Unfettered Letters

Black Friday exposes dark side of humanity

Black Friday truly seems like a black day to me this year.

Who needs to bring loaded weapons to a Toys “R” Us? (11/30, A-2. “Toy store shooting followed fight”) And the gangsters open fire and kill each other? I understand that they weren’t raised to respect their own lives, but what about those innocent children at the toy store?

A bargain at Wal-Mart is so great that it’s worth trampling a store employee to get? (11/29, A-5, “Wal-Mart worker killed in stampede”) And the shoppers were outraged that they were being asked to leave before making their purchases “only” because a store employee was killed in the stampede? Do we just blame it on not having enough coffee because it’s so early in the morning?

If the thrill of saving a few dollars on luxuries we probably can’t afford or don’t need is greater than the value of human life, we need to reconsider our priorities. Is our society as a whole missing the true spirit of the holidays? Is our greed taking control? Is it a bargain if we lose all of our own goodness? Can Congress provide a bailout for our lack of good judgment and morality?

Valerie Simpson
Overland Park

“I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have false gods before me.”

The shootout at Toys “R” Us in California, the trampling death at Wal-Mart in New York and myriad other examples of greed and gluttony on Black Friday from coast to coast leave no doubt that our society worships the false god of the almighty dollar.

God have mercy on us.

Kim Wetzel-Williams
Kansas City, Kan.

What has happened to us?

A tragic Black Friday

Enough already!

Before reading the news of the trampling death of an employee at a New York Wal-Mart in a rush of greed-crazed shoppers (11/29, A-5, “Wal-Mart worker killed in stampede”), I had scanned the ads and had reached the above stated conclusion.

The stores open earlier every year, with at least one major retailer being open all night and others handing out “tickets” or “vouchers” granting the sleep-deprived the right to purchase items advertised as “door-busters” or “door-crashers”. Apparently, as the crumpled door at Wal-Mart would attest, it is a literal term, not just an advertising device.

Everyone shares responsibility in this tragedy: stores so eager to rake in revenue; consumers willing to push, shove, and even walk on a store employee; a society so greed-driven as to engage in such behavior.

It is unconscionable for retailers to put out ads with offers on an item for which there is a huge market and an incredibly short supply. It would be much more reasonable for good buys to be offered in sufficient quantity over the course of several days than for these loss-leader sales that generate such mayhem to contribute to tragedy such as that in Valley Stream, N.Y.

Paul Reed
Oskaloosa, Kan.

With tears streaming down my face, I wonder if we realize what this great nation has become — and if the tragedy of the Wal-Mart employee trampled to death by shoppers on Black Friday will cause us to wake up. We have become increasingly isolated from one another in our pursuit of newer and better “stuff” to the point that children are reared by electronics while parents and grandparents work 40-plus hours a week to pay for more “stuff.”

We consistently live beyond our means, both as families and as a nation. Our president called upon us to get back in the malls as our patriotic duty when thousands were killed in the attacks of 9/11. And now, shoppers in Long Island have declared that bargain prices on plasma TVs and digital cameras were worth more than a man’s life. Shame on us. America has been a better place than that and can be again.

My heart goes out to the family of the slain man and to those unfortunate souls who participated in his death and those who protested when the store was closed as a result.

Wal-Mart reopened that store within a few hours. And the beat goes on.

Macha Greenleaf-Maple
Raytown

Why must stores open so early?

Why is it that all the retailers need to be the first to open their doors the day after Thanksgiving? What happened to families enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday together and giving thanks for all they have been blessed with? This should also include all the employees of the retail stores. I doubt they can enjoy this holiday knowing that they must be at work so early in the morning (midnight or 4 a.m.). Everyone needs some sleep before going to work. This early shopping time has gotten out of control.

Why can’t the retailers have the same specials or incentives to purchase at 9 a.m.? Perhaps they can extend the working hours a little later on that day rather than open so early. Why the big rush? Consumers will buy their gifts with those incentives at a reasonable hour.

Yes, all the retail employees should be thankful to have the job. I just wish everyone could enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with their family as much as I did.

Barbara Reed
Lee’s  Summit

We’ve come a long way, maybe?

