Quotes of the Day

I read with fascination your article on museum curator Irving Finkel and his research into the Royal Game of Ur [June 30-July 7]. But Finkel's claim that Monopoly introduced the last "momentous" innovation in board games is not true by a long shot: the last 15 years have seen great innovations in board game design, with one title, Settlers of Catan, almost single-handedly sparking a renaissance in board gaming in Europe. It doesn't end there: other ground-breaking designs and retoolings of classic American games (like Risk) have introduced ideas that leave many older games in the dust. Dedicated fans — such as the more than 250,000 people who visit the Essen games fair in Germany every year — know that to be true and they would be the first to tell you board game designs have come a long way, baby!
Jan Velinger, PRAGUE

In the article "Big Game Hunter," William Green mentions Finkel saying that pachisi was repackaged in Britain as ludo and exported back to India around the 1960s. To put the record straight: we played ludo in India in the 1940s!
Krishna Dutt, STOCKHOLM

China's Young Athletes
While it may be interesting that China is working hard to present itself as a benevolent power on the world stage, why do we ignore the cost of its goals [June 30-July 7]? When did it become acceptable for a 14-year-old girl to be taken from her home and forced to become a weight lifter? When did we start to treat such actions as nothing more than growing pains? America didn't become the world's athletic powerhouse by placing athletes in servitude. It didn't search rural Alabama for Jesse Owens, take him from his home and tell him to teach Hitler a lesson. China needs to understand that it will never be a real power until its people are free to choose their own direction, that national pride comes from personal pride in a (freely chosen) job well done. We need to stop treating China like our precocious little brother and, instead, have it play by the West's rules: democracy.
Robert Rakoczy, HAMILTON, ONT., CANADA

Although Hannah Beech's article underscores some important truths about young Chinese athletes, it is also a throwback to cold war depictions of the Chinese as brainwashed "pawns of the state." When will TIME stop making value judgments and maintain a sense of cultural relativity? I grew up with many athletes in America who, just like the athletes in this article, have neglected higher academics to achieve success in sports. I've not only known but had coaches who are just as tough, if not tougher, than the coaches described in this article. And, oh, yeah — the "propaganda director" of Weifang City Sports School? I believe he would be called a "public relations" agent in the U.S.
Samantha Chen, ALAMEDA, CALIF., U.S.

Rugby and Race
Your feature on South African rugby and its ideological connections with apartheid was excellent [June 30-July 7] but you should have been more specific. There are two codes of rugby: rugby union and rugby league. Rugby union was the sport closely associated with the Afrikaner white-dominated apartheid regime. Indeed, rugby league was banned during that period because it was seen as a subversive influence in sport. It is unfair to tar rugby league with the same brush as rugby union.
Michael O'Hare, NORTHWOOD, ENGLAND

Alex Perry should have mentioned that when a white Springbok team visited New Zealand it was called racism, but when a Maori rugby team tour South Africa it is called culture.
Johan Bekker, STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA

Zimbabwe's Cruel Example
Readers may gaze upon the antics of African dictators with astonishment and upon the citizens of their respective countries with dismay for supporting them. Zimbabwe is an obvious case in point [June 30-July 7]. Robert Mugabe has dragged his country down into economic disaster, followed by the abject poverty of his countrymen. And yet millions of Zimbabweans support him with acclaim. Why? Well, few non-Africans understand the African condition. Poverty is not the main cause of the plight of so many African nations — tribal animosities and the resultant wars, genocide and the squandering of the nations' resources on weapons and corrupt practices are. The chief of your tribe can do no wrong and African culture demands that he or she be supported at all costs. There is no point in blaming the colonialist occupations of the past for Africa's downfall. In virtually every case the colonialists left behind efficient infrastructures and resources upon which the Africans could build, but most of these have collapsed. The West is justifiably horrified at the events in Zimbabwe (not so China, which has filled the gap with alacrity), but it must remember that the current regime is the one it wanted and got. The same applies to South Africa, the economic and social framework of which is rapidly following the same path as Zimbabwe. Watch this space.
Ben Stander, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Ireland Votes No
It is not right or fair for leaders within Europe to threaten to isolate Ireland from the European Union [June 30-July 7]. Ireland may be a small country, but as history has proved, it has never been one to shrink from the bigger and stronger bully. It is true to say that the Irish people owe a huge debt to the great powerhouses of Europe for helping our little island through recession, but democracy is priceless and Ireland will not repay its debts through silence and obedience. José Manuel Barroso and Nicolas Sarkozy might not like the Irish vote, but that is the price all politicians pay for democracy.
Niamh Cooke, CORK, IRELAND

Tibetan Buddhists, Divided
Your article "Tibetan Idol" makes it appear that Ogyen Trinley Dorje is universally accepted as the 17th Karmapa and, as such, is recognized as the undisputed spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage, one of the four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism [June 9]. The authenticity of the "prediction letter" you cite naming Ogyen Trinley Dorje as Karmapa has been widely questioned. In fact, he is one of two spiritual leaders who now lay claim to the title. The other, Trinley Thaye Dorje, also recognized as the 17th Karmapa, visited the U.S. in 2003 and currently draws crowds of thousands when he speaks around the world.
Suzan Garner, PRESIDENT, SIDDHARTHA FOUNDATION, SANTA BARBARA, CALIF., U.S.

• China's Young Athletes; Rugby and Race; Zimbabwe's Cruel Example; Ireland Votes No