New York Press encourages correspondence. Letters must address past articles ...

rk Press encourages correspondence. Letters must address past articles in New York Press. Please include name, address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Send all correspondence to: The Mail, New York Press 333 7th Ave., 14th fl., New York, NY 10001

FAX: 212-244-9864 E-MAIL: THEMAIL@NYPRESS.COM

GRID-IRONY

Matt Taibbi's association of football and fascism is logically wanting ("He Fought for…Something," 4/28). Sure, prima facie, there is an association between the values of football and those of war. But to further claim that this association provides a meaningful way to indoctrinate the populace into supporting war is without substantial evidence.

Perhaps in the United States, the reality border between football and war is blurred, but it doesn't apply to other violent sports. We Canadians don't use hockey to pervade the public consciousness with pro-war sentiments. And the Europeans don't do the same with soccer.

And what about less violent, yet still highly competitive, sports like baseball? Do they too promote the same warring values? I think a simpler, and more likely, explanation is that state officials exploit apolitical athletes to promote state propaganda.

Michael Cust, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

WE RIDE THE SHORT BUS

Concerning the article "The MTA Gets on the Bus," your writers ought to familiarize themselves with the subjects of their articles ("Page Two," 4/21). As for the terrible conditions described, the oldest buses in the private companies' fleets are similar to most of the MTA's; the problems arise because the companies do not have as many redundant buses to fill in when one breaks down.

As for "should never have been privatized in the first place," all transit systems were originally privately owned and operated—remember Fifth Ave. Coach, Third Avenue Railway, not to mention IRT and BMT.

You also fail to note that a rider using one of these buses during off-peak hours and not transferring to the subway will pay double the fare paid now: two dollars for what is now a one-dollar ride (no off-peak fares on the MTA).

I.B. Eisenstein, Glendale, NY

POPE BE DOPE

When will someone expand the debate about being a "good Catholic" to the issue of the death penalty ("Kerry's a Bad Catholic," 4/28)?

The pope's position is more in keeping with Sen. Kerry's than President Bush's.

Dan Scarry, San Luis Obispo, CA

POLITICAL BIAS?

In turning an article about Howell Raines' piece for the Atlantic Monthly into a diatribe about the left leanings of the New York Times, Russ Smith both misled readers as to what his article was about and was hypocritical by polluting contemporary journalism with his own political bias ("Howell Raines' Delusions," 4/28).

Tim Jackson, Emory, VA

CURRENT? OH, YEAH. RIGHT

In his recent column, Michelangelo Signorile wrote, "Kerry is running for president—the first Catholic candidate since John F. Kennedy—and he's been avidly pro-choice" ("Kerry's a Bad Catholic," 4/28).

Say what? What was Robert Kennedy? Or, how about current presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich?

Mark Nagel, Everett, WA

NADLER'S PUNK ROCK, APPARENTLY

I've been pondering writing this letter for a few weeks now. But seeing as the Jerry Nadler slamming is still going on, I thought I'd better speak up for one of the greatest government employees the city has ever had ("The Mail," 4/21). Why does he rule? Because right after 9/11, when everyone was afraid to go against the Bush White House and tell the truth about the poison air and poison dust that was in the process of destroying Lower Manhattan, Nadler took a stand against the EPA and called them on their shit. It was an extremely unpopular position at the time, as you could imagine. He also has fought and is still fighting for the rights of New York's Bravest, as well as everyone else exposed to what those fuckin' terrorists did to our great city. Wake up, guys. If it weren't for Congressman Nadler, you wouldn't even know the extent of the damage done to our great nation. Jerry Nadler is a true patriot.

Just setting the record straight.

George Tabb, Phoenix

ANOTHER AMES BOOSTER

I'm sure you've gotten lots of mail on this already, but is that unbelievably misogynistic article by Mark Ames on 13 Going On 30 some kind of sick joke ("Film," 4/7)? I mean, did your paper really print the following?

"Women, on the other hand, wake up to something awful by the age of 30. In 13 Going On 30, the heroine cups her great perky breasts and boasts about her 'incredible boobs.' For 99 percent of over-30 women in America, boobs are not perky and 'incredible'; they're a source of saggy shame, a disfigurement requiring corrective surgery. Their asses have widened into a ripple of elephant flesh, midriffs spilling over low-cut jeans, pelvic bones cracked and stretched."

Now I know why I only pick up New York Press when they're out of the Voice at those free newsstands. But I'll never again touch this nasty, mean-spirited rag. It leaves me feeling like I have dirt on my hands.

Liz Penn, Manhattan

PAGAN'S BABY

I do not disagree with the overall point made by Matt Taibbi regarding the attitudes of soldiers vis-a-vis football players ("He Fought for…Something," 4/28). However, something that many seem to be misreading into the expressions of mourning and praise for Pat Tillman is that his death, to many, is just plain sad, and he is not an ideological martyr for those who really knew him or followed his career.

