Pluto treated unfairly

The International Astronomical Union a few years back did a number on our little Pluto to get it thrown out as a planet, so we have only eight instead of our used-to-be nine planets.

I think Pluto got slammed when it was no longer called a planet. The little fellow wasn’t hurting anything all of those years in its orbit in our solar system.

So some brainy guy got himself a big name picking on this little guy by getting it removed as one of our planets.

Now the International Astronomical Union wants us to help name some moons it has just discovered.

Why not let the brainy guy who removed Pluto from being a planet name the moons?

I don’t remember his name or how to get hold of him, or I would write him, the bum.

Kenneth Langley

Kansas City

Fire response times

I see where our city officials are still trying to find out how to improve response times for the Fire Department. I would like to suggest they take a look at an application for home owners’ insurance.

They would find that insurance underwriters have done their thinking for them.

One of the first questions is “How far are you from the nearest fire station?” Another is “How far is it to the nearest hydrant?”

They understand it is not the timing of firefighters. It is the distance they have to travel.

Jack Stokes

Kansas City

Emperor Brownback?

The Kansas electorate apparently has chosen a governor who does not appreciate the Constitution’s call for separation of powers among the three branches of government.

Gov. Sam Brownback has been legitimately chosen by the voters to lead the executive branch. He ran candidates among members of his own party to consolidate his grip on the legislative branch.

Some may find this a questionable practice.

Now, apparently Gov. Brownback wants to control the judicial branch through political appointments.

If he can convince enough Kansans that all this power in the hands of one man is a good idea, one has to wonder whether he will follow the Napoleonic tradition and crown himself.

Janelle Ramsburg

Prairie Village

Brotherhood and gays

On gay rights, God granted rights to all who would honor his grace and his brotherhood.

Jake Bell

Kansas City

Raise Social Security

The president wants to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour. If that happens, how about including the way the government figures cost-of-living adjustments for seniors.

The cost-of-living formula was put together years ago and should be changed to reflect the real living cost of the 21st century.

There are many retirees whose monthly checks figure out to an hourly wage of less than $4 an hour.

Every one deserves a living wage.

Lowell Davis

Excelsior Springs

Sen. Roberts’ ‘concern’

It’s interesting that Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, in a March 12 letter to The Star, expresses a concern about the White House temporarily stopping the public tours because of the sequestration.

Based upon Sen. Roberts’ voting record, this rather surprised me, particularly because he has shown little concern for Social Security.

He does not appear to have concern for keeping Medicare intact or for supporting the president in providing health care to those who cannot afford it or have access to it through the Affordable Care Act.

Missing is his concern for the financial and health security of his constituents, our children’s education, women’s rights, starving children, Head Start and regulation of major corporations that are raping the public.

These appear to be of little concern to Sen. Roberts.

But, my goodness, he took time to address the White House tours and play politics regarding the sequestration, which most of the Republican House voted for.

Does this tell you anything about his priorities?

Linda Neville

Overland Park

Armed school guards

About halfway through my high school teaching career, the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., happened in April 1999. We were all stunned.

I wondered what I would do if a crazed gunman came into my classroom. I could come up with only one answer.

I, along with my students, would die just like the kids at Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook.

Defenseless is the term that describes most of our schools today.

We put armed guards in banks to protect inanimate currency.

We place guards in airports to protect against flying nutcases.

But so far we are wide open in our schools, relying on nothing but luck and hope to keep us safe.

Certainly, the idea of armed guards in schools is repelling, especially to a crazed shooter.

The thought of armed faculty is also unsettling.

Even though protecting the students and faculty in our schools with armed guards and teachers is repugnant, it is the only choice.

Fred White

Gladstone

Guns to protect U.S.

We all realize the need for some real heavy-duty guns. I mean, what if there was this alien invasion from space, and their intent was to eat us — we’ve all seen those movies — you’d need a really big gun then.

Or what if a foreign army invaded us and got by our front line of defense, and it was just up to you to save the whole United States of America, you would have to have something powerful then.

We can all see how important that would be.

The only problem is, how do we keep these guns out of the hands of the crazies?

Richard C. Lumpkin

Prairie Village

Sen. Rand Paul’s video

I recently listened to a YouTube video depicting U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, as a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, excoriating a government representative from the Department of Energy.

Sen. Paul indicated he did not want any government person telling him what products he needs to purchase/use for his residence.

He claims it interferes with his rights.

He claims that his toilets at his home don’t work.

Sen. Paul is an avowed advocate of state’s rights, even to the extent of unfettered access to public accommodations.

I would then assume he would also not have the government require the Carnival cruise ship Triumph to have working toilets on board because it would be a marketing tool.

Cruise ship companies could then advertise that they had functioning toilets, which would be similar to hotels many years ago advertising that they had “hot running water and air conditioning.”

Sen. Paul used the word “hypocrisy” to describe the government’s action. That would be despite his son’s drunken behavior that violated the flying public’s right not to be intimidated on a commercial flight.

Jack Adams

Overland Park

Selling out citizens

Doesn’t it seem strange that governments all around the world are selling out their people?

It has been said that they want to make us all drones.

Our lawmakers are still acting as if they don’t know what happened. We all know who’s responsible for the job sellouts, foreclosures, wars and bankruptcies.

If our lawmakers want to see who’s at fault, they need to look in the mirror.

The honest citizen can see who is responsible for this depression.

Watching the news makes us sick.

William Leroy Elwood

Osceola, Mo

Personal responsibility

I sat at my computer to compose a letter to The Star. I was upset about the problems relative to gun control, illegal activities, court action, and subsequent prison sentences and prison conditions.

After considerable overnight thought, I have had a change in what I perceive to be the solution for our national problems. We do not need more laws, more legislation, more police officers and more taxes.

What we do need are more personal accountability and more responsibility for our own actions.

We have kids in first grade carrying guns to school.

Where in heaven’s name are the parents of these kids? Parents are supposed to be responsible for their children and for their conduct.

We have parents who clean loaded guns and accidentally shoot their children. What idiot cleans a loaded gun?

We have people with multiple offenses for driving drunk or with suspended licenses.

This is not a law-enforcement problem. It is a problem of personal responsibility and accountability.

Each of us is part of the whole system and must assume responsibility and accountability for our own actions under all circumstances.

Carroll L. Story

Lee’s Summit