SallieB

Gary Walt's street photo is stunning!!

Take it with a grain of salt Kristin - you're totally correct of course but consider the comments an IQ test.
- and 'Indy' - you're absolutely right - um - I mean - correct, too. LOL

Doug - at least one person thinks you've got a great sense of humor! I hope you didn't poke a hole in your cheek with your tongue! Will I be in dutch if I call to your attention 'square headed Dutchman' & 'stubborn Dutchman'. Oh wait - those are references to Germans who live in Pennsylvania - you know - Pennsylvania Dutch. You remind me that since my forebears were French/English/Irish/German I have a wealth of things at which to take umbrage. Thank you kindly.

People get their knickers in a twist over the darnedest things! I admire the Baldwins - Alec's devotion to his Mom's cause, her courage & determination. I admire Wegmans - their devotion to community causes & quality.

Mark Watkins - great letter!!

Great Shot!!!

It's pretty incredible!

It sounds like you have an intelligent mayor but that comment about Al Qaeda being a CIA created enterprise? Sounds like another wild-eyed conspiracy theory to me - tho I quite agree with the remark about violence in religion.

Just a note - I'd like to say how impressed I am with this page dedicated to the comments of young people. I wrote a 'letter to the Editor' when I was 13 - that was in 1944. I still have it. In those days it was an anomaly - we were just emerging from the 'children should be seen & not heard' era. The idea that 'kids'in their teens should not have opinions - or none worth listening to - was the norm. I listen to our grandkids - 12 & 14. They're very interesting people and I read and enjoy this page every week.

About those voting machines. As I understand it - the whole mess stemmed from an act of Congress in 2003 stating that all voting systems must allow those with disabilities to have the same privacy as everyone else.

That opened the way for a virtual 'Rube Goldberg' of designs. I'd really like to know who conceived the idea of the paper ballots with 'bubbles'. Who designed them? Who got the lucrative (no doubt) contract to build these scanners?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that 'fill in the bubble' (about the size of an appleseed) will actually limit those with disabilities. Many older people don't have a steady hand anymore. It can be due to something simple - or something like Parkinsons or 'familial tremor'. The machines were apparently so sensitive that a wavering line - a small deviation outside the bubble - would invalidate the ballot.

This whole mess recalls the debacle of the infamous 'hanging chads' in Florida that created such a mess that the decision on who won had to be decided by the court. I can hardly wait to see what 'bubble-head' designs they come up with in 2012….