Thank you for Gary Kamiya's brutally honest, and entirely accurate, appraisal of "America at a Crossroads." Another remarkable point about the mainstream media, now joined by PBS, response to the issue is an absolute unwillingness to hear alternate voices, even when they come from Israel. For example,some newspapers in Israel have been much tougher on Israeli policy and the need to understand the history of the Arab Israeli conflict than media in the U. S. or Canada (where I happen to live.) To get a balanced picture, Americans and Canadians who seek to truly understand the complex issues involved will have to surf the web and read Mr. Fisk's columns in the Independent(or his books). They can also read Israeli newspapers (English, Web versions) where they will find that many Jewish people, including the IDF pilots who refused to fly any more bombing missions into Palestine, the Israeli grandmothers who document the brutal treatment of Palestinians at Israeli Military checkpoints and many Israeli academics have a much greater - - and more balanced - - understanding of Middle Eastern issues than North Americans.

These are opinions we never find in North American newspapers, a tribute to the power of the Israeli lobby in Canada and the U. S., but a disservice to those among us who truly hope for a lasting peace in the Middle East.

are light years ahead of them

King Kauffman's analysis of this series, and particularly the suspensions handed out, is bang on. But it's old stuff now. It's why I finally stopped watching NBA basketball. Some guys are important to the NBA. They get the breaks. Others aren't. They get what the Suns and Steve Nash got in this series. If the Commissioner thinks no one knows what's going on he's smoking the wrong shit!

I get my basketball dose now from watching college ball. It's entertaining, exciting and I never get the sense the game or other officials are trying to impose an agenda on the outcome.

Raymond A.

Thanks to Gary Kamiya for illustrating, in such a compelling way, the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of both U. S. and Israeli justifications for the invasion of Gaza.

The Canadian Governments response to the slaughter of Palestians hasn't been much better. The moral high ground has, apparently, been lost in Canada's unwillingness to risk angering Jewish voters in any way.

Yes, Israel has the right to protect itself. But the scope of its response to limited range rocket attacks is over the top.

I am tired of television footage of Israeli tanks, planes and helicopter gunships bombing Gaza back to the stone age. And I am even wearier of hearing the daily statistics of casualties and pictures of Palestinian children torn apart by Israeli bombs.

A challenge for President Elect Obama, indeed!

Ramon

I found Ehrman's responses to Gary Kamiya's questions both satisfying and strangely comforting, since they reflect my own journey through Christianity, from believer to - - at age 67 - - skeptic. And while Ehrman's views on Jesus and the gospels aren't entirely original, they manage to fill a gap in the scholarly works that normally reflect the views of the believers, to whom no evidence that questions the gospels will ever be accepted, and the extreme cynics who position themselves at the other end of the religious spectrum.

Thus Ehrman's books strike an important balance in the debate about who and what Jesus was and what he actually believed and said, as opposed to what the conflicting Gospels say.

I feel comfortable now in the belief that Jesus was a good man who inspired many, but not all, with his teachings, but that he was not the son of God. Ehrman's books reinforce the view of Christians like me who don't believe an omnipotent God exists in a world where the latest evil appears on the front page of every newspaper almost every day.

But my personal form of Christianity allows me to pray to those, like Jesus and many of the Saints, who dedicated their lives to doing good works and gaining our profound respect by the examples they set. I guess that means I'm well outside mainstream Christianity but I feel confortable with it.

Raymond A

Thanks to Gary Kamiya for his moving piece on the Leonard Cohen concert. It took me back a long way. As a Canadian who is the same age as Cohen, I got hooked on his poetry, his music and the man himself decades ago. Today, his books occupy a special place in my Ottawa home. They are never more than a few steps away. Cohen's work is unlike that of any other poet, living or dead. He'll be giving a concert in Ottawa soon (Ontario.) But thanks to those who sell the tickets, the scalpers will get the lions share of them, while old fans like me will have to pay a grossly inflated price for them or, as a consolation prize, wait for the London concert to be rebroadcast on the nearest U. S. public television station.

Raymonda

Only someone from another planet would truly believe the peace process would be advanced if Israel simply agreed to stop building new settlements on Palestinian land.

The biggest problem remains expansion of illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Returning to the table would be tantamount to telling Israel politicians 'that's okay, keep the land you've already taken, we're just glad you're not going to take anymore.'

And, given Israels increasing appetite for new immigrants and its search for new sources of water, it's unlikely the illegal land grabs will stop anytime soon.

New settlements not withstanding, can anyone honestly imagine the Israeli Government removing the settlers and trading (Palestinian) land for peace? Just asking!