“Inside the Axis of Deceit” was an excellent article. Too bad Labor has caved as much as the Democrats in the US and Labor in Britain. It has caused disunity among the opposition to the right wing and confusion among the populace. The Bush preemptive war was based on imported lies fed to a conspiratorial neocon core of ideologues who snookered many in the West fearful after 9/11. Andrew Willkie is a hero with guts and principle.

William Goldman
Sussex, WI

Not just for this article (“Last Chance for Overtime”), but for everything I have read from Mr. Plumer: THANK YOU! Why is it the people fighting the good fights are all obscured from “popular media”? Why isn’t a clear, strong, passionate voice like Mr. Plumer’s not available to everyone?

You make a good point when you say, “In theory, public outcry could force the Republicans to back down. “The more people that hear about this issue, the more it will resonate,” said Maureen Knightly, a spokeswoman for Harkin’s office. But a recent Hewitt Associates survey found that most workers are not even aware of the changes.”

Why is it that Mother Jones, which is like my Bible, is the only source covering these important stories that really have an immediate effect on everyday lives? Why isn’t this on CNN? (This reminds me of recent media ownership issues that came out from under the carpet in spite of the best efforts of those in control to keep it there. Where is our media? Who cares about Laci Peterson? No disrespect, but that is no longer news, if it ever was.) There is plenty of available air-time. (Why doesn’t Mother Jones produce a news program for TV?)

I would love to see a story about how these very mainstream events are pushed to the margins for only us “complaining liberals” to see?

Ken Daves
San Francisco. California

Since I live in Nevada, I found “The Wild, Wild Wars in the West” to be right on the mark.

As for hijacking the water from other parts of Nevada to fill the requirements of Las Vegas, wouldn’t it be great if every community in the country had to supply its own power, water, etc, and take care of all of its own waste? In other words, be self-sustaining. Right now there are plans to build a big power plant near Gerlach, Nevada. Guess where all the power will be going. Guess where all the pollution will be staying.

Steve Eineman
Las Vegas, Nevada

“The Museum of Attempted Suicide” is the starkest depiction of our nuclear policy I have ever read. How can anyone think of enlarging our nuclear arsenal, or even using it? I recall that before the start of Gulf War I, a commentator was stating that many new weapons had been developed since the end of the Vietnam War and the military was really looking forward to trying them out. If so-called “bunker buster” nuclear devices are developed the chances of their use will be increased one hundredfold!

Tom Zimmer

I found the interview with Mark Dow (“It Happens Here”) both interesting and disturbing enough to write back about. So many stories today that make one cynical and disgusted that it’s hard to get motivated about any single one, but this piece really made me mad.

I hope that you will continue to enlighten us about the treatment of illegal aliens by the INS. This issue is vital from more perspectives than I have time here at work to go into.

Thanks for the great unbiased service you provide.

Chrysteen Shafer
Austin, Texas