One great idea can take on a life of its own, which is exactly what has happened to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s idea of bringing ordinary citizens from all over the globe together to communicate face to face, in an effort to solve differences and discover ways to live peacefully together on the planet. The People to People Ambassador Program was launched in 1956, setting in motion a vehicle wherein his mission of global citizenship did flourish.

RESPONSE: If you judge by response, Toni Becker's article "Spin vs. Record" has provoked our readers more than anything we've seen. We've received three times the responses than any other article posted on semo.net's home page (raffle's and giveaways excluded). Both sides (equally) have weighed in with their kudos & kudon'ts. REBUTTAL: Every individual who disagreed with the post was offered a chance to post a rebuttal. Only one person has responded to that offer:

We can talk about what the big four are wearing today or about Joe the plumber, but how does that help anyone make an intelligent choice for President of the United States on November 4th? At some point what needs to be understood is how the Democrat and Republican candidates see the country heading into the future, so an educated choice can be made. Voting for John McCain simply because he was a prisoner of war is as shallow as someone voting for Barack Obama simply because he’s black. It can’t be completely about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It can’t be completely about the mess our economy is in. We need to think deeper than that on election

Microsort has released a critical patch for all versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 running the Server service. The vulnerability fixed by this patch could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on your Windows server. Semo.net and Microsoft strongly advise that everyone download and install this patch. The installation only takes a couple of minutes, and you will have to reboot the computer when complete. If you or your company would like a certified computer technician to make this change, contact semo.net at 573.686.9114. The cost will be $20 plus $0.40 per mile from our Poplar Bluff office (if additional patches are necessary prior to installing this patch extra

This is a communication from MSG Jeffrey Pennington, currently stationed at Patrol Base Kaufman, Samarra, Iraq: Since I last made a post we have experienced a lull in enemy activity, at least in our area. However we have had many of the soldiers in my unit begin to take their mid-tour leave which leaves everyone else stretched thin to pick up the slack. I myself have had to do the job of 2 people for 16-18 hour days 7 days a week for quite some time. I will never place blame on anyone who has the opportunity to go home on R&R for a couple weeks as it is well-deserved for the soldiers here and I'm certain their families appreciate

I watched the Late Show with David Letterman last month on the night that McCain canceled to "go back to Washington to fix the economic mess." Letterman crucified the candidate and his decision that night and it was hilarious. During the days and weeks following that decision, Letterman kept the story alive. McCain was definitely on Dave's S-List...so to say I was curious how McCain was going to handle his "makeup date" with David Letterman last night is to put it lightly.