LETTERS 05/19/08

Isn’t it about time we all started paying attention to living within our means? Wake up, people. There is no free lunch.

Karen Conklin

Shawnee

When it comes to oil, the administration has only one solution: Drill for more oil! Devoid of any original ideas, it knows only one: Open up the Alaska reserve to drilling.

Alaska has proven oil reserves of approximately 5 billion barrels. Seems like a lot? We currently consume 6.6 billion barrels of oil per year. Realistically Alaska will provide us only about 5 percent of our daily needs or 1 million barrels per day and last maybe 15 years. This obviously will not solve our dependency on foreign imports. Nor does it provide a long-term solution to our energy needs. To exploit this oil field will take massive construction of oil rigs, roads and pipelines in a harsh environment and could take 10 years even if we started today.

How about some new thinking? What if we put our considerable resources into developing hydrogen fuel? In 10 years we could conceivably have all the fuel we would ever need for transportation and electricity.

With the power of the sun and the vastness of the oceans as the resources to produce hydrogen, we could actually have our cake and eat it too.

Tom English

Overland Park

“Just because a bird can’t cry doesn’t mean it can’t hurt.”

Many people buy a parrot on impulse. They see a beautiful, talking bird in a pet store and think it would be fun to own. Only after getting the animal home do they realize the extent of care these animals need: expensive cages, toys to prevent boredom, nutritious food (not only seed), regular baths, fresh water, proper vet care and lots of attention. After a few months, the new pet is forgotten.

Many parrots are in rescue groups. Some parrots have issues: screaming, biting or even pulling their feathers out until they are bald and bleeding. These behaviors can stem from neglect, isolation, poor diet or abuse.

These parrots can still be wonderful companions if treated humanely and cared for appropriately. Parrots bond strongly with their owners, an important reason to find forever homes.

Parrot rescues are trying to keep up with the large numbers of unwanted birds. With long life expectancies and continued breeding, supply is greater than demand.

I adopted a second-chance bird from www.BeakNWings.org, an educational bird club and rescue group.

The best option is adoption.

Leslie Remington

Kansas City

I can’t help thinking that when it comes to inept government, thieving public officials, a misguided war and our current economic crisis, this country is getting exactly what it deserves.

Sure, we talk a good game about how things need to change, but the moment someone steps out of the crowd with a plan to give America back to the people and raise the moral and intellectual level of our political discourse, we tear him apart based on his heritage, his former pastor, his bowling scores and anything else we can think of to avoid listening to the truth.

Barack Obama stands for a different kind of leader. He understands what it means to struggle in this country and to feel like your government is working against you instead of for you. Is it any wonder, then, that there are people willing to sink to any level to keep him from gaining power?

It’s up to us whether we allow ourselves to be swayed by these distractions again or take a different approach this time and vote on the issues that will truly affect our lives and our country. I pray we make the right decision.

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