Saturday, December 8, 2007

Problematic Placement

While I appreciate your coverage of the 12,000-flags project with a photo [Metro, Nov. 30], I take exception to the photo's placement within an article on HIV-AIDS. The flags, as your caption correctly stated, represented the number of military personnel thrown out of the services under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

With rare exception, these service members were thrown out solely because they were gay. "Don't ask, don't tell" is a government-sanctioned policy of job discrimination and needs to be repealed, a position The Post has supported in numerous editorials.

Putting the flag photo in a story about HIV-AIDS showed a huge lack of understanding about "don't ask, don't tell" and HIV-AIDS. While both are important issues, this type of reporting serves only to perpetuate the myth that HIV-AIDS is predominantly a gay disease.

-- Joan E. Darrah

Alexandria

Arlen SpecterIsFunny

Gene Weingarten's critical Nov. 18 column in the Magazine certainly missed the audience's loud and long laughter in response to Sen. Arlen Specter's humor in the charity celebrity contest. Readers can judge for themselves by viewing the performance on YouTube, which has had more than 12,000 hits. Keith Olbermann featured part of it on MSNBC, and Philadelphia's CBS radio station played the entire soundtrack with riotous responses.

-- Kate Kelly

Press Secretary

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)

Washington

The Slighted Davis Cup

The United States won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1995. That's 12 years, and The Post put the news at the bottom of Page D7.

Surely this news rated a spot on the front page; you know, below the Redskins news somewhere.

-- Ottilia Nyman

Herndon

A Giuliani Ode, Please

Thanks for the heartwarming and encouraging feature "The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich" [Style, Dec. 5]. This 3,072-word valentine was a welcome read on a snowy morning. Covering more than 1 1/2 pages, including three photos (hugging, kissing and hand-holding), the account was truly inspirational.

I trust that, in these days of bitter and tawdry electioneering, Post readers can expect more such coverage. Noting the similarities with another presidential hopeful, Rudy Giuliani -- no Hollywood poster boy, either; twice divorced; third marriage, to a much younger woman who is widely considered quite the catch; apparent true love at last -- I look forward to your companion piece on the former New York mayor.

-- Carl Thomason

Bethesda

Taiwan's Teens Shone

Reading the Dec. 5 news story "U.S. Teens Trail Peers Around World on Math-Science Test," I was shocked that the reporter chose to discuss a table of 30 countries instead of using another table, of 57 countries.

This choice denied readers full information about the survey discussed and failed to give deserved credit to Taiwanese teens for their achievement in math and science. According to the Financial Times, Taiwan's students were ranked No. 1 in math, beating Finland, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Although Finland was No. 1 in science, Taiwan was ranked No. 4 in that category, behind Hong Kong and Canada.

-- Liu-Hsiung Chuang

Great Falls