Can you imagine?

IF JOHN Kennedy had had the same guts his brother, Ted Kennedy, has shown and backed down in the Cuban missile crisis, we would have been under the gun today. Can you imagine our country in the hands of Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle and Al Gore? God help us. Even former President Clinton, who had character flaws, was more intelligent than all three of these put together.

DDT not the solution

YOUR PRO-DDT editorial was further outside the bounds of sanity than normal. Health recommendations urge that use of DDT should be restricted to the inside of houses where ventilation is excellent. DDT doesn't just kill mosquitoes. It kills all insects, good and bad. It enters the food chain and kills the wildlife that feed on treated insects. The ecological costs of DDT misuse are vast and well understood. For the amazingly small number of individuals who suffer from diseases introduced by mosquitoes here, your proposal involves applying a mighty heavy sledge hammer to crack a minuscule nut. More good would be done by directing your attention and resources of thousands of deaths caused by firearms, tobacco and alcohol.

Too much to do

DO YOU think the reason we have such a poor turnout for events in Cape Girardeau is because organizers schedule too many things at the same time? This weekend's events included the City of Roses Music Festival downtown, a gun show at the Show Me Center and a gospel sing at the Arena Building. This has happened before when they have scheduled two or three things in one weekend. Perhaps if the scheduling were carried out a little differently, we might have a better turnout.

The school factor

I'M CALLING in regard to the TIF proposal made by the developer who would like to build a major subdivision in a wealthy part of Cape Girardeau. I think it's time that we call this proposal what it really is: developer welfare. All other developers in our community wind up paying for their developments and then selling the property in order to recover the costs. In this instance, the developer would like to have the taxpayers fund the development of the property. If the developer could guarantee that the hundreds of homes out in that development would never have any children to be educated in our school system, perhaps it would be all right. But he can't do that. So that means that for the next 23 years, the cost for those children would have to be borne by all other parents in our community.

Honoring our veterans

I ATTENDED the remembrance ceremony at Brookside Park in Jackson for the POWs and the MIAs. The meaningful ceremony was tainted by the noise from the ballplayers who would not cease their playing to honor our incarcerated and tortured veterans. The ball teams who were there did not even stop for a moment so we could hear the ceremony. I think it is very sad that our coaches and athletes think they are exempt from honoring those who have died for our country. It would be nice if they would remember that they might not have the privilege to play today and have this freedom if it were not for those who have given their lives for our country.

Disrespectful players

I ATTENDED the POW/MIA remembrance at Brookside Park Veterans' Memorial in Jackson. It was an awesome sight to watch the representatives of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard participate in the walk. The Scouts and church youth groups as well as patriotic citizens walked to honor the POWs. But I was petrified to hear loud cheerleaders and coaches' yells from the ball fields below echo through the crowd as the speaker spoke and during the flag folding with a gun salute and taps. What a disgrace from the park management and school coaches.

Bring back Judy

PLEASE ASK the networks to put my favorite show, "Judge Judy," back on. I can't afford cable, and I miss that show very much.

Bring back the draft

IT HAS become apparent that the volunteer Army is not large enough to perform all of the actions required in Afghan-istan, Kosovo and other places around the world. The next thing coming up is Iraq, which could tie up many thousands of people in occupation forces for many years. With all of these things happening, it appears we should immediately start a new draft. That would build our military up to the level required. This time we should not allow any deferments and could immediately have a drawing using the last four numbers of Social Security cards to choose who would be called to serve. These people, after training, could move rapidly to be occupation forces and not be allowed to go to college to avoid the draft.

SADDAM HUSSEIN has thumbed his nose at the United Nations and has shown he has no regard for rules, world safety or human life and has vowed vengeance on the United States. Thank God, we have a president who cares more for our country's security than his political career. We have a level-headed, decent, God-fearing man in our White House.

Look to corn for fuel

IT'S TIME for us to find a new source of energy. It's time for us to switch over to homegrown energy like ethanol from corn. The really next big step in promoting ethanol is to find a way to genetically modify corn so we can take nitrogen fertilizer directly out of the air so we wouldn't need to buy fertilizer to grow corn. If we can do that, the Arabs can just sit on top of their oil for the rest of their lives, and we will leave them alone.

Favors alcohol tax

THANK GOODNESS somebody put something in the paper about taxing alcohol. I'm all for that. That causes more harm than any cigarettes ever did.

Humble beginnings

AN ARTICLE in the Missourian about Cape Girardeau's income gap never mentioned that just because you live in a poor neighborhood you can still bring your children up to be honest and decent with values and respect for your neighbors and yourselves. Does anyone really think a new house, a nice neighborhood or more income will make you a model citizen? My parents instilled cleanliness, pride in what little we had and showing respect for others.

Musical competition

I THINK the Sitze Family should take heart. There was a lot of musical competition this week. Alabama was playing in St. Louis. Pink was at SIU. Next year might be a different story. I would also recommend lowering the price on Sunday. I love the concept of music on the river.