LETTERS 08/22/08

McCain jealous of Obama?

Instead of speaking to a wide range of subjects, John McCain’s campaign ads have been reduced to a one-trick pony. They continue to churn out childish, churlish chicanery, chiding and poking fun at Barack Obama’s ideas and personal appeal. And McCain actually approves these pathetic ads. It smacks of jealousy to me.

It is indeed ironic that McCain now agrees with Obama’s ideas — proper tire pressure and engine tune-ups — to cut our demand for gasoline, as do the Energy Department and NASCAR.

By the way, anyone need a free air pressure gauge? (What a costly boo-boo that was.)

Delores Mair

Kansas City

John McCain is behind in some polls. To remain competitive he should choose Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for vice president. It would help him with women and minorities. And judging from some statements she has made, she would be a good president should the need arise.

Statement of fact: McCain is not the best major candidate. Bob Barr, the Libertarian, is.

Tom Halvorsen

Joplin, Mo.

Here are three predictions:

1. Barack Obama will lose the presidential election.

2. Great howls of racism will rise to the nation’s rooftops.

3. The truth — that the more they heard, the more a majority of the American electorate came to realize candidate Obama was all meringue and no pie — will be lost in the uproar.

James W. Henry

Lee’s Summit

The person who can be most beneficial to our country at this time is not President Bush. It is not Sen. McCain, and it is not Sen. Obama. It’s Paul Pelosi.

Mr. Pelosi, please bring your wife back to San Francisco and keep her there. We have suffered enough. She’s in over her head.

Jim Kudlinski

Overland Park

Charles Hammer (8/8, Letters) comments that “The Star’s Republican syndicated columnists endlessly batter Obama” and that “meanwhile, The Star chooses liberal columnists who write about family, foster care and ‘the Pakistan-India chasm.’ ”

Although I understand his point, I would prefer to see a higher class of conservative columnists instead of a total abandonment of real issues. Are there no conservative columnists available who discuss issues intelligently?

I appreciate someone who will challenge my opinions. Michelle Malkin merely fatigues me with her constant negativity.

Rose Mary Beuthien

Kansas City

Whom are we to believe?

Are we to believe Michelle Malkin’s commentary (8/15, Opinion, “Let’s get real on the limits of wind power”) in which she berates the “pie-in-the-sky” wind power-generating plan of T. Boone Pickens, a staunch Republican billionaire oilman, as being “well and good in la-la-land … (but) past and ongoing experience demonstrates the unreliability of wind and the miserably low operating capacity of wind power facilities here and around the world.”

Or are we to believe Thomas Friedman’s commentary (8/15, Opinion, “When it comes to energy efficiency, the U.S. lags”) which reports from Copenhagen, Denmark, that “despite oil discoveries in the North Sea, Denmark today gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind.” In America, it’s about 1 percent.

Harold Oppenheim

Kansas City

In the August primary, 19 percent of Missourians voted. I have a solution to get out the vote. If the Democratic and Republican parties really want all Americans to vote, pay them.

For city and county elections, provide a $50 tax credit. For statewide elections, provide a $100 tax credit. For national elections, provide a $250 tax credit.

This would get about 80 percent of the people to vote. If the parties really want it, it is that simple.

David Joel

Grain Valley

Mike Hendricks (8/20, Local, “Mr. Mayor, this is no conspiracy”) should lighten up in his attacks on Mayor Funkhouser and the apparent need he has for the support of his wife in conducting affairs of state. Hendricks might feel more sympathy for the mayor if he would consider the plight of young monkeys in experiments by psychologist Harry Harlow.

Harlow removed baby rhesus monkeys from their mothers and provided them with surrogate “mothers” made of terry cloth. When a scary stimulus was brought into the cage, the monkeys ran to their cloth mothers for protection. When the monkeys were placed in a strange room with their cloth mothers, they clung to the surrogates until they felt comfortable enough to explore. Even then they would sporadically go back to their cloth mothers for comfort.

Monkeys placed in an unfamiliar room without their cloth mothers would freeze, cry, crouch or suck their thumbs. Some cried and screamed as they searched for their cloth mother.

The mayor just needs the support of his surrogate mommy or, perhaps I should say, mammy. Give hizzoner a break. The big guy’s doing the best he can.

