Try this instead:

"No one spoke of hatred of the Russians. The feeling experienced...from the youngest to the oldest, was stronger than hatred. It was not hatred, for they did not regard dogs as human beings, but it was such repulsion, disgust and perplexity at the senseless cruelty of these creatures"

--Leo Tolstoy, Haaji Murat

For her citing of " The Thin Red Line." I can't remember who Salon's movie critic was at the time of the release of this fine film, but it got a thumbs down, as it were from that critic. At the same time, the Salon critic effused over "Saving Private Ryan" for its realism.

I recall that I wrote to the Salon critic and griped that only someone who had never seen combat could rip "The Thin Red Line" while Praising "Saving Private Ryan." In my letter I wrote words to the effect that, while "Saving Private Ryan" was typical Spielberg (i.e., big on special effects to recreate the sights and sounds of combat), "The Thin Red Line" captured the sheer, stark shit-your-pants terror of war, and the impact on the human psyche. Like "Flags of our Fathers, "Letters from Iwo Jima" has Speilberg's fingerprints all over it, while "The Thin Red Line" remains one of the finest war films ever shot.

At the time I wrote that letter to Salon's film critic, reader's letters did not get posted. They were actually emails sent to the sriter, and it was not unusual to get a response from the columnist. I never heard from the writer of that column.

I'm incredulous that someone who rants about the lack of rigorous intellectual discipline would commit such a blatantly simple intellectual error herself. I'm referring to your rejection of the message of global warming because you don't like the personal style of the messenger, Al Gore.

Here's the scoop, Camille: Al Gore didn't create the message. It has been borne by rigorous scientific inquiry, subjected to rigorous peer review, and is not rejected but embraced by the entire scientific community, save a few hack-for-hire ersatz scientists on the payroll of the RNC.

Here's a tip: forget Al Gore; get with the science.

James Somers

San Carlos, Ca.

but the firings of the eight federal attourneys was "performance related." There is no policy apparatus in this White House, and all decisions are political. The performance of the federal attourneys is measured against a political standard, and Rove is the judge and jury.

What indeed is to stop these private contractors from selling their services (and data) to anyone?

If Milo Minderbinder sat on these boards with Tenet, we could all profit.

I tip my hat to this crowned head. She despised the politics of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. How insufferable she must find this entire boorish american royalty, pere, et al.

Allow me to amend your opening sentence. It should read as follows:

"We didn't get elected."

interestingly, had rejected the advances of Leo Strauss (she was appaled by his ideas) reminded us of the banality of evil. This guy is its incarnation. The brilliant Blumenthal does it again.

the Beatles were overhyped. They came out of the "sing-along" culture of Liverpool pubs. How much more simple minded can music get than "sing-along" music? You can hear it in their music, ditties rather than songs.

with the NFL is to limit roster size to half the roster size of the NFL. How can this be done? Simple; play one platoon football, i.e., real football. Get great athletes, not specialists, and have them play both ways. That's what athletes in virtually every other sport do. Going both ways will make for great sports heroes, too.

For the sake of arguement, forget for a moment that the perp is Paris Hilton and look at the facts of the case. Here's a defendant who blew a .08. In California, that's the bottom line for DUI. But the defendant gets a "wet reckless" instead. Probably had a damned good lawyer. Part of the punishment for wet reckless (also for DUI) is attendance at a series of classes on drinking and driving (ususlly once a week for 10 or 12 weeks).

This perp blew off the classes altogether. Then this perp was busted twice (or was it thrice?) for driving on a suspended license. Either of those could have resulted in immediate revocation of probation and incarceration.

So here's a question for the perp defenders: how many times can a perp dis the law before a judge gets pissed?

So lets at least be straight on the facts of this case. This perp is NOT in the slam for wet reckless. She's doing time because she disregarded the terms of her probation, THREE TIMES!!!

You can dis Nicole Richie without consequence. You can dis Lindsay Lohan without consequence. You can dis Britney Spears without consequence. But you can't dis the law three times and expect a judge not to toss your ass in the slam for a pretty nice little stretch.

And please, lets quit using the term "prison." There is a huge difference between county jail and prison.

I once had a neighbor, a true liberal and an observant Jew, who greatly distrusted Jimmy Carter. It was a general distrust of any successful person who was overly religious. He believed that these people could too easily use their religion to convince themselves that they had not acheived their success by chicanery.

What is the selling proposition that differentiates? That they are extensions of a college team? College teams have fan bases that span generations of alums. Alumni type loyalty will not transfer.

If this league hopes to succeed, they need a better way to differentiate. How about smaller rosters, staffed with athleticism rather than specialists, then play one platoon football (players play both O & D like the athletes in virtually every other sport). The smaller roster will allow the teams to pay the players a little better than if they had NFL sized rosters.