DEAR EDITOR: I found the article entitled "Tully's Barista Marked for Death" in your May 10 edition to be inappropriate and disturbing.

While political satire and humor is healthy for everyone (as a frequent target, I should know), making light of brutality and personal loss is not.

The gratuitous, thrill-seeking violence we all witnessed during Mardi Gras led to the death of a young man. Surely you can find a way to make your political point without perpetuating the attitude that such violence is just fun and games?

Very truly yours,

Paul Schell

GREG NICKELS RESPONDS: What's with this "we all witnessed" stuff, PAUL?! You didn't witness anything that went down in Pioneer Square during Mardi Gras. You were home asleep in bed that night, remember? Remember?! Huh, Paul?

"Look at me, I'm the mayor of Seattle: zzzzzzz...." In your FACE, Schell!

EDITORS: As I read Grant Cogswell's article ["Road Bloc," May 3] I thought of another time [in history], when people protested the advance of the machinery of industry. Perhaps they foresaw the child-labor, slavery, and grinding work conditions of the textile industry. Perhaps they were simply upset at the loss of work for members of the existing cottage industry. Perhaps some were just generally angry, and relieved their anger by breaking things in the night.

Corporations, unfortunately, are here to stay, as are machines, pavement, and cities [with more] than 5,000 [people]. It is human tendency to build such things. It's like the inclination to have sex. We can't stop it, but we can guide it. I look at the Luddites and the anarchists and understand--even support--their energy and effort. However, I can't help but think it is misdirected. Action for action's sake is as wasteful as the corporate pillage of our world.

R. C., via e-mail

EDITORS: Grant Cogswell's Black Bloc article was really excellent--one of the best I've read in a long time, and way more info-packed than that thing some guy wrote in Harper's about anarchists in Eugene several months ago.

Anonymous, via e-mail

GRANT COGSWELL: Congratulations on writing a remarkable Stranger feature ["Road Bloc"]. I was amazed at the general absence of patronizing commentary that is typical of journalists studying anarchists/activists in the flesh. And from The Stranger!

A couple of corrections, though: The Spanish Republic was not "founded largely" by the anarchist CNT/FAI, but it would be fair to say that it did survive the initial onslaught of Franco's fascists because of them. Also, the old chestnut about the IWW--it's INDUSTRIAL (not International) Workers of the World.

Andy Chan, via e-mail

GRANT COGSWELL RESPONDS: Thank you for your compliment. My story stated, "The Spanish Republic was largely founded by the anarchists [here I should have added "LATER"] of the FAI/CNT...." My research came directly from the horse's mouth: anarchists, anarchist publications, and George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. My boneheaded misnaming of the IWW was the result of much typing and very little sleep, and the boneheaded misnaming of the FTAA (actually the Free Trade Area of the Americas) happened somewhere up the line from me.

EDITOR: Just like the Beatniks of the '50s, the hippies of the '60s, and the punks of the '80s, the anarchist movement of the early 21st century will be commodified, watered down, and disempowered--just as capitalist interest would have it.

Congratulations to The Stranger for being on the forefront of the demise of what could have been a powerful force of change. Grant Cogswell's article "Road Bloc" read like a handbook titled "How to Be an Anarchist.™" It contained very little intelligent discussion of the merits or implications of what these people are actually fighting for. The article did, however, teach me what experiences and products to consume in order to be an Anarchist™. For instance, Anarchists™ wear black. Anarchists™ also wear patches. Anarchists™ will listen to Rage Against the Machine, the Ramones, and Ice-T. What's the preferred method of travel for Anarchists™? They hitchhike, hop trains, or ride Greyhound.

The majority of Cogswell's article was just a useless description of what these Anarchists™ consume, and how they define the leisure/work paradigm on which capitalist culture thrives. This is not surprising, though, since over two-thirds of this week's Stranger was paid advertising.

Rachel Van Boven, Seattle

EDITOR: Suddenly, a few weeks ago, you moved Police Beat to the back of the paper and decided to use some crappy clip-art-looking "bobby" [hovering] and what looks like crapping over a murder outline. Maybe I am jumping the gun and Police Beat's illustrator, George Pfromm, is on vacation or something--but I hope [Police Beat] soon returns to what made it such a fun column not only to read, but also to look at!

John E. Hollingsworth, via e-mail

EDITORS: Regarding Kathleen Wilson's column [It's My Party] from May 10: Tim from Fallout Records is obviously the only record-store owner in town with the balls to say "NO" to the mighty Stranger. Big deal if he didn't want to participate in your Northwest Top 20 list. Must have been a slow week at the Cha Cha for her to devote all that ink to such a thoughtless rant.

I personally think the Makers (the "local band" you refer to in the column) suck, and I'm not surprised their album didn't sell many copies, but I love Fallout--and I'm glad they're not participating in your stupid bullshit Top 20 list. Who cares what record sells the most copies, anyway?

"The Mayor of Cheesetown," via e-mail

HEY KATHLEEN WILSON: I read your column regularly, and this comment from May 10 bugged me: "...except for Fallout Records, who refuses to participate, probably on account of its punk rock ethos and all. When I wrote about a local band's poorly selling album, the store pitched a fit. Apparently, it's not 'punk rock' to report unpleasant facts."

Fallout has have been [in business] for 15 years--that is quite a bit longer than you have been a part of the scene here. I don't think it's un-punk to report facts, but it is certainly un-punk to care about album sales.

"Ron the Pooper," via e-mail

KATHLEEN WILSON RESPONDS: While I understand your opinion, and I agree that album sales do not matter, I do think it is interesting to see what people are buying. It's exasperating when truly good local records don't sell while rotten or mediocre ones do, and it shows that in the grand scheme, mainstream and indie/ local injustice is the same across the board.

On the other side of the coin, seeing a great local record do well warms my heart, as I'm sure it does yours. As for the Makers' Rock Star God: I liked it. But I guess lots of garage-loving Makers fans (who obviously panned their new record) don't know who Mott the Hoople was, which provides an interesting commentary on both the band and its music scene.

Thanks for your letter and I appreciate your feedback.

JOSH FEIT: I read the online version of The Stranger every week. Your column regarding Mark Sidran was hilarious, dry, and brilliant ["Will You Be My Neighbor?" Josh Feit and Dan Savage, May 10]! I laughed my ass off the entire time, and hope like hell that your suggestions are taken seriously and enforced. Anyway, I'm not really the letter-writing type, but I wanted to give you a long-distance pat on the back.

Stephen Dare, Jacksonville, Florida

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: In Rebecca Brown's short feature "Page to Stage: My Work--and My Life--as Theater" [May 10], we stated that Mary Zimmerman's recent Seattle production was titled The Metamorphosis, which would presumably be based on the novella by Kafka. This is incorrect. Zimmerman's show was actually called Metamorphoses, based on the stories of Ovid. We regret our dumb error.