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Mixed Reviews For Bush II Our Aug. 7 package on the Republican candidates for the presidential race prompted a near-unanimous response from readers who criticized George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. "Bush is a facsimile of his pretentious predecessors," wrote one. Said another: "Let's not plant another Bush in the White House." But a few hailed George W's political judgment. "The most intelligent, thoughtful thing done by a politician to date," said one, "was Bush's selection of Cheney as his running mate."

Here Comes George W Congratulations on your Aug. 7 report on George W. Bush ("Ready for Their Close-Up," U.S. AFFAIRS). I found it to be excellent and unbiased. I was beginning to think George W could not get a fair shake with the media. I was wrong.
Malcolm MacPherson
Alameda, California

Thanks for your expose on George W. Bush. Last week I was still undecided about whom to vote for in November, but now I see a man who by his own words admits supporting tax cuts for the wealthy over funding children's health and housing. Even more jaw-dropping is his genuine surprise when anyone asks him to rationalize such skewed priorities. Perhaps someone should hand the governor a dictionary so he can look up the word "compassionate"?
Brennan Enos
West Palm Beach, Florida

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It's frightening that someone who does not seem to have a profound and farsighted political platform probably will become the most powerful man on earth. As governor of Texas, he made headlines abroad only because of his controversial record on state executions whose number was higher than those in any other state. As you said, it's likely that he would be a president who depends on personal advisers rather than having far-ranging political competence. And he probably won't show farsightedness on global problems of the environment and foreign policy. Bush is willing to establish the National Missile Defense and risk the cooperation and support of Russia. I hope for the sake of America and the rest of the world that this man won't succeed Clinton as the leader of the world's only superpower.
Sebastian Wolking
Damme, Germany

In an otherwise overflattering profile of George W. Bush, we're told that "The '70s and early '80s are seen as Bush's years in the wilderness, a time when he was drifting about in a sort of restless, perpetual adolescence." What exactly was he doing between the ages of 24 and his late 30s? Was this the time of alleged business failures, drinking and womanizing? I'd expect a candidate for president to have made notable achievements during those years. Instead, we have an overconfident man with little relevant experience except being the fortunate son of a famous father. George W must be one of the least qualified presidential candidates in recent history.
Brian Savage
Bangkok, Thailand

If a big and powerful country like the United States gives presidential power to a person who kills people without adequate evidence of guilt, we as foreigners will have a lot to worry about. George Bush, the "wanna-be president," needs to show us that he can reconsider and act differently in Texas so we know he'll be a good president not only for the United States but also for managing planet Earth.
Dominique Michelin
Embrun, France

Just a word regarding the tremendously powerful speech by George W. Bush at the Republican convention. Thank God! At last someone I feel I can fully support and pray for, who truly deserves to be president! My wife and I were so blessed to hear a man who boldly declares values and principles that America desperately needs to reclaim as its own.
Len Hummel
Cebu City, Philippines

Like many Americans, my wife and I were feeling very disappointed about the coming election and, as in years before, we had decided not to vote. That changed drastically after we saw your Aug. 7 story. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney seem ready and willing to do anything in their reach to achieve their own personal goals while preparing to unleash the beast of intolerance in our beautiful America. Reading your articles only deepened our fears. We do not believe that Vice President Al Gore is going to be a good president, but at least we will have the small comfort that under his term our children will not be chastised for their ethnic background and for espousing freedom of choice or criticized for their ideals.
G. Rodriguez
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

What a surprise! The Republicans have nominated two very rich, very white oilmen who both went to Yale, both avoided Vietnam and are ready now to make other rich folks like them even richer. As a gay American in a relationship for six years, I take the November elections very personally. Behind their happy-face convention the candidates are still toeing the same old anti-choice, gay-bashing and gun-loving Republican line. I'm locking my doors right now!
Tim Miller
Los Angeles, California

The Concorde Crash I was shaken by the news of air France's tragic Concorde flight which crashed near Paris, killing 114 people ("Death in Paris," EUROPE, Aug. 7). A Titanic-like tragedy was repeated, and the world is shocked. The glamour of the Concorde ended in blood.
Andreas Karides
Nicosia, Cyprus

