[Cover, "Unusual Suspects," Brian Hickey, July 6, 2006] showed that protest targets should be better selected. Clearly, the recruiters behaved in a friendly, respectful and responsive manner. I would suggest to the organizers that they should have selected better targets, the men like [U.S. Senators] Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum who are sending men and boys to Iraq to be killed. I doubt that the protesters, grannies though they may be, would have been as kindly treated had they gone to the Federal Building to lobby our representatives in the U. S. Senate.

Recruiters are doing a necessary job. We do need military forces. It is the despicable Bushes, Cheneys, Specters and Santorums that are misusing them. These men, a rare few of whom have served on active duty, have proven why a volunteer army is good for a war-mongering administration. ... Do you think this disaster would continue if the people in Congress had children or grandchildren in the services?

I. Milton Karabell

There's a war going on right here in the U.S. with more than two million, mostly people of color, in prison. Maybe what the penal system needs is a few more gray-haired, anti-war grannies behind bars, to shake up and bring everyone into the streets.

Take me to Iraq, not our grandchildren! Bring the troops home. Now!

Marlene Santoyo

Philadelphia Grandmothers for Peace

I read with amusement in these very pages your attack on my integrity [Naked City, "Katz out of the Bag," A.D. Amorosi, June 29, 2006]. Funny, you never said anything to me other than "Hello" when we crossed paths and shook hands at the recent groundbreaking for the Pearl Condominium project. Your long-distance, very personal sniping confirms what I always believed: You're a loser and a pussy, Sam.

You think I'm truth-challenged? Here's some truth for you. You lost another election. You are an egotistical, unlikable, untrustworthy, perennial loser. When news of "the bug" broke, you choked. No one — including me — knew anything about the origin or purpose of the bug at that time. All I did was suggest to the media that the timing of the discovery of the bug was curious, as Mayor Street had just pulled ahead by 11 points in the most recent poll, and pointed out that the Republican Party had a well-documented history of dirty political trickery. In other words, Sam, the Street team framed the argument for a skeptical populace while you sat with your thumb up your fat ass. That doesn't make me truth-challenged, it just makes me more politically savvy and gutsier than you.

Finally, may I inquire as to how many more screenings of

you can attend? Have you missed one yet, you egomaniac? Your pal Tigre Hill's bit of cinematic propaganda won't change that outcome. For God's sake, get over yourself, stop whining like a petulant child, and fade into oblivion already.

Frank Keel

[Editor's Letter, "Spirit of '76," Duane Swierczynski, July 6, 2006] made me laugh out loud. I was 3 years old during the Bicentennial. I remember it vividly as well since we had a huge birthday party for my grandmother, who was 76 in 1976. I also remember my mother redoing my brother's bedroom in red, white and blue (bright red carpet we still have and blue curtains with white stars). The editorial made me sentimental for that time, and nostalgic. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

Susan Phillips

Last week's Feeding Frenzy column [Drew Lazor, July 6, 2006] reported that the Water Works Restaurant (640 Water Works Dr., 215-236-9000) opened Thursday, July 6, when in fact an opening date has not yet been set. City Paper regrets the error.

The reporting of absolute lies about the White Dog has got to stop [Feedback, "Another Satisfied Customer," July 6, 2006]. I have at least 10 former dishwashers working in the kitchen right now. Not to mention the dozen or so former dishwashers that have moved into the kitchen and have left to work in other restaurants as cooks.

I was the one that hired [Eduardo] Castillo. Was he over qualified to be a dishwasher? Maybe. Was it the only job available? Yes. I told him that if a cook job ever came up I would give him a shot. As for being privileged, does working 70 hours a week when needed sound privileged? Does not having a day off with my wife, or not seeing my family, sound like I am privileged? I am privileged because I love what I do and where I work.

Ask anybody who works for me if they are treated justly or feel appreciated. I am certain that they will say yes.

Andrew Brown

Executive Chef, White Dog Cafe

I am glad that British legislator confirmed what I have believed all along [Slant, "Puff, Puff, Bash," Michael J. McFadden, June 29, 2006]. For someone like that to even admit the deception behind smoking bans is progress even though it is awful to hear. At least some truth is finally creeping through concerning the true motivations behind these bans.

Smoking bans are nothing more than social engineering, plain and simple.

Hope your mayor sees fit to stop this in its tracks. Not only is Philly a city of liberty, it is also one of the hallmarks of jazz and the jazz I love most in particular, the music of the Hammond B3 organ. It would be a shame for all the great live music Philly is known for ... regardless of genre ... to be silenced in the clubs simply because of the economic problems that always hit the live music clubs after these bans are implemented. The musicians are the first to feel the bite, get the pink slips, and the ones forgotten in all this. Next are the waitstaff and the club owners themselves.

I do hope common sense will prevail in Philly and this ban is stopped in its tracks.

