Karen Hughes in Saudia Arabia

To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: Saudi Women Have Message Of Their Own for U.S. Envoy

No one should have been surprised by the reaction of Saudi professional women to the remarks of Karen Hughes. About three years ago I read a column in Arab News--in English--by a woman journalist who discussed the same issues. She wondered why anyone would think that Saudi women want to drive, when most of them have drivers. And she did have an equal-rights concern: expansion of the areas for women at the shrines of Mecca and Medina.

The End?

To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: Human Beings 2.0

John Tierney needs to cut back on his caffeine consumption. This is one of the most disjointed assemblages of words I've ever read. What does instant communication have to do with pain or death? And isn't the universe already one giant organism?

If Planet Earth ends in gray goo, so what? Everything eventually dies in some way, and although once very beautiful, it's only one tiny planet.

Money For Whom?

To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: G.O.P. Split Over Big Plans for Storm Spending

My husband (composer John Mitchell) just exclaimed, "What evil undead zombie thralls they are! When it comes to helping poor people they're suddenly concerned about spending money? The Republicans are just one step above the Nazis, and it's getting to be a smaller step all the time."

You never print my letters anyway, so I thought I might as well send you something really unprintable.

Real News From Judith Miller?

To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: Shielding a Basic Freedom

I'm trying to translate this:

"Karl Rove trusts Judith Miller to protect his identity so he can reveal more than the official line. Without that agreement and that trust between reporter and source, the real news simply dries up..."

No. The "real news" will never come from people like Karl Rove and Judith Miller. It will come from whistleblowers who are not breaking laws and have no reason to fear prosecutors. Anonymous sourcing is necessary, but being an anonymous source is an essentially cowardly and dishonorable act. There ought to be a little risk involved.

Casino Nation

To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: Coastal Cities of Mississippi in the Shadows

First we lost manufacturing to foreign competition, then we lost technology. What will be the future mainstay of the American economy? Gambling casinos?

Maybe bin Laden does hate us for our "freedoms". But he would probably call them "licentiousness". Oh, I forgot. Americans don't learn the meanings of words anymore.

George & Katrina

To: letters@nytimes.com
Re: Thumbing Nervously Through the Conservative Rulebook

President Bush has gotten the weak central government he wanted. The problem for him is that he is the head of that central government, and the disaster that struck the Gulf Coast has exposed how irrelevant he is to the welfare of the people.