Letters: Jun. 13, 2005

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Time Inc. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower-court decisions and rule that TIME'S White House correspondent Matthew Cooper not be jailed for refusing to disclose confidential sources [May 23]. I commend you for standing up to government interference and coercion. Each day our rights as Americans are slowly being eroded while, for the most part, people sit by and let it happen. Please don't give up and don't give in. There are many people who support TIME and Cooper.

DANIEL SILVA - Newark, N.J.

I generally agree that journalists should not be forced to identify their confidential sources. In this case, however, it is alleged that a crime has been committed: disclosure of the name of a CIA covert operative. If that is true, those who received the illegally leaked information are accessories to the crime. It is a person's civic duty to report a crime, and that duty overrides journalistic privilege. To withhold a source's identity is an abdication of civic responsibility.

GEORGE MORLAN - Acworth, Ga.

The Sniff Test

"The Scent of a Man" reported on new research showing that homosexual men's brains register the same response to male hormonelike pheromones as women's brains do [May 23]. That finding could be used to support the idea that sexual orientation is present from birth. As a gay man, I am frustrated by the ongoing debate about whether sexual orientation is a choice. Why is it that the people who are in a position to know the answer to that question-gays-seem to be ignored by straight people? If you're straight, ask yourself when you chose to be straight. You are what you are; there's no choice involved.

CARL BECHDEL - Harrisburg, Pa.

Although a man may truly have an inclination and leaning by his very nature, and although he may show a propensity for certain conduct, none of those factors can force him to act in a particular way. He still has an absolutely free will. A human being can always learn, improve and make progress.

(RABBI) YAAKOV ROGALSKY - New York City

Universal Radio

Essayist Walter Kirn's "Stuck in the Orbit of Satellite Radio" lamented the inability to hear local programming along vast stretches of the American landscape [May 23]. The dearth of interesting local programs is a direct result of the consolidation of ownership of radio, television and print media. Locally owned radio stations cannot compete with those owned by big corporations.

SUSAN BOTTCHER - Gainesville, Fla.

Kirn underscored one of the unpleasant realities of mass-market technology: that which is designed to be acceptable to everybody ends up being suitable for nobody.

ROBERT SOLOMON - New York City