(4 of 4)
Re "The people's network" [Nov. 20], about YouTube being on top of the Best Inventions 2006 list: I confess I'm really into YouTube and think it really deserved to be on top. Nevertheless, you didn't mention that it also has disadvantages. For example, sometimes violent videos are posted on the site that are accessible by kids. The pages for people over 18 can be opened with an easy click and when people upload offensive videos it may take some days until the administrators notice, during which time children might watch and be influenced by them. Certainly much has been done to try to close these illegal pages, but with 70,000 videos uploaded onto YouTube every day by people all over the world, it's pretty difficult to check that the videos are politically correct, don't contain bad language and aren't brutal. But maybe there are no inventions in the world that are purely positive.
Tobias Hubel
Augsburg, Germany
Win the War! Save String!
time reported that American troops in Iraq are using Silly String to detect trip wires affixed to bombs [Nov. 27]. Rather than ask civilians to mail cans of it to the troops, shouldn't we just ask Halliburton to order it by the truckload? That would make the acquisition much quicker, since the company seems to have an unlimited government expense account. Or have the Defense Department buy Silly String directly from the manufacturer and ship it using military transport, which would be less expensive. Here's a third idea: purchase all the Silly String you can find, and drop it off at the closest military base to be shipped along with the same troops whose lives the stuff could save.
Karen Garner
Newport News, Virginia, U.S.
Rebuilding The House
Incoming house speaker Nancy Pelosi failed in her campaign to elect her ally John Murtha as House majority leader [Nov. 27]. But why should anyone have been surprised by Pelosi's decision to support the populist Murtha? The Democrats' gain in the election was primarily driven by dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, not support for left-wingers. I'm not sure, however, that either party deserved to win. The constant bickering and lack of focus on results shown by both parties are appalling and discouraging.
Glen Wilson
Westerville, Ohio, U.S.
Less than two weeks on the job, and already Pelosi is screwing up. I have to admit I am loving it. After years of hearing Republicans called everything from cowboys to Nazis, it's a blast watching the Dems fall over one another to make fools of themselves.
Michael Chimenti
New York City