As I was driving home last Friday, I was sexually harassed by men in a roofing company vehicle who made a gesture depicting oral sex when they passed me.

When I called the company to complain that their employees were sexually harassing women on the highway, I was informed that it would be “mentioned to the guys.”

When I pressed further, the company representative hung up on me.

This is no unique incident, only peculiar in that these men did not consider the company information on their windshield to be a deterrent.

They assumed that they could get away with it because I would dismiss their threat as just another part of my day.

How bittersweet to see women as contenders for our country’s highest offices and still live with the normalcy of sexual harassment in our everyday lives.

Will we accept violence as normal life?

Jane M. Webb
Kansas City

Life isn’t all about money

The future of America was brought to my attention by two articles in The Star. One was regarding Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, who was suspended for one game, costing him $235,294 (10/22, Sports, “Browns suspend Winslow; General manager fed up with tight end’s remarks about health issue”).

The other article was about a soldier injured in Iraq and on disability compensation. He has not been able to pay his last three house payments of $532 per month and is about to lose his home (10/22, A-1, “Nation’s foreclosure crisis falls harder on its veterans”).

As a retired teacher, counselor and public school administrator, I’m concerned that fewer are entering the profession due to salaries. However, many are still involved because of the values and leadership they want to show our youth.

One great role model is Tony Severino, who coached for me at Shawnee Mission Northwest before going to Rockhurst High in 1984. Tony has coached for more than 35 years, and his total supplemental coaching salary will not match Winslow’s one-game pay, but Tony doesn’t do it for the money. It is his ministry.

Let’s all work to change America’s future generations, educationally, socially and economically.

Gerald Yoesel
Olathe

Caring about more than economy

The economy is horrible, and I care about that, but I care about more than the economy.

I care about our children and the education that they are (or aren’t) getting.

I care about the callous disregard for another human life — including, but not only, in the womb.

I care about how polarized our culture has become.

I care about the growing number of lies that are accepted as truth.

I care about how few people seem to be able to think through a problem logically.

I care a lot about laws that are selectively enforced.

I care about our freedom.

Betty Reed
Overland Park

Economic values

Weeping for America

I recently read some very pertinent articles from the Investor’s Business Daily editorial page of Sept. 24 by respected columnists Robert Samuelson, Michael Cosgrove and Thomas Sowell. They all three discuss our current financial crisis, and they almost make me cry.

Where have our members of Congress been while this current crisis was building? Where was their “reputed wisdom” to hold their elected office? And worse, where were we, the constituents?

The real power for change rests with the Congress. But Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid seem to be out of touch in their zeal for partisan politics — let the American people be damned; I’m getting mine first, and the Democratic Party second.

There will be a long, dark period ahead of us before any sense of normalcy returns to this country. And now we, the electorate, face an election of our next president and Congress. The choices are bleak.

Those standing for office show no sense in their campaigns of the problems ahead, nor of how to bring personal, national, and fiscal discipline back to the forefront of this country’s actions.

Where are those who would speak for such a move? I weep for us.

Robert E. White
Bonner Springs

Stop putting money first

The financial and economic crisis we face brings to us the opportunity to recreate a system that corrects some of glaring deficits of the latest economic regime. The environment and human rights must be integral parts of the new economic order that we create.

No longer can we accept an order where monetary capital takes precedent over human rights. No longer can we accept economic equations where environmental impact is ignored or minimized. No longer can we devour the planet’s resources with impunity.

We must learn that a good, simple life is not only possible but desirable. We all lose in this resource race that ravages the place we call home.

Finally, we must learn to share. We only have this place to call home. There are a lot of us here. It seems self-evident that if we expect to continue living here and want a decent existence, our only chance is to learn to share and get along with each other.

Ken Gates
Overland Park

Standing up for family values

The Star has done it again. This is my third election and the third time it endorsed my opponent. The first time The Star called me an unattractive candidate, and I had to prove that my wife of 43 years still thought me handsome. The second time it opined that my opponent would make a welcome change representing the 43rd District in Topeka but gave no particular reason.

This time The Star has gone too far, asserting that I seek to use my office to impinge on the privacy of people. My constituents and I want to know what you could possibly be talking about and why you would publish such a statement.

