Readers share thoughts on ballpark food, war and military training
Ballpark food
In the case of the whistleblower and the food situation at Truman Sports Complex, I can appreciate the honesty, but quite frankly I don’t care and I really don’t want to know.
I mean, what do triple-A food conditions mean at a ballgame? We’ve all seen the condiment stands at Arrowhead Stadium that look like a ketchup bomb exploded, but it doesn’t keep anyone from fishing through the unknown items in the relish to slather some on a brat.
And how much confidence in health department ratings can you have anyway, when your pretzel is being passed down the row and handled by no fewer than 10 pairs of strange hands, including quite possibly some doctor from Omaha?
I mean, how much solace can I take in the fact that the concession stand kitchen has passed inspection when my lunch is delivered by a hot dog cannon operated by Sluggerrr?
And, of course, there’s the ever-sanitary practice of tailgating, and the extra rib I just picked up in the parking lot ... yummy.
Thanks for looking out for Kansas City sports fans. But please, just let me enjoy my $9 warm beer and whatever is wrapped in this paper.
Randy Miller
Lone Jack
Accountability in war
Unbelievably, the United States is once again at war.
Americans need to stop and think before we so cavalierly agree to more war.
How do we pay the billions needed for another long war, and who will serve? No American has paid increased taxes to pay the upfront costs of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars were financed by borrowing, which massively increased our deficit, passing the true cost of war onto future generations.
Where is the fiscal responsibility here?
Americans want protection but don’t want to serve in our military. Instead, Americans prefer to send the less than 1 percent, who serve multiple tours of duty.
There is no shared sacrifice here. Our mantra appears to be “Protect us but don’t tax or involve us.”
Maybe if Americans had to pay the true costs of war we would have fewer wars, focusing our intelligence, money and efforts on alternatives to war. Which, by the way, costs a lot less than war, with hope of a more positive future versus endless war.
Contact Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt and your congressional representatives and demand answers about more war.
Mary Hladky
Kansas City
Military training
After merely a few months of training, a young American becomes a formidable soldier in the best army in the world. We must have excellent trainers.
Early in the 1960s, we began to send advisers to South Vietnam, and we trained the army in that country for more than 10 years — until the end of the war. The South Vietnamese did not survive without us.
We have been training the Iraqi army since 2003. As soon as we left, the Iraqi army began to receive a monumental beating at the hands of irregulars.
We have been training the Afghan army since 2001. The consensus is that the Afghan army will receive a monumental beating at the hands of irregulars as soon as we leave.
Because the Islamic State is considered a threat to us and because our having boots on the ground there for so long led us nowhere other than great expense in lives and treasury, we opted for a fresh new approach.
We are going to train some guys in Syria.
Guillermo Ibarra
Leawood
KCI convenience
I continue to be concerned about spending lots of money for a new airport terminal in Kansas City.
I worked for the airline industry for 36 years, and like so many, I know Kansas City International Airport is the most convenient airport to travel in and out of whether you live here or are coming to conduct business or visit friends.
KCI is like owning personal property. You must maintain and keep everything working.
This has not been done, in my opinion, at KCI.
I cannot believe anyone goes to an airport to shop.
I recently returned from a trip to Florida via Atlanta, and during my time at both airports, I observed no one shopping, just eating, and I was there during peak times.
You use the airline industry to get from point A to point B quickly and conveniently.
The public should be allowed to vote on the issue.
June Kisker
Weston, Mo.
Privilege of voting
It is imperative that every U.S. citizen stands strong to protect our right to vote. Even one person cheating is an affront to those who sacrificed to secure and preserve this privilege.
Showing an ID is a minimal requirement. Everyone knows it’s rubbish to argue it impedes legal voting.
In Colorado, disposed ballots were recorded, which were obviously fraudulent.
In Illinois, Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan said his voting machine was recalibrating his vote for his opponent. Republicans claim that machines have been flawed in Kansas. The latest claims of machine fraud occurred in Maryland.
With rampant distrust of government agencies and officials and no transparency (plus the non-reporting media), one would think an honest citizen would demand clean elections regardless of party affiliation.
Perhaps a party that cries “discrimination” from protecting our right to vote and one that votes three times to strike God from its platform has the wrong agenda.
Thank you, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, for your strong stand for election protection. Continue your influence so 50 states benefit and trust is restored for all.
Jayne A. Looney
Overland Park
Medicare, Medicaid
The news of Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature on the health care compact bill, making Kansas the ninth state to enact such a law, essentially went under the radar in this election cycle.
In brief, House Bill 2553 Health Care Compact targets both Medicaid and Medicare.
The intent is to avoid federal health care regulations.
It would grant states total management control of the Medicare program for seniors because all federal Medicare and Medicaid health dollars would come to Kansas in a lump sum.
The funds could be used to provide whatever program Kansas chooses to establish.
There are about 450,000 seniors in Kansas enrolled in a Medicare plan of their choosing. No longer would those choices be available, only what is contrived by our Legislature.
Although several legislators claim the intent is not to touch Medicare, we only have their word.
What if the budget shows more strains?
How would we, the citizens, ascertain all of the money is targeted toward our medical care?
How can Kansas match a current program that is working so well for so many?
Only Congress needs to approve of this plan. I am very wary.
Joyce Bartel
Overland Park
Nixon’s doublespeak
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is appealing to the protesters in Ferguson, Mo., to be nonviolent while he is using the violence of taking lives in carrying out nine executions this year.
Does “Do what I say, not what I do” ring a bell?
And the matter of race? What about Leon Taylor, an African-American man executed last week?
Our state government is slipping into deep moral decay while asking the public to rise above anger and violence.
Let us hope the protesters in Ferguson do indeed model the kind of nonviolence we should be able to expect from our state government.
Jane Fisler Hoffman
Raymore
Osterheldt column
Columnist Jeneé Osterheldt has surpassed herself in her response to the Ferguson, Mo., conflicts (11-25, D1, “Turn our anger into change”).
If there were a prize for “best social issues journalist,” I hereby nominate her for it for her column.
Especially striking is her closing:
“But it’s not over. Michael Brown’s death and this (grand jury) ruling ripped a scab wide open, and we’re bleeding. Unless we’re willing to be better, together, this country is going to bleed out.”
Laurence M. Hill
Tonganoxie
This story was originally published November 27, 2014 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Readers share thoughts on ballpark food, war and military training."