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| washingtonpost.com - Letters to the Editor
The Aug. 25 editorial "Social Security on Ice" about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's suggestion of a higher FICA tax on earned income of more than $250,000 a year, but not on income from $102,000 to $250,000, would have been better if it had clarified the way in which benefits and taxes are coordinated.
Regarding the Aug. 26 news story "Thatcher's Daughter Reveals Britain's Ex-Premier Has Dementia":
A few nights ago, as I was waiting for a train at the Farragut West Metro station, I noticed a Metro employee emptying the trash cans. When he got to the newspaper "recycle" bin, he poured its contents into his rolling trash can along with all the trash he had already collected. Surprised, I watched him approach the last trash can and dump that trash on top of the newspapers.
William J. Catalona's Aug. 26 op-ed, "The Wrong Call on Prostate Cancer Screening," failed to mention that there is at least one prostate cancer test that is being extensively tested and that appears to be markedly superior.
I read with interest the Aug. 22 Metro article ["Wind Power's Energetic Fans"] about Ken Robinson and Sheryl Elliott, the couple who wish to erect a wind turbine to supply power to their Charles County home. I found it quite heartening that they are so concerned about the environment that they are trying to replace 25 to 40 percent of the conventionally generated electricity needed for their large (second) home, which is located in one of the region's most environmentally sensitive areas.
I was happy to read "Cleaning House? Shelve the Fancy Sprays for Kitchen Basics" in the Aug. 24 Sunday Source. However, it is extremely important to explain why homemade cleaners are safer than the leading brands.
Stephen Hunter's wonderful Aug. 26 Style essay hit a home run with us; we read it the morning after returning from Chicago and seeing the Washington Nationals play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. What a difference there is in the atmosphere of the beautiful, ancient, 1914 park -- from the neighborhood, to the seats close to the field even from some 40 rows back, to the delightful organ music that fans get instead of the blaring noises that greet Nats fans. The era Mr. Hunter speaks of -- the late 1950s -- still exists at Wrigley. It is only about baseball -- there are no Build-a-Bear Workshops or video games or other "entertainment experiences," as the Nats' failed advertising proclaims. Even the young people who drink in the Wrigley bleachers watch the game.
I was not a supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton but, had she won the Democratic Party's nomination, I would have held my nose and voted for her -- not only because she would have been my party's nominee but also because she would have been far better than any of the Republicans running.
The Aug. 24 front-page article "Al-Qaeda Masters Terrorism on the Cheap" reported that the terrorist group's attacks cost very little and cited this "news" as "evidence that the U.S. government and its allies fundamentally miscalculated in assuming they could defeat the network by hunting for wealthy financiers and freezing bank accounts." The article's premise was flawed: We have never assumed that such actions alone could defeat al-Qaeda. Rather, combating terrorist financing is just part of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy.
The Post was entirely correct to criticize Random House for preemptively caving in to Islamic fundamentalists who might take offense with the novel "The Jewel of Medina" ["Random House's Retreat," editorial, Aug. 22].
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