Letters to the Editor

If you think that the cellular phone craze is nuts in Japan ("The future is there," MT, June 14-20), you haven’t been to Taiwan.

I was there recently, and virtually all my friends there had a cellular phone. I wanted to get one myself because they were being used so much.

A friend told me it is more expensive to pay for phone bills when using the phone at home then it is when using a cellular phone over there, especially in Taipei, and not only for business deals either. When I wanted to call someone else that I knew in Taiwan ... I used the cell phone. —Susan Oser, Lincoln Park

Pot shot

I’m a bartender, and was shown a story in your periodical that concerned the plight of this woman who smoked, marijuana ("Going to pot," MT, June 28-July 4). Hmm ... let me think ... this girl has MS and has found something that helps her. —Devon Wood, Wetherby, England

Viva Italia

I'm very happy to see something positive written about Italy! Thanks to Adam Druckman for sharing his stories ("Wired Italia," MT, June 28-July 4) with us. My husband and I went to Italy for our honeymoon — that was four years ago. I hope to go back there again! —Lisa Bica Grodsky, [email protected], Royal Oak

A home lost

I want to thank you for your efforts to make the world aware of the Liberian affair ("War torn," MT, June 21-27). I experienced tough, life-threatening situations which caused me to abandon everything my family and I had worked for in Liberia.

There are others who went through similar situations, but we are afraid to endanger our lives, in case we are forced to return to Liberia. My stepson was shot and killed, my two first cousins were shot by rebels and died, another cousin was killed in a staged motor accident because he had been listed as someone who had returned to overthrow the government.

The United States government may as well line up all the 15,000 Liberians and put them on a firing squad, if they want to send them back. The Liberian situation is just like what happened in Kosovo. We need to be treated like the Europeans. We are people too. —Anonymous

Green team

Thanks to Jack Lessenberry for attempting to sound somewhat pro-Nader in his column ("Nader gets up to speed," MT, July 12-18). I have been petitioning to get the Green Party on the ballot for all of the right reasons; as you say, third parties have and can make a difference in national politics. Your column demonstrates a rudimentary insight that could border on an authentic voice regarding style if you didn't pander to your paranoia and nebulously state that you would prefer the "lesser of the two evils." You are exactly what's wrong with the American voter today — trapped in an electoral system that breeds fear and speculation. Have some courage-man. Don't hesitate anymore. Vote Green on election day and strongly encourage your readers to do so also. The Greens are also a social as well as a political movement that is international in nature. Do a little research into the background of the Green Party and you will be able to write a more convincing and definite essay that resonates knowledge and confidence instead of oozing impartial democratic circumvention. —John Byk, Garden City

What is hip?

I read Loose Lips hoping for a picture of what metro Detroit is about. It reads like a high school newspaper column about high school students who are adults. All you talk about week after week are the same people and places. Unfortunately, your readership falls for it. It seems your narrow column focuses on only this group of unhip hipsters and adds to the sad belief that they are contributing to society. You make fun of them and they do not even get it. —Richard C. Rollins Farmington Hills