Letters: Apr. 3, 2000

I know who killed Kayla. It was every legislator, every proponent of guns and every citizen of the U.S. who thinks handguns are not a problem but a "right" granted by the Constitution. Blame also falls on those who will not support the gun-control legislation that would prevent these tragedies. MARTIN ANTHONY Malvern, Pa.

How is it that the absent parents of the child who shot Kayla are irrelevant and gun legislation is relevant? Why not require parenting classes and forbid procreation without a background check, waiting period and license? This legislation, as absurd as it sounds, would have been more beneficial to Kayla. JOSEPH L. GREENE Canyon Country, Calif.

A Powerful Mouth

Every time Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan opens his mouth the stock market gyrates, making an already volatile market even more so [BUSINESS, March 13]. I think Congress should pass a law forbidding the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board to comment on stock prices with the chance of influencing the market direction. We should let the free-market economy be free of manipulation by powerful people inside and outside the government. SHALINI MOONDRA Marlboro, N.J.

When will Greenspan wake up? The Fed has been blindsided by the phenomenal increase in stock-market valuations. It responds with anemic interest-rate increases designed to cool expansion and control nonexistent inflation-this despite a fundamentally healthy economy. Clearly Greenspan's Fed is suffering from its own brand of irrational exuberance. The rate increases and threats of what might happen punish traditional investors, while the wild speculation Greenspan seems preoccupied with taming laughs in his face. PETER L. ROGERS Darien, Conn.

Rights for All Animals

It's sad to note that attorney Steven Wise, the self-proclaimed champion of animal rights [AMERICAN SCENE, March 13], does not defend the rights of all animals. Instead, Wise has created his own non-Darwinian continuum to argue for legal rights for only certain animals--the more a species is like humans, the more deserving it is of legal rights. Yet there is a danger in this approach. For it means the less like us, the less likely that legal rights would be granted. We don't live in an "us vs. them" world. We live in a world of "us and them." We must protect our differences, not just our sameness. BOB ORABONA, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Friends of Animals Darien, Conn.