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During the iPad announcement, Apple stressed the face that the iPad was not just a fancy media player and web-browsing machine by highlighting the fact that it was porting its iWork office suite to the new tablet. After using Pages – the word processor in the iWork suite – for a while (and writing most of this review with it), it’s clear that the iPad has the potential to be a good productivity machine for writers, but Pages on the iPad still falls short in a number of key areas.

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Features

Without a doubt, Pages for the iPad is one of the prettiest word processors we have ever used. The tabs and taskbar are clad in a faux leather look and just like its cousins on the desktop, the app puts a lot of emphasis on using images in your texts and making text flow nicely around them.

Almost every feature you would expect from a mobile word-processor is available – including a few you wouldn’t expect on a mobile device: you can enter tables, charts and shapes anywhere in the text; there are tabs, line breaks and page breaks, a distraction free fullscreen mode for reading (but not editing), as well as the options to change line spacing, create different styles of lists and choose from about 40 different fonts. You can also easily create multi-column layouts.

Of course, there is also a spellchecker (just tab on an underlines word and he correct spelling will pop up). Sadly, though, you can’t add new words to the dictionary.

Problems: Import/Export Falls Short; A Few Missing Features

Sadly, though, Pages does fall short in a number of aspects. While you can easily import and export documents (Pages and Word) by email or through iTunes, complex documents don’t always survive this move intact. Footnotes and endnotes, for example, are simply deleted, making Pages for the iPad almost useless for a lot of students and academics. Tables of content simply become part of the text, which means that they don’t auto-update any more. This would be annoying while editing the text on the iPad, but turns into a nightmare if you want to pass any document that’s more complex than a straightforward letter or essay back and forth between the iPad and your desktop.

Pages on the iPad also doesn’t offer a word count, something most professional writers can’t live without.

Verdict

Assuming you can handle the virtual keyboard – something that takes a bit of practice – or that you use a wireless keyboard, Pages can be a great tool for writing straightforward texts. While it offers great features for handling images, it would’ve been nice if Apple had paid a little bit more attention to the actual text editor.

Discuss

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) — who tomorrow will join a growing list of state officials to file suit against the individual mandate in the Democrats’ health reform law — explained to Fox News today that he’s doing so because he’s “concerned about the Constitution.”

“It doesn’t bother me that every Republican is standing up for the Constitution and the rights of Americans and the Democrats are opposed to that,” he said, referring to his attorney general, a Democrat, who has refused to file the suit through her office. ”That shows their partisan politics, and they’re becoming the party of, ‘No, don’t interfere with our attempt to take over all of the health care industry in this country.’ This is a serious, serious infringement and erosion of the constitutional rights of Americans.”

It’s at times like this that it’s worth mentioning that the individual mandate was first pushed by conservatives as an alternative to a proposed requirement that businesses offer health benefits to all their workers.

In a telling piece published earlier this year, NPR health care reporter Julie Rovner spoke with one of the architects of that proposal, the conservative University of Pennsylvania health economist Mark Pauly. More than 20 years back, Pauly told Rovner:

“A group of economists and health policy people, market-oriented, sat down and said, ‘Let’s see if we can come up with a health reform proposal that would preserve a role for markets but would also achieve universal coverage.’ ”

The idea of the individual mandate was about the only logical way to get there, Pauly says.

Additionally, the individual mandate was seen as a way to to prevent those without insurance from sticking the bill to everyone else in times of medical emergency.

“We called this responsible national health insurance,” Pauly told Rovner. “There was a kind of an ethical and moral support for the notion that people shouldn’t be allowed to free-ride on the charity of fellow citizens.”

Indeed, it was the individual mandate, Rovner writes, that Republicans included in a 1993 proposal that was designed to compete with the employer mandate pushed by the Clinton administration at the time. Some pretty conservative lawmakers — including Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) — were behind that proposal.

Funny that two decades later the idea is suddenly deemed unconstitutional.

Okay, so maybe it’s more like Palm Developer Weekend, but they’re calling it Palm Developer Day, so we’ll just go with that. Friday April 23rd and Saturday the 24th will see current and potential webOS developers descending on the Palm corporate campus in sunny Sunnyvale, California, to partake in a number of sessions and rub elbows with the Palm Developer Relations Team.

