Political candidates, Obama and voting, TV weather
Silver-tongue talkers
In past elections, we have put into office representatives who have prestigious educations and are articulate. It has not worked out very well.
Maybe in future elections we should vote for candidates based on their wisdom and character.
James E. Cox
Louisburg, Kan.
Obama, ‘sexy’ vote
Recently, President Barack Obama was speaking about the November midterm elections. He is worried that because he will not be on the ballot, people will not vote.
He said, “Too often, when there’s not a presidential election, we don’t think it’s sexy, we don’t think it is interesting.”
Do you know why he would use the word “sexy”? I cannot figure that out.
Karen Young
Kansas City
Climate change hoax
I see the global climate-change Chicken Littles are out in force again. It will be impossible to address each falsehood point by point, but I will try.
The world has seen at least two ice ages during the last 800,000 years. More recently, there was the Little Ice Age from roughly 1350 to about 1850. There was also the Medieval Warm Period lasting from about 950 to 1250 when Greenland was actually green and the Vikings, in open boats, reached the New England coast.
Please explain these events in terms of man-made effects. Because the Industrial Revolution did not start until the late 1700s, where does the cited 1,300 years of unprecedented human effects come from?
Everyone acknowledges the climate is naturally changing every day. If you do not know what change is caused by natural effects, how do you know what man’s impact is?
Because there is a lot of government money to study the man-made effects, we have a conclusion in search of data. Any data?
This is not science but politics. Please visit www.climatedepot.com to find the facts that are censored by the climate-change gestapo.
Randolph Oberlin
Leavenworth
Obamacare doubts
President Barack Obama seems to release numbers that support his position on the Affordable Care Act. Where are the rest of the numbers?
The numbers he releases tell us only the front end of the story. Eight million applications have been completed, but how many individuals make up this number?
I filled out five applications to finally get the coverage I wanted. How many people have paid their premiums? Looking is free, but the program can be successful only if people pay the premiums.
What are the projected health-care costs? There are a lot of good things in the Affordable Care Act, but they aren’t free. All the benefits President Obama cites have costs associated with them. Will we be paying increased premiums or taxes to compensate for these benefits?
I don’t believe Obamacare will work. I believe it was designed to fail so that the Democrats can move toward a single-payer system.
Socialized medicine has proved to provide reduced services both in quality and availability. Until something is done to actually reduce the costs of health care, we are going to be paying more.
William Gray
Overland Park
Extreme TV weather
You’ve heard of the WWF. You know, the World Wrestling Federation.
And you’ve heard of the XFL. You know, the defunct Xtreme Football League.
Well, here in Kansas City, we have the XWF, Xtreme Weather Forecasters. They are television weather performers who delight in making forecasts at the extreme limits of probable occurrence.
I suppose, if an unlikely weather event occurs, like a 15-inch snowfall, they want to be able to say, “I told you so.”
Of course, if their forecast doesn’t happen, they are counting on our short memories and their entertaining weather graphics to keep us tuned in.
By the way, the same local TV stations feature rush-hour traffic information that only those of us at home can see and hear. At least, I hope rush-hour motorists aren’t watching TV.
Can you really count on getting the most accurate forecast?
David Warren
Leawood
Welcoming KCI
I’ve been in airports all over the world, and the only one that comes close to the convenience offered by Kansas City International is in Hawaii.
You get off your plane, take a left or right, walk a short distance to the baggage claim, turn around and either go down an escalator to your car or walk out the door to transportation.
The lack of confusion at KCI was the first thing that welcomed me to this great city when I moved here 18 years ago.
John Gacek
Liberty
Faux security
How many more shootings will it take for the bullies in the National Rifle Association to be defeated, the cowards in the Senate and the House to be sent home packing, and for courage and sanity to prevail among the policymakers of America?
How many more will die a senseless death before we realize unregulated guns don’t make us safer at home? The more guns we have the greater danger we are in.
When the Second Amendment talks about the right to keep and bear arms, it is within the context of a well-regulated militia. Yes, you heard it right — well-regulated.
And militia means a trained and well-regulated force whose job it is to protect us from the rest of us with guns.
Roger Goldblatt
Kansas City
Grocery store waste
On a recent Saturday, at 8:15 p.m. I walked into a nearby grocery store to the salad bar to add a few things to a salad that I had started at home. The salad bar was being cleared away, and I asked whether I could still get some things.
I was told yes. I did a double take at seeing that some fruits were already thrown into the wastebasket. Yet, I was charged $7.83 at the checkout.
I spoke up and was told the food was tossed for health reasons. Really? But it is safe for the food to sit out all day with all kinds of people poking around in it.
It is very disturbing how this country wastes food while there are families with children who are homeless who could benefit from the corporations’ write-offs. Shameful.
I hope it was a learning moment for the grocery-store employers having to listen to my rant. One of the store workers thought the food was served again the next day.
Wake up, America. You need to see and feel hard times right here. Unbelievable.
Evelyn Case
Kansas City
King Tut replicas
Who would pay $19.95 general admission ($14.95 for children ages 3 to 12) to see replicas of the King Tut exhibit? I can’t imagine the charge to see the original today.
Isn’t it hyper-inflation when all prices increase drastically — gas, groceries, movie tickets? Please don’t bring any replicas of anything to Kansas City.
Wasn’t it P.T. Barnum who claimed there’s a sucker born every minute?
Steve Katz
Leawood
Pie for therapy
There’s an old question that asks what eternity is. The common answer is two people and a ham.
For my husband and I, it’s two people and a cake.
Never could we finish a cake before it became stale and a little sad. A pie can be savored or gobbled, with no quality deterioration.
I think Beth Howard is exactly right about the therapy of pie (5-14, D1, “The therapeutic power of pie”). I am reminded of the movie, “Waitress,” where the girls pour their dreams, fears, joy and anger into pies they make for customers.
Truly, pie-making brings a distinct satisfaction to the baker and lets one’s dreams soar while patting the dough and crimping the crust. I’m reminded of my Thanksgiving table, where pie outshines the turkey, and folks choose their variety after careful deliberation.
My husband died suddenly more than a decade ago. His favorite pie was coconut cream. It was never high on my list, but I find myself ordering it whenever I’m in a restaurant known for its baking.
It’s like I’m on a quest to find the one best coconut pie just to let him know where he can enjoy it.
Jane Whitesides
Glasgow, Mo.
This story was originally published May 16, 2014 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Political candidates, Obama and voting, TV weather."