Let’s face reality: The Star’s left-wing editorial board cannot stand conservatives, especially those who are practicing Christians, favor family values and who oppose abortion on demand up to the last minute of gestation.

I am endorsed and supported by more than 50 organizations and agencies and thousands of dedicated voters. The endorsement I most cherish is from Kansans for Life.

As to The Star’s endorsement, you ought to notify my opponent that it is the kiss of death in the 43rd District.

S. Mike Kiegerl
Incumbent Representative 43rd District
Olathe

Nation reaps what it sows

Last Sunday in church, I was reminded of the law of seedtime and harvest. The pastor reminded us that many of the problems we are having today are the result of seeds planted years ago — seeds of greed. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil — seeds of lust, seeds of drunkenness and seeds of ungodliness.

I know many do not believe the Bible, but you cannot dispute that there is a law of seedtime and harvest. Trees, plants, flowers and even animals and humans begin with just a seed and have the ability to reproduce in their own likenesses.

If you want happiness, plant seeds of happiness. Respect, plant respect. Kindness, plant kindness. The same is true for, unhappiness, disrespect and greed.

We have been a blessed nation because we have honored God and his laws. We are at a place today where we are seeing what happens when we choose to turn our backs on those laws and make our own laws contrary to his.

Vote. May God continue to bless us and the United States of America.

Tom Swope
Kansas City

Stop whining and do something

I recently read a blog that basically said it’s a waste of time and energy to speak up about the things we believe in because only the wealthy are heard. I think, instead, we have been a bunch of apathetic complainers who would rather whine about how unfair life is than make the effort to effect change. In previous elections, voter turnout has been abysmal. People are more interested in staying up for Monday Night Football than getting up for Tuesday morning voting.

And there’s the mindset that tells us protest is unpatriotic. Our country built on protest. American people have endured horrific treatment for their beliefs that all citizens deserve the right to vote, slavery is an abomination, schools should be integrated and children are not laborers.

If people want to have a stake in the future of this country, they must speak up, vote and write legislators often. To do nothing is not only a slap in the face of all the citizens and soldiers who fought and died to protect our rights. It is the single most unpatriotic thing anyone can do.

Holly Ites
Kansas City

Biblical problems?

Trust God for the answers

I am sick of the greed in our country that causes our economic foundations to collapse. I am sick of congressional misdeeds, lying and stupidity that corrupt one’s desire to serve the public. I am sick of political partisanship at the expense of our nation’s well-being and that of her people.

I am sick of the degradation of human value and worth that leads to the destruction of innocent human life. I am sick of the attitude that promotes a “me first” agenda and then plays the blame game when things go wrong. I am sick of all the chaos in our country and the world due to all of the above.

The reason is plain — the mistaken belief that mankind has all the answers. The solution is simple — put your faith and trust in God for the answers.

Peggy Fry
Olathe

$700 billion: A symbolic figure?

The number $700 billion keeps popping up. The original bailout and rescue plan was $700 billion. The $700 billion figure is mentioned as the amount being paid annually for foreign oil. And $700 billion has been quoted as the cost, so far, of the Iraq incursion.

I’m beginning to think it is like a symbolic biblical number, such as “40 days” in the wilderness, and “40 years” the Israelites wandered after leaving Egypt, and “40 days and nights” of rain on Noah and family. In other words, it is not a literal number — it just means “a whole lot,” “a very big amount,” or “enough to do the job.” Otherwise, the cost of the bailout exactly equals the cost of oil or the Iraq occupation. Not likely.

My conclusion: In each area there is a problem of biblical proportions.

Robert L. Thatch
Kansas City

Let’s not lose compassion

Thanks to Lewis Diuguid for his thoughtful column on the history and impact of our nation’s recent slide toward the political right (10/8, Opinion). The Wall Street crowd’s greed and recklessness are bad enough, but I’m really sick of the widespread contempt aimed at people who overbought into the American dream by taking advantage of lax credit policies.

As we struggle to regain our economic health, let’s not succumb to a compassion deficit.

Pat Bates
Parkville

U.S. will pay for sins

In the midst of the financial disasters, political betrayals, moral calamities and foreign enemies among the many tsunamis facing our beloved nation, it is astonishing that voices are seldom raised in the public square proclaiming the Lord God of history’s declarations about these issues. Where are the prophets calling America to repentance or to judgment?