A $25 pre-registration fee will net an attendee access to all sessions, meals (they had some pretty kick-ass pizza last time they did something like this), and even a gift of the commemorative type.

Topical matter for the sessions will include:

• Intro to webOS
• Porting Apps to webOS
• Advanced webOS
• Marketing Your Apps: The Business of webOS Development
• Creating 3D Games for webOS
• Effective Debugging Techniques
• What’s Coming Next in webOS

Yes, it’s not just a Mojo SDK code-a-thon. There’ll be talk of app porting, 3D gaming with the PDK, and of high importance for any developer looking to make a buck or two: marketing. And is that a peak at the future we see there? We think it is.

Pre-registration is open now.

UPDATE: As Lisa from Palm has informed us in these here comments, the Palm Developer Day could almost be considered two separate events. Friday will be "more of a webOS bootcamp" for new developers, while Saturday will be the Developer Day with the keynote, programming sessions, and – this is cool – "office hours" where a developer can get one-on-one time with the Developer Relations Team.

There’s been a lot made of the fact that the iPad doesn’t support Flash. But how much of an effect does it have on day-to-day browsing? I snagged screenshots of 20 top websites so you can see for yourself. More »

Picture via Engadget.com

Microsoft has invited journalists to a mysterious event on the 12th April. Not revealing much, the invite merely mentions that “It’s time to share.”

Ina Fried from CNET has however been able to confirm that the event will the the official unmasking of the Project Pink handsets which are expected to be released very soon on Verizon.

The handsets, with its emphasis on social networking are expected to be slider feature phones and replacements for the SideKick handsets available on T-Mobile.

Read more at CNET here.

Scientists have created the world’s smallest superconductor, made out of just four molecule-pairs and less than a nanometer wide. That’s far smaller than the head of a pin — which stretches across a million nanometers — and more on the order of a DNA molecule, which is about 2 nanometers wide [PopSci]. The invention, described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, provides the first evidence that nanoscale molecular superconducting wires can be fabricated, which could be used for nanoscale electronic devices and energy applications [Xinhua]. Superconductive materials allow electrical currents to pass through with zero resistance, making them potentially useful to a wide variety of industries.

Lead author Saw-Wai Hla, a physics professor at Ohio University’s Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, explains that earlier it was almost impossible to make nanoscale interconnects using metallic conductors because the resistance increased as the size of wire becomes smaller. “The nanowires become so hot that they can melt and destruct. That issue, Joule heating, has been a major barrier for making nanoscale devices a reality” [Xinhua], Hla says.

To get around that problem, Hla and his colleagues created molecules of an organic salt called (BETS)2-GaCl4 and placed it on a surface of silver. Then they had to bring the temperature of the molecules down to about 10 Kelvin (-442 degrees Fahrenheit). Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, the scientists observed superconductivity in molecular chains of different lengths, raising the possibility that nanoscale electronic circuits could be produced at a larger scale. While consumer electronics obviously don’t function at such extreme cold temperatures, the news that tiny superconductor wires can be fabricated is still expected to give a boost to the development of nanoscale electronics.

And there’s yet more excitement in the world of nanotechnology, as two prototypes of motion-powered nanogenerators made of nano-sized parts were also revealed in Nature Nanotechnlogy (pdf). One of the flat, paper clip-sized “nanogenerators” is said to pump out as much energy as an AA battery, leading researchers to propose that, in the future, simply walking with your iPod in your pocket could keep it charged, and the lub-dub of your heart could power a portable blood-pressure sensor [ScienceNOW].

The two devices, created by materials scientist Zhong Lin Wang and his colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, are both plastic-encased nanogenerators whose main components are the so-called nanowires, made of crystallized zinc oxide, a piezoelectric material that converts mechanical stress into energy. Each wire is a few hundred nanometers thick (thinner than most bacteria are long) [Science NOW].

In one of the devices, the nanowires look like a bed of nails, held between layers of electricity-conducting materials. When this device is squeezed, the mechanical stress is converted to a tiny amount of energy. In the second and more powerful nanogenerator, the scientists were able to crank out more than 1.26 volts--about 60 times more than previous nanogenerator prototypes and close to a standard alkaline battery’s 1.5 volts [Science NOW].

