INCLUDES VITAMINS A, C, E AND B-2 (RIBOFLAVIN) INCLUDES ...

Don't Try This At Home

An interesting article by Johnny Dwyer ("Electro Clash," 3/10). Reading the brief discussion of deaths due to the Taser, I wondered: What happens if the person being zapped has a pacemaker installed to assist his heart? The pacemaker is a low-voltage device using a battery; what happens if it is hit by 50,000 volts? I would expect it to be instantly fried.

Irwin Friedman, Queens

Kill Your Television

I'm not surprised by "TiVo-Lution's" prophecies?MTV has been an all-commercials-all-the-time network for decades ("Cage Match," 3/10). Videos are just glorified record commercials. In most of these commercials, performers flash corporate logos and shout-out brand-name products (commercials within commercials). Of course, between videos, MTV runs "real" commercials (commercials between commercials). During these breaks, they show commercials promoting videos (commercials for commercials during commercials between commercials).

MTV often airs what are essentially hour-long infomercials hyping upcoming movies ("Behind 50 First Dates!"), that always highlight videos associated with the film's soundtrack, videos usually filled with product placement. On commercials promoting these infomercials, they show clips from featured videos, clips inevitably littered with Nikes, Bentleys and Rolexes. Is anyone shocked that Young Republican societies boast record membership? The stomach boggles; the mind churns.

Juan-Jose Pichardo, Manhattan

For Christ's Sake

I was disappointed by Matt Taibbi's inability to resist joining The Passion of the Christ media pile-on ("Cage Match," 3/17).

His claim that the film was "designed to make us feel like shit" is highly questionable. By focusing only on those who "exit the movie feeling disgustingly pampered and spiritually unworthy," Taibbi ignores those who exit the movie feeling something different. For some, even some who do not accept Christ as the "Son of God," Jesus' message of peace, love and understanding is powerfully affirmed by the suffering he endured in the name of that message, thereby providing motivation and confidence in spreading it. Any commentary on this film that ignores the very possibility of the existence of this population set is disingenuous at best. Taibbi is correct when he says we laugh at what oppresses and frustrates us. I would add that what oppresses us and frustrates us is that which we do not understand and that journalists should stick to writing pieces on that which they do understand and leave the joking to the comedians.

P.S. Great job with New York Sports Express.

Peter Pattakos, Manhattan

Ratner's Hoop Dreams

This is a truly amazing story by Dan Neel?complex and with the potential to be not only explosive, but historic ("Nets of Plenty," 2/11). If Bruce Ratner's exploitation of the system leads to spotlights on its flaws, it could mean big changes. Excellent work; keep it up.

Steve Ettlinger, Manhattan

The Passion of Ebert

In his reply to Matthew E. Goldenberg's letter, Armond White writes, "An intelligent reader should welcome a left-to-moderate Christian view of The Passion or any movie or any movie. But that perspective has been squeezed out of the mainstream media" ("The Mail," 3/10). Last time I checked, Roger Ebert, a liberal raised as a Catholic, is the most mainstream critic in America, not only with one of the most read columns in the world, but one of the highest rated film commentary shows in the country. America's single most recognized and (arguably) influential critic not only gave The Passion two thumbs up on Ebert & Roeper, but gave it four stars in the Chicago Sun-Times as well, in one of the most even-handed critiques that I have seen of the film.

Jeffrey O. Gustafson, Manhattan

Von Fraud

Finally the wall of nonsense around the Danish Wizard of Oz is set to trembling. Armond White speaks for the millions oppressed by Von Trier: "Let him run some country in the Middle East, but please no more movies" ("Film," 3/10).

From the tip of his toes to the phony "Von," Lars is an art buffoon doing a performance art piece about being a "great director." Every element is too perfect. Somebody get him a monocle.

It's hard to pin down exactly what makes this guy so oddly familiar. The only analogue I can come up with is Hanussen, the court astrologer to the Nazis. Trier should beware of crowing in the trees. Whatever New York Press is paying White, it's not enough.

Carloss Chamberlin, Santa Fe

Never Forget?

Wow. Russ Smith doesn't understand why New Yorkers are pissed that Bush would happily use, for a political advertisement, the image of some poor guy's body being carried out of the WTC (MUGGER, 3/10). This ad was produced by the same administration that wouldn't allow press to photograph coffins returning from Iraq. Could it be that Smith doesn't understand our anger because he's a moron, so stupid he actually thinks the Taliban are beaten? Is Smith unaware that the Taliban currently control one third of Afghanistan, and most of the rest of that nation is under the boot of various warlords who make Saddam look like Gandhi? Perhaps Smith also thinks that Osama has been caught and Al Qaeda have been driven from the mountains of Pakistan/Afghanistan.

No, I don't believe he is that stupid. Like Bush, Smith is merely a liar and a partisan dope.

