A dual honor
Instead of a street in Kansas City named for Martin Luther King Jr., I would like to see a life-size statue of him with the Rev. Billy Graham — another great spiritual leader. I recently saw a photo of them that really touched me.
Elizabeth Ann McKie
Independence
Biofuel problems
A Thursday letter to the editor touted the biofuel ethanol. (14A) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that biofuels contribute 30-90 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum fuels. However, biofuels account for higher indirect greenhouse gas emissions because of land-use changes and production methods.
Further, demand for corn (the main source of biofuels in the U.S.) has promoted increased use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals to increase production. These chemicals and poor land-management techniques threaten an already fragile resource — water.
The demand for ethanol production contributes to deforestation as more land is cleared for agrifuel production. Diverting food crops to energy production also has the effect of increasing the price of food.
Biofuels may be renewable, but they can hardly be characterized as “clean.”
Conrad Smith
Overland Park
Horrors of war
My friend Katie was married in Seoul, South Korea, last weekend. She is one of 20,000-30,000 American teachers of English there. I have good Korean friends, so I am remembering past wars as we face the newest crisis with North Korea.
World War I was a 100 years ago, and historians call it tragic and unnecessary. It led to the Communist revolution in Russia, World War II and the Cold War. Vietnam was a big mistake. The 2003 Iraq war began with the lie of weapons of mass destruction. It resulted in hundreds of thousands dead and spawned far more jihadist terror (including ISIS) than it prevented. Afghanistan is another tragedy.
Now we face the North Korea crisis. With nuclear weapons poised, it will be to our damnation if members of Congress allow an unstable, egotistical, inexperienced president to go to war without exercising their constitutional prerogative.
I urge our Missouri and Kansas senators and representatives to prevent an unspeakable catastrophe by co-sponsoring bills S 2047 and HR 4837 to prevent the president from going to war against North Korea without the consent of Congress.
John Bolton
Independence
Rule of law
Dear congressmen and senators:
We are a nation of laws, and only those laws protect us from tyranny. The president is being investigated for actions that are intended to undermine our democracy: colluding with an enemy state, interfering in the justice system, subverting elections, engaging in illegal financial transactions.
Should the president fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or special counsel Robert Mueller, or take an action that would enable others to do the same, such as replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he will have intentionally placed himself above the law.
Only Congress can stop the president from subverting our democracy. I implore you and your colleagues to place country above politics and ensure that our nation is saved from a presidential act that will destroy our democracy. The Mueller investigation must continue to its end, and the nation must be informed if the president is guilty of a crime against our country.
Rabbi Mark H. Levin
Prairie Village
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