The researchers say the nanogenerators could be used, for example, in a network of motion-powered sensors. Wang said: “In your house, you could have hundreds of nearly invisible sensors around to detect fires, floods, toxic gas leaks, or even burglars…. The sensors would wirelessly transmit data to a computer if there’s a problem, and you’d never have to charge them, plug them in, or replace a battery” [Science NOW]. However, such schemes are still far in the future. Wang and his team are now working on boosting the devices’ power and their ability to hold a charge.

Related Content:
80beats: 2 New Nanotech Super Powers: Desalinating Sea Water and Treating Cancer
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80beats: With a Blood Sample & 20 Minutes, Nanosensors Could Detect Cancer
80beats: Nanosilver Puts the Hurt on Microbes—and Maybe Fish, Too
80beats: Scientist Smackdown: Can Nanoparticles Damage Human DNA?

Image: University of Ohio

Where were the Space Needle owners?

Editor, The Times:

It is interesting, reading about all the donations for the fireworks coming from companies large and small, as well as individual citizens who love the show over Lake Union. [“Donors, big and small, fired up to save Fourth,” page one, April 2.]

However, I find it strange that out of all the donations offered, not one dime has come from the place of business that actually makes a lot of money from that show each year: the Space Needle.

The owners charge $100 and more to “enjoy” the fireworks from the top of the Needle, but cannot put any dollars toward the show that brings them revenue, that the whole city enjoys and that people around the world watch on TV.

Then they propose a museum at the Seattle Center.

Over the last couple of years, the Space Needle’s owners have shown where their interests lie, and it is not with the people or the city of Seattle. They have become interested in the bottom line and not with the people who love the Space Needle as their city’s icon.

What a shame.

— Jan Erickson, Issaquah

Saving fireworks the least of Seattle’s troubles

I like fireworks as much as the next person, but I cannot see using money to save the fireworks when there are thousands of people who are homeless, children who are starving and many families that are just one unemployment check away from losing a homes in Washington State. I just don’t get it.

I have an idea; how about companies pledging to feed the hungry?

— Dennis Sigler, Everett

The NBA announced on Monday that Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson has been fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing game officials.

NBA Executive Vice President Stu Jackson made the announcement, referring to Jackson’s comments after the Lakers’ Sunday afternoon loss to San Antonio at STAPLES Center.

Jackson’s comments referred to events occurring late in the second quarter when Ron Artest and Manu Ginobili drew matching technicals, Artest a personal foul and finally Kobe Bryant a technical foul.

Jackson gave his team the day off from practice on Monday but will gather the troops on Tuesday in preparation for Thursday evening’s game in Denver.

Back at the beginning of March, we wrote about a study that noted that since the French Hadopi (three strikes) law had technically gone into effect, it appeared that unauthorized file trading had increased — though it had shifted to other means (ones not covered by Hadopi). As we noted in that post, while Hadopi was technically in effect, no enforcement had begun due to data privacy questions. Still, it seemed telling to see the shift in how people were trading files to get around the law. A few days ago, some news sites re-discovered that study and so it got some more attention — leading the IFPI to start trying to play a neat game of misdirection. Ars Technica points us to a statement from the IFPI mocking anyone who takes such a report seriously:

“It is nonsense to suggest that a study conducted before the HADOPI authority has sent a letter to a single infringing user is somehow a definitive judgment on the success or otherwise of France’s digital piracy laws…. We believe the approach will prove successful, but the impact of the law will only be known some time after it goes into effect. In the meantime, surveys like this are pure speculation.”

Now, this is the IFPI we’re talking about, and if ever there were an organization that knows something about studies that are “pure speculation,” it would be the IFPI. Every year the IFPI comes out with one of the more laughable reports on the “impact” of file sharing. The 2010 report is particularly full of baseless speculation, such as claiming that file sharing “harmed” some of the best selling music and movies in the last couple of years.

So, forgive us for asking why we should ignore the baseless speculation from one side, while we’re expect to assume that the IFPI’s own baseless speculation is pure gold?

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Lessons to be learned from nuclear meltdowns

This is a response to “Refineries have history of safety violations” [page one, April 3].

After the Three Mile Island meltdown, the U.S. nuclear industry, led by the NRC, undertook the most comprehensive, thorough and expensive safety-improvement program ever conducted.

