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\jmclet
\address
Mr. John E. Preston
Toy Testing Laboratory
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Gaithersburg, Maryland
\body
Dear Mr. Preston;

	An Associated Press story quotes you as wondering whether
balloons should be banned given that 10 children choke on them
per year.  Here are two suggestions for making balloons safer.

1. Require that balloons taste bad except in the immediate
neighborhood of the mouth opening.

2. Require that balloons be sold with cardboard inserts that make
them too big to fit in the mouth.  A flat disk should suffice,
and I think the balloon will stretch enough to get it in.

Bad tasting marbles might also be designed.
% , BALLOO.NS[F89,JMC]

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Sincerely,
John McCarthy
\endletter
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