Making a connection

LET ME see if I have this right. Richard Kinder was once president of Enron. Now Kinder runs another company that's in exactly the same business as Enron, and the county commissioners see no connection. They're likely to be the proud owners of a power plant if Kinder Morgan goes belly up just like Enron.

A request for prayers

AN IN-LAW of mine who never misses a church service tells me she doesn't believe in abortion but people should have the right to choose. "I'm not pro-choice," she exclaimed, "because aborting a child is wrong." This opinion is held by many as an excuse to support a political party or women's rights. Can you imagine what the response of God when you say you couldn't care less what happens to children who are aborted by others? I'm not judging anyone. All I ask is that you include this point of view in your prayers.

Golden Rule for media

I FIND it very ironic that the editor of The Wall Street Journal is requesting that people give Daniel Pearl's family some privacy and show them some respect. This is from a member of the media, which is notorious for not giving other citizens privacy or respect. They hounded the guy who was accused of the Atlanta Olympics bombing to the point where he couldn't even live a normal life. They have hounded everybody else who's ever been in the limelight for five seconds until their lives are ruined. But now because it's one of their own, they expect everyone to back off and treat them the way they don't treat other people. Maybe they should start treating other citizens they way they want to be treated. Isn't that the Golden Rule? Maybe the media hasn't heard that. Maybe they're reading trash instead of the Bible.

Funding for diseases

YOUR FEDERAL government currently spends $13 billion a year on AIDS-related programs, far more than it spends on other diseases from which more people suffer. In 1996, the National Institutes of Health spent an average of $1,160 for every heart-disease death, $4,700 for every cancer death but an incredible $43,000 for every AIDS death. It is the political clout that AIDS activists have, along with the fear of opponents who cower at the label homophobe, that accounts for disparity in research funding. Taxpayers have no obligation to fund AIDS activists who want more money for this. They shouldn't get it.

Smoke-free hairdo

I TOTALLY agree with Heather Kronmueller's column, "In pursuit of smoke-free laundry." But what about a beauty salon? We pay dearly to have our hair done, and it smells of smoke before we leave. Our clothes also reek and have to be aired. I guess we should try to find a smoke-free establishment because the operators do not care.

Call it terrorism

I KEEP seeing the news media refer to gangs as violent, but gangs mainly operate on the theory of terrorism. Why don't you start calling it terrorism instead of gang violence?

Reap what you sow

THE TERRORISTS who terrorize our nation and the world have plenty of ammunition to turn public opinion of their fellow countrymen against us. Our morality has gone downhill for the past 30 or 40 years: aborting children, gay rights movement, homosexual marriages and adoption, unwed mothers, just living together, crimes and drugs -- all of which the Muslim world denounces along with most decent Christians. It's an old line, but it's true: You reap what you sow.

Pay for what's needed

I'M CALLING about the council candidates article. It says the city's facing a tight budget so it can't even give stuff to the police and fire departments. Why is all this money from restaurant sales tax just sitting there when it could be used for something good like this instead of blowing it on something the university wants again? Why don't we use it for something that is needed?