02/09/01

Terry McAuliffe is a realist. I am tired of my party’s calls for reasoned civility while these manic millennialists pull the rug out from under working families, spit on the poor, brutalize the oppressed, and destroy the planet under the pretext of a divine mandate.

Ryk Tompkins



Standing up to Dubya

RE: “The Teflon Kingmaker

02/09/01

The fact that he tells the Republicans who won the election and who didn’t certainly gets my vote. I am getting tired of these wimpy Democrats pandering to Bush.

Phyllis Pircher



The bands play on

RE: “Latin Music’s Dirty Little Secret

02/09/01

I’m a young Canadian musician and I am constantly haunted with the temptation to quit. This stems from my experience in the business: poor pay, politics, popularity contests and a lack of support from our audience. Those who do support us do so wholeheartedly, but there is a lack of respect for and interest in making music as a living. It becomes easier when you know that others are struggling.

Stephen Toon



Do it yourself

RE: “I Want My ZEV

02/08/01

Last year I tried to buy an electric car in North Carolina. I found that the best models weren’t available outside of California. The less desirable models that are available here cost upwards of $30,000. So, I’ve built my own from a Suzuki Samurai for under $10,000. It’s not nearly as nice as what is available commercially, but it’s a ZEV! Thanks for confirming my suspicion that car manufacturers don’t want to make electric cars a success.

Phil Bardsley



It’s not just me

RE: “Cyberselfish Redux

02/07/01

For several years as I have struggled to get an engineering degree, I have had disquieting thoughts about my fellow high-tech workmates. Their “screw the poor, why don’t they start their own companies like the rest of us?” attitude seemed wrong to me.

Paulina Borsook has reassured me I am not crazy, there isn’t something wrong with my brain — these people really are selfish, spoiled permanent adolescents who think taking care of things or cleaning up after themselves is a plot by the enemy to emasculate them. I will work there as long as I can stand it, then I need to find the grownups again. Thanks for reminding me that they haven’t all been driven away.

Geoffrey Rilesourth



A false sense of security

RE: “Star Wars: The Next Generation

02/06/01

I say no to a national missile defense,in any form. Besides the questions about whether it can even work, it will cost way too much money — money that would have to come from cuts to other programs — and it will provoke the rest of the world to increase their own weapons production and defense.

The real key to our security is for us to stop being the wealthy bully in the fortified castle with a moat around it, selling weapons to the rest of the world while trying to protect ourselves from those very weapons. Instead, the US should become a true leader in ensuring that there is peace and justice throughout the world. Let’s use half of what it would cost for NMD to do that.

Madelon Wetor
Milwaukee, Wisc.



Misguided marketing

RE: “I Want My ZEV

02/06/01

Somebody somewhere needs to get the financing up to start advertising electrics. CARB says they will start putting up ad money some time, but what I see is that all the car mags, all the ads on TV, all the stuff you hear on the news or radio is about ICE cars. They continue to push the V10 350 horsepower SUVs and pickups that the American Male continues to buy as if it were a sign of his virility. Why the manic push for power, for 0-60 times less than 6 seconds? (Electrics, by the way, can get off the line at the signal as well as any other car.)

I don’t know what it will take to get the carmakers to start doing what they should have done years ago; they probably won’t do it unless forced, kicking and screaming. Give me an electric. I am ready.

Robert Stelling



The other George W.

RE: “The Bush Files

02/05/01

John Ashcroft, under the cloak of duty, fought the implementation of desegregation of schools in Missouri with “procedural delays.” Let us not forget that George Wallace, standing in the way of the actualization of fundamental human rights, was also honoring his job description and his constituency. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Rod Talley
San Antonio, Texas



Ashcroft’s actions speak louder than his words

RE: “The Bush Files

02/05/01

John Ashcroft is dangerously misleading. He said exactly what he thought they wanted to hear at his confirmation hearings. I am disappointed in the Democrat turncoats who voted for his confirmation. Ashcroft’s record and his responses do not correspond.

Dorothy Yauneridge



Openmindedness prevails

RE: “Shell Ads on the MoJo Wire

02/05/01

I just about cried from relief and satisfaction to see that someone still believes in the kind of openness and support for expression of all points of view, including those differing from your own, that you have shown here. That is one of the absolute foundations of an enlightened and civilized society, and yet I am finding that attitude increasingly scarce. Keep it up.

Samantha Norgren