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DIALOGUEletters
In response to the September
Debate, “Ten years after 9/11,
is America safer?”
YES. Since we have avoided most serious
incidents, I believe we are succeeding.
Gloria Kremer
Fullerton, California
NO. Lawmakers aren’t concentrating on a
very vulnerable area: our southern border.
Patrick Caporale
Las Vegas, Nevada
YES. More people are aware and alert to terrorists. The military is wiser about terrorist
attacks. There are more [security measures]
being done behind the scenes than most of
the public is aware [of].
Dale Walters
Kansas City, Missouri
NO. No matter how much we prepare, eventually we will become complacent. The terrorists
will wait for that to happen, and get us again.
David Hinchliffe
Mount Lauren, New Jersey
Member comments
Social Security exception
A correction to information on page 32,
“Getting to know Social Security” [September
2001], third paragraph, next to last sentence:
If you retire from the federal government, it
does reduce your Social Security benefit.
Marcie Geissinger
Boulder, Colorado
Author Bob Jennings responds: When dis-
cussing Social Security, like the tax code, there
are exceptions to everything, and in a short
600-word summary the exceptions just have
to be left out. That’s why it’s so important to do
one’s own research. I also received numerous
comments concerned with the news in various
media that “Social Security is bankrupt.” Social
Security is not bankrupt. It is projected to run
out of savings account money in 2036 or 2037,
but even after that still has enough money to
pay 75 percent of current needs without any
congressional action.
Costco Cash cards for students
This month’s article on education costs
[David Horowitz, September 2011], mentions
that Costco Cash cards can be used to help
with expenses. The way it is stated implies that
all you have to do is purchase the cards and
pass them out, but the recipient actually has
to have [his or her] own Costco membership.
So how would this be saving me money if I
would have to buy additional memberships?
Olivia Flores
Murrieta, California
While the Costco Cash card needs to be
intitially purchased, and subsequently “
reloaded” by a member, the recipient does not
need to be a Costco member to use it.—Ed.
The emotions behind downsizing
An article that was well timed for me was
“Downsizing proves desirable” [September
2011]. After discovering that my married children don’t want any of my stuff, I have been
letting go of many cherished items. I couldn’t
believe how difficult it has been. Your article
gave me the insight to realize that it’s OK to
feel emotional about parting with things, and
to feel mentally and physically exhausted during this process is normal. Reading this article
made me feel much better and gave me the
impetus to tackle this project.
Janice DeFilipi
Agawam, Massachusetts
Small-town customer service
I loved “The true value of customer
service” [Fresh Views, August 2011] and the
way [Chris] Zane has structured his business:
Success is the ability to establish long-lasting
relationships with people. It makes me want
to move to a small(er) town like Branford!
I wish that large companies would do
more to breed customer loyalty through service value than spending inordinate amounts
of promotional dollars to woo each other’s
clients away.
Roy Blom
San Jose, California
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
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Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088,
Seattle, WA 98124-1088; or fax to (425)
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