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The fascinating success of Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne [Nov. 29] opens a brilliantly lit pathway out of the gloom and disappointment in which man has been stranded since the Challenger and Columbia space-shuttle disasters. SpaceShipOne minimizes risks to itself and its crew. SpaceShipOne works its way into space and is the most human-friendly space vehicle man has yet devised.
ASHOKA WEERAKKODY
Colombo, Sri Lanka
That's Not Entertainment
Your item "Reality Bytes" reported on the Internet game JFK Reloaded [Dec. 6]. It is absolutely despicable that people would make a computer game about a real-life tragedy like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The creators of the game seem to accept the Warren Commission's finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman involved, even though many documentaries question that conclusion. JFK Reloaded makes killing seem like a game, and is very insensitive to the surviving Kennedys and all who admired Kennedy's presidency.
ANDR MOLLON
Victoria, B.C
Man-Made Deity
"Is God In Our Genese?" was interesting but hardly surprising [Oct. 25]. The answer to the basic question of whether religion was created by man from cues sent from above or a sense of the divine evolved in us has long seemed obvious to Northern Europeans of my generation: man made God out of a need for a God and benefited from the invention. I was, however, surprised by the reverence the story showed toward religion. But then it struck me that this attitude might be a genuine example of the American mind-set — that religion really matters. That goes a long way toward explaining the otherwise inexplicable fact that dynamic, energetic and in many other ways admirable Americans re-elected Bush.
CHRISTER ALBACK
Vasteras, Sweden
Better Than Nothing
In his commentary "Do They Know It's Simplistic?" [Dec. 13], Simon Robinson criticizes the remake of the Band Aid song Do They Know It's Christmas? Robinson objects to the song because it "reinforces the popular impression that all Africans are starving as they wait for heroic Westerners to come and save them." He notes that most Africans are not starving and that democracy has begun to take hold. I agree with Robinson's point that the song draws an out-of-date picture of Africa, but in a time when egoism has become a new lifestyle, we should acknowledge every bit of goodwill that is offered. Even though Africa has changed and some countries have got rid of their dictatorships and established democracies, there are still many problematic regions left — Sudan, for example — where help is desperately needed. Let us appreciate Band Aid and African activists for doing something instead of sitting around twiddling their thumbs.
SIMONE UNVERDORBEN
Augsburg, Germany