All aspects of nuclear power plants that could affect safety were examined and upgraded as found necessary. Some examples — by no means all —include operator training and qualification, safety systems adequacy, information exchange among the operating companies, maintenance practices and quality assurance programs.

The underlying philosophy was defense in depth, meaning provisions must be in place to counteract any event, such as operator error or instrument failure, that could lead to an accident.

Was the program effective? U.S. reactors have had an outstanding safety record since then. No people hurt, no environmental damage, no reactors wrecked.

Should a similar program be undertaken for our nation’s oil refineries?

— Clark McKee, Anacortes

There has been a alot of hype about the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and to make matters worse we even watched Sony unbox it for us. (It’s cool. We’ve done a hands-on and have one in the office as we speak.) We’ve been waiting to hear when and where this bad boy would end up. No surprise, it’s not coming to the U.S. first (if at ever) Instead, it’s going to our neighbors to the north.  Come April 15 one can go into any Rogers store and pick up the new Xperia X10 and get a Sony Ericsson MW600 Bluetooth headset for free. 

Not a bad deal, not only do you get the newest high end phone, you get a free headset that’s about $100 at retail. [Rogers via Engadget]

Actions speak louder than words, Dorn

I am writing in response to the gall of Randy Dorn, the state superintendent of public instruction, saying his experience getting a DUI is a teachable moment. [“School Chief Dorn pleads guilty to DUI charge,” NWSaturday, April 3.]

Indeed, if he had the self-awareness to realize his privilege as a white, male public official enabled him to get his jail sentence reduced from a year to a day, it might be. Again, if he had actually taken the high road, as his attorney suggested he did, and had his license suspended for two years and not 90 days, the teachable moment might have some credibility.

Instead he has been offered the easy way out — the road not available to the majority of students and families in the schools he represents. The disconnect is appalling.

Sadly, Dorn exhibits neither the realism nor the cynicism required for his statement about the teachability of the moment to have any validity.

— Jeanne Morel, Seattle

No balance and fairness for Cardinal Levada

Your editorial “A Vatican on defense” [Opinion, April 5] clearly misrepresents the criticism by Cardinal Levada of The New York Times article on the Murphy case.

The Cardinal’s statement in no way criticizes the paper for writing on the Murphy case, but rather criticizes the article for lack of “balance” and “fairness.” It is certainly proper for the media to cover all aspects of the sexual-abuse scandal, but it is also proper for a reader to criticize a newspaper’s article for lack of “balance” and “fairness.”

Unfortunately, the media often portray any challenge to the fairness of any media attacks against the Pope as a protest against any media coverage of the entire subject or any coverage of sexual abuse in the church.

In treating the current accusations, the media all too often completely forget and fail to mention the Pope’s brutally frank letter to the Irish people, his strong support of the U.S. bishops’ new policies against sexual abuse, his meetings with victims of abuse and other steps taken by him to stop abuse.

— Peter Anderson, Mercer Island

Who is the ‘we’?

I understand state AG Rob McKenna’s predictable talking points espoused in his “con” position. [“Sections of new law violate the Constitution,” Opinion, April 4.]

UW law professor Stewart Jay’s reference to long-standing constitutional precedent and the law was substantive and most helpful. His comments on proper vetting and forums were also on point.

But what I don’t get in McKenna’s piece is: Who is the “We” in the “We are also concerned”? It apparently did not include the governor, members of the Legislature and other state officers.

The attorney general mentions his duty per his oath of office. His oath of office also requires him to abide by RCW 43.10.030; to wit: “The attorney general shall … consult with and advise the governor, members of the Legislature and other state officers and when requested, give written opinions upon all constitutional or legal questions relating to the duties of such officers.”

Seems clear and appropriate to me; it appears this did not happen.

So, who is the “we” and why? Also, why did McKenna not do his duty per RCW 43.10.030?

I can answer those questions, but it would have been best had the attorney general been upfront and chosen to address this highly questionable aspect of his actions.

His actions were transparent, purely partisan and constituted a violation of his oath of office. I would encourage him to correct my assessment of his questionable, unilateral initiative and fully disclose the untold portion of his story.

— Dave Stromquist, Tacoma

Law school professor’s conclusion laughable

The commentary by Stewart Jay, UW Law School professor, argued “New health-reform law is definitely constitutional.”

