Letters to the Editor
-
Make every photon count? How about making every watt count?
I've been frustrated in stores that display LED flashlights and brag about light output but don't have a working one to demonstrate it. I took a chance in a Sams Club and bought a 2-pack of flashlights, each with a single 3-watt LED. They're amazing! I use one to shine a light from my kitchen door 50 feet across the road to see if my paper's in its box. It illuminates my neighbor's pole barn 100 feet away. It uses 3 AAA batteries and claims a 20-hour life.
LEDs are showing up in many more places than truck lighting, Christmas light strings and traffic signals: Ann Arbor MI is putting them in street lights.
I'm waiting for the 3-watt LEDs to start showing up in under-cabinet lights for kitchen task lighting. I have 20 halogens over about 15 feet of countertops. 20x35 watts = 700 watts.
LEDs should displace every halogen, incandescent and fluorescent, and ASAP. And for now I should replace my halogens with fluorescents.
-
Obama is the BEST choice for a divided America
I am a moderate Democrat but I am enthusiastically supporting Barack Obama because I believe he will bring about the changes our nation so badly needs by reaching across the aisle and working with members of both parties. The bitter partisanship in Congress is making it impossible to get reforms in healthcare, the environment, immigration and our foreign policy. Hillary Clinton has ran a nasty, mean-spirted campaign against Obama, full of mud-slingling, character assassination and the politics of personal destruction. As President she and her husband will make the presidencies of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush pale in comparison when it comes their vindictiveness, secretiveness and wanting to get back at their enemies.
America has too many problems that need to be resolved and they never will be resolved if we demonize those who disagree with us. Obama has proven he can work with those whose views don't always equal his in a way to find common ground and get meaningful legislation passed that will benefit all Americans. He will hold true to his beliefs but will still be able to get majorities to pass legislation because of the type of leader he is.
We don't need more partisanship in Congress, we need less. We don't need more lies, more mud slinging, and more dirty campaigning. Nixon is long gone, and Bush will soon be gone. If revenge and getting back at the Republicans is your motive, then vote for Hillary Clinton. If progress and change and laws protecting our environment, extending healthcare to more of our citizens, a fair and decent immigration policy, and a foreign policy that will restore American values without making us a pariah in the world is what you want, then you have one clear choice: Barack Obama.