Letters

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How to Live to Be 100
"How To Live To Be 100" described the physical habits and attitudes of centenarians [Nov. 8]. Their skills for successful aging can be employed by everyone. Let's remind one another that humor, passion and the ability to view aging as a valuable source of knowledge help us all. We should not approach growing old with thoughts of darkness, withdrawal and rejection. We need to enjoy living, no matter what our calendar years.
David A. Sorber, M.D.
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.

My mother lived for 100 years and 4 months. She gave birth to all nine of her children at home. She had no special diet; in fact she ate exactly what she wanted. She came to the U.S. from Italy at age 19. She never learned to drive, so she walked everywhere. When she was in her 90s, a young mugger tried to grab her purse. She whacked him on the head with it and spewed a few choice words at him. The woman I have most admired in the world is of course my mother!
Toni Mitchell
La Mesa, California, U.S.

Your article gave some tips on ways to live to be 100. But a leading factor, according to a study of longevity in the republic of Georgia, is the feeling of being needed. The aged there are made to feel they are necessary to their families for functions ranging from baby sitting to being a toastmaster at frequent dinners — a Georgian specialty. The researchers found that filling a need can help people overcome life's adversities.
Rodney Angove
Mountain View, California, U.S.

The Joy of Sox!
My great-grandfather Harry Frazee, who owned the Red Sox [Nov. 8] from 1916 to '23, did not sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to finance a Broadway play, as the legendary Curse of the Bambino would have it. He kept his baseball, theatrical and real estate businesses entirely separate. The so-called curse of the past 86 years has been nothing but a pathetic excuse for more than eight decades of mediocre baseball, which is thankfully now put to rest.
Jim Frazee
Oslo

Floating to Flores
Your story on the discovery of the remains of a primitive tribe of tiny cave-dwelling humans on the Indonesian island of Flores [Nov. 8] reported that its elephants may have swum the distance that separated Flores from the nearest land when the sea level was at its lowest. Could they also perhaps have had a role in getting Homo floresiensis onto the island? As there is already evidence of elephant migration, who is to say that some early hominids didn't hitch a ride or two on the backs of those buoyant beasts?
Alfred Winsor Brown V
San Diego

Bin Laden's Tape
The videotaped message from Osama bin Laden, showing him alert and very alive, capped a week of bad news for President George W. Bush [Nov. 8]. What is this terrorist, this atrocious, fanatical criminal, still doing at large in the world? A week after the terrible destruction of 9/11, Bush stated in his typical cowboy fashion that he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive." Three years later, billions of dollars have been spent, more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed, the nation is divided, and we are nowhere close to knowing even where that man is. The President has failed us, and we are not safe.
Dan Gambetta
Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Explosives at Large
re the 377 tons of munitions missing from Iraq's al-Qaqaa military complex since March 2003 [Nov. 8]: If you were planning a war and you knew where the enemy's munitions dumps were, wouldn't you send a missile or two right off the bat to destroy the enemy's fighting capabilities? The International Atomic Energy Agency alerted U.S. officials about the dangerous weapons at al-Qaqaa in January 2003. The proper question isn't, When did the arms disappear? The question is, Why weren't they marked for destruction before our troops started moving up the road toward them? I always thought disrupting the enemy's supply chain — especially its weaponry — was a basic strategy of offense.
Tim Coney
Medford, Oregon, U.S.

Building a Language Barrier
"French Plays Defense" [Nov. 8], on the fight against the spread of English in France, quoted President Jacques Chirac's statement "Nothing would be worse for humanity than to move toward a situation where we speak only one language." Come on! If that one language were French, Chirac would call it the best thing that could happen. As usual, he thinks that the only problems in the world are caused by Britain and its former colony, the U.S. I teach English in France, and the biggest obstacle to the children's learning the language is the general French attitude toward it. It's a pity that France feels it is in such danger. Other countries, like the Netherlands, Denmark and Japan, which are perhaps more secure, just get on with learning English because it's more practical. The French waste their energy on fighting the language, thus losing many battles before they have even started.
Robin Scott
Lyons, France

The best defense of French is not "a strong offense" but a more ethical way of dealing with its own minority languages, such as Breton, a Celtic language akin to Welsh that is desperately struggling for survival. France persistently refuses to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, thus combating at home a cultural diversity that it eloquently advocates for the rest of the world. How hypocritical!
Marcel Texier
Maurepas, France