Here is a man who has made all of his mortgage payments and yet his home is foreclosed upon. Who among us couldn't have found himself or herself in the same position?
I pay my bills and I keep my records. But how could I possibly be responsible for what records my mortgage company keeps or loses?
Washington Mutual and Chase Manhattan Bank should be ashamed of themselves for their poor recordkeeping.
The judges who ruled many times against the family should be ashamed of themselves for siding with the mortgage company.
And shame on the governor for finding a way to change the flaws in Maryland's foreclosure rules without finding a way to help the Atta Poku family.
Mr. Atta Poku has nothing to be ashamed of. But of course this doesn't help him at all.
All people who have a mortgage or have refinanced should take a moment to be grateful that we haven't found ourselves in the same situation.
Leslie Allen, Owings Mills
How can anyone look at the picture of the Atta Poku family and read about how they handled their mortgage obligation and not get a strong tug on their heartstrings that this family deserves to be helped?
Isn't there a judge, a lawyer or a member of the General Assembly who can help this family?
Or even a public fundraising effort?
Sylvan Wolpert, Baltimore
Getting voters out is the real problem
The writers of the letters supporting voter identification requirements fail to realize that this is a fix for a problem that really doesn't exist ("ID rule protects integrity of vote," May 5).
The biggest problem is getting people to vote, not voter fraud. Indeed, in my 61 years, I've never heard, seen or read about one case of voter fraud at the polls.
The purpose of requiring voter identification is mainly to deny the right to vote for those who are poor, those who don't have driver's licenses and those who deal exclusively in cash.
That is the real threat to democracy.
Jay Ziegler, Catonsville
Factory farming takes heavy toll
Last week, a report issued by the prestigious Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health concluded that factory farming takes a big toll on human health and the environment, undermines rural economic stability and fails to provide humane treatment of livestock.
Capping a two-year study that included agriculture industry participation, the report calls for a national phase-out of all intensive confinement of farmed animals.
The report is long overdue.
For the past 60 years, animal agriculture has been devastating our country's vital natural resources, including soil, water and wildlife habitats, while generating more greenhouse gases than transportation and elevating the risk of chronic disease as it abuses billions of innocent, sentient animals.
The only long-term solution to this tragedy is to gradually reduce the consumption of animal products to zero.
Kelly E. Lally, Timonium