History is replete with nations and empires that rose but then fell from identical destructive stresses pressuring us right now. Why does America think she will be protected from judgment for her national sins?

The situation is so desperate that I do not hesitate to warn anyone that this could easily be “the land of the free’s” last year of freedom. Evil forces arrayed against and within us could bring us to our knees. Hear the word of the Lord, America. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

John James
Prairie Village

Greed happens

In defending the lack of oversight and regulation of Wall Street promoted by President George Bush, Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party, my father stated: “You can’t regulate greed.” Greed happens.

Greed may indeed be a part of our human nature. It is forbidden in the Ten Commandments (coveting what other people have) and made the list of seven deadly sins. However, our willingness to kill each other is also condemned as part of our “fallen” human nature. I hope the government won’t give up trying to regulate murder just because someone is bound to find a way to do it anyway.

Rebecca Brock
Kansas City, Kan.

Decline of decency on TV

I don’t watch MTV or reality shows, but I wanted to see a tribute to our military, so I turned in and kept my fingers crossed.

After watching the “nudies” and muting the “screamers,” I nearly gave up. Then, believe it or not, I saw a real class act. A handsome man in beautifully tailored clothes who sang and danced and entertained. No garbled lyrics. No suggestive crotch-grabbing.

Guess who? It was Seal.

I’m glad I waited, and I wish other people on TV would be entertainers, not exhibitionists.

Cathleen Cooper
Merriam

Dems’ policies penalize success

David Hughes (9/16, Letters, “Family man backs Obama”) has a right to be proud. To you sir, I say, “well done.”

My roots are humble as well. My father completed third grade. My mother taught grades 1 through 8. At age 16, she went to night and summer school and obtained three college degrees.

I worked every summer beginning in my early teens and borrowed money to go to college and medical school. My wife and I have three children. Like Mr. Hughes, I have never received “a dime in public assistance”.

I have received no stock options, traded commodities, nor negotiated a lucrative contract with a publicly traded company. I work 50 to 100 hours per week. My business provides a job, livable wages, a safe workplace, a pension plan and health-care benefits for 50 employees.

I pay a higher tax rate now, and Democrats want even more. Penalizing success will “trickle down,” resulting in fewer jobs and benefits. As a working man and a family man, I believe that Democratic economic policies represent a dangerous choice for all Americans.

I deserve nothing more, but nothing less, than does Mr. Hughes. I am a working man, just as he is.

Kent Tegeler
Liberty

Greed is destroying U.S.

Greed is tearing this country apart. Everyone, from CEOs to professional sports players, should take a cut in pay — say they should earn $1 million a year, tops. If you cannot live on this, you have a problem.

Now let the rest trickle down to the middle and lower classes. This would jump start the whole economy. Everyone would be able to afford products, sports and even medical insurance.

The middle class is what this whole country is based on, and this is fading fast into the sunset. Wake up. History will repeat itself. Rome is a great example of what greed and corruption will do to this once-great country.

Joe Parizek
Overland Park

Taking from those who have

We need to take more from those who have it and give to those who don’t. They don’t need all they have and others could have some of their stuff. Seems like I have heard that pretty often lately. I think that Michael Phelps should not be able to keep those eight gold medals he earned by hard work and talent. But there were athletes who got no medals.  We need to take from the medal-rich and give some to the medal-poor athletes. We don’t care how hard he worked to attain the medals — it is just not fair that he has so many and some have none. That is the American way isn’t it?

Vern Fischer
Olathe

The moon in her eyes …

With bated breath I read about the Fort Hays State University debate coach who mooned the University of Pittsburgh debate coach (8/14, Local, “Coach puts the butt in rebuttal”). Getting ready to toy with some mental voyeurism, I then read he had on his shorts!

A cruel joke on readers.

Mona Shirkey Snowden
Marshall, Mo.

‘Two Americas,’ one big ego

The “two Americas “ that John Edwards refers to — one where you do what is right, and the other where you do what you want — point out the basic flaws with any politician.

Firstly, they tell you that you live in the greatest country in the world but want you to change it with them. That is basically flawed.

