CAR SEAT REGULATION

THANK YOU TO Jonathan V. Last, whose "Notes from the Nanny State" (October 6) confirmed what I suspected for a long time. I wonder if there are any statistics on how car seat laws compromise safety? Years ago we maintained peace in our family car by keeping our fighting kids in the opposite corners. Ever since the children were relegated to the rear seat, drivers turn their heads back to monitor the misbehavior behind them. Some of the parents stop the car to do that, but some do not, and I have witnessed quite dangerous situations arising from drivers turning back to soothe or discipline kids while driving.

Mark Chulsky
Swampscott, Mass.

JONATHAN V. LAST'S article made me think back to my childhood when there were no child bicycle helmet laws in my home state. I unfortunately took a couple of nasty spills on my bike as a kid (some I should be thankful that I was able to walk away from-one when I was alone and probably blacked out). When I see kids wearing even bulky styrofoam helmets, I often think that I wish those laws had been on the books when I was a kid. Though given Last's car seat theme, should it require the state to convince parents to make kids wear a helmet when they ride bicycles?

He has a valid point about diminishing returns and how much all this safety costs us in time and convenience.

Ben Daniel
Atlanta, Ga.

LOSING ALLIES

JAMES KIRCHICK asserts ("The Example of Our Power," October 6) that many people in the world, in particular Islamist extremists and other enemies of America, will hate America no matter how we behave. This is true. The article then implies that the left is so softheaded that it thinks that we can bring these enemies around if we act better. Not so.

Most Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans know that ending torture, closing Guantánamo, and making sure there are no more Abu Ghraibs will do absolutely nothing to change how we are viewed by the Taliban or al Qaeda. We are concerned that our image with our friends and allies has been so sullied that we will be forced to battle international terrorism completely on our own, and we do not believe we can win the war on terror alone. We are losing friends and potential friends by adopting tactics unworthy of the United States.

Ed Baker
East Lansing, Mich.

FASHION FAN

AS A PERSON WHO WORSHIPS at the House of Fashion, I can honestly say Samantha Sault's "Where the Elite Meet" (October 13) is one of the best pieces on Fashion Week I have read this year. From the coverage on Fashion Week Daily to the reports in the New York Times, Sault really brings a great perspective to the importance of Fashion Week. Although I've never been able to attend myself, I appreciate her ability to give me a front row look into the world I'm obsessed with.

Anna Lafferre
Arlington, Va.

AN IDIOT'S ERRAND

A MANHATTAN PROJECT IN ENERGY is an idiot's errand ("Manhattan Project as Metaphor" by Ari Rabkin, October 20), proving that the anti-hydrocarbon left doesn't understand engineering. Take solar, for instance. The science behind solar is well understood. At issue is the engineering and the manufacturing, and making a highly efficient, cheap, long-lasting solar module. Then there is the inverter that takes DC power and makes it into AC power. There is no getting around that these things, made up of many parts, will fail, and fail often. There will be no replacement parts for these expensive components of solar, so they need to be replaced every 10 years or thereabouts. A survey of the multiple manufacturers said that it was highly improbable that they could make an inverter that would last 20 years without costing a fortune. There is no magic energy wand unless they want to go after that pipe dream of fusion. If not, the only remaining economical option is nuclear, but many on the left hate nuclear power. "Hope" won't bring "change" when it comes to basic engineering.

Brendan P. Dooher
Danville, Calif.

A MCCAIN COUNTRY

AS AN ISRAELI-AMERICAN JEW living in Israel for the past 28 years, I found Willy Stern's "Where the Jews Vote Republican" (October 13) insightful and accurate. His assessment that John McCain is the most popular candidate for president among Jewish Israelis and expatriates like me is absolutely correct. In fact, I have four adult sons who all hold American citizenship, and my wife, all of my sons, and I mailed in our absentee ballots with John McCain's name checked off as our choice. Believe me, most of the journalists who come here to visit write the most fantastic and wild tales which have only a bare connection to reality. Indeed, many Israelis wonder if the people who write about our country have ever even been here.

Ken Besig
Kiryat Arba, Israel