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You asked "Who can lead us out of this mess?" We also have to ask; "Who got us into this mess and how do we get them to their Nuremberg?"
Joachim Zimmer, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
In Defense of Wine's Terroir
In "Fifty States of Wine," we have more underinformed pabulum [Oct. 6]. I am no snob, but I expect what's in the bottle to accurately reflect the wine's place of origin, traditions, agricultural history and, yes, terroir, which describes all of the preceding. Neither Joel Stein nor Fred Franzia has enough understanding of the subject to speak of it intelligently and should not be relied on to teach curious readers.
David Moore, Moore Brothers Wine Co., PENNSAUKEN, N.J., U.S.
Were your critic's disparaging remarks about American wines [Oct. 6] just sour grapes?
Jack Dinsdale, MILTON KEYNES, ENGLAND
Answer to Cancer: Prevention
The extraordinary missed opportunity in fighting cancer centers on the lack of primary prevention: avoid, reduce and eliminate exposure to carcinogens [Oct. 6]. Shamefully, the National Cancer Institute invests only a minuscule amount to prevent cancer, opting predominantly for a posteriori treatment. Mortality for certain cancers has decreased slightly in the past few years, but the incidence of cancer has not. With more than 100,000 chemicals and formula combinations on the consumer market and less than 5% being evaluated for cancer-causing potential, now is past the time for identifying chemical and environmental carcinogens.
James Huff, Ph.D., U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., U.S.
Cancer is indeed all the rage. Nevertheless, this is the one trend you don't want to follow. It is an all-consuming beast which comes uninvited and changes your life forever. If you survive to tell the tale, your life changes for the better. At 21 years old, I have very recently slain this beast after a relatively brief encounter with it. I consider myself lucky. Chemotherapy and radiation used to eradicate Hodgkin's lymphoma might make you look really unattractive, make you feel like a miserable pile of nothing and bring forth an array of various other discomforting conditions; but surviving cancer makes everyday life so much sweeter. Activism, research, funding and politics are instrumental for developing strategies for creating awareness and combating cancer. Cancer, as conversation topic, is taboo among the young. Youngsters (especially young men), I find, avoid the subject, as I'm sure it generates fear. But that's OK: at the end of the day, you (and only you) have to cope with this disease. A positive outlook and faith makes all the difference. It's a decision you make.
Pieter Erasmus, WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA
I read with interest your article on cancer. I myself was operated on last summer for prostate cancer. I am 74, so I hope for the 99% chance for the next five years. However, my opinion on cancer is that it is simply creation in reverse.
Otto V. Ludvigsen, HOLTE, DENMARK
I fear that the battle against cancer has turned into a study of greed. I am 60, and I have been watching family members die from cancer all my life, among them nonsmokers with lung cancer. I believe scientists could find a cure, but if they did, how many people would no longer be needed? Cancer has become big, big business.
S. Michael Long, LEVITTOWN, PA., U.S.
Writing Wrong?
I can't help wondering whose handwriting that is under the picture of Alec Baldwin [Oct. 6]. Not his, for sure; he was only born in 1957.
Shirley Gur Shpinoza, RAANANA, ISRAEL
Golf Crash
Sean Gregory starts his article "Crash Course" [Oct. 6] with the words "Golf carts are fun little buggers." If Mr. Gregory or the editors of TIME had checked a dictionary for the correct definition of the word "bugger," your readers would not have been subjected to such cheap, inaccurate and irresponsible journalism.
Peter Woodward, MIERLO, NETHERLANDS