False Impression

One reason Larry Shue's "The Foreigner" is so frequently performed is because it's one of the few modern comedies that remains true to human nature despite its absurd excesses. Another reason is that it's outrageously funny.

Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman sued the New York Times for $27 million over an article that she says gave the false impression that she had an affair with Arizona Sen. John McCain in 1999. In February, as McCain was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, the newspaper reported that McCain aides once worried that the relationship between Iseman and McCain had turned romantic. Iseman filed suit in Richmond. The newspaper stood by the story.

Due to an unfortunate misspelling in David Crook's "Drive to Keep Artwork in Scotland Falls Short" (Dec. 24), one might get the false impression that Mantegna's "Adoration of the Magi" would be delicious with sushi and green tea. The correct spelling of the paint is tempera . Without that knowledge we might assume that as well as being a great painter, Mantegna also had a gift for Nippon ryori. ROBERT LEVIN Covina

Re "Give the rich my $600," Opinion, May 26 Please tell Barbara Garson that I will happily take her $600 and put it to good use (most likely by contributing it to charity). She is clearly under the false impression that, as one of the "rich," I have been given money by our government. I can assure her that our government has never given me a penny. She must be very confused as to what "give" means if she thinks that lowering my taxes from $100,000 to $90,000 is giving me anything -- even if others' taxes are only lowered from $10,000 to $9,000 (or, more probably, $7,000)

The Times published a photo that was carefully framed and cropped to give the false impression that the majority of citizens present at a meeting were in favor of the monorail for the Ventura Freeway. I was at that meeting and a woman who attempted to hand out placards that read "I'm a fan of monorail" was able to persuade only 22 people to wave the signs, less than one-tenth of those in attendance. JON HARTMANN Los Angeles

Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman sued the New York Times for $27 million over an article that she says gave the false impression that she had an affair with Arizona Sen. John McCain in 1999. In February, as McCain was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, the newspaper reported that McCain aides once worried that the relationship between Iseman and McCain had turned romantic. Iseman filed suit in Richmond. The newspaper stood by the story.

I take exception to your printing of only negative letters regarding Robert Hilburn's article from Paris about Bruce Springsteen's popularity in France (Calender Letters, July 14). The decision to publish five negative letters gives the false impression of an anti-Springsteen backlash! Everyone I know from 15 to 55 is a Springsteen fan! What's not to like? The man's a musical genius. He doesn't smoke, drink, do drugs, pose nude or break up hotel rooms. He donates generously to charities, flaunts his patriotism; he's sporting a clean-cut, clean shaven, healthy, well-built appearance--why, he even married his girlfriend!

The real reason bands like Billy & the Beaters, Jack Mack & the Heart Attack and other bands of equal caliber are ignored by the record companies is so simple and stupid that nobody wants to admit it ("Bar Bands Make the Rounds," by Don Snowden, Sept. 21): No matter that the type of music played by these bands is very popular all over the country in almost every bar in the country, the simple truth is the people who hold the power at the record labels just don't like this kind of music.

Your May 20 editorial, "Touched By the Angels," misses the point of my legislation, AB 1041, which would require the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and other professional sports teams within the state that do not play the majority of their games in the geographic location used in their name to print a disclaimer on all their tickets, advertisements and promotional materials. The bill is meant to bring attention to the deceptive attempt by Angels' ownership to give the false impression that the team plays in Los Angeles, while at the same time helping to ensure that the Anaheim taxpayers receive their fair due. The residents of Anaheim paid millions of dollars -- through a substantial rent reduction on the Anaheim Stadium lease -- to have Anaheim prominently attached to the Angels' team name.

Re "Give the rich my $600," Opinion, May 26 Please tell Barbara Garson that I will happily take her $600 and put it to good use (most likely by contributing it to charity). She is clearly under the false impression that, as one of the "rich," I have been given money by our government. I can assure her that our government has never given me a penny. She must be very confused as to what "give" means if she thinks that lowering my taxes from $100,000 to $90,000 is giving me anything -- even if others' taxes are only lowered from $10,000 to $9,000 (or, more probably, $7,000)

It's not as if Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has stopped being a very good basketball player. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound sophomore is the leader in rebounding and is fourth in scoring for a UCLA basketball team that will open NCAA tournament play Thursday as the No. 2-seeded team in the West Regional against No. 15 Weber State in Sacramento. The problem is, his numbers in both areas are down from last year when Mbah a Moute was freshman of the year in the Pacific 10 Conference -- 8.2 to 7.

