Thanks for telling Rakan's story

ON THE off chance that some syllable or other of what I am about to write may provide a brief moment of solace to you (and your family), or may lift a microgram of pain from the broad and generous shoulders of Dr. Larry Ronan from MGH and all the caregivers from Iraq to Spaulding Rehab, I salute and thank you, Kevin Cullen, and them.

I don't envy your eloquent prose in this case ("The end of Rakan's war," Page A1, Aug. 3) because the words that you summon to convey this tragic story must come with a nauseating familiarity. Certainly you are no stranger to violence, institutional or otherwise, that has been visited upon innocent people whether in Iraq or Serbia or Northern Ireland, or even the streets of Boston.

Your words give eloquent testimony to the fact that sometimes all our powers - whether words, or money, or influence - are helpless against the crushing effects of evil. So I thank you and all the people who made this all-too-brief moment of healing in a small boy's life possible. We will keep these embers of hope alive against whatever storms may come in the off-chance that at some time and at some place, they can be kindled into another flame of healing.

ANTHONY TOTO
Hanover

AFTER READING Joan Vennochi's article "The two sides of DiMasi" (Op-ed, July 31), I can't help but feel that he all but credits an entry in a blog for passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act in the House. As a summer intern at Environment Massachusetts, I can assure you that it took a lot more than that.

Although I am a big fan of blogs and their contributions to our civic dialogue, I know that the months of hard work by our campaign staff going door-to-door speaking to people in communities across the state had a huge impact on the recent passage. The passage of this critical bill shows that by working together, the people of Massachusetts can get their voices heard and ensure that our representatives on Beacon Hill address the real problems facing the Commonwealth.

ATHENA LAINES
Boston