Inflation Woes

To the Editors:

Inflation is, quite simply, the Federal Government's printing more worthless paper money to compensate for past and future worthless policy [Oct. 22]. It is a deep and worsening problem that will never be solved until every aspect of our society identifies and re-examines its own position. Then we must have the courage to change.

Fred A. DaBois Tennent, N.J.

Explain "overheating" to the construction or auto industries, which can't build homes or sell cars. I don't see retailers screaming about too many crowds in their stores. What is overheated are interest rates, and the Feds, the biggest borrowers in the country, are the most affected. I am going to try the Fed's solution on my slightly overweight dachshund, overfeeding her to get her to stop eating. I only hope she doesn't get sick and die.

Cornelius Moelling Grand Rapids

The central problem is that few people believe Big Business or Gigantic Government. Volcker of the Fed and Shapiro of Du Pont plus others meet in a posh resort in Hot Springs to speak of "easy money" and "the sooner we suffer the pain, the sooner we will be through it all." It would be more believable if it came from a motel in Davenport, Iowa.

Thomas N. Horton Glen Ridge, N.J.

The unsophisticated, maybe 80% plus, are beginning to put the Fed in the same class as OPEC. Both are pushing prices higher.

Philip Coleman Swarthmore, Pa.

Paul "Green Giant" Volcker for President in '80 on a bold, anti-inflation platform that defends the dollar abroad, puts a nonpartisan squeeze on runaway Government spending at home, and effectively controls the excessive flow of money and plastic money into the U.S. economy.

Jack Pope San Francisco

Papal Aftershock

The articles "Aftershock from a Papal Visit" and "Hard Questions on the Issues" [Oct. 22] go behind the pageantry of the Pope's visit and deal directly with some of the problems his papacy faces.

The Pope misjudged the pluralism of American religion and its effect on Roman Catholicism. Unlike Italy, Poland, Ireland or Mexico, the U.S. is as much Protestant as Roman Catholic. In a pluralistic country, in an ecumenical age, the Pope made no real effort to recognize other Christian faiths and meet with leaders of major Protestant denominations.

(The Rev.) Russell C. Block Berkeley Heights, N.J.

I find the criticisms being directed by some against John Paul II's recent pronouncements rather remarkable and even amusing. Apparently many of his critics fail to realize that the Pope is not concerned with his standing in the popularity polls. As the Vicar of Christ, there is only one pollster whose approval he desires to maintain.

Gerald W. Urbancik San Antonio

Did not the Holy Father in effect reply to Sister Theresa Kane in his homily, which urged nuns to be "other Marys"? He referred to the Last Supper, at which the church says the priesthood was instituted, and almost as an aside, he said, "And Mary was not there." Subtle though it was, what more answer could he give or should she need?

Tom McKoan Canaan, N.H.

The Pope's reaffirmation of the ban against the ordination of women was, of course, a sexist slap in the face to all women. It was also, however, an offense to God because it attributes to him a prejudice which by definition he cannot have. God gave women equal minds and hearts and an equal capacity to love and serve him. Why, then, continue to make the priesthood dependent on an anatomical difference irrelevant to the matter? Tradition is not a good enough answer.

Rita A. Micheli Highland Park, N.J.

New Edisons

Even with his eccentricities, Thomas Edison was a great thinker [Oct. 22]. He could even be called "the Einstein of invention."

We could have many new Edisons and many to outdo him if we had better education for gifted children in this country. They are the resource to help us out of the fuel shortage and other problems, but we don't develop these people into what they could be. We must help these future leaders. Let's give more money to the gifted and talented programs. They are a good investment.

Peter Hannah Yorktown Heights, N. Y.

The decline in patents granted to U.S. citizens coincides with a huge increase in scholarly publication created by pressure from the federal grant system to publish or perish. Is it possible that we are diverting too much creative talent from useful invention to academic research?

Lawrence Cranberg Austin

America doesn't need more patents. The Patent Office is full of useless inventions. What is needed is better criteria to define meaningful inventions and better channels to implement these inventions. Jacques M. Lecouturier San Rafael, Calif.

Even Edison's remarkable mix of "inspiration and perspiration" still required a receptive and flexible culture for the practical realization of his inventions. On the other hand, Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and treatises reveal perhaps the greatest inventive mind in history, which unfortunately was too brilliant to be supported by unstable patrons involved in perpetual wars. Our culture is still as ripe as any in history for innovation. Fortunately, Edison was "right" for his time; how ironic and self-defeating for Leonardo to be "ahead of his time."

