Google Fiber bypass

I am not sure how Google Fiber decided who would get its high-speed services.

We live in the Piper area of Kansas City, Kan. We aren’t able to preregister.

Google Fiber has service to a golf course. It has service available to two housing developments north of ours. The company will have service to Prairie Oaks and the housing development east of that one.

We are south an additional development, and the cable runs by us to get to the other places. We aren’t in their service area.

I went to the Google circus on Westport Road. No one there could explain why we are left out.

I emailed the company and got a reply that we might be included some day.

I guess you have to be in with City Hall to get service.

Richard K. Minear

Kansas City, Kan.

Cash buys elections

Why do any of us bother to vote? The candidates take no notice of us anyway. We are just a bunch of numbers to them. The only thing they understand is big money, and I’m talking big money.

Peggy Smith

Kansas City

Buy cars made in U.S.

First a new stamping plant at the Ford Claycomo plant. Now a new paint shop at the GM plant in the Fairfax district (8-30, A1, “Major project set for GM plant”).

Ford and GM are supporting the local area. Is the local area supporting Ford and GM?

After seeing all the Kias, Hondas, Toyotas and other foreign cars on the local roads, I think not.

Mike Thomas

Lawson, Mo.

Repairing real leaks

The leaks in the Capitol dome are just the latest example of the problem with the GOP today (8-26, A3, “No funds available to fix U.S. Capitol’s leaky roof”).

To fix the Capitol dome, $61 million is needed, but the GOP-controlled House couldn’t find the money.

Now, this is a large amount of money, but when seen against other things in the budget, it really is just a drop in the bucket. This amount is equal to less than .009 percent of the Defense Department budget, or about the cost of one drone aircraft. Yet money can’t be found?

That’s right, less than one one-hundredth of 1 percent. Is the pull of defense contractors so high and so strong?

If the Republicans, can’t find a way to repair such an iconic and meaningful building in our country’s history, why should anyone believe they are really looking out for the best interest of the country?

John M. Fox

Independence

PBS, NPR cover GOP

Does anyone find it ironic that the only over-the-air broadcast media that carried the Republican National Convention out of Tampa, Fla., in its entirety were PBS and NPR?

If these same Republicans had their way, both of these great public services would have their small amounts of taxpayer support eliminated so they could become just like the other broadcast networks.

Apparently, the free market demands that broadcast commercial TV focus on mindless entertainment, violence and family unfriendly programming. Maybe the Republicans don’t really want their convention broadcast to the masses or for Americans to enjoy wholesome broadcast television.

John Segale

Shawnee

Seeking political truth

How do you find truth in politics? Desperately trying to find substantive information to make an informed decision on voting becomes like finding a needle in a haystack.

I would like to avoid the nonsensical sound bites that proliferate and focus on whether there is truly a difference in the political parties and if so which will best serve our country. Having said all that what do I do when a presidential candidate chooses a running mate who misleads with erroneous remarks, leaving more doubt about that presidential candidate’s decision-making.

And then there’s that gnawing voice in my head, which I want to silence, but keeps remembering those pesky undisclosed tax returns.

Anne Lesser

Overland Park

Preparing for drought

The Aug. 24 article, “Drought hits home,” described the consequences of prolonged drought on the structural condition of residences in this area. It is unfortunate that this article was not published in the spring, advising homeowners to begin watering then.

If homeowners had implemented watering programs sooner, some damage/settlement may not have occurred or may not have been as severe. As pointed out in that article, the cost of water is likely to be substantially less than the cost of foundation and structure repair.

Droughts will continue to occur. “So Your Home is Built on Expansive Soils,” published by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1995, should be a must-read for area homeowners who want to be prepared for the next drought.

Craig K. Denny

Lenexa

GOP contradictions

There are a lot of contradictions in the Republican Party. Let’s start with the nominee for president.

As the party runs to the right with the most conservative party platform in history, Mitt Romney moves toward nowhere. He refuses to release details of his plans or his tax returns while attempting to balance an appeal to the common man and trying to become blander than mayonnaise.

The reason is obvious — his party. He cannot afford to alienate members of the GOP base, who held their noses and embraced him as their nominee. Nor can he fully embrace them without alienating the majority of American voters, some of whom are outside the party faithful but must vote for him if he is going to win.

Of course, what will happen if Romney does get elected is an interesting question, not as Democrats have framed it as changes to government, but rather changes in his own party. With President Barack Obama gone, the “anything but Obama” attitude would fade.

Romney would find himself in the same position of conflict with his party. With Paul Ryan as vice president, there would be Republicans thinking about how to remove Romney from the presidency.

Ray Cochener

Lenexa

Made in America is best

When my old computer printer died, I went to the store to buy a new one. The salesman insisted that I also needed an extended warranty on the new machine that would kick in after about two years’ use.

“Why?” I asked. “My old printer lasted nearly 10 years with never a hiccup.”

“Your old printer was made in the U.S.,” he said. “Nowadays, all computer printers are made in China.”

When I got the new machine home, I spent an hour-and-a-half on the telephone with company technicians, who finally concluded that the machine was defective and that I should return it.

Jo Hoffman

Lee’s Summit

Priced out of gambling

For 26 years, I’ve bought four lottery tickets a week, well aware that I never had any chance of winning. But I did enjoy the thrill of checking out the numbers. During those years, I once won $25.

The other years, I won a handful of $7 and maybe 25 to 30 $3 Powerballs.

Recently, I had the Powerball and two numbers and checked my winnings — $7. That’s the same amount I won previously when the tickets cost $1.

Now the price is $2, and I get the old amount. Huh?

My message — goodbye lottery.

Ira Land

Kansas City

Energize Romney’s spirit

While President Barack Obama’s campaign savages GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney with distortions and misrepresentations, Romney channels George H.W. Bush and floats blissfully on a cloud of a kinder, gentler campaign on his way to defeat like John McCain in 2008. Maybe Romney needs to throw up on someone to shake things up.

William Nowack

Leawood

End Obama’s whining

When will President Barack Obama quit his whining and start to work for this country? Constantly complaining about the mess that President George W. Bush left him to clean up is hardly a solution.

Our problems will continue if Obama keeps doing what he has been doing since he was elected, which is running for re-election. How would history remember President Abraham Lincoln if all he did was complain of the problems that James Buchanan left behind?

Every president has had to deal with the problems of the past. If, heaven forbid, Obama is re-elected, he would look very stupid blaming the occupant of the White House of the last four years because Obama would be blaming himself.

Joe Lavender

Lenexa

True path to citizenship

Do you ever wonder how newly naturalized citizens feel when they go through all they have endured to become U.S. citizens? Then President Barack Obama just wants to hand out citizenship like candy to anybody who wants it just because those immigrants got here illegally. It kind of cheapens the feeling, I would imagine.

Robert Wiatt

Liberty