His capacity for fair judgment was discredited by his laughable conclusion that, “the attorneys general … are asking unelected judges to stop a program that has been fully aired in the political process.” On the contrary, the esteemed speaker of the House, while encouraging favorable votes, said the content of the bill will be learned after it is passed.

His sense of validation for things “fully aired in the political process” should actually offer support for state AG Rob McKenna’s position of responsibility for conducting the public’s legal affairs, having endured very public exposure and endorsement of election processes.

Finally, I have to wonder what is so feared from pursuit of a court decision over the health-reform law’s validity if the supporters are so confident of its legality.

— Bruce Martin, Bainbridge Island

Jay shouldn’t rely on precedent; McKenna moved by politics

Regarding the companion opinions of state AG Rob McKenna and law professor Stewart Jay, I have a problem with each.

Since precedent means nothing to the current Supreme Court majority, Jay is wrong to rely on 70 years of precedent.

McKenna is being disingenuous in claiming that he is bound to bring an action where there is an arguable violation of the Constitution. If that were true, he would have long ago brought charges against Bush administration war criminals and perjurers because the impact of their acts on Washington state were substantial.

McKenna is simply motivated by politics. That is even clearer when one looks at the Washington State constitution and statutes that dictate the authorities of executive branch officers and the attorney general.

— George Robison, Gig Harbor

In the comments, Jim Mathis points me to this paper by Terence Stewart and Elizabeth Drake, entitled "Addressing Balance-of-Payments Difficulties under World Trade Organization Rules".  The background they provide on GATT Article XII and balance of payments issues is excellent.  They pack a lot of information into a fairly short (13 pages) paper.  It's well worth a read.

In addition to this background, they make a brief case for the Warren Buffett "trade balancing" proposal as a measure justified under GATT Article XII.  They describe the proposal as follows:

Warren Buffett’s trade balancing proposal would bring the chronic U.S. trade deficit into balance by creating import certificates equal to the value of U.S. exports. These certificates could be granted to exporters and sold by them on the open market, or they could be auctioned by the government through a certificate market. While the first method would provide benefits to exporters, the second method would help reduce or eliminate potential inconsistencies with WTO prohibitions on export subsidies. In addition, the second method could generate a stream of revenue for the government. Importers would be required to redeem a certificate equal to the value of the merchandise being imported for each entry.

With regard to GATT Article XII, the key bit is para. 2(a), which states in part:

Import restrictions instituted, maintained or intensified by a contracting party under [Article XII] shall not exceed those necessary:

(i) to forestall the imminent threat of, or to stop, a serious decline in its monetary reserves,

or

(ii) in the case of a contracting party with very low monetary reserves, to achieve a reasonable rate of increase in its reserves.

So can the U.S. argue that it is experiencing a "serious decline in its monetary reserves" (or threat thereof), or "very low monetary reserves," and thus can invoke Article XII to use this kind of trade balancing measure?  Stewart and Drake address the point as follows:

… the fact that Article XII focuses on the decline in a country’s monetary reserves should not prevent the United States from invoking Article XII merely because the dollar is now the international reserve currency. As Table 1 demonstrates, in 2007 the amount of international reserves held by the United States was small in absolute terms compared to other countries and extremely low relative to the value of U.S. imports. In fact, U.S. reserves were not sufficient to cover even eleven days worth of imports. When the U.S. invoked Article XII in 1971, and the IMF and GATT parties agreed the country was facing a balance-of-payments crisis, U.S. reserves equaled the value of about three months worth of imports.

While other countries may argue that the United States does not need large reserves due to the status of the dollar as the dominant global reserve currency, the IMF has repeatedly stated its concerns regarding the unsustainability of the U.S. trade deficit.

I'm in a little over my head talking about monetary reserves, but if I understand this all correctly, Stewart and Drake are making the point that "international reserves" held by the U.S. (that is, reserves of currencies other than the U.S. dollar) are very low right now.  As a result, the terms of Article XII:2(a) are met.  And while other countries might argue that the U.S. reserves being examined should include U.S. dollars, as that is the main global reserve currency, Stewart and Drake argue that, even if true, this is not sufficient to preclude the use of Article XII in this situation, as the IMF has expressed concerns about the U.S. trade deficit.