Speed, efficiency and safety create problems that have always dogged aviation. The question is, will we continue to fly supersonic planes after this disaster? I believe we will, but we'll do it differently. The Hindenburg disaster didn't prevent people from flying; it only changed how they did it. We still need to push toward the unknown, increase our knowledge and enhance our capabilities. We shouldn't forget how many improvements in our daily life were triggered by innovations in aerospace technology. I hope that a supersonic-transport consortium will give the world a new "bird" that will fascinate us in the same way the Concorde has done for 30 years.
Federico R. Casci
Munich, Germany

The Concorde had been the airplane with the best safety record in the world, but now, this horrible accident has altered everything. Since there were only 13 Concordes in the world, losing one is comparable to losing 70 Boeing 747s. It is good that Air France and British Airways have stopped all Concorde flights now. They cannot afford to take chances anymore.
Karsten Strey
Hamburg, Germany

With so many people flying nowadays, safety in our skies is not a salable commodity. Whatever the outcome of the Paris inquiry, airline bosses have an absolute duty to maintain and improve safety; they cannot afford to cut corners--ever. If necessary, the Concorde should be consigned to the history books.
Dominic Shelmerdine
London, England

With modern society's increasing addiction to anything that is "higher, farther, faster," tragedies like the one in Paris are waiting to happen. The technological behemoths of the past century--the Titanic, the Hindenburg and the Challenger--became victims of the same fate as the Concorde. Technology will never reach a state of perfection because, after all is said and done, its creators are no more than fallible humans.
Werner Radtke
Paderborn, Germany

The Trouble With Technology Your report about a link between cell-phone radiation and brain cancer was most informative ("Is Your Cell Really Safe?" SOCIETY & THE ARTS, Aug. 7). People who make a fortune through technology and modern advances do not accept that technology has its own risks. What about looking into microwave ovens or video-games that children play with for hours on end? It's time to acknowledge that technology might be harmful.
Leonardo Siqueira
Sao Roque, Brazil

Sailing to Switzerland What exactly do you mean when you say that cigarettes get routed "through a network of subsidiary companies in countries with free ports, including Aruba, Switzerland and the Netherlands" ("Big Tobacco's Next Legal War," BUSINESS, July 31)? Switzerland does not have an inch of coastline so I am very curious to find out how it can have "free ports."
Matthias Jaeggi
Zurich, Switzerland

Fresh Blood? History really repeats itself--people's economic desires have changed little over the centuries. For technically advanced countries like Britain, Germany and the States, enticing immigrants for jobs is not a new thing ("See How They Wander," THE G8 SUMMIT, July 24). How many "bodyshoppers" went to Asia in the 19th century speaking of the economic benefits of railroad construction and other manual labor? In fact, the demographics of both the States and Malaysia are determined by economic migration, whether forced or encouraged. But I wonder what the average not-so-open-minded American thinks when he sees new communities of immigrants moving in. Historically, immigrants are not welcome.
George Karr
Carlsbad, California

American society would become less litigious and need fewer high-tech immigrants if the country educated more scientists and fewer lawyers. Lawyers are glamorized inordinately in the States, but the law is not a productive or constructive profession.
D. Vandepitte
Ghent, Belgium

The Poor and Their Livelihood Your article "'Promised Land' Turns Deadly" (ASIA, July 24) blames the Payatas tragedy on government negligence in dealing with squatter relocation and waste management. However, an underlying reason for this dreadful event is that a large number of Filipinos continue to live in extreme poverty and are forced to scavenge their way through mountains of garbage to survive. When the Ramos administration closed down Smokey Mountain, a number of residents from that dump simply relocated to Payatas. This migration is likely to continue, and a tragedy similar to this is bound to occur when a new landfill opens up, as promised by President Estrada. Until better means of livelihood are made available, these scavengers dubbed "the poorest of the poor" still see places like Payatas as gold mines.
Hester C. See
Makati City, Philippines