Then they tell you that this is how you should live your life, meaning you, not them. That is basically scary.

Bill Inghram
Kansas City

Now I know why John Edwards spoke of “two Americas.” He wanted a wife in each America.

Bob Underwood
Raytown

Thanks to The Star for printing Maureen Dowd’s piece “A narcissist confesses, but he’s still plastic” (8/14, Local).

John Edwards made a terrible mistake. In effect, he continues his trend of narcissism by explaining “why” he did it — getting caught up in the whole election process.

He could have said: “I did a bad thing that I deeply regret. I hurt my wife and my children and acted selfishly. I was only looking out for myself, especially during a time when my wife was ill and needed me.” Nothing more, nothing less. Period.

Who cares why he did it? I think it speaks volumes when people have the humility to acknowledge and admit their mistakes and not make excuses.

Why can’t he do it? Because humility and narcissism cannot be used in the same sentence.

Karen E. Turner
Overland Park

Sex scandals dog GOP, too

Ben Nicks’ letter (8/12) mentioning John Edwards, Paul Morrison and Bill Clinton for their involvement in sexual scandals is right on. But let’s add a few names to the list: Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, Strom Thurmond, John Bolton, Henry Hyde, Dan Burton, Buzz Lukens, Helen Chenoweth, Robert Packwood, Dick Armey, Tim Hutchinson, Ken Calvert. Oops, wait a second, they’re all Republicans!

And all you have to do is Google “Republican sex scandals” to get the details, and a lot more names to boot.

Maybe the Democrats don’t have a monopoly on this sort of behavior after all.

Robert K. Miller
Kansas City

Letter writer Ben Nicks has a good point about the apparent womanizing by some of the leading Democrats, both locally and nationally. But for sheer variety in sinful vices, they have nothing on the Republicans.

Let’s not forget Rush Limbaugh’s OxyContin and William Bennett’s gambling, David Vitter’s hookers and Mark Foley’s congressional pages, Ted Haggard’s massage therapists and, my favorite, Larry Craig’s bathroom antics.

The real difference is not the personal lives of these people but how they lead our government and treat its citizens. After eight years, the Republican White House has all but destroyed our nation’s reputation abroad, weakened our military, eroded our Constitution, killed, maimed and tortured innocents and ruined the economy. I’ll take a Democratic sex scandal any day over any of that.

Daniel E. Smith
Kansas City

John Edwards’ infidelity

We are all sinners. When will we admit it? To see the smug satisfaction with which the sexual betrayals of members of either party are viewed by some members of the other is always disheartening, but the lip-smacking delight with which pundits hungry for a new story are greeting the news of John Edwards’ infidelity presents America at her worst (8/9, A-1, “Edwards confesses infidelity; The former senator admits his affair with Rielle Hunter, who produced videos for his campaign”).

No one should be saying, “How could this have happened?” Sin happens where human beings gather.

What we should be wondering is where Elizabeth Edwards will get the superhuman strength it will take to handle still another devastation. First her health and now her partner have let her down.

We are always looking for models. I propose that we take the spotlight off Mr. Edwards as we acknowledge him as a fellow sinner, and instead place it on Mrs. Edwards and all the heroic women like her who not only stand by their profligate spouses but become models of personal grace as they do it.

Janelle Lazzo
Roeland Park

After dinner Friday, I settled into my easy chair, picked up the newspaper, and turned on CNN to see what late-breaking news I’d missed in the previous few hours.

As I was doing the male version of multitasking, some talking head speculated that a prominent Democrat’s narcissistic behavior might threaten Barack Obama’s election chances. Paying more attention now, I was surprised to find out that said leader’s surname was not Clinton.

As CNN fleshed out Sen. Edwards’ saga, listeners learned that he would probably not be speaking at the Democratic National Convention. No word yet on whether all speakers there will have to swear that they have never been involved in an extramarital affair.

If both the GOP and the Democrats allowed only speakers with perfect marital fidelity records, would either party need the scheduled four days to complete its business?

Michael Oldfather
Manhattan, Kan.

John Edwards, Paul Morrison, Bill Clinton? Well, there’s one thing in which the Democrats can beat the Republicans pants down.

