To the Editor:

Why don't you just sue James O'Keefe for slander, and damages in the amount of funding ACORN lost? It seems a simple case to prove culpability. After you win that case, tell the New York Times they are next if they don't retract. Personally, I'd go after Fox before The Times just to try to get them to report the news instead of their opinion for once.

Wayne Workman
Matthews, NC



To the Editor:

How about addressing the problem of Muni Drivers letting certain people ride for free, especially if they share the same skin color? ANYONE who rides Muni will have witnessed this if they took the time to observe it. More relavent may be the simple lament that in one of the largest wealth concentation in the history of the planet (San Francisco), that fact that Muni is experiencing these woes tells everything about the misplaced priorities in our culture at large. Hit up just a few of the wealthiest families in this City, and every social ill could have enough money to be properly addressed. How about it Gettys and cohorts? If you really love this City, then cough up some of your copious lucre to save it!

Bill Murphy
San Francisco



To the Editor:

Bring back the Muni Conductors ‑ a San Francisco tradition and a money maker! As a senior who relies only on public transportation, I am concerned about Muni cutbacks. One thing about riding Muni, is that you have the opportunity to talk with many people not in your immediate circle(s). Muni riders often come up with solutions not accepted or even thought of by City officials.

Many of us think that bringing back the "conductors" would help to bring in much needed revenue ‑ a lot of it. Old timers remember how all of the major lines had a conducter who collected fares and was on board on each car continually. If you ride Muni, you know that a huge percentage of our population rides for free daily and those intermediate squads of uniformed checkers are much too sporadic to do much good. Conductors could also keep Muni riders safe ‑ if only by their presence and by having a phone with a direct line to 911

Kay Walker
San Francisco



To the Editor:

Would the writer PLEASE not refer to gay men and lesbians as "queers"? Yes, I know that there are a handful of misguided individuals who believe that they can "reclaim" that word (although I fail to understand how it is possible to "reclaim" something that we never possessed in the first place), but the overwhelming majority of gay persons consider the word "queer" to be a filthy insult from a bygone era, and it causes a great many of us to cringe (not to mention causing some of us to suffer PTSD‑related flashbacks). I for one have not been duped into using that word to describe myself ‑‑ and I will treat any person who uses that word to describe me with great hostility, regardless of that person's sexual orientation ...

Thanks, however, for the article ‑‑ which exposes the sheer hatred which animates the Catholic Church's attitude towards gay men and lesbians. It is in violation of Catholic teaching to divorce and / or remarry, yet Catholic Charities never imposed a ban on spousal benefits for remarried employees (before robbing all new employees of spousal benefits, regardless of the sex of their spouses). Only when gay marriage became legal did Catholic Charities decide to shut down the spousal benefits program ‑‑ prior to that, Catholic Charities routinely granted such benefits to the spouses of divorced and remarried employees.

This exposes the sheer hatred, vindictiveness, and cruelty of this church with respect to gay persons ‑‑ the Church did not rob remarried spouses of spousal benefits; only when gay couples could wed did this issue assume significance to the Church ... In addition to exposing the naked cruelty of this church, this issue also exposes the hypocrisy and Pharisee‑like fake grace which has become so popular in Catholic circles now that gay couples are winning the right to marry, in jurisdiction after jurisdiction.

Quite simply put ‑‑ these men and women are stinking hypocrites; their idea of love and compassion includes the abandonment of the District's poorest and most vulnerable members in an effort to harm the gay community. Fortunately, the majority of residents of the District place the blame firmly and unequivocally where it belongs ‑‑ which is within the hearts and minds of those upright, pious men and women who decided to rob all newly‑married couples of healthcare benefits rather than extend such benefits to gay couples. May this evil church and its acolytes one day relive this moment, and may they hang their heads in shame!

Philip Chandler
Clevedon, United Kingdom



To the Editor:

I had the opportunity to attend the Mahalia production two times during its run. The first time on its premiere night, which caused me to leave the theater worried for the artist. I felt they were badly miss handled. The timing was off and the production was so loose. I was one of the James Cleveland gospel singers of the sixties and knew Mahalia and was a fan of hers from childhood. Yesterday, decided to go to the production again and I must say. I was filled to the brim ... It was electric. All the things which orginally I felt where wrong about the play where now corrected. Jeanie and her fellow cast members performed beautifully. What an afternoon I had ... remembering, enjoying and being blessed by Mahalia's story and music. What a triumph..

Minister Gene Viale
Citrus Heights, CA



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