| I have read with alarm your reports the last few weeks about the alleged conflict over the Northside development. If one should actually read the Council's decision, one would discover that only a fraction of the park's lands are being opened. There will also be significant constraints on the environmental impact the developers shall be allowed. Where have these important facts been in your articles?
The implication that Northside is somehow a crucial last bit of wildlife refuge is the result of media hysteria and nothing else. What about all of our other fine city parks? If this were such an unpopular move, why only a mere few thousand protesters in a city with a population of several million? I think you will find that the opposition is merely a very loud fringe element, and the furor will die down before the first shovel has even broken ground. Cora Howell I couldn't agree more with Professor Sedgewick's sentiment that, "if we must grow as a city, we should grow in our hearts, and not in our borders." It need not be a black and white issue, though. Obviously it becomes difficult to "grow in our hearts" if there are more people than there is space, housing, and food. Overpopulation is as large a threat as is environmental negligence. Nevertheless, a community can preserve open spaces while still feeding and housing its people. With that said, I think development should be sought elsewhere and the Northside Preserve should remain protected and cultivated by the community. J. Beloc, Earth I wanted to thank you for your fine coverage of the scandal around that cheater Nuru. We are trying to convey a vital message to our children, that illicit cognitive enhancement is wrong. You are doing a fine service to our society by showing us the consequences of his misdeeds, and by extension, all who would try to gain advantage by immoral means. By all means keep up your excellent work. Peter Greeley Despite the fact that Madame Bianca seems to think our literature is light, calling it "Earth-lit," at least she sees fit to quote one of our big guys in this week's future for the Apple Thief. It's the start of Puck or Robin Goodfellow's final speech from William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I would encourage all Sentinel readers to read the play. After all, it is about how a trickster plays some mind games with a group of young innocents and some actors. Is there anything to learn from this? Simon Glen, Earth It's been more than a fortnight since the Cube hunters of Earth received our first glimpse of the Sentinel via the Academy. Two weeks and still no word of the trail that shall lead us to the supposed location of Perplex City's lost treasure, nor indeed a sign of the man behind the quest. Really, that Sente should initiate such a widespread campaign, and then spend his time hiding in the shadows and letting his student daughter doing the talking, doesn't make him sound like the kind of man to trust with retrieval. So desperate are we on Earth to find the Cube that we've even resorted to thinking that the Academy has implanted hidden messages in the words and pictures of the very Sentinel itself. Ridiculous, surely? However, such brutal dissection of the information you provide is confounded by the fact that we don't know what we're looking for in the first place. I suggest the Sentinel follow the words of Roll For Damage's promising new album and Take Initiative when it comes to urging Sente to get a move on and tell us what we need to do and why we're doing it in the first place. Otherwise, we should take him to task as to whether he's really interested in retrieving this so-called important item at all. James Lyon, Earth As a citizen of Earth, I appreciate the Sentinel's efforts to recant their previous derogatory statements regarding Earth and its "reality." To imply that Earth is simply a fabrication is akin to implying that Perplex City itself is a fabrication, and while there will always be citizens of both worlds who believe the other to be a deceit, it behooves us all to rise above this pettiness if we are to achieve our shared goal, i.e.: The retrieval of The Cube. I would also like to stress that at this time we are still at a nascent point in our efforts to assist in the recovery of The Cube. As such, I beg the citizens of Perplex City to give us (and Master Kiteway) their full support as well as patience. Understandably, the convergence of two diverse worlds and cultures is a terribly large and difficult undertaking and demands fortitude and persistence from all aspects. There will always be delays in such an enormous project, and I believe we need to focus on the task at hand, rather than allow ourselves to get sucked into the "blame game" wherein we lose sight of the ultimate goal. Rest assured that progress is being made to bring your Earth counterparts