NEVER ENOUGH I've been a regular reader of New York Press ...

I've been a regular reader of New York Press for 10 years and always appreciated your artistic contributors [FREEcomics, Nov. 9]. I've been introduced to a lot of great illustrators and cartoonists in your pages and followed the soap opera of their comings and goings. I'm really excited and impressed by your new comics section and hope you make it a weekly experience, along with some more color!

You can't have enough comics!

Michael Griffith, Jersey City

RECOGNIZE

I'm loving the addition of FREEcomics to your publication. I've come across FREEcomics in the past, and its great to see them recognized by a publication such as your own. Keep up the good work.

L. Hammonds, via email

Nothing Short of Obtuse

While I remain a committed yet disappointed supporter of PBS, Lincoln MacVeagh's derisive eulogy for the channel was best left to someone less weaned on the teat of prime-time networks and middle-brow cable stations ["No Tears Shed," Counterfeit Detection, Nov. 9].

MacVeagh's agnostic position on the three major networks is nothing short of obtuse. For every quack such as Dyer, Orman and Myss who has appeared on PBS, there's a Dr. Phil, Robert Kyosaki and John Edwards.

As for A&E and the History Channel, neither would have the temerity to show "Ambush in Mogadishu," "Ghosts of Rwanda" or even the ill-fated episode of "Buster," in which Buster explores the full spectrum of our diverse culture by visiting a lesbian household and the children of that couple. It's not likely that any of these other stations would touch this.

The cancellation of this episode and the oft-repeated and timid programming on PBS result from the political storms during the tenure of Ken Tomlinson. Indeed, these are the political storms weathered by all broadcast media in this age of partisan and religious media watchdog groups. I have been watching PBS long enough to know that its current myopic programming was not always the norm.

Francois Nieuwendam, Manhattan

ZAP! HYPOCRISY!

Russ Smith is hilarious ["Sulzberger's Fraudulence," Nov. 2]. As most of the things he writes disparagingly of other people apply equally to himself! Sulzberger is a lousy prick because he appointed miserable, inappropriate staff members? If you said yes, welcome to the world of Russ Smith, who takes up a right-wing placard in one of the world's most LEFT-WING ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPERS! If you want to talk about tumbling down the sharp slope of popularity because of inappropriate employment, look no further than your own closed eyelids, Mr. Smith! Technically, this article is a cry for help, Russ Smith begging to have his column canned, as he's calling his editors an incompetent boob for not running a publication correctly!

Also, most of Smith's column is right-wing garbage:

"Maybe Rich ought to stop watching all three CSIs and accept that Karl Rove wasn't indicted," says Smith. To continue the TV analogy, maybe Russ Smith should watch any of the FOUR THOUSAND and SIXTY-TWO episodes in which the lawyers put the squeeze on one member of a conspiracy in order to get additional evidence/confessions against another member (i.e. Karl Rove).

An indictment means little. That there is an indictment along with a continuing INVESTIGATION means much.

Smith talks disparagingly of the "zeal to denigrate any politician or citizen whose cultural views don't conform with his own." IRONY! It's like an episode of "Batman," where the action becomes the sound effect! PIFF! ZAP! HYPOCRISY!

And finally:

Russ Smith on why Russ Smith should be fired:

"While it is unlikely that the prickly Boomer would actually do the deed himself, if the company's fortunes continue to decline, in terms of both money and prestige, I imagine there will be any number of family stockholders who'll be happy to kick the middle-aged scion.?"

Alphonse X. Alfonso, via email

WHAT ABOUT DOWNTOWN EXPRESS?

The only thing worth reading in the current paper's incarnation is the letters section. The rest of the diminishing paper's self-satisfied, anti-political kid writing is an embarrassment to the Press' originators. There really is no viable alternative weekly in this town.

Rachael Rakes, via email

WISE WILL ROGERS

Why is it that each time I read an article in the popular press about public broadcasting I am reminded of that Will Rogers' line that it's not that he doesn't know a lot of things about the subject, it's just that none of what he knows is true?

