No consequences

THE STUDENT who had the layout at Central High School that showed how to carry out a shooting is not having charges pressed against him. This is a disappointment to Cape Girardeau County that we have a prosecuting attorney who doesn't think this is worth the time. Just because the student told the authorities that it was a joke, it is no excuse for him to not face any consequences. If someone were to board an airplane and say that he had a bomb on board and then say he was just joking, would he get away with it? What is the difference here? With all the school shootings, why take a chance with our children?

Get story straight

WHICH IS it? Do we not torture, as the president says, or do we waterboard as the vice- president says? This is rather confusing. Shouldn't they be talking to each other? Even kids can get their story straight.

It's about oil

YOU DON'T think this administration is about big business and oil? Our Navy is guarding a Saudi oil facility, but we can't stop illegals from coming into the United States. With one we are supporting Exxon. With the other we are supporting big companies who employ illegals.

Lanes need stripes

I WAS driving through Jackson last Friday in the pouring rain on the four-lane highway that goes through town. I could not tell what lane I was in or, for that matter, what lane anyone else was in. I recently turned 40, and I realize that my eyesight is not the greatest, but something needs to be done about this. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau is the same. There are little tags that stick up in the road that are somewhat reflective at night, but in the daylight in the rain, you can't see them. I would think that making the driving lanes visible, would prevent a lot more wrecks than those mile markers on the interstate.

Government monitor

A NOTE to the terrified person who says our Bill of Rights is dead: Your fears are probably true. You are being searched out and staked out to see why you live like you do. Get real. It's paranoia that creates unreasonable fear. The only ones who need to fear are those who deal with terrorists and subversives. If all the government has to do is to listen to my phone calls, monitor my Internet use and watch me go to work, to church and to the stores, then it's because there are no problems in our country. I'd cherish the reality of no problems.

No correlation

THE CORRELATION between the amount of money spent per child in the education system and his achievement is zero.

Inconsiderate burning

I WOULD like to thank my neighbors in Chaffee for burning their leaves in the alley like they own it and keeping me from being able to open my house up on a beautiful sunny day, since the smoke was coming right toward my house. Use some consideration.

Movie analogy

THE MOVIE "Marie Antoinette" is an apt metaphor for the disconnect between the Bush administration and reality, with Marie Antoinette as the first neoconservative.

Foreign sounding

HEY, MEDIA talking heads: U.S. English uses many words that originate in other languages. We pronounce them in our own way. It should be the same with Spanish words in common use. You don't fool anyone when you suddenly turn into pronunciation queens over a Spanish word. You sound asinine, not authentic.

Too good to pass up

THIS IS in reference to the comment concerning an overweight administrator and coach. What a relief to read something so silly that it's hard not to respond. I wonder if this parent refuses to be treated by an overweight nurse or doctor. Yes, we wish all of us could have trim bodies. Does it have a direct correlation to our ability to do our jobs?

Fuzzy terminology

"ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION" refers to the migration of people across national borders in violation of the immigration laws of the sovereign nation of destination. "Undocumented worker" is often used by illegal immigration apologists to refer to all undocumented individuals, including children and those who do not work, arguing that it is offensive to describe any human as illegal, whether or not their behavior is illegal. Fuzzy terminology impedes clear discussion of issues.

Winning band

CONGRATULATIONS TO the Central Marching Tigers on winning second place at the Greater St. Louis Marching Competition. What a wonderful finish for this year's season. If you have not been able to watch these talented and dedicated teens perform, you can hear them as they march in this year's Veterans Day parade.

Political sympathy

I'D LIKE to offer my sympathies to the Rusts at the Southeast Missourian for their Republican affliction. People try to pass themselves off as being intelligent and listening, and then we see the garbage they put in the paper about the values of the Republican Party. When Gary Rust started in politics, the national debt after 200 years was less than $1 trillion. We're now coasting toward $10 trillion, and we're not paying off anything. If any businessman tried something like that, there would be something wrong. This country is going to have a debt that Rust's grandkids won't get paid off.

OSHA bureaucrats

SOMEONE SAID the government has to protect contractors from themselves, I have never heard a more ignorant statement. I am friends with my employees and would never do anything to put their lives in danger. OSHA is a bunch of bureaucratic pencil pushers who don't know the first thing about construction. When the government starts running private businesses, we'll all go broke.

Stop the ruts

KIWANIS PARK is beautiful. Be proactive and put some big boulders there so there aren't ruts in the grass. Everybody's complaining, and nobody's moving.

Double standard

THE CAPE Girardeau City Council was quick to enact another ordinance regarding mud and storm-water abatement, imposing tougher standards on builders and developers and further increasing the cost to home buyers. Why doesn't the city also have to put up silt fencing and straw bales when it does construction? Drive down Mount Auburn Road where construction is taking place. There's not one silt fence in place. It's a double standard, and it happens all the time. It happened with the sidewalk ordinance. The city required developers to put sidewalks on both sides of every street of every new development, but when the city puts in a new sidewalk on Lexington Avenue, Perryville Road and Cape Rock Road, it only put the sidewalk on one side of the street. It's another double standard from our city government.