You are right: this tragedy could have been prevented by the government. The problem is, the scavengers don't want to leave the area. They want to live near the trash, which is their livelihood. Dire poverty made it impossible to save the lives of these poor Filipinos.
Marie Hazel Sangitan
Legazpi City, Philippines

Endangered Languages Your report on languages spoken by so few people that they're in danger of extinction was of particular interest to me ("The Sounds of Silence" SOCIETY & THE ARTS, June 19). Icelandic, my native tongue, is spoken by fewer than 300,000 people. About 200 years ago a Danish linguist visiting Reykjavik found Icelandic so mixed with Danish that he predicted Icelandic would not be spoken after 200 years. But Icelandic has shown a remarkable resilience, probably because of our ancient literary heritage. I hope it will be alive and well 200 years hence.
Palmi Ingolfsson
Reykjavik, Iceland

In order to slow the decline of the language of a small Slavonic minority in eastern Germany (where I've been living for more than 20 years), I have learned to speak it. But the number of native speakers is shrinking steadily. Those linguists who predict the extinction of so many languages seem to be right. Is it possible that at the end of the worldwide process, there will be only one language left--international English?
Wilfried Grundei
Rackwitz, Germany

The process of destruction has also affected the Indonesian national language, Bahasa Indonesia. The causes are globalization and English--and the ignorance of the Indonesian people. In 10 years of research, I've recorded more than 2,000 English words, terms and expressions that are already commonly used in Indonesian publications, formal speeches and in daily conversation. Most of them are already modified and adjusted to Indonesian spelling and pronunciation. Sadly, these new adopted words have kicked the original Indonesian words out of circulation. They will eventually disappear forever from Bahasa Indonesia. Does anybody care?
B. R. Sayoga
Bandung, Indonesia

As a Peace Corps volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga, a small island country in the South Pacific, I have been warned that speaking a language from a country of fewer than 100,000 people will provide me with no long-term benefit. But I've earned a profound appreciation for the native people, their culture and roots that I would otherwise not enjoy without linguistic competency. Global unity is an exciting prospect, but it's unhealthy if cultures and their languages are disregarded and discarded.
Paul Neville
Nukualofa, Tonga

I thank Jeffrey Bartholet for his fascinating article about endangered languages. However, I'd like to point out an error made by a person interviewed in your article who attributed the revival of the Hebrew language to the Israeli government's interest. In fact, the Hebrew language's revival began in the late 19th century, and by the time the state of Israel was founded in 1948, modern Hebrew was already a fully developed and functioning language again. Therefore, the revival of Hebrew doesn't prove that government support is necessary for a language's revival, but rather the contrary--it proves that such intervention is unnecessary if there is an ideological movement supporting it.
Eli Engelberg
Jerusalem, Israel

I think that in a couple of centuries the only language spoken in the whole world will be English, and though it is sad to know that many languages are disappearing, it is also good to realize that if a person does not understand and speak English well, his future is really dark. All over the world people try to learn English, one way or another, irrespective of whether they live in South America or Asia. And I wouldn't really mind if someday we all use just one language--it could be an opportunity to improve the relationships between countries and between peoples.
Andre Cordova
Quito, Ecuador

Destruction of languages is not always bad, because replacing many languages with one makes it easier for rulers to govern a large country. A new culture and a new society are created; trading and sharing information are made easier. The first Emperor of China, for example, saw the problem of communication in relaying messages to his people in their various languages. He ordered other languages abolished; one unified character system was adopted under his draconian rule. His harsh law created a race known as the Chinese, or people of the Chin dynasty. Now, in our fast-paced, competitive, globalizing world, many parents are eager for their children to learn English or French first before learning their own language. Most of us are willing to throw off parts of our identity in order to survive in this highly competitive world. My own ethnic-Chinese language, Hakka, might be slowly disappearing, but if I were given a choice between learning Hakka and French, I'd pick French. The bottom line is survival.
Hendrian Sukardi
Jakarta, Indonesia

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