Tracks are quieter now, but more prone to buckling
Re: “Metro slows down rail system due to heat wave,” July 18
Metro and Amtrak tracks are buckling (heat kinks) due to expansion, not faulty metallurgy. A few decades ago, tracks were laid with expansion joints, which allowed for trouble-free operation during adverse heat. But these gaps made a “clickety-clack” sound.
Modern technology eliminated these “bothersome” expansion joints for a seamless rail with a smooth continuous surface. The extraordinary force of heat-induced expansion was simply not permitted, at the cost of rail reinforcement, buckling and breaking.
I miss this hypnotic tempo, which movie director Alfred Hitchcock employed in “North by Northwest,” “Strangers on a Train,” etc. Please give us back the clickety-clack instead of speed-reduction and maintenance problems!
Edward Abramic
Washington
Americans won’t buy Obama-Batman comparison
Re: “Holy copycat, Batman! Obama-Biden are ‘Dynamic Duo’,” July 18
Recent attempts by some to channel themes from the upcoming Batman movie into the 2012 election represent desperation politics. Even with the catchy photo of POTUS and his sidekick, Joe, slapping high-fives as the “Dynamic Duo,” it’s hard to believe that in the current economy, the American people would go along with the idea that Barack Obama is a superhero.
Since taking office, “the Dynamic Duo” increased the national debt by more than $5 trillion, allowed America’s credit rating to be downgraded and wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on the failed green energy initiative Solyndra.
To be fair, Osama bin Laden is dead. But comparing members of Seal Team 6 with President Obama, which remind you more of a superhero?
Back in 2008, Obama really did seem to be a modern-day superhero, at least on college campuses. But after he failed to deliver on several of his promises (unemployment rate, anyone?), it will be difficult for the American people to trust in his superpowers for another four years.
John Twarogj
Washington
Disclosure demanded of Romney, but not Obama
Re: “At every turn, Romney covers up his own past,” From Readers, July 18
Jack Donner is playing the typical Washington game of “If Mitt Romney has nothing to hide, he’s got nothing to worry about.” While I understand that Romney is no ordinary citizen, and that there may be some germane reasons for him to release his tax records, merely “having nothing to hide” is not one of them. That argument ultimately reduces to: “We want to do a fishing expedition.”
Meanwhile, President Obama has done all he can to keep his college transcripts, his thesis from Columbia University, his Illinois state Senate records, his scholarly articles, and his SAT and LSAT scores from public view.
Disclosure for thee but not for me? Please.
More to the point, what exactly does this have to do with anything? We have had more consecutive months of 8 percent or higher unemployment under Obama than we had from 1948 to 2008 combined. Our national debt has gone up by more than $5 trillion, and more Americans went on disability last month than got jobs.
Three-dollar gas is the new normal, Iran is getting dangerously close to having an atomic bomb, government overregulation is killing the economy and taxes are set to skyrocket at the end of the year. Fast and Furious, Solyndra, Keystone XL — on and on it goes.
We’re supposed to vote for four more years of this because of what Mitt Romney put on his SEC forms when Kelly Clarkson was winning “American Idol”?
Trevor White
Silver Spring
