Watching the news out of Ukraine and seeing the pleas of ordinary citizens for more weapons, including small arms, fills me with sadness and outrage towards the Russian invaders. 1939 Finland all over again. This is why, my friends, we have a Second Amendment. - Bob Leibecke, Centerville
Why is anyone surprised with Putin? He and his government are just organized criminals. Trump has always idolized American crime bosses, so it was no problem to climb into bed with Putin to become president. These guys are dictators and they will destroy anyone who stands between them and their ambitions. Don’t buy wrapping the cross with our flag, that their cause is just. Trump and Putin have proven they can divide and conquer America with lies playing to religious and racist paranoia. - Doris Adams, Greene County Democratic Party chair
In response to the cage-free egg article by Scott McFetridge, I would say this references some progress in animal welfare while not revealing the whole picture. The situation for layer hens is hardly ideal. Buildings housing these birds can have up to 25,000 hens per shed, and they never go outside. Layer hens are purchased from suppliers that kill all male chicks, who are not wanted for meat. Slaughter of these chicks is unregulated and may involve suffocation or being thrown into a grinding machine. When their egg-laying slows down after a year or so, the hens endure the unregulated cruelty of the chicken slaughter business. All in all, it’s a sad situation for the birds. - Carolyn Nichols, Dayton
Members of Congress of both political parties know that eliminating ethanol from our gasoline would immediately improve the fuel efficiency of every gas powered vehicle, both old and new without any investment in new refineries or modification of the vehicles. In fact, the vehicles would immediately improve their miles-per-gallon performance, thereby reducing emissions per mile driven. A true win-win for the consumer and the environment. The corn alcohol industry needs billions of gallons of fresh water daily in order to produce their products that don’t benefit anyone except the huge corporate interests which own the refineries. So why do we spend so much money to subsidize the farm/alcohol industry? Could it be campaign funding? - Steve Heckman, Springfield
The reported plan to use $3.5B of Afghan money held by U.S. financial institutions to compensate Sept. 11 victims is an example of “rob Peter to pay Paul.” Be that as it may, 15 of the 19 hijackers of the four planes on Sept. 11 were Saudi and Osama bin Laden was a former Saudi citizen. The U.S. should have pressed the Saudi government to face facts and demanded just compensation to the victims of Sept. 11. For the Saudis, the amount of compensation would be a drop in the bucket. The people of Afghanistan have suffered enough. - Vittal P. Pyati, Beavercreek
Citizens of the United States should be concerned for the Republican party and what it stands for, the future of our democracy and our two party system. Recently, the GOP declared that the violent assault on the Capitol and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election constituted “legitimate political discourse.” Members and their staffs were afraid for their safety, if not their lives. People died that day. Damage was done to the Capitol. Items were stolen. When did this behavior become accepted as legitimate political discourse? The Republican Party overwhelmingly refused to impeach President Trump for withholding $400 million in military aid from an ally in exchange for “dirt” on a political opponent. The Republican Party refused to convict a president for inciting a violent insurrection. The Republican Party was not troubled by the report from Robert Mueller detailing 10 occasions when the president obstructed justice. Thankfully, a few Republicans are beginning to speak out. Other elected Republicans should join Liz Chaney and Adam Kinzinger in being responsible members of Congress and uphold the oath taken to support and defend the Constitution. Those attempting to jeopardize our democracy and move to authoritarian rule should be held accountable. - Deb Snyder Oxford