DEAD ON

HELLO JOSH: Good job pointing out that Barbara Madsen is a hypocrite and a liar ["Dishonor Roll," Aug 3]. I voted for her based on her SEAMEC ratings as well—that really hurts. Madsen is the real story here since this decision completely contradicts her well-documented views in the past.

Not to go all Mulder on you, but I wonder if she received a ton of death threats that convinced her to copy and paste the ruling directly from Focus on the Family's website.

Andrew Moseley

DANKE SCHÖN

DEAR ANNIE: Great review ["Blarney Rubble," a review of World Trade Center, by Annie Wagner, Aug 10]. I saw the movie last week here in Germany after quite good reviews in German newspapers.

When I saw that light and a figure appearing I was praying to myself, please don't let it be Jesus. But it was. I could not help myself but laugh. Also the shots on the cross and the Bible chapter on the Revelation of John, when the marine hero hears the trumpets of God calling him for service—arrgggghh.

So you wrote exactly what I was thinking of that movie and I am happy that there are other voices but the "Wow, [Oliver] Stone became a patriot!" or "Wow, what a positive movie he made out of that catastrophe."

Also very important is the subtle attempt you saw in the end, where only with one sentence they made a linkage between 9/11 and Iraq, because that marine went there after the rescue of the two men. I just read today that more than half of the U.S. citizens still believe there is some link between al Qaeda and Iraq/Saddam. It's because of little things like in that movie that it one day may become a "fact." I never would have expected this by a filmmaker like Stone making such a movie. Sad.

Christian

QUESTIONS FOR ANNIE

ANNIE WAGNER: I just saw World Trade Center and the marine left a "Pentecostal church." It made no mention about him leaving during a Pentecostal celebration, so why did you bring that up as a flaw in the movie? The movie was based upon the two police officers, so why is it wrong to portray what really happened in the rubble and what they actually said in their real dialogue? Why is any mention of Jesus and people actually doing something they feel compelled to do by him so offensive to you? Were you trying to review the movie or make a political statement? If all they were trying to do was portray what really happened and the actual dialogue of the participants, why are you so offended by what really happened, simply because some of the participants were people of faith? Why are you so cynical about people of faith?

Erin John Roach

NOISY NEIGHBORS

DEAR ERICA BARNETT: My wife, my young son, and I live directly above the Celtic Swell, and your July 27 piece "Pizza and Fear" needs the other neighbor's version of the facts to take away the fear from enjoying the pizza.

The Seattle city ordinances are neither antibusiness, be it nocturnal or diurnal, nor ridiculous. Their sole purpose is to protect each and every citizen's right to a safe, peaceful, and enjoyable environment.

My small family has been living at the address above the Celtic Swell for five years now. We have a truly old-fashioned neighborly relationship with each and every tenant. We are not angry at the Celtic Swell and if the owners have a single fiber of fairness left in them they will tell you themselves that my wife and I always wished them well.

We are a music-lover family and we listen to it in several languages. This fondness for music does not however give us the right to play it insanely loud and until the wee hours of the night depriving our neighbors of their much-needed sleep. If we were angry, vindictive, and disrespectful neighbors, my wife and I would play our stereo as loud as the Celtic's and even hire a live band to give the "same sauce to our gander."

I was born in Algiers, the very city where Albert Camus wrote the original The Stranger. Camus was a fair-minded journalist and playwright. I just hope that he inspired a modicum of fairness in the "existence" of your unique (and Seattle's only) newspaper.

Mr. and Dr. Habib

BETTER MEDICINE

DAN: If you are really worried about your partner being able to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are incapacitated ["Worried Sick," Aug 3], and not just worried about how you can turn your experience with a gay-friendly hospital staff into fodder for your political battles, then give your partner a medical power of attorney. It's easier than getting married, for crying out loud!

Oh, and doctors don't withhold life-saving treatments while they try to get a family member on the line; they give you medically appropriate treatment and don't stop unless your legal representative orders them to.

David Wright