The reason that Congress has become so disenchanted with the Legal Services Corp. is that it has become a big supporter of radical left-wing causes with the public's money. NOLAC has suffered because of that. I suggest you do an article on why the funding was cut, with many legislators wanting to eliminate LSC.
--Wayne Blankenship Jr.

Not a Good Thing
How could you, in good conscience, include a feature from Martha Stewart in the Sept. 10 edition of Gambit Weekly (Home Smart, "Ask Martha")? The next thing you will run is an article written by Kenneth Lay on "How to Run a Business, for Me!"

Oh, yes, Martha Stewart has not been convicted of anything as of yet, although her attorney did recently state that she will take the Fifth in the up-coming congressional hearings. Heck, what am I thinking? We all know that's not an admission of guilt.

But let's put things into today's perspective -- Martha sells. And I'm here to tell you, I don't know what I would have done without her "Shrimp Kebabs with Lemon Wedges and Cilantro" recipe, not to mention her "Curried Lamb, blah, blah, blah" recipe. The only thing that I would like to read from Ms. Stewart is her stock market recipe.

Amazing the double standards we're faced with. Take Pete Rose; what a bad guy he was. He admitted betting his own money on sporting events. Also, let's remember no bets were wagered on games in which he had any influence. "Bad Guy Pete," although considered by some as one of the greatest baseball players who ever played the game, is banned from baseball for life.

Meanwhile, Martha Stewart gets her article published in Gambit. Thanks again, Martha and Gambit, for the tip on keeping my "skewers assembled with raw ingredients on ice." I would have never thought of that.
-- Louie Duet

Lifting the Blackout
Many thanks to the editors of Gambit for printing A.C. Thompson's "Media Blackout" article on the annual report from Project Censored (Sept. 10). This is certainly the most important stuff of our time.

Great power carries with it great responsibility. Unfortunately, many Americans, politicians, press and citizens have oversimplified their position of privilege in the world. We must be vigilant, realizing that we are a huge target with a great deal more to lose than any other. We must bear more responsibility for our decisions, but very important decisions require better perspective than what most Americans can easily access in a vastly over-commercialized media and body politic.
-- Stephen Guerdon Smith

South Louisiana Saviors
Aw, shucks...

Being a Lafayette-bred USL alum, I enjoyed and appreciated Scott Jordan's "exposé" of Saints backup quarterback Jake Delhomme ("The Two Jakes," Sept. 3). Jake seems to embody the best quality of south Louisiana: the ability to embrace "joie de vivre" as a way of life while not taking yourself (or your position in life) too seriously.

I seem to recall another famous Ragin' Cajun athlete showing a similar side to his character in the late '70s/early '80s. Imagine a starting major league pitcher today volunteering to move to the bullpen to "help the team" a few years after the best (25-3) record-to-date in Major League Baseball history (with the New York Yankees, at that!).

Is it just my imagination or are Ron Guidry and Jake Delhomme the homegrown saviors of professional sports run amok?
--Marc Pelletier

Tobacco Terrorists?
I recently moved to New Orleans, and all of my new colleagues and coworkers have lauded Gambit Weekly as the premiere source of local information. I was interested to read your stories about the memories of the 9/11 attacks ("11 Stories," Sept. 10).

However, as I began to flip through the issue, I noticed that your publication contains advertisements for cigarettes. I am aware that Gambit relies on advertisements for financial survival, but I wonder if you are aware of the dangers of smoking.

According to the American Heart Association, 400,000 deaths in the United States are attributed to smoking-related illnesses; each year, smoking kills almost as many people as live in Orleans Parish. Moreover, smoking kills more than 100 times as many people each year as died in the 9/11 attacks. Perhaps Gambit's next act of patriotism would be to stop promoting cigarettes so that more Americans can live. Although people don't think of smoking as a form of terrorism, the death toll attributed to smoking greatly exceeds that of terrorist attacks. We might consider giving smoking the bad press it deserves.
--Jamie Griffith
Psychology Intern, VA Medical Center