Quotes of the Day
I am glad that people like Bono and Bill Gates are endorsing the practice of spreading corporate profits among the world's disadvantaged and helping convince the business élite that it is in their interest to care about the world's less fortunate [Aug. 11]. Both individuals have used their influence to do great things. But let's not forget that our elected representatives must be the ones held responsible for protecting the poor. Since the government must set a minimum wage for justice's sake, perhaps it can set maximums for corporate profits or individual salaries and offer incentives for the rich to give back.
Ralph Scheidler, FORT FAIRFIELD, MAINE, U.S.
Gates' article made me want to stand up and cheer. As he phrased it, "There are two great forces of human nature: self-interest and caring for others." By using his own wealth and influence to respond to world poverty in a meaningful way, Gates exemplifies the latter force. His initiatives (sharing technology, providing small-business loans, eradicating preventable diseases) make measurable differences.
Rebecca E. Hight, PENNEY FARMS, FLA., U.S.
I applaud the Andrew Carnegie type of philanthropic work that Gates is trying to accomplish — not only with his resources but also with the resources of any major corporation. Corporations that adopt his ideas might find a win-win situation for everyone involved. I would support businesses that adopt this philosophy.
Jeff Heinz, HOUSTON
While Gates does a fine job outlining his creative-capitalism initiative, his exclusive focus on developing nations at the expense of his own is a tremendous oversight. Corporations in developed countries certainly should feel socially responsible for those in developing ones. But if they ever want to be taken seriously as agents of social change, they need to consider their own nation's economy as well. Gates is incorrect to brush over the U.S.'s economic woes so lightly, especially when creative capitalism could solve some problems like our oft-neglected poverty. Only when America proves that capitalism can cure social ills within its borders should it start looking to prove so abroad.
Regina Tavani, NASHUA, N.H., U.S.
Gratit-E.U.-de
Europe's frustration with creating a binding narrative reminds me of another group of diverse people who couldn't agree on much — Canadians [Aug. 11]. Much like the E.U., Canada has constituents who pull it in different directions, wary of quick action or consolidation by any one group. I believe the heart of Canadian goodness can be found in the checks and balances that result from this interplay. I would encourage the E.U. to appreciate what it has — a collection of peacefully co-existing cultures possessing a collective voice with which to speak to the world.
Jeff Faris, WATERLOO, ONT., CANADA
Star Quality
Saying Barack Obama's celebrity is a reason he would not make a good President is like saying, "Sure, Tiger Woods is a celebrity, but can he play golf?" [Aug. 11]. Woods is a celebrity because he is good at what he does: golf. Obama is a celebrity because he is good at politics. Period.
Ignacio Acosta, ARLINGTON, TEXAS, U.S.
The point of Ramesh Ponnuru's commentary seems to be that Obama benefits from "plain old liberal bias" while John McCain suffers from it. But the claim that the mainstream media are "smitten with Obama" wasn't reflected in a recent analysis by George Mason University's Center for Media and Public Affairs, which found that on the three major TV networks, coverage of Obama during the first six weeks of the general election was 72% negative and only 28% positive. McCain's coverage, by contrast, was 57% negative and 43% positive.
Jessica G. Gugino,
AYER, MASS., U.S.
Let the Games Begin
I'd like to thank Alice Park and the folks at TIME for the article on Dara Torres [Aug. 4]. As a 40-year-old father of three young ones, I have long taken pride in my training and strength. I invested a lot of time in trail-running and martial arts. However, this past November I underwent neurosurgery to remove a tumor from my spinal cord. I now need a cane to walk and have lost dexterity in my right arm. Not only will women be cheering for Dara, but us "older" guys will be stomping our canes for her as well.
Robert Zuni, MARTINEZ, CALIF., U.S.
If Torres tests positive for steroid
use, then certainly, let's all be disappointed and heap derision on her. For now, may we please celebrate her focus, competitive spirit, discipline and willpower?
Nancy Johnson, AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.
I recognize that your magazine caters largely to a U.S. audience, but the over-representation of U.S. athletes in "100 Olympic Athletes to Watch" may mean that some readers do not focus on athletes from other countries who have fascinating stories.
