Letters: KC readers discuss NRA’s power, Google’s troublesome reach and KC businesses
Important rights
We are done. We the people are sick and tired of the rhetoric. It is past time to mourn and pray. It is past time to act.
Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, we all know that most Americans want gun-reform laws in this country. We also know and understand the impact of the National Rifle Association and the power it holds over lawmakers and campaign funding. We don’t care, nor should you.
We Americans shouldn’t have to live in constant fear. I want my grandchildren to be able to go to school without being afraid of an active shooter. I want to go to the grocery store without being afraid of an active shooter. We have the right not to live in fear.
I don’t want to hear any more platitudes or excuses. Do the right thing. Pass gun-registration reform laws and get rid of assault weapons. We have the right to be safe.
- Sandy Van Wagner, Smithville
What if?
What if we celebrated life daily on such a magnificent level that no one would ever consider taking another’s life?
What if we taught our children that the right to live is the highest right enjoyed by humankind?
What if we believed that guns were not a solution to our social and personal problems?
What if we refused to entertain conversations that demeaned other people and threatened their security or livelihood?
What if respect of life preceded all considerations, political, religious and civic?
What if gun owners gave plausible reasons to their children for owning guns?
What if we stopped creating movies, books and other materials where people addressed their problems with guns?
What if we changed our culture so that people did not see guns as a solution to their problems?
What if gun owners secured their guns and made them inaccessible to their children?
What if we refused to destroy the living components of nature unless needed for food or survival?
What if the right of a person to live were more important to us than the loss of things?
What if the death of one were as important to us as the death of a hundred?
- Darryl Chamberlain, Lee’s Summit
Prying eyes
I’m a Democrat and an information technology professional. You might think I’d be aligned with the liberals of Silicon Valley. But the truth is, Google and its peers are a privacy nightmare for us all.
There was a time when I was a loyal Google customer. I bought Google phones and Google smart devices, even as their quality degraded. I used Gmail and Google’s search engine exclusively, even as I felt the need to use supposedly private “incognito” mode, third-party browsers and ad blockers to avoid Google’s gaze. I believed in its “Don’t be evil” pledge, even as it grew more and more complacent.
Then it was revealed that Google’s algorithms were reading my emails and using them to tailor ads in 2017. Google stopped under public pressure, but it’s too late — its already knows too much.
Visit myactivity.google.com and see for yourself. Then delete everything and see how your experience changes.
No one company should have this much power and this much data on you.
- Tom Kessler, Kansas City
KC in a rut?
I follow business news on CNBC and The Wall Street Journal for two to three hours every day. I see many business expansions announced in the United States, but never in Kansas or Missouri. I think The Star should investigate why, including looking into our city and state governments’ efforts and successes, or lack thereof.
What are our civic and business leaders and organizations doing to attract and expand business in Kansas City? How do our efforts stack up with other states and metropolitan areas?
- Dick Nixon, Kansas City
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss NRA’s power, Google’s troublesome reach and KC businesses."