Ben Nicks
Shawnee

Racy e-mails no big deal

Regarding The Star’s article about sheriff candidate Mike Sharp (7/31, Local, “Candidate admits forwarding racy e-mails”): I am so tired of hearing about how “women in the community would be quite upset about this.”

If you looked at every e-mail during the past 10 years of anyone in politics, there would probably be one that would offend just about everyone. I understand that the Kansas City Police Department has a policy regarding explicit e-mails, but is it the end of the world if someone has a laugh with a couple of friends?

With the election coming up, I think we need to focus on the issues that matter, not some e-mails from years ago. Should we go around digging up dirt on everyone in the running for sheriff?

As a woman myself, I receive a ton of e-mail a day, most of it junk. But I do get funny stuff from my co-workers and friends that I probably wouldn’t show my grandmother. I also don’t take offense if a man receives an e-mail photo of a nude woman.

The Internet is full of useless and inappropriate stuff, and it will never go away.

Colleen Kelley
Kansas City

Have some pride in KC

I love Kansas City, Mo. I was born and raised here. Our city has come a long way the last few years, and I see its potential to be a beautiful attraction in years to come.

I am upset at our leadership for our city. It was promised to the citizens of south Kansas City that the Troost Bridge reconstruction would be finished July 1. Last week the 85th Street underpass was unofficially open, but it is not acceptable.

As I was driving, I was excited about the new look, widened road and beautiful landscape. However, I was discouraged to see that my fellow citizens have already put graffiti on the walls.

Grow up, Kansas City. Be proud of the city you live in, and make a difference instead of a deficit by defacing.

Kelly A. Seeger
Kansas City

Provocative dance demeans girls

Our family has been enjoying Theatre in the Park at Shawnee Mission Park for several years. We look forward to every musical, and it remains a favorite family activity. We attended the June 22 show, “Oklahoma,” and it was above and beyond our expectations.

What we didn’t expect was the pre-show entertainment by a local dance studio. Two of the numbers were tasteful and highlighted the dancers’ talent. But the remaining numbers, by adolescent girls in provocative costumes dancing to music-video style choreography, were a spectacle.

I imagine that most of those 8- to 12-year-old girls have been studying dance for several years and would have best been represented by a dance studio that highlighted more than their navels and swiveling hips. The lack of applause after these particular numbers was evident.

The studio may want to re-evaluate its direction in the art of dance, costuming and choreography, and the parents of these young dance students may want to re-evaluate their decision to allow their daughters to be displayed in such a demeaning manner.

Theresa Ebel
Lenexa

Vexed by too much ‘Sex’

I’ve had it up to here with sex … but not lately.

Yuk, yuk. But seriously, folks, it’s no laughing matter. As a society, we’re way past that slippery slope. We’re tumbling headlong into the abyss of amorality.

The latest affront is all the attention being given to “Sex and the City.” I realize that the television show from whence it sprang was a monster hit, but that doesn’t absolve the producers, writers and actors from sending a disturbingly wrong message on sexuality. It only highlights their desire to cash in on the prurient interests of the ignorant masses.

I guess I don’t understand all the hoopla about four youthful, successful and rich women flagrantly discussing their bedroom antics amongst themselves.

I’m no prude. I’ve had my share of “antics,” some very stupid, wrong and hurtful. But I don’t lay it all out for the world to drool over. Why do we feel so compelled to listen, watch and now read about a tasteless torrent of time-wasting titillation?

Further, I admit I’ve never seen the show. The title alone is enough to turn me off.

Timothy Earl Osburn
Parkville

Clothing statements

“Trample the weak. Hurl the dead.”

Is this the national slogan for the government of Myanmar? No, I saw this on a T-shirt while getting coffee on a quiet Johnson County morning. I might have forgotten this, except a man beside us in line commented about it. Smiling, repeating it to memorize it. How cool. The man in the T-shirt said his company gave it to him and he really did not think about it when he put it on.

These were not angry young men trying to shock, venting frustration at the world. No, these were middle-aged, normal Johnson Countians, running family errands, not thinking.

Normal people, who now cheerfully say compassion is not cool. “No mercy” has been made contemptibly clever.