I had always assumed that the U.S. would not be able to satisfy the low monetary reserves standard, because the dollar is the main reserve currency and we have lots of those (and can print more if we need them).  But I'd be interested in hearing other views on this.  Is there something to the idea that U.S. "international reserves" could be low enough to justify recourse to Article XII?

In looking at some of the sources cited in the Stewart/Drake paper, I came across this statement from the GATT negotiations:  "The underlying principle of Article 26 is the protection of the balance of payments and monetary reserves. It is being generally understood that the term 'monetary reserves' includes gold and convertible currencies."  (p. 12 of this document)  Not a definitive interpretation, but interesting nonetheless.  No doubt there is more out there, and some of it may contradict this.

Legislation unconstitutional, socialist ploy

After seeing the billions of dollars in fraud and waste entailed in Medicaid and Medicare, it is unfathomable how anyone can believe giving the federal government more control over health care will solve any problem.

Government is unable to run anything efficiently, especially a federal government; socialist governments are even more inefficient and wasteful.

State Attorney General Robert McKenna should be applauded for his objections to the health-care bill’s unconstitutional edict that everyone is required to buy health insurance.

He might prevail on this one point, but it does not address the main objection: The entire legislation is unconstitutional. It is an attempt by President Obama and others of his liking — both Republican and Democrat — to make this country socialist. We must reject this health-care “fix” in its entirety, not just one objectionable provision.

— Bud Shasteen, Seattle

Next time, I’m voting Green

I am not a Republican or a Democrat, I am an independent voter. I vote every election not for parties, but for issues.

When the government starts to tell me I must buy something or pay a fine, I wonder: Is this still the United States?

I have lived here for 51 years. I served six years in the military; I am a Korean War veteran and have a purple heart.

To tell me if I don’t have insurance, I’ll be fined and put in jail — that is not American.

Next election, I will vote the Green Party. It is a protest vote. Other people have different views than me and that is fine. I do not like somebody telling me if I do not do something, I’m going to get fined.

This is still the United States the last time I checked.

— John Perazzo Sr., North Bend

 Introduction and Summary 

Written by, Joanna Cole and illustrated by, Bruce Degen, The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top is a great book of adventure to be enjoyed by children of many ages.  Ms. Frizzle is at it again.  This time the class is trying to construct an enormous globe but they find that some of the pieces are missing.  Apparently there is an island so new that it hasn’t been discovered yet so it wasn’t in the globe kit.  The class decides to search for the mystery island so they can name it.  You can probably guess what happens next.  That’s right, the magic school bus stretches and spins and pulls and takes the class to the bottom of the ocean to discover where and how this new island is forming.  It turns out to be a volcano erupting and the class arrives just in time to learn how the process can eventually form a new piece of land.  The students name the island and write  a book about their experiences.

Curriculum Connections

This very recognizeable text is a nice way to introduce an adventurous spirit in the classroom.  Its great companion literature when introcucing  Earth sciencet topics with students.  It could be used when teaching about volcanoes or how the Earth is constantly changing due to natural events.  The book serves as a nice, playful introduction to some potentially complicated topics. (5.6, 5.7)

Additional Resources

This Scholastic interactive site is could be a nice place to direct students for independent center time activities on the internet.

Here’s a place to look for lesson plan ideas related to The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top and volcanos.

This National Geographic site has great pictures of real volcanoes so students can see what the eruption looks like in action.

General Information

Book:  The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top

Author:  Joanna Cole

Illustrator:  Bruce Degen

Publisher:  Scholastic Inc.

Publication Date:  1996

Pages:  32

Grade Range:  2-5

ISBN:  0590508350

Hidden racism in the census?

I am very disturbed that our government is perpetuating racism by distinguishing citizens based on differences in race, language spoken, income and other differences to divide us as Americans. [“Census Day important for Latinos,” Opinion, April 4.]

This is either done out of ignorance or designed to promote a consensus that we are not the same and therefore not equal. Casual observation of our society would indicate that we are truly a melting pot and that most Americans are not racist.

Look at the results on “American Idol,” for example. It is obvious most Americans are fair-minded. I propose that if we truly want to stamp out all feelings of difference based upon race, that we remove race as a criteria for anything.

I have to believe that some of our political leaders believe promoting racism under the guise of fairness is to their political benefit. This saddens me, but I believe that the American spirit will overcome all obstacles.

— John Finnila, Renton