up to speed on Perplex City so that we may better assist you. I, along with my fellow teammates, have vowed to invest full effort into assisting Master Kiteway with his retrieval process, even at the cost of our own livelihoods. Likewise, we can expect no less from the citizens of Perplex City. Aurora Bosch, Earth I was amused to read Arrian Hampden's somewhat damning letter entitled "Madame Bianca's Future," in the Sentinel dated March 28th. Arrian is obviously a man of great intellect, yet for all his 'rational thinking' he is missing one very important aspect of this debate: Humour. I'm afraid that Mr. Hampden is taking Madame Bianca's predictions just a little too seriously. One does not need the prestige of Perplex City's University to realise Bianca's entry for The Spider - "Should your subdolous ways slip, she'll snarl. Scarper." -- is a tour-de-force of poetic alliteration, not enigmatic prediction. I'm sure I am not alone when I say that reading 'Futures' provides an amusing and welcome break from city news. I am pleased to see the Sentinel continues the tradition of printing Madame Bianca's predictions, helping distinguish itself from other papers in the city. Mr. Hampden, and those of similar inclination, should realise that taking oneself so seriously leads to dull and unhappy temperament. Take Bianca's advice: "Funnel your energies into something positive." Johan Hart In response to Mr. Hampden's letter to the editor of March 28th, I would like to say that I have followed Madame Bianca's column for many years, and it is an important part of my weekly decision making process. I will state that in the recent past I have not had 100% use of the columns (I'm not sure who she is, or why she would be coming... so I cannot ask her), but I can claim that Madame has been very helpful in my life. Using Madame Bianca "ridiculous mumbo-jumbo" futures I was able to find a beautiful, reasonably priced home in Northside. Thank you, Madame Bianca, keep up the good work, and ignore the protests of those who obviously have not followed the advice you calculate from the stars. Lana Frankel I am an Earthling and as such, the recipient of Sente's experiment -- Hang in there! While one of the articles in your "opinions" section is scathing of Mr. Kiteway's attempts at reaching Earth, I can truthfully inform you that he has been successful and that the search for the Receda Cube is well underway. This search is being conducted by a team of specialists in many diverse fields and we assure you that no time is being wasted in the search for this important object. I am certain that Mr. Kiteway is under tremendous pressure at the moment and would appreciate whatever support can be given to him during what must be a difficult time for you all. Anonymous ("Eclectic Munk") I am writing in response to your recent editorial piece "Kiteway Unfit for Office." In my view, as so often before, both the article and the headline exposed Sentinel-characteristic attitudes, revealing lazy, extraordinarily trite thinking. "Kiteway in Trouble," "Earth is over-rated," and other similar articles of recent months simply underline the Sentinel's lack of interest in one of the issues of greatest importance to the city. This omission might have been forgivable in the past, but not now that that Earth has become so significant to us. We know the Cube is over there and soon we might be able to communicate with them individually! Instead of passing it off as just another fad, surely it's time for the Sentinel to devote some heavyweight journalistic resources and analysis to investigating the people of Earth? Anyone who is willing to engage in an open and fair debate on this topic is welcome to contact me at [URL deleted]. Scarlett Kiteway Even though I am a foreigner, I read with great interest John Cormoran's op/ed piece ("Kiteway Unfit for Office," March 21) on Sente Kiteway and his efforts to retrieve the Receda Cube. I find Mr. Cormoran's opinion hasty and impolite; no one doubts Mr. Kiteway's [sic] dedication to retrieving the Cube, indeed I would be hard pressed to discover any other significant effort put forth by the Council, Academy, or Perplex City citizen. While a year is a long time, the value of the Cube is such that it's not incomprehensible that great thought was put into its total concealment. Therefore finding the artifact is going to take even greater innovation, cunning, and ingenuity. Mr. Kiteway seems to have tracked it to a general location, and this is a step in the right direction. He seems to have amassed a talented and loyal crew; this is encouraging. Let's not judge Mr. Kiteway by his failures, John Cormoran, there is verifiable momentum building behind this latest effort, which will undoubtedly, eventually, produce the Cube. Chasen der W�rfel I see that yet another sensationalist editorial