Overdoing TV weather

Once again our local TV channels think the public is too ignorant to understand when it is snowing. The endless chatter, pictures of snow and reviewing of the weather is insulting to our intelligence and needless.

Regular programming does not need to be stopped to give us up-to-the-minute reports on the weather. Give a quick summary once an hour and be done with it.

People who have cable or a satellite TV can leave the Chicken-Little weathermen and women and watch something else. Chicken Little, as you remember, ran in circles yelling “the sky is falling” so many times that no one paid attention to her.

Our weather people are in danger of causing actual harm and possible loss of life by their overly ambitious reporting. People will tune them out and could miss a true weather emergency. Please use some common sense in the reporting of weather.

Carolyn Cargyle

Independence

Kindness appreciated

I’m a Kansas City firefighter and would like to say thank you to the couple driving up and down the streets near the gas explosion on the Country Club Plaza on Tuesday night handing out cups of coffee.

It appeared they bought several cups of coffee and then started handing them out to all the responders in the area.

I wanted to let you know it was very much appreciated and very thoughtful.

Cade Dalton

Kansas City

Todd Wade

Kansas City

U.S. politics, abortion

Last month marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This monumental Supreme Court decision made abortion legal, recognizing every woman’s right to make her own choices when it comes to her reproductive health.

Today, 64 percent of Americans are still in support of the Roe v. Wade ruling, according to a 2012 Quinnipiac poll.

However, there continue to be lawmakers in many states pushing to advance anti-women’s health agendas by making it more difficult for women to access safe and legal abortions.

Women do not ask for advice from politicians regarding mammograms, cancer screenings or prenatal care. Politicians should not be involved in a woman’s personal medical decisions either.

Ending a pregnancy is a deeply personal and often complex decision that should be kept between a woman and her family, faith and physician.

Hannah Welch

Lawrence

Misguided Democrats

So, a couple of Democrats have introduced an anti-gun bill in the Missouri House so blatantly goofy they should be admonished by the House leadership for trivializing the House’s business (2-17, A7, “Missouri House Democrats propose assault weapon ban”).

It is not believable that someone who wants to represent the people of Missouri could come to the job so ignorant of the founding documents and principles.

This bill is so obviously unconstitutional that it is dead on arrival.

Do these people not know that if they don’t like the Constitution there is a prescribed way to amend it and that just writing a bill that violates the Constitution is not the way?

In typical Democratic Party fashion, they seem to want to pretend that the rule of law is outmoded and old-fashioned.

I think it more likely that they know that this bill doesn’t have a snowball’s chance but they are just a couple of showboats trying to endear themselves to the extreme left wing of the Democrat Party.

Larry Martin

Adrian, Mo.

Democrats’ gun bill

The world will be a much safer place once the Democrats have their way in Missouri (2-17, A7, “Missouri House Democrats propose assault weapon ban”).

Not satisfied with prohibiting purchase or transfer of high-capacity “ammunition feeding device,” they would actually make possession illegal and cause me to get rid of or modify at relatively high cost my old Springfield 22 rifle.

It has a 15-round tubular magazine under the barrel. To reload, I have to pull the inner spring tube out and insert bullets through a slot in the magazine one at a time.

Some idiot apparently doesn’t know the difference between a clip and magazine, so he/she came up with the “feed” term. An adage is “he knows just enough to make him dangerous.” I’m not sure the author of the bill knew even that much.

Wes Jones

Smithville

Jump in gas price

There’s been a lot of talk on the news lately about why gasoline prices keep going up every day.

Memories are short, and people don’t remember that gas prices always go down a few months before a major election and then go back up a few months after the election.

It happens every time. The incumbents don’t want a pesky problem like high fuel costs to interfere with vote-getting.

We’ll soon be back to $4 a gallon with no relief in sight.

Michael Fopeano

Parkville

Fully close gender gap

Removing the combat exclusionary rules for females in the U.S. military was long overdue. Asymmetrical warfare such as we see in Afghanistan puts everyone on the front lines.

We owe it to every individual to provide the training, equipment and fitness required to be assets instead of liabilities on the battlefield.

But if women really want to be fully accepted by their brothers-in-arms in all respects, they should demand more than just lip-service equality. Men can be assigned to the combat arms against their wishes, and women should be, too.

It is not fair that men get detailed to the dangerous jobs while women get their choice.

Men can be drafted into the military, and women should be required to join the same draft pool with the same risks if the draft is reinstated. The physical standards should remain absolutely equal for both sexes.

If vehicle drivers need to be able to change flat tires by themselves, and tires with wheels attached weigh 75 pounds, then jacking up the vehicle, wrestling the flat tire off the hub and replacing it with a fresh tire should be a requirement for all drivers.

Capt. Michael L. Pandzik

USNR (Retired)

Shawnee

Applaud engineers

This is National Engineers Week. If you know of people who are engineers, please thank them for the great effect they have on our society.

As president of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers, I am proud to represent a profession that too often is taken for granted. Please keep the following in mind as you go about your daily routines.

A mechanical engineer was responsible for the clean drinking water you enjoy daily.

The electricity we depend on to power our homes and workplaces was provided through the efforts of electrical engineers.

Civil engineers designed the transportation infrastructure that is so vital to our economy and livelihood.

Chemical engineers have improved the fuels used in motorized vehicles, helping efficiency and the environment.

Biomedical engineers develop medical technology, which helps save lives.

There are so many more disciplines of engineering that greatly affect our society. Engineers touch our lives in so many ways.

As we celebrate our great profession this week, please appreciate the commitment of the men and women in our industry who have taken the oath to protect and improve the health and well-being of our society.

Mark E. Williams, PE

Overland Park

Fix 2nd Amendment

I hear gun owners, whether they own one weapon or 500, distort the Second Amendment.

I can only believe that there is no way those who attached this amendment to our Constitution could have ever imagined an individual owning semi-automatic weapons or extended magazines for semiautomatic handguns.

The Second Amendment called for a militia in case foreign threats returned, as they did, in order to defend our shores. We have such a militia today. It is called the National Guard.

As for those of you with your mountain of weapons, I have to wonder whether you do not get some kind of emotional release when you shoot a target into tiny pieces.

I do not own a gun. And do not need one.

I have to ask, if it is OK for you to own as many guns as you want, but do not need, then why is it not legal for Americans to smoke a joint whenever they want?

Pot may be illegal now, but hopefully one day I can possess as much pot as you do weapons. No emotional release, but at least a good high.

Steven Douglas Addison

Kansas City

Serving true God

Do we as Christians have any rights in America?

Our children aren’t allowed to pray in public schools. Sports players are frowned on for praying in public.

America was founded on Christian principles. We need to get back to the way this country was in the beginning. If we don’t, then we could lose even more of our rights.

If we are serious about serving the one and only true God, then we need to stand up for our rights as Christians.

Judith Day

Chi l howee, Mo.