400,000 would not receive a tax increase...
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Editorial: Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms for all you do (5/10/24)Suppose we were to put together a recipe to make a Mom. What would that look like? -- Big dollop of support that extends from the cradle to adulthood. -- More than a little accountability. -- As much understanding as possible.
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Column: What we should have learned from the war on woke (5/9/24)1Jonah GoldbergThis isn’t going to be more musing about whether America has reached "peak woke." But that is part of the story. So let’s start there. About a decade ago, many on the left embraced the word "woke," a term with roots in African American culture and activism. It originally meant staying awake — that is, "woke" — to the dangers facing the Black community. But in the hands of the broader, and whiter, academic and journalistic left, it soon became a kind of cool catchall for progressive politics, alongside other buzzwords like "intersectionality."
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Column: The Columbia University push to elect Donald Trump (5/9/24)1Rich Lowry"Let’s finish what they did in 1968," a Columbia protester said the other day. In political terms, that would mean electing Donald Trump. The disorder of 1968 — when LBJ declined to run again and Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon and George Wallace faced off — played right into the hands of Nixon, who rode his opposition to the riots and campus unrest into the White House.
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Letter to the Editor: How gun violence shatters lives (5/9/24)As a survivor of domestic and firearms violence, it is very important to me that I use my voice to advocate for those who have been impacted by senseless gun violence that continues to happen every single day and tears apart families, friends and communities in which we live.
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Column: A troubling tale (5/8/24)Kathryn LopezAt 10 years old, Rob Henderson reached the following conclusion: "As far as I was concerned, adults were unreliable liars. With each new family, new parent and new rejection, grief, anger and loneliness accrued within me." Henderson writes of the upbringing that led to this despairing insight in his powerful new book, "Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class."
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Column: Rural health care access and funding moves forward despite lengthy delays (5/8/24)Holly Thompson RehderHi y’all! What a week it has been in Jefferson City. It’s hard to wrap up all the political drama that took place, including a multi-day filibuster, but the bottom line is that multiple measures to improve and protect rural health care access have moved forward in the Senate this week.
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Speak Out: Speak Out 5-8-24 (5/8/24)Jackson schools The Jackson school administration continues to double down on their failed arguments trying to raise taxes. Listen, we all know property taxes went up so your related revenue was commensurate. We all know that schools are fully open seven months a year, so teacher pay should be commensurate to the days worked. We all know that Gordonville and Millersville schools were going to be closed. We all know how much administrators make. We all know how much the football and soccer fields cost, and that they’re not “maintenance free”.
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Editorial: Congratulations to the graduates on their life journey (5/8/24)For young people who haven’t experienced embarking on a career or starting a family, graduation is one of the first major life goals reached. Years of effort culminate in a walk across a stage to the applause of peers, family and friends.
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Column: No, Columbia isn’t complicit in ‘genocide’ (5/7/24)Rich LowryAs Morningside Heights goes, so goes the Levant. This is the childishly self-dramatizing conceit that’s been driving the pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University, with similar ideas playing into protests elsewhere. It allows students living privileged lives at elite universities to believe that they are on the front lines of fighting so-called genocide, and what happens at their schools — and to them — is exciting, dangerous and determinative of geopolitical events half a world away.
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Column: Can the current universities be saved? (5/7/24)4Victor Davis HansonElite higher education in America — long unquestioned as globally preeminent — is facing a perfect storm. Fewer applicants, higher costs, impoverished students, collapsing standards, and increasingly politicized and mediocre faculty reflect a collapse of the university system.
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Letter to the Editor: A call for awareness, hope (5/7/24)May is NF and MH Awareness Month. NF stands for Neurofibromatosis. NF is a group of genetic disorders that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. NF can lead to blindness, deafness, bone abnormalities, disfigurement, learning challenges, disabling pain or cancer. Anyone can be born with it and it affects everyone differently.
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Editorial: Spotlight on Southeast Missouri’s nurses during National Nurses Week (5/6/24)As we usher in National Nurses Week, it is fitting to reflect on the profound impact that nurses have on our health care system and communities. In Tuesday’s edition of the Southeast Missourian, we dedicate a special section to the stories of local nurses, showcasing their vital roles and the compassionate care they provide. ...
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Column: It’s not about you, Marjorie Taylor Greene (5/6/24)5What a good week it should have been for Republicans. Dozens of campuses from UCLA to Columbia University were being wracked by pro-Palestinian protestors who set up “Gaza Solidarity” encampments, spewed antisemitic hate speech, took over buildings and intimidated Jewish students. ...
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Column: Ultraprocessed food manufacturers should not be permitted to market to children (5/6/24)1My son brought home a bookmark from school promoting the school’s spring book fair — and it doubled as a coupon to a fast-food restaurant. This isn’t the first "free kid’s meal" coupon my son has gotten. It’s a pretty common thing, and after the book I just read, it annoys me. ...
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Column: Will California hobble the US railroad industry? (5/6/24)American federalism is struggling. Federal rules are an overwhelming presence in every state government, and some states, due to their size or other leverage, can impose their own policies on much or all of the country. The problem has been made clearer by an under-the-radar plan to phase out diesel locomotives in California. If the federal government provides the state with a helping hand, it would bring nationwide repercussions for a vital, overlooked industry. ...
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Column: A look at sales, property taxes in Cape Girardeau (5/4/24)6Stacy KinderThe City of Cape’s fiscal year begins every July, and our administration is very busy preparing the FY25 budget for city council approval. This process will be before the public numerous times in June, which is important as our city budget lays out the city’s priorities. It is vital that city residents can see clearly how revenue is generated, and how it is used.
Prayer of the Day
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BBB's Tips on Recovering From a Scam
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (5/15/24)
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Piasa or Bald Eagle?
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (5/14/24)
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BBB's Tips for Finding a Lawncare Professional
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (5/8/24)
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Ever wonder what became of science fair winners?
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (5/7/24)
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BBB's Tips for Avoiding Financial Aid Scams
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (5/1/24)
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St. Louis architect named to design new Missourian building
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (4/30/24)
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How and When to Tell Employees About the Sale of the Business
Be Advised by Jennifer Smith Broeckling (4/29/24)
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BBB's Digital Spring Cleaning Tips
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (4/24/24)
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Writing parking tickets with a friendly smile
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (4/23/24)2
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BBB's Tips for Spring Home Improvement Projects
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (4/18/24)