Linda Dachtyl

Columbus, Ohio

Michael J. McFadden, coordinator of something called the Pennsylvania Smokers' Action Network, writes that Council adopted the smoking ban based upon bad science and this legislation threatens our liberty and freedom. Anyone with knowledge of McFadden's organization would dismiss anything they have to say.

Just take a look at their Web site. It opens up with the greeting "Thank You For Smoking!" The site also has a disturbing section titled "Why do we die?" This question is followed by the arrogant response, "The number 1 reason: We are human. We all die." Unbelievably, this site discounts the well-known effect smoking has on one's health by stating "Not 1 Death or Sickness Etiologically Assigned to Tobacco."

You can listen to the sophist rantings of McFadden or listen to Surgeon General Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., who this past week stated in a report, "There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke."

McFadden makes an argument that even executives of the major tobacco companies, who were threatened with perjury, have disavowed. In fact the well-reviewed book

e reports that secret research conducted by cigarette company Philip Morris in the 1980s showed that secondhand smoke was highly toxic, yet the company suppressed the finding during the next two decades. One wonders if McFadden has the same attitude that "freedom" and "liberty" would permit him to spray insecticide in a public place? Would the otherwise progressive City Paper publish such garbage?

This is what we know about smoking: There are more than 4,000 chemical compounds in secondhand smoke, 200 of which are known to be poisonous, and upwards of 60 have been identified as carcinogens. Secondhand smoke has been linked to lung, cervical and breast cancer. In children, secondhand smoke has been linked to low birth weight for gestational age, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), acute lower respiratory tract infections, asthma, chronic respiratory symptoms and middle ear infections. Secondhand tobacco smoke is the second leading preventable cause of death among nonsmokers.

The American Lung Association reports that secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000-62,000 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the economic benefits of most workplaces and public places going smoke-free would exceed the cost by $39 to $72 billion annually.

McFadden states that the smoking ban is based on lies yet his argument made under oath would result in a perjury conviction. He closes his argument by waving the patriotic flag stating that a smoking ban in inconsistent with liberty and freedom. This country has never recognized a freedom to kill. McFadden's right to destroy himself with a deadly habit does not give him the freedom to poison and threaten the life and safety of my family and the workers in Philadelphia who choose to use a public accommodation.

Let McFadden preach freedom in the graveyards where the victims of his obsession rot in their graves.

Mitchell Golding

Queen Village

[Cover, "Book Quarterly, Dating the Dating Columnist," Ashlea Halpern, June 22, 2006] portrays [Ron Geraci] as a poor listener who can't find a woman with whom he could be happy, and is a mixed bag of old and new male-female standards, as well as on the fringe of being a pig.

Unfortunately, your references to "Don't dole out blowjobs until the third date" and "It was fucking Jimmy Stewart" are just not the kinds of phrases that should [emanate] from the fingers (or lips) of someone who wants to attract a great man in their life. A man isn't enough, unless he is also a gentleman.

Why you would date someone 12 years older is a mystery. Height doesn't matter, if the man is worthy of engaging conversation and a second date. Maybe he wanted a younger woman; but truth be told, it was almost middle age dating the next generation. He was out of high school long before you entered junior high. Naturally, you both assumed you had something in common, but it was fleeting at best. Age does come with some kind of sophistication, even if it is found in some jerk who likes Sinatra, but probably can't remember hearing him croon on the radio either. That still makes him a fan, but labels him as a jerk, at some level. I wonder why he would ask if you liked Sinatra ... he wouldn't get an honest "yes" unless it was someone 20 years his senior, whom he wouldn't be caught dead dating. The question should never been proposed. Case closed.

Geraci wasn't out of your league, but I am not at all sure there was a league, period. Men always want younger women because they don't really see themselves in the mirror, and are all convinced that they deserve the woman not even remotely close to their age and mental capacity.

Real ladies don't pay for a dinner with any man. The graphic particulars of sleeping with a man isn't discussed ... especially in print. If he wants trash talk, let him go find the local prostitute, but never lower your descriptive phrases into the gutter.

You write well, but leave the street language at home along with your cell phone ... at the very least, turn it off and bury it at the bottom of your purse.

Women have always been shrouded in mystery until the last 20-30 years; now we are allowed to say anything we want, but not everything is worthy of the effort ... and in the last 20-30 years too many men have equated sexual favors with a dinner or anything else. Geraci references an e-mail thanking a man for money spent on anything, but real gentlemen always contact a lady the next day to tell them how much they enjoyed the time together.

Perhaps you were out of his league because you pulled out your wallet and then let him pay after all. Somehow, that portrays a level of insincerity.

Next time, an honest answer about Sinatra may have netted you a second date. Men hate dishonesty, especially on a first date. If you find a man that allows you to pay his way, he isn't worthy of a second thought ... let alone stealing a kiss from your lips.

Catherine Wallace

Northern Virginia

Very good. I rarely write anybody [but] I really liked your style. Keep writing!

Jennifer Hayes

Jacksonville, Fla.