Rarely have I been accused of making sense.

This bothers me, because people accuse politicians of the same thing.

My good friend, Don Graff, doesn't bother making sense. When he communicates with me, it's a joke.

If you ever want to know the cure for snoring, ask Don. I can't repeat it here.

On the other hand, Don "Hootch" Hanson speaks uncommon sense. It may not always sound pleasant to some ears. He says the immigration issue in America today can be compared to this analogy: "The roof is leaking. They want to get more buckets. We want to patch the roof."

That doesn't sound so outrageous to me.

Another reader, Mike Adams, the feisty fellow from Elkton, tries to make sense of the war in Iraq and does that by retelling a story:

"When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if U.S. plans for Iraq were just an example of empire-building by President George Bush.

Mr. Powell answered by saying 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked in return was enough to bury those that did not return.'

But unequivocally, the most sense I've heard lately comes from one of Denny Laumeyer's science class students at Ellis Middle School. The students are studying wildlife conservation and writing letters to important people like the mayor and to other people like me.

Read what he has to say:

"My name is Steven Rizzi. I have seen some of your articles in the Austin Daily Herald. They are nice. In school we have a project. We have to tell people outside of school about the things happening in wildlife. Like how animals are becoming endangered because their homes are getting cut down or destroyed. I thought you could put an article in the paper for me like this.

"We should try to help all the animals in the world that are endangered. We could put them in zoos to help them survive. The loggers should stop clear cutting and only select cut. I think that should be a law. People are just thinking about themselves when they start deforestation (or the destruction of forests). They don't have a clue what they're doing to the environment. Also, wetland destruction (wetlands destroyed by filling, draining, or polluting) should be rare because no one knows how many organisms they're killing. They are killing the animals living in the water, the animals that drank the water, the animals that ate the animals that drank the water, and so on. Also, we could try to help nature by cleaning up all the litter. Adopt a highway or get together with friends and clean up. I just want the public to know this. Thank you!"

I agree with you, Mr. Rizzi and let's hope by publishing your letter a few more people will get the message.

As we used to say in the '60s, Keep the faith, Baby!

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com