Please, sir, I want some more …
RE: “Can Chiapas Change?”
10/6/00
Excellent article, though I wanted more: Were the election results the same, more or less, throughout the state of Chiapas? When will Salazar’s proposed changes begin taking effect? Why not give us some input from the Zapatistas themselves? Maybe even directly from the Paz y Justicia camp, as well?
Granted, you don’t have too many column inches to work with, but this subject is so rich with history and political and social tension, it seems like a time bomb. I want more, more, more!
Lee Smith
I feel some road rage coming on
RE: “Killer Grilles”
10/6/00
The evidence is mounting! Why wait for more serious injuries and death? Start the regulation process now. Why allow these monstrosities on the same streets as passenger vehicles? Bull bars should be banned except for off-road use.
This is going to contribute to more road rage. I could see myself punching out the jackass who is behind the wheel of one that injures me or mine!
John A. Cleveland
Testing the accused
RE: “MoJo Wire Poll”
10/5/00
I think your poll questions regarding a bill requiring accused rapists to submit to an AIDS test were too hastily formed.
There is no reason why the legislation — not yet in final form — can’t protect the privacy of the accused. It could specify that results be sealed and provide for criminal penalties if anyone reveals the results. Such legislation can also specify the circumstances under which the report can be unsealed, for example, after conviction for the rape and not at trial.
Furthermore, it is the public’s safety from a contagious, deadly disease — not the victim’s — which takes priority over the accused’s desire not to be tested.
Jacqueline Flenner
Asheville, NC
Let’s hope Vicente can fix it
RE: “Can Chiapas Change?”
10/4/00
I believe that the rights of the indigenous peoples must be defended. The motivations of the Zapatistas have been honorable and completely justified. It doesn’t surprise me that there are still independent pro-government militias in the area threatening the local people. This threat is an urgent concern. The threat of massacres, as well as other violent intimidation, is an obvious opression that hopefully will be addressed by Mexico’s new leader.
Claire Kennedy
Joke about people, not politicians
RE: “The Guffaw Factor”
10/3/00
If this is the prevailing idea of humor relative to the candidates, then I don’t suppose I can expect much in that area no matter who may be elected president. Perhaps I, like many other Americans, have become a little humorless in the area of politics.
There are such serious problems and crises in our country today that I believe we really need to pray for our leaders rather than ridicule them. They seem to be so well equipped to make themselves a laughingstock that they hardly need help from more “professional” comics. We elect them without thought, and then try to distance ourselves from the debacle that ensues by employing humor to ease some of the pain. Of late, it seems we are no more effective in our comic attacks on politicians than 18th century pamphleteers, and we aren’t as funny.
We might be better served by a humor or comedy that satirizes the American people who elect and put up with such destructive public servants. Make fun of “We the People,” and see if the public continues to laugh.
If wit is a rapier, then the current political humor, in all but a very few cases, are burlesque rubber chickens. It ain’t funny. It ain’t smart, and it doesn’t really make people happy, or truly thoughtful about the painful truth behind the joke.
I would be delighted to read or hear some exceptional political humor, but that would presuppose the originator of that humor has knowledge of politics, a sharp intellect, and a desire to amuse — in the dictionary sense of the word — his audience.
Khaki Frost
Austin, Texas
Sony sound off
RE: “Sony’s PR War on Activists”
10/2/00
As a graphic artist and experienced computer user, I find it unacceptable that an industry I work with has any hesitation about being environmentally responsible. I thank you for your article, as it will serve to make me more watchful.
R. David Robinson
New York, NY
