Thanksgiving shopping

To the Missouri representative who wants to ban Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving: MYOB, or mind your own business.

I am sick of so-called legislators who think they know what everyone is thinking.

These retailers announce to the world that the last two months of the year are when they make their money. So stay open on Thanksgiving.

People only want to watch football. It is not because they want to be around family that they don’t even like.

The employees who work that day should be happy that they are even working.

Kathy Engle

Kansas City

Change eating habits

After reading The Star’s series, “Beef’s raw edge,” I am sickened by the gluttony of the human race. Me included.

I think it’s time to look for alternative means for food. If the population of our planet continues to grow at this rapid pace, we will be running out of food sooner rather then later.

A wise man said once, “We need to be mindful of the suffering our animals go through to feed us.” Perhaps it’s time to look at plant-based alternatives.

I don’t suppose I’ll ever be able to eat another piece of meat without feeling an enormous amount of guilt. Our animals suffer for our benefits, and then we get sick.

Sounds like retribution to me. Or is it karma?

Vivian Hatfield

Parkville

Buy local, eat local beef

Last week’s three-day series, “Beef’s raw edges,” did an excellent job of detailing all of the problems with the Big Beef industry but offered few alternatives, other than to avoid or minimize beef consumption.

Although a plant-based diet is indeed healthier, there is an alternative to horrid supermarket meat and all of the nasty problems that come with it.

We are surrounded by a network of small family farmers who raise truly free-range beef without sub-therapeutic use of hormones. They use small local processors instead of the massive meat-packing factories.

My family switched to eating meat from a local grower more than three years ago, and we will never go back.

As a mom with two small kids, I consider the risk of exposing them to E. coli or other superbugs, when there is an alternative, unthinkable.

Not only is it healthier, but it tastes better, too. And I know that my money stays in my community.

For a list of these growers in your area, visit www.kcfoodcircle.org for a free downloadable directory.

Vote with your food dollars and support your local food producers.

Brandi Schoen

Platte City

Flawed taxing policy

Ballots cast by 351 voters determined that a $100 million project will proceed (12-13, A1, “Next stop: Streetcars”). That is a bad way to make public policy.

Some who voted “yes” will never pay anything. They are renters. Others who will pay taxes as property owners had no opportunity to vote because they are registered to vote outside the streetcar district. This method for setting policy is flawed at best.

Bob Carlson

Kansas City

End mass shootings

After this latest shooting at another school, I say enough! We have to change the way we discuss guns and violence in this country.

And it is time for the National Rifle Association to work with all Americans to protect us and their gun rights. NRA members shouldn’t just protect their guns but protect real, live people and their innocent children.

Aren’t you all sick of this? Is compromise such a dirty word that we are willing to allow children to be slaughtered at their school because we cannot work together?

If America is the greatest country in the world surely we can at least try to stop this madness. Such mass shootings happen in our country more than anywhere else.

Are gun rights more sacred than our children?

Dana Bartimus

Leawood

Improved Kansas DMV

All of the stories about long waits at the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles office almost made me not want to trade cars. I waited a whole 10 minutes.

I was called to a window with a very nice lady, did the change and was out of there in another 10 minutes. I do feel I was ripped off with sales tax, though.

The auto dealer discounted the car by $4,000 to make the sale, so I owe tax on what I paid less the trade-in, right? No.

I had to also pay tax on the discounted $4,000 up to the sticker price.

Glenn Pilcher

Shawnee

Ditch trolley for tower

Instead of a trolley ride, which will never pay its own way, building a tower similar to Seattle’s Space Needle would be a much better plan. Restaurants and observation decks would be a great tourist attraction as well as curio and souvenir shops.

This could be located in the entertainment district and would be a much better draw than a non-profit streetcar ride. Competition for the architecture would produce something that would attract tourism instead of a streetcar full of droopy, dour teen agers.

Bob Patterson

Lee’s Summit

Economy in airports

General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee is planning to close one of its three concourses, the result of declining air traffic and shifts in gates among airlines. The move is expected to save a considerable amount of tax dollars.

It makes one wonder why the political bosses in Kansas City are choosing instead to wreck our airport and spend over a billion dollars on new construction.

Brad Lucht

Kansas City

Don’t let sin pass

The Bible says in Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

Our government is trying to force two sins upon our nation — the killing of unborn children and sex outside of a marriage.

Everyone has a favorite sin, and all are wrong in the sight of God.

Does anyone think God will ignore any sin? Will God ignore our sin and believe our excuses and allow our nation to flourish?

We need to help all types of people, but don’t try to correct it by saying it is OK. These sins can be forgiven, but there are still consequences to our actions.

Roy Darrah

Lenexa

Republican hypocrites

From the files of Republican hypocrites comes this little gem. Why is it that Republicans run around screaming about too much “big government” and “governmental overreach” and how states can better implement programs than the federal government can, and at the same time tell the federal government that they will not establish the health care exchanges required by the Affordable Care Act, which then forces Washington, D.C., to create them for the states?

Do you think this might be a clue to why you keep losing elections?

Jim Lullie

Holt, Mo.

Keep U.S. press free

Sword of truth or smoke of propaganda? Freedom of the press is the backbone of a free nation.

An objective, unbiased press with no hidden agenda, which every citizen can trust to keep us informed on the actions of our government (both negative and positive), is invaluable to the choices we make in picking our representatives to all levels of our government.

Without this valuable tool, too many poor choices by uninformed or misinformed citizens not only lead to the loss or suppression of freedom for the citizens of this great country but also to the loss of the freedom the press.

Ken Shoemake

Basehor

Grade card for Congress

The job performance of each member of Congress should be “graded” like public school teachers, college professors, instructors and other educators. There should be no tenure for future members. The power to choose their own benefits must cease.

One of my pastors (formerly a coach) once said: “The most important man on the football team is not the quarterback, but the center. Nothing happens until the ball is snapped.”

Our representatives seem to be standing behind the center waiting for the ball to be snapped, collecting all the benefits they receive for life. This must be stopped.

Howard Marshall

Kansas City, Kan.

Buy local for Christmas

With Christmas coming up, we all need to try to trade at home and buy American. Don’t believe anything such as the big guys will match anyone’s price.

When they put our stores out of business, they can charge us whatever they want. The main thing is we trade among ourselves and try to spend our money at home and get as many of our own people back in their own homes and back on their feet.

Made in the USA and bought local should be our goals this year and from here on.

William Leroy Elwood

Osceola, Mo.