DEAR EDITOR: I am glad to say I participated in the Friendly Fire incident with Stand Up Seattle that Eli Sanders described ["Friendly Fire," March 23]. Well said, Eli! Congratulations on your social-change commentary. Social justice is never out of date. It's our work to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted.
Ivy Rose Nightscales
(Formerly Teresa Williams)
ENLIGHTENED BY RABANEDITOR: After reading "Supreme Indifference" [Jonathan Raban, March 23] on The Stranger online, I went to NPR's website to hear Nina Totenberg's story about Sandra Day O'Connor's speech at Georgetown University. In the search for O'Connor at the NPR site, I also found a side note from News & Notes with Ed Gordon, where in their roundtable discussion on March 16, they talked of O'Connor's speech, its lack of ink and airtime, and possibilities of whether the press in D.C. deliberately ignored the speech because of a media bias or because they were lazy. Thanks for covering this terribly interesting story. I would have never known if you hadn't published this feature.
Dale Comer
SEND COOKIES AND CASH!DAN SAVAGE: I think you run an extremely good paper that does excellent investigative journalism. You (obviously) are doing a great job. So too are Eli Sanders, Jonathan Raban, and lots of other folks. So here's my question: How do I support your paper?
I can buy a subscription to Salon.com and the New Yorker, but what can I do for The Stranger?
Jonathan Fine, Esq.
Washington, D.C.
OH, THE IRONYEDITOR: I read with amusement the recent rants in the Seattle Times that the county courts need to open up to the people and allow access to all the sealed court documents. I presume this would include the case of the Seattle Times versus the Post-Intelligencer over the JOA dispute, in which the Times brought motions (that were granted) to seal sensitive materials? Here's hoping The Stranger truly does become "Seattle's Only Paper."
Greg Howard
ALL TERRORISM IS TERRIBLEEDITOR: While I thought the movie V for Vendetta was brilliant in its own way, I cringed at the line, "sometimes blowing up a building can change the world" ["The Revolutionary Politics of V for Vendetta," Charles Mudede, March 16 online edition]. I doubt that I was alone in thinking that was a bit uncalled for. There is nothing heroic or visionary about the deeds of Osama bin Laden. If the Bush administration is full of chicken hawks who pose for photo-ops with military gear while others die, bin Laden would be quite happy among them. Like Bush, bin Laden sent 3,000 people to their deaths, and seems to think very little of shedding other people's blood. Like Bush, bin Laden is a man of narrow goals who thrives on the ignorance of his followers, and, also like Bush, must start each day amazed that, after years of death and dying, people still line up for the cause. But you know how it goes. There're always plenty of innocent lives to throw at the fence. So, please, no words of praise for terrorists on either side.
Bill Carlisle
CLUCKING AT 'CUCKOO CROW'BRENDAN KILEY: As someone who has been a big fan of the Degenerate Art Ensemble for a while now, I just wanted to thank you for giving Cuckoo Crow a bad review. I left that theater angry, mostly because I naturally assumed they were going to get away with it. God, what a piece of shit!
Milo
LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHEREDITOR: I'm an East Coast transplant, living in Seattle for a year now, and I felt the need to send some love toward all who work at making The Stranger the best news source around.
Ever since picking up my first issue, I've been a devoted reader—no other source has educated me about, and connected me to, my new community the way The Stranger and the Slog have.
Sending many, many appreciative blessings your way...
Janette Rose Rathbun
FROM THE FORUMSPOSTED BY GOING, GOING, PRAGUE ON MARCH 23: What do people think the likelihood is of organizing a 100-to-200-person game of tag one weekend afternoon in downtown—near Westlake and bordered by a couple streets on all sides? We'd have the "it" person wear a chartreuse T-shirt (which is passed on to the next tagged person), since no bystander would likely be wearing that color, and since it's an easy color to spot from afar. The game would go on for probably an hour or so, and serve no greater function than confusing the downtown crowd. And, you know, tag is fun. If there's interest, I'll organize the rest and keep everyone updated.
If you're game, go to forums.thestranger.com, and click on "Downtown Tag" in the Anything You Want to Talk About forum.
