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We have had four pieces of outgoing mail in our mailbox with flag up for three days. If any of the pieces were urgent, we could have sent the letters via email and the payments via direct deposit.

Since the U.S. Postal Service has already done it informally, maybe now is the time to formally go to dependable twice-per-week mail. Who would be unduly inconvenienced? Not us.

John O'Reilly, Edina

FEDERAL GUIDANCE

Now that's funny

The Federal Highway Administration issued an 1,100-page manual in which they state that jokes and slogans on highway message boards will no longer be tolerated ("Feds don't want people driven to distraction by funny signs," Jan. 16). Seriously, 1,100 pages on traffic control devices! Perhaps U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg should worry more about the fact that we have about 80% of the air traffic controllers we need.

Nat Robbins, Minneapolis

ABORTION

The unanswered question

The division in our country over abortion rights continues to widen and threatens the stability of our government and society. For those of us who have supported legalization of abortion it was assumed that the development of a wide variety of extremely effective contraception, the immediate availability of information concerning contraception with the internet and the level of insurance coverage as documented by the Guttmacher Institute would result in abortion becoming an uncommon event. Absent from the war over legalized abortion by either side is a discussion of why abortion is not uncommon and what to do about it.

If there is a marked reduction in unplanned pregnancies, there would be a corresponding dramatic decrease in abortions, which would seem to be the goal of both camps. Why then is this absent from the present discussion?

David Detert, Northfield

READING

There is, in fact, a science

I was surprised to see the science of reading described as "so-called" ("Minnesota's literacy plan described as strong start," front page, Jan. 16). There is a large body of reading research that is scientific — meaning there is empirical evidence based on rigorous experimentation and systematic observation.

There should be no debate about the science of reading. In fact, there was an excellent book originally published in 1990 titled "Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print" that summarized the science up to that date, but this was 30 years ago! It is a tragedy to think of all the students in the last 30 years who didn't get the instruction they needed. Imagine how poor reading skills affected the rest of their schooling, which likely affected their choice of employment and standard of living.

Many of this country's colleges and universities ignored the science of reading in their preservice education programs, contributing to the current problem, and will need to change and quickly.

Ann Casey, Minneapolis

GEOPOLITICS

Today's dominoes?

In the 1960s and '70s, a line of thought called "the domino theory" was popular, especially among political conservatives. It postulated that, just as a line of dominoes — when stood on end — will fall consecutively after just the first one is toppled, so would the countries of Southeast Asia fall to the communists if we allowed Vietnam to fall. And some of them did.

Now we face a former Soviet KGB colonel named Vladimir Putin who has spoken glowingly of the past grandeur of the huge Soviet Union and has indicated his wish to restore it. He started open warfare in Ukraine after having already seized the Crimean Peninsula, and after his proxies had spent several years stirring up discontent in Ukraine's ethnic Russian east. But make no mistake, Ukraine has not been his only focus. Such attempts to stir pro-Russian rebellion have occurred in Poland and the Baltic states, too, to my knowledge. Additionally, he has brought some Central Asian countries such as Georgia and Kazakhstan under his tacit control.

So, if we have an autocrat who is the equivalent of a Soviet premier clearly wanting to expand Russia's territory at the expense of its neighbors, how would the domino theory not come into play today? And why aren't more modern conservatives more concerned about the spread of a country and philosophy that would be completely adversarial to ours?

David Rosene, Brooklyn Park

WORKING FROM HOME

Accept destiny

Regarding "Why work-from-home is not the American way of work" (Opinion Exchange, Jan. 16), I wholeheartedly agree that the perception from employers is that working from home seems smarmy and lazy. However, paying attention to the bottom line ought to be the goal and predictor for success in the corporate world. Does the company come out ahead financially?

It doesn't matter what the impressions, perceptions, imaginations and intolerances of upper management are when the data points suggests return-to-office directives, for the most part, are not as effective as WFH. Yes, a happy and productive workforce provides dividends physically, emotionally and financially, to say nothing of the savings to the environment, financial savings to a household, savings on sleep and physical health. So, get with the times, people!

RTO is nothing but a stubborn middle-aged attempt at halting progress with a willingness to stop the clock.

Sharon E. Carlson, Andover

MODERN DESIGN

Don't do that

It doesn't take a person with an interior design degree, which I have (University of Minnesota class of 1978) to see how inane the "Decorator do's and don'ts" article was in recent Homes section (Jan. 14). If the author took her own advice of "not going with trends," she would not have suggested placing books in a bookcase with the spines facing the wall so no one can read the titles or their authors!

My suggestion: Turn the books around and start reading them!

Sue Ellis, Delano

IN THE STAR TRIBUNE …

Insights and provocations

The letters in the Jan. 17 Readers Write presentation expressed a wide range of readers' views about the Israel/Hamas War. I think it's essential for all who are concerned to get a broad view of the conflict's causes and long history and to bear these historical influences in mind as solutions are sought. The letters in Readers Write provide a helpful primer to do that.

Lois Willand, Minneapolis

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Thank you, Star Tribune, for publishing two wonderful writings in the Jan. 19 Opinion Exchange. Both pieces were beautifully written and helped clarify two separate issues which many people have opinions on. Neither piece tried to tell people what to think. Both pieces gave relevant background information, which would help any interested person clarify their opinions with facts.

Anyone who is trying to understand decisions in the Husayn Braveheart case should read the piece by Sarah Davis. Anyone who is trying to get a handle on the Houthis and the Yemen crisis would be well-served reading the piece by Abdulrahman M. Bindamnan. I read both and feel that each filled gaps in the knowledge I previously had in both issues. Job well done!

Alan Briesemeister, Delano

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It was obscene to see the headline "The rich keep getting richer" on the same page as the headline "Cholera puts kids on front lines, U.N. says" (on page A2 of the Jan. 17 issue of the Star Tribune).

Jim Walerius, Bloomington