Why complain about KC’s World Cup woes? We live in disheartening times | Opinion

Cup woes

Reading The Star recently, I have found Kansas City’s lack of fulfilling World Cup expectations disheartening. It’s a shame that our president has imposed bonds on certain international visa recipients. It is a shame that the prices for World Cup events and lodging are blown out of the water on behalf of greed, and that they bar the very people likely to travel and participate here who could fulfill those expectations.

Whining about lower numbers than expected is embarrassing. And putting it in print— wah wah. Gouging is a despicable practice, but it seems to be the acceptable norm.

Let’s not question why the numbers are down. We live in a country where visitors are unwelcome, and we lie back and let the greed thrive.

- Kathy Q. Peterson, Overland Park

Farm standards

For years, farmers nationwide, including those in Kansas, have been demanding the U.S. Congress pass a clean farm bill to provide much needed relief to communities. Instead, corporate interests such as Big Pork have used this bill to slip in language overturning state animal-welfare laws regulating cruel practices harming animals raised for food. This includes laws regulating extreme confinement practices like gestation crates for pregnant pigs and the use of crates for veal calves.

As co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Animal Protection Caucus and a member of the House Agriculture Committee, which has direct jurisdiction over the farm bill, Rep. Sharice Davids has previously been a powerful voice for animal welfare, including sharing her opposition to overturning state farm animal-welfare laws. That’s why her vote to ultimately pass the Farm, Food, and National Security Act is so disappointing.

This federal intervention will have longstanding impacts jeopardizing any state’s ability to regulate the sale of goods within their own borders and harm hundreds of other state and local standards for disease control, toxic materials and more.

Now it’s up to the Senate to stop this sham of a farm bill.

- Sara Amundson, President, Humane World Action Fund, Washington, D.C.

Techs needed

Jack Stow’s May 5 guest commentary, “The US needs more technicians. This KC school trains the next generation,” (7A) is right on. I spent my 35-year career as a manufacturing engineer for a Fortune 500 consumer products company. During that time, we converted our largely electromechanical production facilities to computer controlled and operated.

Even 20 years ago, one of our most persistent problems was finding new employees who could learn the technology and become effective operators. Oftentimes, we had to evaluate dozens to find one who could pass our math and mechanical aptitude tests.

Moreover, we all will find it hard to replace “Old Joe” the plumber, electrician or heating and cooling tech when he retires in the next few years. Not nearly enough young folks are getting into those fields. And the world is getting more complex every day.

If I were king, the first thing I would do is invest billions into building thousands of tech schools across the country. We will need them.

- Graham Marcott, Fairway

No peace

President Donald Trump is threatening to withdraw the U.S. from NATO, while instead aligning the U.S. with his new Board of Peace. The Board of Peace was recently formed by its executive committee members, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and their personal friends and business partners in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, among others. But these alliances are not suitable replacements for our long trusted Western friends, many of whom have rejected the board as a billionaires club unmoored by law.

These actions by our president and his close associates are no surprise. His first foreign trip after becoming president was to Saudi Arabia and Israel. Meanwhile, Kushner and Witkoff, as America’s top negotiators, are cutting deals with the same foreign interests. Moreover, the interests they cozy up to have repeatedly coerced our politicians to fight their forever wars, resulting in the death or devastation of tens of thousands of American lives.

Our members of Congress should redouble support for our traditional Western allies, reinforce our shared values and institutions and reject America being dragged into alliances with corrupt leaders who flout accountability and the rule of law.

- Curt Loub, Manhattan

Go orange

I invite everyone in Kansas City to light homes, businesses, churches and hospitals orange June 5-7 in solidarity with those touched by gun violence — primarily the victims, grieving families, survivors and first responders.

Most cities across the metropolitan area have signed the National Gun Violence Awareness Day proclamation for many years. Lighting our city orange is a quiet but powerful invitation for compassion and will show that we care about the well-being of our neighbors.

More than 300 Kansans and more than 700 Missourians are lost to gun suicide each year. This is a chance for Kansas Citians to unite around their commitment to the value of every human life.

- DeeDee Cooper, Mission Hills