Readers share thoughts on earthquakes, sleep apnea, Congress

Earthquake team

I don’t think the people of Oklahoma City should be concerned about the recent increase of seismic activity. However, authorities might want to consider changing the name of the National Basketball Association team to the Oklahoma City Earthquakes, brought to us by their friends at ConocoPhillips.

William Schubert

Merriam

Sleep apnea fix

I would like to see The Star publish an article about the Inspire implant for sleep apnea.

The Inspire implant was developed for people who are not able to tolerate a continuous positive airway pressure machine. The implant is approved by the Food and Drug Administration but not available in Missouri or Kansas.

My pulmonary doctor was not aware of the device until I gave him information on it.

I am one of the many people who are not able to tolerate the CPAP and would like to see the University of Kansas Medical Center start offering the Inspire implant.

There is information on the company and the device at www.inspiresleep.com.

Jack Corbett

Blue Springs

Improve Congress

Would the Founding Fathers be impressed with the recent discussions calling for a constitutional convention?

Would they see the issues selected to be brought forward as serious and critical to the safety and security of the nation and its people or would they consider the effort a frivolous distraction to the need for serious congressional action on those issues?

Maybe they would simply see our Congress and the members that support the constitutional convention as ignorant political lightweights, lacking the skills and knowledge to present bills to committees and get bills to votes in both houses and hopefully with bipartisan support.

Maybe we need to forcefully remind our congressmen and senators why we elected them. If they don’t respond with decisive action on these and other issues, we have no fear of changing horses in midstream. That does not require a constitutional convention, only a vote.

James Tiller

Olathe

Governor’s plan

I’m appalled. The Kansas Legislature has been turning itself inside out to find a solution to the budget shortfall.

What a waste of time. The answer is simple and staring the legislators in the face.

This problem was created completely and wholly by Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts. Eliminate those tax cuts and the problem is solved.

Too simple? Yes. Because Gov. Brownback would have to acknowledge that those tax cuts were a mistake.

So let’s punish everyone in the state because one man is too proud to admit he miscalculated.

And, by the way, it’s not a problem that his plan didn’t work. The problem is that he won’t admit it.

Hey, Kansas Legislature, Google “Occam’s razor.”

Gordon Sileo

Overland Park

Low interest rates

As long as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates at near zero and keeps printing money, wealthy people will keep their money in stocks. The stock market is rising, not because of its underlying value, but because there’s no place else to invest.

Wages are falling, and Obamacare’s rules are encouraging employers to hire part-timers at less than 30 hours per week. The Obama administration is enabling hundreds of thousands of low-skilled illegal immigrants to enter the country to compete for jobs.

The blame falls squarely on President Barack Obama, rank-and-file Democrats and Wall Street Republicans.

Kevin Peterson

Blue Springs

Retirement hijacked?

Until recently, Kansas politics was the last item on my interest circle. But then I read that the Kansas governor actually altered funding for the Kansas Public Employment Retirement System to help his state escape the economic quagmire he has created.

I spent 30 years in education in Kansas, and I resent what he is doing to my retirement. You will notice my Missouri address.

Bob Blackman

Raymore

Raise minimum wage

Recently, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers reported that a living wage in Kansas City for a single adult with one child working full time is roughly $21 an hour. Currently, the minimum wage in Missouri (and Kansas City) is $7.65 an hour.

This is unconscionable. No one in our community who works should be forced to live in poverty.

Sadly, more and more of our neighbors must work for poverty wages as we become a service-based economy. This is especially egregious given that for too long millionaire chief executives have been giving themselves huge raises on the backs of working people.

Mayor Sly James and the City Council can change this gross inequality by passing a citywide increase in the minimum wage. I fully support low-wage workers’ and community advocates’ demands to gradually increase our minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020.

Raising it incrementally to $15 an hour helps working families while it helps local businesses compete with chain stores. It says Kansas City values the hard work of waitresses, home-care workers, janitors and nursing-home employees.

Kansas City succeeds when every worker is paid enough to support a family.

We need our mayor and City Council to do the right thing — pass a local minimum-wage ordinance that gets Kansas City to $15 an hour by 2020.

Robert Minor

Chair

Kansas City Workers’

Rights Board of

Missouri Jobs

with Justice

Kansas City

Dangerous road

If you drive Noland Road from U.S. 40 to U.S. 50, you will see five memorial death crosses in that five-mile stretch.

Two weeks ago, I drove down my driveway to find red police paint and car pieces littering my driveway and the neighbors’.

Police tape was still up, and empty medical-supply packaging lay discarded in the ditch.

A young man died from overcorrecting on that dangerous curve. He drove into the ditch, and his car flipped, landing in my neighbors’ ditch.

Noland Road has many problems.

There are tree limbs that were trimmed months ago by workers for the Missouri Department of Transportation still laying in the very ditch that claimed that young life.

There is a mysterious water leak that turns into black ice in the winter.

Many calls were made to the water department as well as to the transportation department. They said it was not their problem.

Another fatal accident occurred not 300 yards north of that mysterious wet spot earlier this year when a 46-year-old mother lost control, hitting a light pole. I watched a car barely miss a bus stopping to make a pickup.

Noland Road is a state highway that is dangerous and narrow and has winding turns, deep ditches and small shoulders.

Come on, Missouri Department of Transportation, do something.

Mark Dresslaer

Kansas City

Liberals’ tactics

I just watched the Edward R. Murrow movie that documented his fight against the oppressive Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who bullied people he thought might be communists.

He ascribed characteristics and traits to them and then attacked based on his distorted facts. The people were assumed guilty, and any attempt by people to defend themselves was ignored.

These are the same tactics the progressive left uses on conservatives and Christians.

If a person is against abortion because of his belief that a life is being taken, then that person is initiating a war on women. If a person does not completely support the homosexual lifestyle, he is called a bigot.

As with McCarthy, these are attempts to frighten and silence any dissent.

The option of simply disagreeing is not allowed. These acts then become forms of hate speech.

I think it is time for progressive liberals to stop disseminating hate speech and let free thought and speech resume.

William Gray