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Baby formula shortages, rape, abortion? We all know who should take the blame

Blame women

Who’s really to blame for the baby formula shortage? I’m surprised no one has fingered the real culprit: women. After all, if only women would just breastfeed, we wouldn’t have this problem.

Similarly, we wouldn’t have the problem of rape if women wouldn’t wear such provocative clothing or drink so much, clearly begging for sex with, well, every man. And if women would just abstain, we certainly wouldn’t have to deal with abortions.

We wouldn’t have the problem of incest if young girls weren’t such Lolitas, obviously seducing Daddy or Uncle Adam. And if women would just admit that they ask to be punched or belittled, we wouldn’t have spousal abuse — it just wouldn’t exist. There would be only obedience, like marriage vows used to say.

If we can finally make women legally carry their pregnancies to term in all instances — after all, if they’d just behave, they wouldn’t want birth control or abortions — then surely we can tell them they must stop giving baby formula to those precious little ones and must breastfeed them instead. Shortage solved.

Women are clearly to blame for all of it. Right? Why on God’s Earth won’t women behave? Men do. Why not women?

Beats me.

- Elsje Smit, Lenexa

Look east

In Kansas City, where do we need more investment? The East Side. Where do we need more jobs? The East Side. Where do we need an expansion of the streetcar and transit services? The East Side.

Where do the powers that be want to locate a new stadium for the Royals? Downtown. This is exactly what we should not do.

- Eric Youngberg, Kansas City

We all saw it

As Congress begins hearings about unidentified flying objects, (May 18, 9A, “Congress dives into ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’”) I would like to share my own story.

I was a Navy pilot in Meridian, Mississippi, in 1968 and was a member of our squadron’s Accident Investigating Team. Very sadly, a student was killed during his first solo flight and the three of us on the investigating team spent all day at the site. We removed his body and looked for evidence, as an accident like this was very unusual.

After spending all day at the accident site, the three of us started our drive back to the Navy base, and suddenly we saw this huge orange ball flying along side us. We all said, “Do you see what I see?” And yes, we all saw the same thing.

We sped up, it sped up. We slowed down, it slowed down. We stopped, it stopped. Then all of a sudden, a cone formed behind the large ball and started a stunning ascent, almost straight up and at an amazing speed until it was quickly out of sight.

We told our commanding officer about it, and the next morning, a team of Air Force officers interviewed us and told us to never tell anyone about what we saw.

- Arlin Buyert, Leawood

A great history

The young man who traveled 200 miles from Conklin, New York, to Buffalo just to kill Black people did the wrong kind of research. If only he had researched the real history of African Americans, which has been intentionally left out of U.S. textbooks, he would have learned that a tremendous amount of Black contribution exists.

A few years ago Curtis McClinton, former Kansas City Chiefs fullback, asked me to join him at George Washington Carver National Monument, in Diamond, Missouri. He was being given an award from the National Park Service. While there, I toured the museum showcasing Carver and his life’s work. I was taken aback when I saw this sign that Carver kept on his office wall: “God did not put me on this Earth to seek fortune and fame, but to serve mankind.”

Carver discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts, soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes. Staying true to his motto, he never patented any of his creations. His inventions have made billions of dollars for the economy of America. His descendants would have had billions of dollars of net worth today, probably making them among the richest families in the world.

- Jesse Newman, Overland Park

What we do know

An 18-year-old boy loads his legally obtained firearms and drives some 200 miles to Buffalo, New York, to kill Black folks. He kills 10 and wounds another three. Yet, with gun shells still being marked on the crime scene by police, amid all the public praying and denouncements of violence and hatred, there was no fist shaking or condemnation of the guns that allowed a teenager to inflict such devastation in almost an instant. Why?

One would think that the first reaction by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown would be to demand new gun laws to prevent this kind of slaughter. President Joe Biden’s publicized remarks did not center on weapons and the fear they instill in most everyone — fear that drives people to buy guns for their own protection. And new guns bring more gun deaths, statistics show.

Nobody really understands why people such as the Buffalo shooter turn to killing or how to identify them early enough get them help. However, we do know what tools they need for mass murder. So it’s only common sense to eliminate the weapons, at least until we better understand what drives gun fanatics.

- Keith Evans, St. Joseph

A fair trade?

Give the residents of Kansas City control over their own police department — or else the Chiefs move to Kansas.

- Bill Daugherty, Leawood