Richard Barrett, HONOLULU
Beijing's Obstacle Course
In "The Olympic Challenge," Pico Iyer insinuates that the world will regret awarding China the 2008 Olympics as it did with the 1936 Games in Berlin [Aug. 4]. Why even mention that established architect Albert Speer, the son of Hitler's architect, contributed to the design of the event? China is not without indiscretions, but to equate the country with the Nazi regime is reprehensibly unjust.
Winston Wang, PRINCETON, N.J., U.S.
The Diplomacy Gap
Massimo Calabresi's article reads like a State Department press release [Aug. 11]. How is it that when the White House declares a "diplomacy surge," this message is dutifully repeated in the mainstream press yet when Iranian President Mohammed Khatami offered to negotiate all outstanding issues with the U.S. in 2003, the press ignored Iran's diplomatic gestures?
Timothy Eddy, PITTSFIELD, MASS., U.S.
McCain Takes the Gloves Off
RE Joe Klein's column "Blowing His
Top" [Aug. 4]. The most remarkable thing about John McCain's tirade in Rochester, N.H. — "Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign" — was the satisfied grin he had one second after this despicable charge, as if he had been so pleased that he managed to make the whole statement without messing it up. His entire team must have breathed a sigh of relief.
Gayle Miller, CRESCO, PA., U.S.
Mr. Obama Goes to Europe
I enjoyed Karen Tumulty's article and overseas interview with Barack Obama [Aug. 4]. As a military man who spent some 35 years in active duty or working as a contractor for the U.S. Air Force, I appreciated Senator Obama's comment on our military mission: "We still have the most valuable possible resource to get the job done — and that's our men and women in uniform." That statement makes him qualified in my mind to be the Commander in Chief.
Sid Howard, MIDWEST CITY, OKLA., U.S.
Obama failed to offer much hope to the Palestinians, who were afforded just an hour of the 36 hours that he spent in Israel during his overseas trip. Even his speech in Berlin — in which he said, "The greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another" — fell short. Obama's true commitment to eliminating the walls that stand between nations, races and religions remains to be proved.
Saber Ahmed Jazbhay, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
Unretiring Diva
It's a pity that your "Brief History of: Un-Retirement" focused on sports stars
[July 28]. Otherwise, it might have mentioned the celebrated case of soprano Dame Nellie Melba. The phrase "More farewells than Nellie Melba" still has currency in her native Australia. After her official farewell at London's Covent Garden in 1926, she returned to Australia two years later to sing farewell in Sydney and, over the next few months, Melbourne, Geelong, and finally Adelaide. No matter whether the arena is sporting, theatrical or musical, no one can really be said to have "done a Melba" who hasn't resurrected him — or herself at least twice.
Norm Stevens, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
New Beliefs
Aravind Adiga is appalled by western mysticism and refers to it as "mumbo jumbo" [July 28]. How sad. Science and mathematics are obviously important (I am not interested in either), but has he never heard of inexplicable recoveries from serious health problems that cannot be scientifically explained by the orthodox medical profession? Technology comes from the mind, spirituality from the soul. To quote William Shakespeare's Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Vivienne Lloyd,
GERMISTON, SOUTH AFRICA
Obama and Patriotism
I read with much joy what obama
wrote [July 28] when explaining what patriotism is all about. As an African born and brought up in a rural area of Nigeria, I only understand that patriotism here and in some other parts of Africa is about looting of public treasury by our political and military leaders; corruption as a normal way of life by public officers; crime; violence and worst of all, militancy by our youth. How wrong I was, and how misleading my own conception of patriotism is. I read Obama's speech over 20 times and recited it like a prayer. Truly, it is only in the U.S. that people from backgrounds similar to Obama's can have the opportunities they need to excel in their career. There can only be a global village when everybody is allowed to exist in peace and harmony in any part of world he or she chooses to live.
Akpa Jude, EMENE, NIGERIA
Long Live the Louvre!
Peter Gumbel's article "Le Louvre
Inc." warmed the cockles of my heart [July 28]. It's clear that my favorite museum is well cared for by its director, Henri Loyrette, who has visionary ideas for keeping the Louvre alive and vibrant for the whole world to enjoy.
Issa Boullata, MONTREAL
- Gratit-E.U.-de; Star Quality; Let the Games Begin; Beijing's Obstacle Course