Cuban Missile Crisis memories, KenKens and the popular vote

Crisis memories

If you are old enough, you will not forget Oct. 22, 1962, when Russia was moving nuclear-tipped missiles into Cuba, 80 miles from Florida. Russian ships laden with nuclear weapons were just off our East Coast, closing on Cuba with their deadly cargo, while some weapons in Cuba already were operational. We were very, very close to all-out nuclear war.

Then-President John F. Kennedy skillfully negotiated with then-Russian President Nikita Khrushchev, barely avoiding total disaster for both countries.

Try to picture the current president faced with this challenge.

- Fred White, Gladstone

Make us work

I want to congratulate The Star for now running KenKen puzzles that are truly challenging — sometimes almost too challenging. Please don’t go back to the puzzles where, for example, five of the 36 squares are filled in for us, or that are just too easy in general. But maybe throw in a less-challenging one now and then for the benefit of neophytes.

- Ralph Hile, Merriam

Had the choice

Fortune shined on me twice in 1984, the year I was pregnant.

First, abortion was legal in the United States. Second, although we discovered my husband was a Tay-Sachs carrier, I was not, meaning we had no need to decide whether to terminate my pregnancy.

Tay-Sachs is a fatal genetic disorder resulting in progressive destruction of the nervous system. Children born with it rarely live beyond age 4. About 1 in 30 Ashkenazi Jews carries the gene causing Tay-Sachs, so had I been a carrier, too, it was 100% certain our baby would have been born with it. And we would have witnessed a dreadful, painful, emotionally wrenching death that could have been avoided.

Happily, we did not need to make that difficult decision. Our healthy son is now 35 and a social worker. But had we needed, termination was available to us.

There are extenuating physical and emotional circumstances to any pregnant woman’s health conditions. Whether to continue a pregnancy should not be the government’s decision. It should be her and her partner’s choice.

That is why I ask you to please vote for candidates who support women’s reproductive rights, women such as Kansas state Sen. Barbara Bollier for U.S. Senate and Joy Koesten for Kansas state Senate.

- Ann Brewer, Leawood

Pilot’s seat

I believe I have never been more interested in politics, or more befuddled. The two parties in Washington are intended to collaborate for a better country. Yet true discourse has become a rarity, not only in D.C., but on the street.

I believe our leadership in the world has taken a hit because of our inability to embrace our differences and secure our common interests.

From where I sit, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have been copilots. Sen. Kamala Harris is newly licensed. If you look out the window, those are our captains in the parachutes. Former Vice President Joe Biden remains a dedicated passenger. I hope he can learn how to fly one of these.

Yet, for real change to occur — for our nation to unite and flourish — I believe we are definitively on our own, and that is not all bad.

- Richard L. Brown, Kansas City

Popular idea

I’ve heard about proposals to elect the president by a nationwide popular vote. I think this is a good idea and would provide proper representation for our states. This is the way we fill other offices.

The Electoral College method is outdated and was not originally in the Constitution. I would like The Star to consider increasing awareness about the National Popular Vote initiative through its journalism. Learn more at nationalpopularvote.com.

- Alan Tyler Krska, Kansas City

Show some respect

Just once, when someone disagrees with the president, I would like him to respond with a comment such as, “I don’t agree with your comments, but you certainly have the right to express your opinion,” instead of calling the person stupid or obnoxious.

- Bill Grossnickle, Kansas City

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss Cuban Missile Crisis memories, KenKens and the popular vote."