PATHETIC PASTRIES

EDITOR: Thanks to Sara Dickerman for her brave exposé on Seattle's sad, gray, pastries ["Most Unwanted," June 2]. For years I've let the peddlers of such disgust force feed me their hideous offerings only for lack of an alternative. Morning after morning, waiting in the coffee line, I've let my eyes be tricked by the seemingly crispy, crumbly, toasty treats behind the glass only to bite into the same mush. It's become obvious to me by now that extensive research must have gone into perfecting a process by which crap can be turned into cosmetically appealing muffins, scones, and cookies. I'm no longer deceived. I know now that they are all-no matter where I see them-made of the same crappy mush. The cookie tastes exactly like the muffin, the muffin exactly like the scone, the bagel like the pound cake, and so on. But now, thanks to Dickerman, perhaps the evil muffin moguls of Seattle will be forced to upgrade their bakerbots and start churning out some real human food.

Greg McBrady

I HEART RANDI RHODES

EDITOR: I have been listening to Randi Rhodes from day one of Air America via streaming on the internet and Emily White is right on target about her ["Sound and Fury," June 2]. Randi is always well prepared to rip Bush supporters a new asshole. [But] I cannot believe Emily did not even mention Mike Malloy, another radio veteran with a show on AAR. He is on in the evening and is pretty much the male equivalent of Randi as far as passion is concerned.

David Kelly

WEAK KOOL-AID

EDITOR: Air America is a fraud. It is another conduit by which the national Democratic Party pushes its talking points to the public. If you don't believe me, just ask Al "Stay the Course" Franken. Just ask the regular Air America guests who run well-known weblogs ("Daily Kos," "Atrios," etc.) that are thinly veiled Democratic Party propaganda and fundraising operations. These are the same operations that sold the left on a lemon named John Kerry last year. Ask yourself why you've never heard on Air America about Howard Dean's now-famous decision to support Bush's occupation agenda after becoming party chairman. The answer to those questions is that Air America was created to get people to consume DNC talking points as entertainment, following the Rush Limbaugh model, not because Air America is any sort of progressive revolution in progress.

The Stranger owes it to its readership not to sell us national party propaganda channels as revolution. If The Stranger wishes to maintain its (laudable) position of being a politically independent publication serving a raucous, rebellious, and free-thinking urban Seattle readership, then you must not drink national political party Kool-Aid and start passing off party talking points broadcast over radio by well-to-do, paid celebrity talking heads.

Cliff Frensley

FROM THE FORUMS AT WWW.THESTRANGER.COM

Posted by "Misty Brown" in Restaurants, May 27, 1:26 pm: Dear Elysian Brewing Company: Why do you break my heart over and over again? Your beer is delicious. The scene feels great. You're right in the heart of Capitol Hill and even have outdoor seating. You've got it all going on. But your food is revolting. Why is this? I thought I'd give you one more chance. I went with some friends and ordered fish 'n' chips, thinking, "Surely they can't fuck up fish 'n' chips..." What I got on my plate was an entirely inedible hunk of rubber encased in a soggy, greasy, blanket of breading. The fries were fine. It doesn't have to be this way Elysian!! Here's what you do. You put in a classified ad that says: "Now hiring cook. Must have some degree of competence and a willingness to COMPLETELY CHANGE EVERY ASPECT OF OUR MENU." Pay them well. Make sure you pop for decent quality fish. Then, you will see me frequently. All my love, Misty Brown

Fed up with sub-par fish 'n' chips? We want to know about it. Visit forums.thestranger.com and tell the world.

CORRECTION

DAVID SCHMADER WRITES: In last week's Last Days, my "Monday" item dealt with the Eastside's recent rash of teen suicides. The item's sole credited source was a May 23 Seattle Post-Intelligencer story by Claudia Rowe. I wrote that Mercer Island's Ben Shamis shot himself at his computer; the P-I didn't specify where Shamis was in his room when he shot himself. I wrote that "unlike his fellow suicides," Issaquah's Tom Crook had a history of depression, for which he had been prescribed medications he refused to take; the P-I reported that all three victims battled depression-like afflictions, and that Crook refused to take medication for a " chemical imbalance," but never claimed he'd been prescribed any medication. I wrote that Tom Crook had been doing well as a musician and a student, before including the P-I's report on Crook's failure to achieve a 3.0 grade average. Finally, I lumped all these errors under the banner of the "Eastside suicide boom." The quotation marks suggested the phrase was taken from the P-I, which would never, ever use a phrase like that.