STRANGER: Maybe dandy Dan should stick to something he knows about, such as cock rings, and leave issues of substance to people of substance ["Say 'Yes' to War on Iraq," Dan Savage, Oct 17]. I have long considered his ventings to be so much fribble, but his recent mindless support of an unjustified attack on Iraq crosses my own line in the sand. From this day forward I will trim each Savage Love from my local free rag and use it to wipe my ass. In short, I'll be giving Danny and his musings the respect they deserve.

Kyle Tanner, via e-mail

STRANGER: Thank you, Josh Feit, for a well-reasoned and reasonable response to Islamic fascism ["Say 'No' to War on Iraq," Oct 17]. Saddam Hussein is a brutal thug, but the only difference between his brutality and the brutality of Iran's Council of Guardians, Egypt's police state, or the Jabba the Hutt rule in Saudi Arabia is that Saddam has chosen to bolster his regime by thwarting the U.S. instead of accepting our payoffs. We would do better to help reform Egypt and Iran than to drop bombs (again) on Iraq.

Janice Van Cleve, via e-mail

STRANGER: Even if Dan Savage's piece about war with Iraq had any sound arguments within it (I'm not so sure it does), it's unfortunate that they would be buried beneath his abusive tone. If I'm going to take the time to read what he has to say, do I deserve to be addressed as "stupid" in the article? How does it help his case to browbeat his readers? That kind of thing might get him entertainment points in a sex-advice column, but in this case, it just makes him look desperate, and discredits whatever he's trying to get across.

Also, I find that the Peace Angel guy on the cover has become more and more bewitching as The Stranger has sat around my house. Who is that guy, anyway? I must concede that there's something terribly charming about him, even if at first he just seemed silly. I think you guys should do a story on him.

Anonymous, via e-mail

STRANGER: What exactly is it that you have against the anti-war movement? After nearly 10,000 people came out on October 6, you put a hot dog on your cover? What's up with that? Now, in this issue [Oct 17], you put some demonstrator in his underwear on your cover. There were many, many ordinary-looking Americans at that event; why must you demean it? How about being a voice for the people of Washington instead of a bunch of wiseasses?

Rob Moitoza, via e-mail

STRANGER: What exactly was your story ["Policing While Black," Amy Jenniges, Oct 24] about? The fact that black people aren't a monolith of thought and yell at black cops too? Captain Sanford's virgin ears? I have no idea, but that seems to be the point. You really set the new standard for irrelevant Stranger articles with this one!

It seems to me that you wonder why these "unreasonable black protesters" are getting louder and louder. Well, one reason sure seems to be that another police officer killed another black man and got away with it. And nobody in this city, including your movie-times-with-filler paper, is listening to them with any sense of humanity or empathy whatsoever. Amy: Believe it or not, people--even blacks--don't get uncivil without good reason.

Anonymous, via e-mail

EDITOR: For the past few weeks, The Stranger has run articles on the train systems of other cities, and I've been thrilled. I moved to Seattle from an apartment in Chicago, where I had the choice of taking the El or the Metra, which were both a few blocks away. When I moved to Seattle, I immediately took note that I would either be stuck in a car on the road or stuck in a bus on the road. I listened with hope as people lobbied for train systems, as it was inconceivable to me that Seattle didn't have one. And yet, here we find ourselves, still squabbling.

These articles, if anything, serve to remind sleeping Seattleites that most fair-to-large U.S. cities have managed to create viable mass transit systems. I hope we start building something soon, and I hope it's an option that does not sit in or further impede traffic--which really doesn't need more obstacles.

Danielle Burhop, via e-mail

EDITOR: I couldn't help but notice that the same week you published the news that Frank Blethen wanted to break the JOA with the P-I ["One-Paper Town?," Sandeep Kaushik, Oct 10], the Seattle Weekly published a full-issue valentine to Tim Eyman. Then, the following week, when you published a follow-up to the Blethen article ["Seattle Times Saga Continues," In Other News, Sandeep Kaushik, Oct 17], the Weekly finally realized that there was something newsworthy about Blethen, the Seattle Times, and the JOA with the P-I.

There should be no doubt that The Stranger is now the preferred weekly for news reportage.

Richard, via e-mail

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: Due to an editorial error, the final revision of Scotty Crane's review of Auto Focus did not make it into last week's issue. The author's final draft can be found at www.thestranger.com/2002-10-24/film.html. We regret the error.