We have freedom of speech here, and I will defend that freedom. But also, we have the freedom to think. If we do not think about what we say, even on a T-shirt, we are no different from the thugs running Myanmar.

Robert Cain
Overland Park

Violent video games

Jonathan Last tries to rationalize away the corrupt “entertainment” of the “Grand Theft Auto IV” video game (5/19, Opinion, “It’s just one more form of entertainment”). To use the excuse of the second law of thermodynamics to justify our culture spiraling downward is ignorant.

We are not the universe. We are humans who have a choice to say yes or no to corrupt forms of entertainment. When we choose to say yes to the sick enjoyment of virtual killings of innocent bystanders and the theft of other people’s property in the video games out today, we are choosing to aid in the descent of our culture.

When we say no to these forms of entertainment and choose healthy forms of entertainment that do not warp our mind, we are defying the negative influences in our culture and saying yes to a positive and healthy culture for us and our children to live and thrive in.

Christina Brown
Shawnee

Did anyone else question Jonathan Last’s assertion that culture “tends inexorably toward lesser levels of sophistication?” We’re not living like cavemen anymore, dragging women around by their hair. And what of the Germanic and barbarian tribes? They became civilized. Or is Mr. Last only considering history he has personally witnessed? Doesn’t his devolution rationale fly in the face of evolution?

And did I miss the logic by which Mr. Last concludes that the increased affordability of transistors per integrated circuit leads inevitably to software designers programming in the option of executing prostitutes to recover gamers’ money?

Doug Burford
Mission

Closing eyes to ‘Bodies’

Some individuals who are so enamored with the dead bodies exhibit at Union Station, “Bodies Revealed,” have suggested that those of us with more discerning tastes just ignore it and not complain.

That’s easier said than done: I find it necessary to close my eyes while driving to miss the billboards around town, and I turn off the TV to avoid all the promotions about it. Neither is very much fun.

I guess not having an “open mind” means you don’t have any rights not to be subjected to this stuff.

Terry Clevenger
Leawood

No more lies

We are currently in Iraq because the commander in chief told us stories that were later found to be untrue. The damage he has brought down upon this country and the entire world is incalculable.

We now have a candidate, Hillary Clinton, who is telling stories that have been found to be untrue. I am speaking of her trip to Bosnia where she stated in a prepared speech that she had to run for cover under threat of sniper fire after deplaning. The videos from this even show us something quite different.

Clinton says she “misspoke.” Can anyone really believe that Hillary Clinton would be confused over an incident where her life and her daughter’s life were supposedly in danger?

Why can’t we call it for what it is? A big fat lie! If she were to reach the White House, do you really think the lies would stop? We will have endured eight long years of lies and distortions under the Bush-Cheney consortium. Can anyone really want more of that?

Steve Sharp
Roeland Park

A recap of priorities

Years ago my friend Sandy was dining at a local restaurant. She had on a fashionable, floppy hat.

A gentleman came up to the table and requested she take her hat off per restaurant protocol. She explained to him that she was bald due to breast cancer treatments and preferred to leave her hat on.

Sandy died last year. I think a manners priority adjustment is needed in most instances. What’s really important in life?

Susan Hidalgo
Lake Quivira

Working the system

Greg Graeff (3/27, Letters) writes that the number of people who need help to survive is marginal compared with those who have learned to manipulate the system. He’s right.

The help given to people who are poor is marginal compared with the help given to Bear Stearns and other corporations, companies and individuals who are wealthy.

Mr. Graeff also accuses the Clintons of an “I’m smarter than you and I know what’s best for you” attitude, even as he himself asserts that Sen. Obama has a huge following of people who don’t understand the issues. If Mr. Graeff believes the issues are hypocrisy, arrogance, corruption, classism and blind self-interest, I agree with that much, too.

Tom Gould
Kansas City

Right and wrong

The Vatican recently added to its list of sins, pollution, drug abuse, genetic experimentation, and the growing disparity between the rich and poor. It apparently forgot a more heinous sin: hypocrisy!

On both sides of the political aisle, we see the hypocrisy of those lecturing us on the moral clarity and the rule of law while they pursue unethical and illegal lifestyles: Eliot Spitzer on the left and Mark Foley on the right, for example.

