First China, now Cuba

THIS IS simply too much. It has taken me all this time to cope with Richard Nixon having gone to China. Now Gary Rust goes to Cuba.

Crack down on noise

I WOULD hope that the police departments in Jackson and Cape Girardeau would start to enforce the noise nuisance ordinances that are on the books. The loud cars and trucks and loud stereo systems in those vehicles are really getting out of hand. It is too loud and noisy when a person can sit in his home and still hear the noisy vehicles blocks away. Are we going to get any help here?

Gas prices soar

NEWS REPORTS say that the recession is over and that it wasn't as bad as they thought. That's great, but has anyone noticed that in the past two weeks that the price of a gallon of gas has gone up 30 cents a gallon? This is almost as bad as the sad day of Sept. 11 when some gas stations gouged everyone and jacked the price up. The terrorists who attacked us are scum because they attacked innocent people. The gas station owners and oil companies are worse than that because they prey on their own people.

A special prayer

O GOD of beginnings, you are the creator of all life. Be near us as we unite with our pre-born brothers and sisters who are scheduled for death. May you by your Holy Spirit and by the voice of your church lead your people to rescue from death the innocent children and bring those who participate in their death to true repentance that they may taste of your goodness and mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Political undertones

OH, COME off it. Everyone knows that Kinder Morgan Power Co.'s CEO, Richard Kinder, is a rock-ribbed Republican and a rock-solid supporter of President Bush. As a result, the Democrat-dominated Department of Natural Resources has changed the rules in the middle of the game and will do everything conceivable to try to keep Cape native Kinder's company out of Cape County. This should be a nonpartisan matter, but sadly it isn't. Hopefully, sensible heads will prevail and Kinder Morgan will come if we allow them to build it.

Traffic hogs

FOR ALL the people who travel South Kingshighway every day at 5 p.m., for those of you whose time is more valuable than everyone else's, for those of you who whiz by on South Kingshighway's right lane so you can get quickly to the Dutchtown exit, for those of you who take the Dutchtown exit making a quick left and enter the merging traffic onto the South Kingshighway exit: This message is for you. Since your time is more valuable, since your magnetic American flag means freedom for you but not all people, since you are not willing to be courteous and wait your turn, and since you want to forge in front of all the vehicles who are playing fair, may the bird of paradise fly up your nose, may an elephant caress you with his toes, may your tires be plagued with flats and many holes.

Teachout tribute

SIKESTONIANS SPECIFICALLY and Southeast Missourians generally should be proud as punch of Sikeston native Terry Teachout. Conservative columnist George Will paid Teachout a tremendous tribute in his March 18 column by referring to him as a "distinguished music critic" and agreeing with Teachout's thesis that the concept of absolute beauty in the arts is making a big comeback.

Catch the cops too

I THINK the idea of the traffic cameras is a good idea, because it would also catch all of the policemen, sheriff's deputies and highway patrolmen who can't seem to obey the current traffic laws at the intersections either. If the common citizen can be ticketed for running stop lights, so can the law enforcement people. No, this would not apply to officers on their way to actual emergencies.

Students' image

SOME OF us college students who have more self-respect and common sense than those who you've interviewed for your spring-break story are getting mighty tired of the degrading, stupid way that everyone is trying to make drinking and sex look like a typical college activity. We see it all over campus, and now we hear from it in our local newspaper. There are some of us who are going to school to get an education instead of an sexually transmitted disease or a beer gut. Why can't you focus on the good students at SEMO instead of helping spread the message that SEMO is a drunken, sex-starved party college? It's degrading to us, and it's degrading to the few teachers who try to do their job of improving the school.

Subsidies for the rich

THE NEXT time you hear Washington-based rhetoric designed to reinforce our romanticized view of the family farm and the need to provide them with a safety net of tax subsidies, remember conservative George Will's words that millions of these so-called safety-net bucks went to big boy agribusinesses, 15 of which are in the Fortune 500's list of wealthiest corporations.

Electoral guidance

DAVID LIMBAUGH recently seemed at a loss to explain why President Bush switched gears and decided to subsidize the steel industry. If it's any help, David Broder's March 7 column explained very clearly that his decision was guided by electoral vote considerations.

Another break

YOUR STORY didn't describe what every college student will do on spring break. This college student will be working, finishing up projects and cleaning his apartment. When I'm done with that, I'll be opening a bottle of wine, firing a DVD and relaxing, as it will be the first chance for me to do so since January.

Junk mail and jobs

THIS IS in response to the postal worker who agreed with getting rid of bulk business mail. He was right in saying he should not bite the hand that feeds him. This mail might be a little bothersome to some people, but it helps provide jobs for a lots of people, from the people employed making the paper it's made from to the people putting it all together to all those involved in delivery to the janitor who disposes of it to the recycler. I am very happy to still have a job as a rural carrier. Let's try and keep America going. I know it doesn't depend on bulk business mail, but every bit helps, especially if you're a rural mail carrier and just went through a mail count that is going to cost me and most other rural carriers a big pay cut.