The fact is, he was an inspiring person—before he left the NFL, before he refused the offer from St. Louis, before he was even drafted. He was an inspirational player at Arizona State (I graduated from ASU the same year); he led a defense that, the year prior, had been beaten 77-24 by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, only to shut them out and score three safeties on their offense the following year. When he joined the NFL, he again was a leader in his defense, and, as everyone points out, had a record-setting season with 224 solo tackles. For sports nuts like myself, and especially ASU fans, he was the epitome of the good player. He had virtues as a player that many envied and admired.

Then, he made two startling decisions. The first was to disregard the offer from St. Louis. He did so because he said it "wouldn't be fair" to the Cardinals to accept the offer. That decision alone lifted him above the Deions, the Owenses (or, as we saw recently, the Mannings). The second decision we are all too familiar with now.

Sure, it was an ideological decision. Sure, he was a poster boy for the right-wing conspiracy of world domination. But, for me, a right-wing lunatic who happens to love ASU football, he was just a good guy, a good American, a great player.

So while many will exploit his death for the November elections or what-have-you, many grieve his death simply because he is dead, and we are going to miss his spark, his energy. Some may make him a martyr, some may scorn those who mourn him and some, many, most (especially the sports fans), will simply grieve his death and say to themselves: "It's always the good ones."

Ramon Pagan, Manhattan

ORGIES, DEFINED AND DEFENDED

Michelangelo Signorile wrote: "Only a reporter (or his editors) who harbors deep religious concerns about gay marriage and wants to sway public opinion would have an interest in claiming that non-religious people were as concerned as the devout. Throwing out the polygamy canard in this light—a particularly offensive, nasty bit of fear-mongering—is manipulative." ("Chasing Out the Fundies," 3/31)

Evidently, Signorile feels that polygamy is immoral. Or, at least, that those who wish to practice it are not worthy of being considered fighting for a civil rights issue, while LGBTs are?

Whatever happened to "liberation," gay or otherwise? If three (or more) people want to practice polygamy or polyandry, how does that hurt me? Or you? Just like straight people aren't hurt (despite their belief to the contrary) when two men get married.

By the way, I am gay and monogamous, but those are my choices, and I wouldn't presume to force them upon others.

Mark Derby, Portland, OR

AUSTRALIA'S UP IN SMOKE

Your website is fantastic! It gives the feeling of being "there" with your amazing city. I seriously got off on your article about the smoking ban ("The Mail," 4/28).

Like New York, Sydney, Australia has introduced a no-smoking rule in restaurants—that I can handle. Yet we are now moving toward a total ban wherever people work. So let's have a bar where there are no employees and drinks are dispensed via a slot machine—and we can smoke—maybe not. Love the local cute barman!

I don't go to a bar/club to behave, to be mommy's girl and stand in my crisply pressed frock casting fluttered lashes. I go to drink excessively, smoke, talk to people one might never come across and smoke some more. As Quentin Tarantino said, "You don't go to a Metallica concert and ask the fucker to turn it down."

We used to have a cafe in Kings Cross called Piccolo (iconic and run for at least 35 years by the same wonderfully manic, aging hippie) where you could buy coffee, beer secretly from behind the counter, and green. Then you would sit stoned, talk to people, smoke, buy more beers or coffees and without disturbing the neighborhood slink off home at three, four, five…six in the morning. Well, our "new system" put an end to that by closing it down, costing one man his income and leaving many regulars from around the world out of "a home base." Not the world I grew up in and not the one I wish to see emerge.

My point is, if people are offended by smoke and all the wonderful occasions where smoking happens—stay at fuckin' home!

Thanks for the space and time and big cheers with my glass of red and puff.

Karen Sampson, Sydney

SOMETHING AMISS IN FLORIDA?

I wholeheartedly agree with Michelagelo Signorile that there is a huge double standard in this election ("Kerry's a Bad Catholic," 4/28). I think somebody should look into this thing going on in Florida. The Florida GOP (Republican Party of Florida) is under federal investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for charges of race discrimination and retaliation of the party's only black employee, Nadia Naffe. This has been on the local news and printed in the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times. The charges are being brought by Naffe, a 25-year-old black female, who is the party's only black employee and until recently the only minority—period. Nadia worked as the GOP field director for southwest Florida. The supervisor being investigated is Terry Kester, Director of GOP state party development.

Nadia Naffe claims that Kester created a hostile work environment by constantly degrading and scrutinizing her work, making racially suggestive comments, calling her names and yelling at her, humiliating her in front of co-workers and constantly berating her. After four attempts to get help to stop her supervisor's racially motivated and hostile behavior, she went to the EEOC for help. The day after the EEOC served the party with the charges, they fired her. The Florida GOP is being investigated for their negligence in ignoring four requests to intervene in the matter and the retaliation that took place after she reported the matter to the EEOC.

