Posted on Wed, Jul. 9, 2008
The real war
While the current administration continues to tout the success of the Iraq surge - a strategy embraced by John McCain - there has been a steadfast refusal to acknowledge the deterioration of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. As U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) points out, we have clearly taken our eye off the ball ("Way past time for U.S. to recommit to Afghanistan," July 8).
In the meantime, the Taliban and al-Qaeda have regrouped. The situation is rapidly deteriorating, as evidenced by recent bombings, and while we continue to commit troops to Iraq in order to sustain the surge and prop up the fragile Iraqi government, we have virtually ignored the fact that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are now once again posing a real threat to the Afghan government and the stability of the region.
The candidates should take their focus off Iraq and start talking about how, in Afghanistan, we must regain control of lost territory, stabilize the region, recommit to finding Osama bin Laden and do everything in our power to quell the rise of terrorism.
Lynn Gladieux
Boyertown
Phillies vs. Mets
Down to the Mets 10-1, and lose 10-9 ("Eaton buries Phillies early," July 8). Delicious! Just another bite out of the Philly sports TeaseSteak.
Robert W. Keidel
Philadelphia
Medium's act
It is quite astonishing to see the Inquirer devote so much space to David Hiltbrand's sycophantic and credulous portrayal of so-called medium Joseph Tittel ("Medium gains a following," July 8). The article describes a classic "cold reader" - a performer who sprays out dozens or even hundreds of factoids to a large audience and counts as "hits" those that roughly fit someone in the audience. The process is rife with confirmation bias. Everyone remembers the hits and no one remembers the misses.
No "medium" has ever managed to perform positively in anything remotely like a scientific test. These people are preying on the gullibility of the public to take their money and give them manufactured hope based on guesswork. Shame on The Inquirer for treating such a performance by a paid entertainer as the real deal.
Alexander Grimwade
Bala Cynwyd
Flawed film
Wall-E is a well-done film, but fatally flawed (Inquirer, July 7).
Technology both enhances and dehumanizes our lives more than at any time in history. So we are to believe that the solution is a "love" - between two soulless, inanimate objects. You can't just say, "Lighten up; it's a cartoon," because this is the premise of the movie: that the solution for a society that is losing its humanity due to an over-reliance on technology is the "love" of these two machines.
If you don't believe in a soul or life force in every animate object in the universe, this isn't a problem. In that case, humans are just programmed brains, more or less just like the laptop I am typing on. But I don't believe that.
Jim Cosby
Philadelphia
Saving gas?
If you want to know how serious people complaining about gas prices are, try an experiment ("Oil market falls, pump prices up," July 8): Drive at the speed limit. How many vehicles pass you, and how many do you pass?
My observation of the last two weeks is that people aren't hurting enough to take a simple action to save money on gas. You don't have to buy a hybrid or coast down hills; just drive the speed limit.
Barry Adams
Downingtown
barry.adams@temple.eduOn the front lines
A critical concern is that our brave men and women in uniform, who are regularly performing stunning miracles, will read Chris Satullo's piece (and others like it) and think that this is our standard of thought (Letters, July 5). It is not. Americans have always been on the front lines of justice, equality and civil rights, and always will be. It is my great hope that we will proceed with the compassion, understanding and unity required to preserve what we all value and share, provide today's defenders with every shred of support that they need, and, most important, live the unrealized dreams of those lost in war under the guidance of their example.
Cory Steiner
Yardley
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