Letters

How Asians Got So Big
"It's in to be Thin in India" [Nov. 8] reported on how the increasingly overweight Indian middle class is under pressure to lose weight. Because Indian cuisine has always included rich ingredients, the problem of obesity has been waiting for us for a long time. Plus, the most strenuous thing many of us have to do these days is to flick the remote control. Prosperity encourages a sedentary lifestyle. The trouble is that our bodies are being fattened along with our wallets. On the other hand, some women are starving themselves to attain hourglass figures and in the process are getting sick from poor nutrition. If that trend goes on, Indian females may soon be nothing but skin and bones.
Jagmohan Rathi
Ghaziabad, India

A Democracy Snubbed
In the Verbatim column, TIME quoted U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as saying, "There is only one China. Taiwan is not independent. It does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation" [Nov. 8]. That statement would have provoked a very different reaction from the Taiwanese if Powell had been quoted more fully. After declaring that Taiwan is without sovereignty, Powell added, "and that remains our policy, our firm policy." In other words, what he said was not a statement of fact but of U.S. policy. From the end of World War II until 1979, there was an American embassy in Taipei in recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. What changed in 1979 was only Washington's policy recognizing the government in Beijing. The authority and sovereignty of Taiwan's government didn't change a bit.
Colman Bernath
Taipei

Powell's comments on Taiwan's lack of sovereignty hurt the hearts of most of its people. Taiwan, by all means, is a de facto political entity with its own constitution and a government under a gradually maturing democratic system. Taiwan's people are fed up with being spectators of a tedious "one China" tug-of-war. What we desperately need from the international community is basic respect and formal recognition of our sovereign status. Taiwan's interests should not be sacrificed as U.S. foreign policy leans toward accommodating China for the foreseeable future.
Chang Huan-Lin
Tucheng, Taiwan

The Joy of Sox!
The Boston Red Sox did a magnificent job of winning baseball's World Series championship [Nov. 8]. Even though I'm a New York Yankees fan, I admit that sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were superb in leading their team to victory. The Curse of the Bambino has finally been broken!
Aisha Jamil
Centreville, U.S.

My great-grandfather Harry Frazee, who owned the Red Sox 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, which is thankfully put to rest, has been nothing but a pathetic excuse for more than eight decades of mediocre baseball.
Jim Frazee
Oslo

There aren't many old-timers who saw the Red Sox lose their first World Series, way back in 1946. I was 16 and hitchhiked from Iowa City, Iowa, to St. Louis, Missouri, for Game 1. I slept in the railroad station and bought a $3 standing-room ticket behind home plate. The Sox tied the game in the ninth, and Rudy York won it in the 10th with a blast to the last row of the bleachers—and I was the only one in the park yelling. I'm happy for today's Boston kids with their cell phones and painted faces. But most of them can't even remember 1986, let alone 1946. They have never known the character-building advantages of defeat. I've developed enough character to last the rest of my life, with some left over to give to any character-challenged New York fans out there. A Massachusetts girl said it best: "Success is counted sweetest/ By those who ne'er succeed." Emily Dickinson would have been a Red Sox fan.
John B. Holway
Springfield, U.S.

I'm glad the Red Sox won the World Series, if for no other reason than that we no longer have to hear about the Curse of the Bambino. The reason the Red Sox hadn't won a World Series since 1918 was simple: the team was never good enough to win. Now that the Red Sox have won, they can go back to playing their usual role as second best to the Yankees. But now it's without any excuses.
Roy Weston
Victoria, Canada

I read with amusement (and a little disdain) your article on the poor Red Sox fans, who for 86 years have been waiting patiently for a World Series championship. In 45 professional seasons (37 in football and eight in NBA basketball), New Orleans hasn't even had one of its home teams appear in a title game or series. So although I can certainly relate to the Boston sports fans' pain, let's have a little sports sympathy for a town that has really earned it.
Guy Duplantier
New Orleans

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, U.S.

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 American 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, U.S.

Wake Up and Make Up?
"The Morning After" [Nov. 1] asked if, when the presidential campaign is over, it will "be possible to pick up the pieces, bridge the gaps and reunite the United States." Now that Bush has been elected for another four years, the stakes could not be higher for the people of the world, the majority of whom seem to be against him. Bush's victory was a defeat for the world. It's too bad we don't have global suffrage for U.S. presidential elections.
Tetsu Suzuki
Kariya, Japan

Our great country was founded on the principle that people of vastly different beliefs and opinions can live together as one nation. The divisiveness in America, which you called an "Uncivil War," was created by the news media. Now that the elections are over, the government and people of this country can get back to the business at hand. We will go on, as we have in the past, thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers. They were familiar with the public's passionate political differences and dealt with that in the document we so treasure: the Constitution.
Carol A. Duda
Grove City, U.S.

We are a strong country with strong views. In the presidential election, those views came to the forefront and caused political debate among all facets of our society. Now that the election is over, however, we can settle back and support our country, which has become the strongest nation in the world in part because of our ability to have a contest like this and recover from it quickly. Our bonds of patriotism are strong enough that Republicans and Democrats can still work together, go to church together and play together.
Randy Horn
St. Michael, U.S.

Travolta In 2008?
In the new film A Love Song for Bobby Long, John Travolta plays a startlingly gray-haired literature professor on the skids [Nov. 8]. The actor is used to physical transformations. In 1998 TIME reported on how he turned himself into a familiar President to play Governor Jack Stanton in the movie Primary Colors [March 16, 1998]:

"That raspy drawl, the salt-and-pepper hair, a doughnut-stuffed belly hanging over his belt. Others in Primary Colors tried to steer clear of real-life inspiration; John Travolta became a Bill Clinton clone. It took weeks to master the familiar vocal cadence and body language, but the feel-your-pain sincerity came easier. 'The scary thing about this part is, take away the Southern accent and gray hair, and I don't respond that differently to people,' he says ... 'I'm good at schmoozing and being very caring and tolerant, which is just what Clinton does. It's that great p.r. thing.' Watching Travolta warmly embrace fans or chat up elderly extras on the set, it's clear he works 'that great p.r. thing' as well as Clinton does ... Is the world ready for Candidate Travolta? 'Only doing this movie did it ever dawn on me,' he says. 'I don't have a natural or innate desire to run, so it would be a job someone would have to force me into.' We can see it now: Super Tuesday Night Fever."

Setting The Record Straight
Travel Advisory
• The Nov. 8 story on the discovery of the remains of a tribe of tiny cave-dwelling humans on the Indonesian island of Flores stated that Flores is 550 km west of Bali. It is east of Bali.