We see government growing and spending us into the greatest federal deficit in history, while our foreign policy has alienated most of our allies, and the entire Islamic world.

In business, arrogance, greed, and bribery bring on mortgage foreclosures and a housing construction meltdown, inflation, unemployment, the highest levels of American debt and bankruptcies, while hiring undocumented workers perpetuates an immigration crisis.

Our religious leaders preach to megachurch congregations condemning gays, lesbians and Muslims, while ignoring basic Christian principles of kindness and humility, of feeding the poor.

The November election should not be about the “right or left.” It must be about what is “right or wrong.”

Rod Yeager
Kansas City

Evaluating ‘values’

On March 13, I heard an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He stated that because there are conservative Catholics and Jews who agree with the evangelical Protestants who make up the Republican right wing, he would prefer to call the group the “Values Voters” instead of the Christian Coalition (I thought Catholics were Christian).
Does that mean that people who disagree with him do not have values? I believe we do: health care for our children, Medicaid for the working poor, no torture of political prisoners, no suspension of our civil rights as legislated by the Constitution.
Choose another name, Gov. Huckabee.
Karen Stigers
Kansas City, Kan.

What’s ‘obscene’?

I can just see it now: Kansas Senate Bill 492 passes, and suddenly anyone in Kansas can complain to their county District Attorney and challenge materials in their school districts as “obscene.” (3/12, Opinion,“As I See It: A Chilling Effect on Our Schools”)

So what would happen?

Health classes would be gone. Can’t talk about birds and bees or even view pictures of human body parts. Everyone knows that this is obscene.

Biology and science would be gone. Can’t have possible discussions of evolution. That’s obscene.

World history would be gone. Many people view wars and fighting as obscene.

Math would be gone. Some math theories were viewed as obscene by early Church fathers.

Reading would be gone, as it can lead to reading obscene materials.

So what’s left? Pretty much recess and lunchtime.

Welcome to Kansas schools of the future!

Shirley Phillips
Stilwell

‘Bodies Revealed’

The Star advertised for “Bodies Revealed” by placing a large picture of one of the bodies on the front page (1/29). Deciding to skip reading that section, I turned to Local, only to find another body revealed. This is no less a freak show than what circuses did years ago, exhibiting persons with extra arms, etc.

I spent a year at a forward operating base on a surgical team. If one really wants to see bodies revealed, then spend a year serving the military in some medical capacity, or in a mortuary affairs position in Iraq or Afghanistan. You will see all the bodies you want to see. You will also see what happens when shrapnel hits the body, tears apart muscles and bones and leaves the body mangled.

In answer to Wendy Lund (3/2, Letters): I agree that seeing anatomy is a must for medical students. I don’t understand going to see a bunch of bodies that were supposedly donated to science in order to see the inner workings of the body. This could be done at a medical college or teaching hospital.

I wonder if the people who donated their bodies to science knew they would be on display.

Jeanette Birdsell
Kansas City, North

I am a graduate of human biology from the University of Kansas, and I fully understand how important the studies of the human body can be in understanding physiology, chemical reactions, how medicines work within the body, etc. Much valuable information can be obtained. No argument. Agreed. But in the right context and for the right purpose.

Displaying the bodies for public view is disturbing. Each of these persons on display housed a human soul, and therefore, deserves respect in death, as in life. Displaying the remains in this manner serves no educational purpose save curiosity and cannot render to these souls the respect they deserve and should be given in death.

Heather Nicole Hamtil
Leawood

Several years ago, while on vacation to Santa Fe, N.M., my wife and I visited the nation’s oldest house. On entering, we saw a skeleton in a pine box. After seeing the box, one lady exclaimed, “Now that is why I want to be cremated. I do not want any anyone looking at my bones.”

Anthony Frank
Overland Park

‘Bodies Revealed’

It seems like every day someone is writing in to express their outrage over the upcoming “Bodies Revealed” exhibit coming to Union Station. Many feel that these bodies have been desecrated or mutilated in some way.

This exhibit is a wonderful learning experience that has been viewed in many great cities across our country.

Most people have no idea what a wonderful gift their body is, which is clear based on the number of people who are obese, on drugs, smoking or drinking in excess.

If