Re Dr. Marc Siegel's excellent critique of the television program "House" ["The Unreal World," Feb. 12]: I have seen three episodes of "House." These dramas are so unbelievable that I have found myself both laughing out loud and cringing at the same time. The program creates a false impression about the actual methods used to solve medical dilemmas. Multiple errors are frequently present when depicting procedures. Some constitute true malpractice. Furthermore, a "go-it-alone maverick" is not the way medicine is practiced, unless you are in a remote community without other physicians for consultation.

Your May 20 editorial, "Touched By the Angels," misses the point of my legislation, AB 1041, which would require the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and other professional sports teams within the state that do not play the majority of their games in the geographic location used in their name to print a disclaimer on all their tickets, advertisements and promotional materials. The bill is meant to bring attention to the deceptive attempt by Angels' ownership to give the false impression that the team plays in Los Angeles, while at the same time helping to ensure that the Anaheim taxpayers receive their fair due. The residents of Anaheim paid millions of dollars -- through a substantial rent reduction on the Anaheim Stadium lease -- to have Anaheim prominently attached to the Angels' team name.

Local television news programs distort their coverage of traumatic deaths and injuries, emphasizing violence and giving viewers an unbalanced portrayal of the risks they face in everyday life, according to a new study by UCLA researchers. Nine Los Angeles TV stations--including two Spanish-language outlets--covered nearly all murders and aviation and fire deaths in the county during late 1996 and early 1997, the period covered by the study.

Your Feb. 22 article concerning me, "GOP Leader Pulls No Punches," left what I believe to be a false impression. This article left everyone I have spoken to with the impression that I had sued my mother, that I had requested that my mother be jailed because of her conduct during the lawsuit, and finally that the lawsuit in question is still pending. I was neither a party nor an attorney in the action to which the article refers. The company in which I have an interest was a plaintiff, but this action in its entirety was dismissed over a year before this article was published.

I am very concerned with the false impression that might be left with readers of your Proposition 186 article "Vast Scope May Undermine Health Care Initiative," Oct. 5. If legislation as comprehensive in its scope and purpose as Proposition 186 takes only 10 minutes to explain, then it has to be very, very simple. It is. My copy of the proposition is only 80 typewritten pages long and very easily read. I have taken my 10 minutes to explain it to more than 200 people at house parties over the past few weeks and the guests understand very well.

Your Feb. 22 article concerning me, "GOP Leader Pulls No Punches," left what I believe to be a false impression. This article left everyone I have spoken to with the impression that I had sued my mother, that I had requested that my mother be jailed because of her conduct during the lawsuit, and finally that the lawsuit in question is still pending. I was neither a party nor an attorney in the action to which the article refers. The company in which I have an interest was a plaintiff, but this action in its entirety was dismissed over a year before this article was published.

I am very concerned with the false impression that might be left with readers of your Proposition 186 article "Vast Scope May Undermine Health Care Initiative," Oct. 5. If legislation as comprehensive in its scope and purpose as Proposition 186 takes only 10 minutes to explain, then it has to be very, very simple. It is. My copy of the proposition is only 80 typewritten pages long and very easily read. I have taken my 10 minutes to explain it to more than 200 people at house parties over the past few weeks and the guests understand very well.

One reason Larry Shue's "The Foreigner" is so frequently performed is because it's one of the few modern comedies that remains true to human nature despite its absurd excesses. Another reason is that it's outrageously funny.

As a frequent reader of the OC Live! section of the Times, I have always enjoyed Max Jacobson's review columns of local restaurants. I have discovered a number of great eateries thanks to Mr. Jacobson. However, I was a bit appalled by a section of his review (Sept. 16) of the Song Long Vietnamese/French restaurant in Westminster. I am referring to his description of the pate chaud. As a frequent traveler to France and a Vietnamese-born person who is married to a French woman, let me assure you that the only thing French about the pate chaud is its name.