Readers sound off on taxes, good Samaritans, seat belts, HPV vaccine
Rising taxes
I know of no one who says the globe is not getting warmer. I do say the taxation without representation is probably making the Founding Fathers spin in their graves.
The tea party in Boston Harbor was because of taxation without representation by King George. This time it’s by King Barack Obama.
The Environmental Protection Agency has free rein to raise taxes on utilities. They then raise all our bills.
How are the poor supposed to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter? All government taxation should have to go through the people’s representatives.
Dennis Tabel
Overland Park
Seat-belt use
Could seat-belt use be increased and deaths and injuries to vehicle occupants be reduced if insurance companies refused to pay claims if seat belts were not used? That seems like a simple solution.
Carolyn Wheat
Knob Noster, Mo.
Good Samaritans
This summer, my wife was driving to work after a health appointment. I could tell she was crying when she called to say she blew a tire and was waiting 30 minutes for the insurance company to send somebody to change the tire.
It was noon, 90 degrees, and she was work-stressed and 40 weeks’ pregnant. I told her I could cancel a couple appointments and change the tire myself but I would be 40 minutes and I would have our 5- and 2-year-old sons.
She said it was OK. An hour-and-a-half later, she called back to say that the insurance company and its contractor never showed up but that a female jogger and a threesome of gentleman golfers saw my wife distressed, hot and very pregnant and teamed up to change the tire.
Rather than writing to share the name of the insurance company or its contractor, we wanted to say how humbled, grateful and blessed we were to have been helped by such modern-day good Samaritans.
Thank you Stephanie, Don, Bill and Jim.
David Darmitzel
Kansas City
Amendment 1
Many important issues are on the coming ballot, and no matter how polarizing national elections can be, nothing affects you more than local issues. Amendment 1, on the Parks, Soil and Water Tax, is one of those issues.
Nobody likes to pay taxes, but this is about return on investment. This ballot measure has that return.
Amendment 1 was authorized in 1984 to help fix aging infrastructure in Missouri’s state parks and to stem soil loss on Missouri farms. The park money, because of failures by the state legislature, now makes up 75 percent of the park’s annual operating budget.
The existing 0.1 percent sales tax provides a top-notch state park system with free admission for residents to visit historic sites, natural resources and other attractions.
The portion of money to stop soil loss goes to help landowners prevent erosion caused by producing crops, meat and other foods for your tables. Stopping erosion prolongs the lives of the ponds and reservoirs you fish and visit, keeps creeks clear and lowers the cost of treating the water you drink.
A yes vote on Amendment 1 will ensure this all continues.
Neil Bass
Lee’s Summit
Parking etiquette
Most grocery parking lots have large white arrows painted on the asphalt indicating which direction the traffic should flow down each lane of parking spaces. Another good indicator of the correct traffic flow are the angled directions of the parking spaces in those lanes.
Therefore, based on the previous two items, no one should be driving in those lanes in the opposite direction nor should they be waving at drivers driving in the correct direction using a middle-finger salute.
Don Cleveland
Lee’s Summit
Trump, Wall Street
We’ll know whether GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump actually has a chance of winning the White House if Wall Street ever thinks so.
John Goldsmith
Napoleon, Mo.
Press freedoms
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides, along with other rights, the freedom of the press to investigate and publish findings with certain exceptions such as the number and location of troops.
It seems obvious that statements made by candidates for elective office are subject to investigation for validity and truthfulness.
It seems that the press has the responsibility to publish the findings of such investigations and report when statements are untrue.
Of course, some of those investigations will not produce a black or white result. In those cases, the facts should be reported to the extent available.
Today, the press seems to put truth in a secondary position and publishes the spoken words or writings of candidates without an assignment of true or false.
These days, the press will judiciously publish everything a candidate utters; the more notorious, the higher priority to publish.
It seems that publishing the truth would be a responsibility of the press under the First Amendment, especially when the facts are available to make a clear judgment, such as statements that are part of recorded history.
Truth could guide election decisions.
Jerry Nowak
Lee’s Summit
Protect your kids
A vaccine that prevents cancer? Is this possible? In fact, it is.
Human papillomavirus, more commonly known as HPV, is responsible for unattractive warts, throat cancer and cancer of female and male reproductive organs. And there is a vaccine.
The face of throat cancer has shifted. In the past, most patients with throat cancer were tobacco smokers. Waiting rooms are now filled with young adults with throat cancer caused by HPV.
What once was a three-dose vaccine series is now only two doses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this change Oct. 19, recommending a two-dose series for both boys and girls, ages 11-12. Those ages 15-26, however, will continue to require the original three-dose series.
Why do we recommend these vaccinations starting so young? We want more bang for our buck. Children’s immune systems are more responsive to vaccines compared with teenagers’. Early administration equips our children with better protection.
Now with the new two-dose series, our preteens are protected from HPV-related cancer with fewer pokes. This is great news for our kids.
Cara Cecil
Kansas City
Autumn breeze
They’ll feed, gracefully along
A hillside, as they roam;
Or,
Glide across the water of
A pond,
That’s close to home.
Feathered friends are nonchalant
And known to
Come and go;
Leisurely, meandering ...
They fascinate admirers, so.
In a soothing
Autumn breeze
They’ll suddenly take flight
To ...
Unknown destinations
By ...
A harvest moon at night.
At sunrise, in an
Autumn breeze
It’s thrilling to hear when ...
Wild geese honk, upon return ...
To hidden oaks, again.
Dee Ann Foley
Doxsee
Kansas City
This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Readers sound off on taxes, good Samaritans, seat belts, HPV vaccine."