What kind of partisan dope would still support a president who shifted resources and national focus from fighting the assholes responsible for 9/11 to an invasion of some crappy nation that never attacked or threatened the U.S.? What kind of partisan dope would still support a president who, after failing to pursue the 9/11 attackers, dared to use the image of a 9/11 victim in an advertisement? I'll tell you what kind of partisan dope: the cowardly kind. The kind who, after the 9/11 attacks, simply tucked his balls up his butt and ran from New York.

Hank Borelli, Manhattan

Zapped Again

Regarding Johnny Dwyer's cover story ("Electro Clash," 3/10):

Taser weapons were never intended to replace police officers' firearms. They were meant to supplement them. There are many situations in which deadly force is still going to be needed, and that is when the traditional firearm must be employed. As the article mentioned, the Taser works by signaling all muscles in the target's body to tighten simultaneously. In a situation in which a perpetrator has a firearm pointed at themselves or a hostage, a Taser may well cause the perpetrator's muscles to tighten, thus discharging the weapon.

The Taser's range is 21 feet. A knife-wielding perpetrator standing 21 feet from an officer can close the distance and strike a killing blow on the officer often before the officer can even bring his pistol (or Taser) to bear on the perpetrator.

Lastly, the barbs on a Taser weapon are very light and can be affected by wind and rain. The wires connecting the barbs to the Taser unit are thin and may break or become entangled and reduce range.

I support the call for the NYPD to utilize less-lethal alternatives and make advancements in that area, but an officer will still need his or her firearm for when less-lethal is not an option.

Jarod Lojeck, Brooklyn

Taser Lag

Is this supposed to be an informative, two-sided article on the matter, or a sales pitch for Taser, Incorporated ("Electro Clash," 3/10)?

The article states, "Tasers are deployed solely with the City's Emergency Service Unit?." This implies that only they carry the non-lethal weapon. But the supervisor on patrol in each precinct also has a similar device. The article also states, "?the Brooklyn teen shot to death by a housing police officer in January would still be alive had a taser been present on patrol." Anyone can Monday-morning quarterback. This city has seen enough unrest about that tragedy. Using that to second-guess what happened at an event he had nothing to do with is sickening in itself.

Are Tasers a good idea? Absolutely. But the public's expectation of what they can do, when they can be used and their reaction when a target dies from its use needs to be considered. Tasers are not the end to police officers carrying or using firearms, but another tool to assist them in their duties.

Joe Dattoria, Haverstraw, NY

Let Them Eat Fumes

What perverse joy to see mild leftists one-up each other in their artificial empathy contest ("Books," 2/25).

South End Press publishes a long-awaited diatribe against "transportation inequality." (The Eisenhower Interstate System: take the fast lane to civil rights!) This meaningless tome nobly frames the debate in our parking-lot-covered, car-slum of a country as a battle between...bus and train? Clearly, New York Press reviewer Michael Manville's sense of proletariat solidarity is threatened. He'll be damned if someone tells America's underemployed what they need.

That's his job. And what do they need? A hearty helping of exactly what Manville's having, i.e., more of the same, thanks. "[T]he most obvious solution: Give the poor cars. Public transportation will become more responsive to the needs of the poor when the poor are no longer its captives?when they can, like me, choose to drive away."

It reads like hastily conceived satire. Manville thinks he's being brave, radical even, just like South End's writers (always) do. Reviewers' quibbles with authors show how distant each is from the paved-over problems of American communities. If this is what passes for radicalism in my automobile-enslaved country, I do believe the terrorists have won.

Justin Henderson, Newton, MA

Weren't You a Civil War General?

Your review of The Passion ("Film," 2/25) was written by a Jew, obviously. Jews just can't accept the fact that they did something bad once. They can't accept that more non-Jews died during the WW2 atrocities than Jews, they want to have a monopoly on the sympathy so as to manipulate public feeling. And the major news orgs in the U.S.A. allow the Jews to freely spout slander and write libel and never a word is said about it. Maybe you should ask Seitz to visit www.supportmelgibson.com. Maybe you should watch it. If you can defend your Jewish slander after being presented with the facts, then you are nothing but trash just like the author of that review. And by the way, I am not writing to you as a "Jew hater." I'm writing to you as a concerned American and because of the fact that the author of the review took every cheap shot a Jew could take at Mr. Gibson. If Jews wish to be respected, maybe they should start by showing some respect.

Robert Jackson, Spartanburg, SC

Matt Zoller Seitz responds: First, it may surprise you to learn that not everybody with a Germanic last name is Jewish. My parents and my parents' parents are proud German-Americans whose ranks include Episcopalians, Lutherans, Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Go back and re-read my original review closely, and you will notice a description of a painting of Jesus Christ that hung on the wall of a church I once attended. Second, fuck you, and fuck your piece-of-shit mother, too.

