I think Russian president Putin is correct in not allowing Americans to adopt Russian children. No Americans shall be allowed to adopt outside of the United States until no child in the United States is left homeless — they should not be allowed to adopt outside the U.S. until every child has a home.

I agree with the Sound off caller about the tax bills. Every year, a couple of days before Christmas, we get our tax bills. They should give them to us a lot earlier or wait until after Christmas. It ruins everybody’s Christmas — well, maybe not everybody, but most people.

Since there were dual ceremonies, if everyone had been sworn in on the courthouse steps at the justice center, it would have saved taxpayers a lot of money, because there would not have been a lot of money spent on catering, making programs, making invitations and all the county employees who had to work to put that evening together.

Good job, Randy C. Murray, for the Around the Table article. I tried your article on cooking the greens, and they were fabulous. Looking forward to more cuisine issues and articles and trying out more of your good recipes and reading more of your columns. Thanks again, Mr. Randy.