Ralph D. Hile

Merriam

At our last Man to Man support meeting for prostate cancer, two recent articles were discussed. One was from the Institute of Cancer Research in London about a new drug for prostate cancer. The article made current hormone treatments sound somewhat ineffective. True, they do not work as well as the new drug, but they have a place in current treatment. Our consensus as patients is that the current hormone treatments have helped us.

The second, in The Star (8/5, A-2, “New guidelines on prostate screenings; In a policy shift, a task force recommends that elderly men should not be tested for cancer”) the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggests not testing for prostate cancer in patients over 75. Three of the men in our group, two over 80, could have died a very uncomfortable death had they not been diagnosed.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests are not that expensive, and these men appear to have several years left in their lives. We take exception to the new guidelines.

Charlie Brown

Kansas City

Some of the greatest people in history have smoked cigarettes. OK, it’s terrible for your body, but this thing about telling bar owners in Kansas City and North Kansas City that all of a sudden they can take a 30 to 40 percent cut in receipts is not good for the tax base. I don’t think the bleeding-heart, nonsmoking radicals who insisted on rushing through this nonsmoking law in bars thought about this very much.

Great bars all over this fine city are taking a huge hit on this subject. Bartenders and waitresses are getting it worst, because they have less traffic and thus less in tips.

Let’s face it folks. Kansas City and every burg that has instituted nonsmoking laws have shot themselves in the foot. We can talk all we want about the revitalization of Kansas City, but the nonsmoking laws are killing revitalization. Worse, tax-paying businesses that have flourished for years are on the edge of closing.

Dave Leonard

Kansas City

Did anyone else find the comments of Lisa Wathne, the spokeswoman of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, somewhat chilling? (8/14, Local, “Mauling spurs farm to give up animals; Owner is sending tigers and other exotic animals to sanctuary and is still seeking homes for more”)

When commenting on the fate of Sandra and Ken Smith’s exotic animals, Wathne stated, “Euthanasia is probably the kindest option for the animals.” She also said that any animals moved from the farm should be sterilized so they cannot breed.

She could have helped the Smiths set up care for their tigers, lions and other rare animals. She could have helped place healthy endangered animals into responsible breeding programs. For some of these species, such programs provide their only real hope of survival.

It makes you wonder about the organization’s definition of “ethical,” as it seems PETA would rather see healthy animals euthanized and rare, beautiful creatures such as these big cats become extinct.

Donna Godding

Independence

My grandfather resisted using the indoor toilet. He was from a poor immigrant family and grew up on the farm. My mother told me about her grandmother, who had refused to ride in an automobile, She called them the “devil’s chariot.” New customs, new languages and new technology and different social practices sometimes cause fear to those who resist them.

To those who see riding bicycles on the public street a “dangerous practice” that requires a “solution,” I would suggest that they realize that bicycles on public streets are a practice that is only going to increase. One only has to look around and see that there are more and more of us every day.

Sidewalks are side-“walks”, hence, made for walking.

Statistics show that bicycle sales are higher than ever. Change often seems “dangerous” if we are not used to it.

Richard L. Wagner

Kansas City

Congratulations and thanks to China for its ability to produce and stage a magnificent pageant to open the Olympics.

It was the epitome of technology, flawlessly coordinated with thousands of performers.

How ironic that we who occupy this planet cannot produce and stage the simple act of getting along with each other.

Ralph E. Dennis

Olathe

Much can be said about the outstanding 23-year-old U.S. Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps. How happy we are for him, and we are proud of his accomplishments.

By winning a record number of gold medals, he set new world records. His presence has created good feelings with those from other countries. He has brought to all who watch him swim thrilling excitement and joy.

Important as these accomplishments are, more important is that Michael, through his example, is helping others by helping himself. Our country is strengthened when they see on Michael “U.S.A.”

Doug Sutherland

Raymore

Somewhere there is an angel flying around out there, and I hope he or she reads this.

On Aug. 11, I bought the $59.99 digital adapter for my TV, along with other purchases, at Target on Chouteau Trafficway.

I got home and unloaded the trunk. Later on I thought, “I don’t remember bringing the converter into the house.” I wondered if I had set it down in the parking lot while I unlocked the trunk.

I went back to Target on Aug. 13 and told them my story. The clerk asked me a few questions: When did I purchase it, and did I pay by cash or check?

Would you believe she brought it up from under the counter? There was a note attached. “Found in parking lot on Aug. 11.”

So, angel, if you are reading this, I thank you so much. There are still honest people out there. It made my day!

Emma Jean Ludwig

Kansas City