This is a hot issue waiting to explode—a perfect illustration of the GOP's hypocrisy and the lip service the GOP does to the Hispanic and black communities. What is even more disconcerting is the fact that every black, Hispanic and Jew has been fired from the Florida GOP in the last six months. That is quite a record in a state run by the president's brother Jebbie.

Angel Riviera, Tampa

CATHO-LICK IT UP

The Catholic Church seems to have sided with the Republicans while addressing the issue of what to do with politicians who don't follow church teachings in their capacity as leaders and legislators ("Kerry's a Bad Catholic," 4/28). I think it's very telling that they singled out abortion rights supporters to go after. The Catholic Church is staunchly anti-death penalty. Why not go after politicians who support offing (mainly poor, minority and sometime innocent) inmates? Because it's mainly Catholic Republicans who support the death penalty and the Republican Party is the new Catholic party. Maybe the GOP gave the Catholics some money to help pay hush money to those they've diddled over the years.

With JFK, people were worried that he'd use his position as president to promote a Catholic agenda. Now people are worried that Kerry isn't onboard with the Catholics enough. Please save us all from the Catholic politician who is anti-abortion rights just because the church is. Next thing you know, there'll be laws against eating meat on Fridays during Lent and requiring us to get stuffed in dark boxes with middle-aged virgin men to confess our "sins."

When will we see an American politician with the courage and sense to keep his or her religion (or lack thereof—oh, man, let me live to see that day) completely private? Our current president is spared from this debate because he's not a Catholic but a member of the, "Gosh I sure love me some Jesus" church, and he skips the hierarchy and talks directly to the big guy. He shared with the world that he spoke with God while deciding to go to war in Iraq; and from what happened next we can glean that in response, God spoke unto George, "Bringeth it on!"

Jas Maestranzi, Manchester

AMANDA'S LAMENT

Not one to ever write a letter to an editor, I am absolutely horrified by Mark Ames' review of 13 Going On 30 and felt compelled ("Film," 4/7). Is this some sort of journalistic joke? A mistake? Did you accidentally print a paper written by a failing NYU film student who has never been laid by a real female? Did you guys hit the pipe before this went to print?

There are so many things morally and statistically wrong with this article that I don't know where to begin. I really can't, actually. And I'm not even 30 yet. I can't imagine I'm the first female to write you about this, nor will I be the last. Keep in mind, women make up 50 percent of your readership. Or maybe not; we're probably too intelligent to pick up that drivel. Unless we're training new puppies or need to pack something.

My guess is that Mark Ames is a fiftysomething, balding, greasy, Viagra-popping loser who doesn't bathe much. Am I right? Is his idea of a date flipping to the back of your highly regarded birdcage liner and calling a 900 number? I just hope the girls he has to pay to go out with him are under 30.

Anyway, just had to throw in my two cents about this. I am sure your readership will decline (not to mention advertising dollars by companies run by women who dared to—gasp!—age), after printing this horrifying excuse of a review. At least I hope so.

Amanda Strang, Manhattan

DEATH PENALTY BOX

I found Michelangelo Signorile's piece on Catholics, politics etc. very interesting, and he makes a point that should have been made a long time ago ("Kerry's a Bad Catholic," 4/28). However, he missed former Oklahoma governor and conservative lackey (and would-be vice president) Frank Keating. While Frank was governor, he openly said the pope got it wrong on capital punishment, then gleefully killed several people, one for openly political reasons. His first execution was coordinated with George Pataki. I haven't heard anyone say communion should be denied to public officials who willingly take an unarmed defenseless person, strapped them to a gurney and kill them. In fact, Colin Powell told the U.N. that Saddam did this to condemned prisoners, and that was enough to show how inhumane he was and that he needed to be overthrown.

Anyway, enjoyed the piece. By the way, I'm a lifelong practicing Catholic, my wife teaches at a Catholic school, my son attends a Catholic school and serves mass. Just thought I'd take that argument off the table.

Richard L. Fricker, Tulsa

MUST-READ AFFIDAVITS

Are you following these two court cases about TWA 800 (Celia Farber, "Sunken Treasures," 4/28)? Rah Lahr's FOIA vs. NTSB/CIA/Boeing. The affidavits are a must-read if you are also seeking the truth of why those 230 people died. And: the Sanders' case against the U.S., also in federal court, sometime in the future, in a courthouse near you. The way the government treated an investigative reporter and his wife demands that the New York media get it right this time.

I think both of these cases will be of interest to your readers (if you have not already notified them). They might not even know about these possibly earth-shaking developments about the shenanigans of our government.

And if this isn't enough, read and review Jayna Davis' book about the cover-up of the "Third Terrorist" and the Oklahoma bombing. Apologies if you have already done all this.

Christopher Gregory Rossie, Binghamton, NY

DEAD HERO

Thank god for Matt Taibbi, having the guts to tell the truth about the mindless Tillman blabber in the media ("He Fought for…Something," 4/28). I only hope some Ranger doesn't take him out for questioning anything to do with anything regarding our military.

Wade Smith, Rockford, IL