Rallin' Along

I'm afraid that this article is a gross representation of the facts. ("Page Two," 3/10) The fact that Ted Rall was on the website for free and is raising a fuss shows it's not about the money?he is in plenty of other papers. Also, the editors admitted it was because of all the mail they were getting about his cartoons. This mail was organized by right-wing bloggers, not a group of New York Times readers, who have been targeting Rall since a 9/11 cartoon two years ago. Whatever you think about Rall's cartoons is beside the point. It's about free speech. I don't like what Rush Limbaugh has to say, but I like that he has a right to say it. Rall's cartoons were taken off because the editors were sick of being overwhelmed with hate mail. Weak excuse. Grow a spine.

Matt Bors, Canton, OH

He Did Wear Sandals

Contrary to reader Debbie Crawford Root's comments ("The Mail," 3/10), she should read the New Testament, where she'll find evidence of Jesus being a wimp. As C. Dennis McKinsey says in The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy (Prometheus Books, 1995), p. 49:

The nineteenth question focuses on the duplicity of Christianity's savior and exposes the deception that is inherent to his character. In Luke 12:4, Jesus took a stance not unlike that of many brave politicians by saying, "Be not afraid of them that kill the body." In other words, display character and fortitude by having the courage and stamina to stand up for your convictions in the face of adversity. Few would deny that that is a noble tenet. Unfortunately, Jesus couldn't muster enough strength on several occasions to do anything other than flee. One need only read several verses to see that he not only didn't have the courage of his convictions, but on several occasions he hid, sneaked, escaped, fled, slinked around and otherwise operated as a bowl of jelly.

Several of these occurrences are worthy of consideration. John 7:1 says, "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry (Judea), because the Jews sought to kill him." John 8:59 says, "Then took up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself." John 10:39 says, "They sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand."

Jesus clearly felt that discretion was the better part of valor on many occasions. He was not about to die for the movement, and judging from his "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?" comment on the cross, Jesus apparently never felt there was any good time to die for the cause. Matth. 12:14-16, John 11:53-54, Matt. 10:23, Mark 1:4, and John 6:15 also clearly show that Jesus often felt it was better to be a live coward than a dead hero.

To me, an atheist, the above doesn't matter because I've done my biblical research, and there is no historical evidence for the reality of such a person as the alleged Jesus the Christ. Additionally, there might have been a human named Jesus (not a Jewish name!) who had nothing to do with divinity and performed no miracles, or anything as described in the mythical New Testament. He probably was one of many who felt he was the Messiah and tried hard to free his people from the Roman yoke and, as others like him, was killed, not crucified, for his possible guerrilla tactics.

Finally, anyone considering him/herself educated and intelligent can see that there could not be gods. We are it on this planet, and we are the creator of all gods. You notice that the Egyptian gods of antiquity do not rule the Egyptians any longer. But humans, being conditioned to believe, continue the fallacy of Jesusianism (not Christianity, as Christ was simply a title, not a last name).

Mel Gibson has turned $30 million into $200 million and growing. Religion can be a good thing for the pocketbook, right Mel? Right, Pope?

E. Lopez, Manhattan

Shame on Ames

Why aren't the Preview Review columns credited with a writer? Is the writer embarrassed? Is the editor embarrassed? Both should be.

Dennis Cozzalio, Glendale, CA

Kerrying On

Joshua Cohen states John Kerry, "A Jew in the White House? America can't wait." Yes it can ("Rotation," 3/10).

We would be honored to have a great Jewish all-American in the presidency or vice-presidency. We love Mark "the Great One" Levine, Steve Malzberg, John Podhoretz and a growing voice of millions of conservative, patriotic Jews. We agree with rabbi Pat Robertson that God gave Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Judea and Sumeria (the West Bank) to the Jews. The Jews must be "more than fair" and quickly allow a Palestinian state. Those who convert to Judaism or Christianity in the West Bank should be allowed to work in Israel. Jewish liberals who vote Democrat, please read, weigh and truthfully consider the following. John Kerry is not the one.

John Kerry's grandfather (and wife Ida, both formerly Czech Jews) Fritz Kohn (name changed to Frederick Kerry) walked into the posh Boston Copley Hotel in 1925 and very publicly blew his brains out. There is suicide and possible insanity in Kerry's immediate family.

Kerry will not release his medical records. He was exposed to Agent Orange, has had prostate cancer and severe nightmares (post-traumatic stress) where he jumps out of bed in the middle of the night. He is guilt-ridden by those he killed personally and the millions who were killed and enslaved under communism when he lied and broke the national will at the "Winter Soldier Hearings," Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 23, 1971. Shame on him, Jane Fonda and all their cult followers.

William Unger, Manhattan

Infernal Combustion

Aaron Naparstek's article ("Auto Asphyxiation," 3/3) was an important and insightful window into the workings of the city's Department of Transportation and how it affects the lives of every New Yorker. Nothing would enhance the quality of life in New York like reining in the automobile, and nothing stands in the way like the "cars first" mentality of the DOT. We can only hope that these ideological dinosaurs choke on their own exhaust and are soon replaced by more highly evolved life forms.

Jeff Prant, Brooklyn