McVeigh picks some selective examples of programs aired during fund-raising periods to characterize 9500+ hours of programming that are broadcast on PBS in a year; thousands of hours of instructional material used in elementary and secondary schools, hundreds of hours of teacher training materials and development courses; comprehensive companion Web sites for more than 1,300 PBS television programs and specials, as well as original Web content on more than 175,000 pages and growing larger each quarter with over three billion page views annually and downloads of over 12 million per day; localized accredited courses and licensing for day care providers, law enforcement, emergency responders and others; literacy improvement programs and training for the illiterate, raising and equipping thousands of volunteers for many local and national outreach projects that build on the local community services enhanced by the programs; and a host of services that expand on this list.

And, no, "Frontline" would not be done by some other channel because it is not simply a passive TV program but extensively researched documentation of critical subjects that does more than simply speculate on what might be. ÊCommercial producers do infotainment pieces that are not expected to live beyond the time it took for the audience to absorb the commercials with the production-hyped program being the filler that tries to retain their eyeballs in front of the screen for the duration.

David Brugger, via email

MISCHIEF BREWING

Azi Paybarah's dispatch concerning the race to replace outgoing Council Speaker Gifford Miller missed some other potential mischief ["The Real Race," Nov. 9].

According to the 2000 census, the average New Yorker earns $41,000 per year. Contrast this with a Councilmanic's base salary of $91,000-for a part time job. That's often supplemented with lulus for chairing a committee than range from $4,000 up to to $28,000. Why not introduce legislation that in exchange for any salary increase, Council members would serve full time, thus avoiding any conflicts of interest for Councilmanics who practice law or have another job on the side.

Larry Penner, Great Neck

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

Regarding your Halloween issue cover reporting on Petro Collapse, and the following week's letters page exchange, I would like to contribute notes regarding what New York Press writer Grant Causwell missed ["The Coming Petro Collapse," Oct. 26, "Peak-oil nuts talk dirty to us about the glorious ravages of the apocalypse," Soapboxing, Nov. 2].

While recognizing something that Causwell acknowledged-that fossil fuels are finite and that this dooms our suburban life-styles [Causwell hardly declared the end of our "suburban life-styles." -The Eds.]-there were differences in the views of speakers regarding further implications.

I approached the subject from its environmental side-something your reporter missed altogether. I argue that THE REAL COST OF FUEL IS CLIMATE CHANGE. I was speaking of the Katrina effect-our understanding that the Katrina and Rita Hurricanes tell us we must start decreasing CO2 emissions. My argument is thus that eventually we will understand that we must start using less oil even before we are forced to do so because of decreased supply. I spoke of changes of life-style and our learning to live less energy-demanding existences. I mentioned my recent trip to Bhutan in order to learn what the King of Bhutan means by "Gross National Happiness." I advocated that a major part of the reduced energy needs should come from renewable sources of energy.

My reporting from the meeting includes my disagreement of 25 years with Professor David Pimentel, who also spoke at this Conference. He does not believe in biofuels and in renewables while I, and most scientists who try to soften our addiction to oil, see in them the way to provide for our residual energy needs after we have brought ourselves to our senses and reduced our needs for energy. There are no sound technological answers that will allow us to continue to waste energy but by doing the right things we can avoid the predicted effects of Petro Collapse, but we cannot avoid change.

Let us avoid empty exchanges in favor of practical positive new ways Sustainable Development was officially placed on the international negotiating table in 1992 at the UN Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Jan Lundberg, after leaving the oil industry, also joined the advocates of Sustainable Development and was with me in Kyoto in 1997-we even shared a room-at the birth of the Kyoto Protocol. If his actions now may seem extreme to Causwell, this may simply be a result of the slowness of our leadership in grasping the seriousness of the problem. This is no laughing matter. People must understand that drilling for oil in Alaska is a fake answer; believing that this is not so will indeed bring us to petrocollapse.

Pincas Jawetz, Manahattan

[SustainabiliTank.info]