William B. Hildebrand Madison, Wis.

Cannibalism, Firsthand

It is obvious that lack of firsthand reports of cannibalism is no basis for William Arens' conclusion that it never existed [Oct. 22]. After all, how many cannibals would stop with the first hand? Bob Lauderdale Holdrege, Neb.

Mr. Arens' speculations that cannibalism has never occurred as a regular practice fail to explain a disease called Kuru, which affects the brain and is eventually fatal. It is thought to be caused by a virus, and occurs only among the Fore tribe of Eastern New Guinea. It has never been shown to occur in any other animal, but has been transmitted to chimpanzees by injecting them with brain tissue from infected people. It has never been demonstrated to be transmitted by other vectors, and cannibalism is considered the most likely mode of transmission, i.e., eating the brain of an infected individual. Indeed the disease has almost become unknown as settlers have pushed into the New Guinea jungle and cannibalism has been outlawed by tribal chiefs.

Steven M. Kempner, M.D.

The Miriam Hospital

Providence

Cuba's Record

Castro does great violence to the intelligence of the world [Oct. 22]. His extreme criticism of the U.S. for not sending aid to the hungry and shoeless children cannot be countenanced. What is Cuba's record? Castro's dictatorship exports armies, hate and killing on command of the Kremlin. Where in the world does Communism feed and clothe little children without demanding their bodies and souls in payment?

Will W. Orr Flat Rock, N.C.

If Castro had any regard for the Cubans, he would throw the Soviets and their bankrupt economics out and welcome Western capitalism. But no; the macho image prevails: the cigar, the beard, the fatigues, the whole clown act. Can one person's egotism lead to the creation of such monumental economic and historical illiteracy? Apparently so.

Edward R. Wall Palm City, Fla.

Kissinger the Miraclemaker?

Having read the third installment of the hagiography called White House Years [Oct. 15], an absorbing account of how Miraclemaker Kissinger would have made this world a better place to live in, I am breathlessly awaiting the concluding line of his book. It ought to be: "And on the seventh day I rested."

George Javor Marquette, Mich.

Kissinger's account of the unfortunate 1971 India-Pakistan war assures me that he has not lost the touch. Three years out of public office and he is still a master of wordplay and half-truths.

Dev Gupta Tucson, Ariz.

Kissinger's kudos for Nixon's handling of the 1971 India-Pakistan war could better be directed toward the brave Bangladesh people who endured a systematic genocide conducted by fellow countrymen from the western wing. As an observer of the horror of rape, burning and killing, I can only reply with silence when asked to comment on our country's commitment to human rights. (The Rev.) Phil Parshall Wheaton, III.

Frost the Giant Slayer?

The article on the Kissinger interview [Oct. 22] was much too kind to David Frost. Unfortunately, he chose to attack rather than interview, and the viewer missed a chance for a good history lesson.

Rule No. 1 in the Giant Slayers' Handbook states: Never attack giants without a rock in your sling.

William T. Wolfe Huntington Beach, Calif.

I have never seen an interview where the interviewee had trouble getting a word in edgewise. Frost appropriated time for himself to spread his own tendentious demagoguery.

How many more Cambodians, boat people, and the masses who never escape, have to die to make people like Frost admit that ours was a moral enterprise, to try to keep back the Red tide sweeping out of North Viet Nam?

Henri Morgenroth Santa Barbara, Calif.

Another Holocaust We vowed there would never be another Holocaust, yet millions of people are dying in Cambodia [Oct. 22]. Are we so cowardly as to turn away again? Screw the red tape and help these people--now!

Mary Frances Boecker Timonium, Md.

Connally's Political Courage

Informed and concerned Americans have greeted Connally's announcement of his Middle East position [Oct. 22] with the sentiment that at long last, there is a political candidate who is putting the best interests of the U.S. before those of Israel.

His patriotism and political courage deserve the support of each American concerned with the detrimental impact of the lack of a true peace in the critical Middle East area.

Frank Maria

Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of N.A. Englewood, N.J.

The day the U.S. gives back Texas, California and all other land acquired from Mexico will be the day that I justify Israel's giving up its land to the Arabs.

Jacky Aron Austin

Still the Publisher

In your cover story on Connally [Sept. 10] I am erroneously identified as former publisher of the Texas Observer. While I am the Observer's former editor, I continue to be its publisher.

Ronnie Dugger Austin

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