graces the Sentinel's headlines, this time not merely attacking the Master of the Academy, but also the people of Earth. I fail to see how the Sentinel can claim to possess any kind of journalistic integrity when it makes statements doubting the trustworthiness of people on Earth and accusing them of stealing the cube. There is absolutely no reason to believe that agents from Earth stole the cube, never mind the fact that they clearly do not possess the capability to travel to Perplex City! You then went on to implicitly doubt the existence of Earth and our ability to communicate with them. Clearly you would have us believe that everything that we have learned about Earth over the past years and decades through the hard work of the Academy has been a fabrication -- all of their writing, music, art and data, all made up. It is hardly worth rebutting such a risible conspiracy theory; you evidently would not have the wit to understand it. You do a disservice to the memory of Emmi Hartlin and Redward Innes, and you can be assured that I am cancelling my subscription to the Sentinel immediately. Sian Rodgers I was disturbed to read Ian Shivuto's anti-cubist sentiments in your paper, especially in light of The Sentinel's highly critical editorial. Whilst I appreciate that Master Kiteway's stewardship of the Cube may not have been as thorough as might have been expected, surely such glee over the Cube's disappearence may indicate that suspicion points not within the Academy, but with anti-Cubists outside it? I hope your reporters are investigating this angle as diligently as they are the flaws of the Academy. Julianne Bowman The Perplex City Sentinel is now the only newspaper or magazine in the city that publishes Futures, a fact that is no doubt connected with its frankly shoddy and unscientific reporting. Exactly how the Sentinel can justify writing this ridiculous mumbo-jumbo is beyond belief! Any newspaper with an 'intelligent opinion' would surely be aware of Avancore's study demonstrating that the predictive power of Futures is no better than chance. He found 40 futures fans and presented half with their 'real' futures and half with fake futures predicting the complete opposite. Both groups claimed their futures were 99% accurate! As for the notion that the gravity of other planets could affect us here, a trivial calculation shows that the Ascendancy Point exerts far more gravitational influence on us than any planet! Are we to expect the Sentinel to factor the Point in to 'Madame Bianca's' predictions, or will you follow the rest of the rational thinkers of the city and remove Futures from your newspaper? Arrian Hampden, University of Perplex City Good riddance on those third-tier ejections. The sporting industry has no room for cheaters who use cognitive enhancers. Pierre Badiola Why is it that nobody is talking about how great it is to be living in a post-Cube world? I, for one, am glad that we were able to have such a subdued holiday season this year, soft economy or no. The overcommercialisation and consumer frenzy every year during the holidays has made me sick for decades, now. We in Perplex City are a sophisticated, educated society. It's time we threw off the shackles of superstition the Cube has held us with for so long, and begun to view the world around us with eyes of pure science. Ian Shivuto I'm very disappointed in the Sentinel's coverage last week of the Michael Corolla murder trial. It seems like the reports are all concerned with the flash and glitter of the celebrities attending, and not at all with whether justice is done. How can the public assure themselves that our court system is working if we don't get good, thorough coverage of the facts? In one article in particular, 'Corolla Closing Arguments Begin,' there are three paragraphs covering which celebrity athletes made an appearance and what they were wearing, and only one actually going over the closing argument that the prosecuting attorney made! I am ashamed of you. Kylie Sharp Thanks for doing such a great job with your series on foreign relations, and how they directly impact our lives here in Perplex City. I never understood before how important it is to keep track of world events, because I never really saw how they affected me. What a great service the Sentinel is performing in educating the public this way! Emile Farrow |
| Letters are listed as they appeared, oldest at the bottom. Each is linked (via author's name) to the location on the current page or the histories in the mirrors. Click here to see the current edition's letter page. |
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| Dead Weight's Over-Analysis Of |
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| The standard introduction hasn't changed to date, as far as I know. |
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