Peace

Thom Yorke fans, prepare your best Bob Fosse dances. His side project, Atoms for Peace, has finally finished its debut album. The band, which the Radiohead frontman formed in 2009 to play songs from his solo album "The Eraser," has toured and recorded off and on ever since, perhaps owing to the busy schedules of its players -- producer Nigel Godrich, bassist Flea and coveted session drummers Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco. Now the group has wrapped up an LP's worth of recordings, which Yorke announced in an email Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head and is able to move both sides of her body, a senator who is a friend of the lawmaker said on Sunday.. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said she had talked with Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, on Saturday night. The astronaut described the latest progress in his critically injured wife's recovery after the Jan. 8 shooting. "She's making progress every day," Gillibrand said.

In my quest to be the funniest dad of all time ? which is saying something, because I know several other dads who are complete cut-ups ? I strive to be funny AND thought-provoking. Imagine if Lenny Bruce and Yogi Bear had children together, that would be me: furry, furious and prone to long periods of slumber. Really, it's too bad they can't clone me. "Dad, you're the funniest dad ever," my 7-year-old is always telling me. "Here, take this," I say, handing him a small gratuity.

We should reconstitute the draft but restrict it to the children of the judicial, legislative and executive branches of our government. That would ensure that peace gets a fair shake. We might also consider adding to the list the children of oil executives, not to mention the arms industry folks. Gary Lake Bishop, Calif.

Your "Bypassing Peace" editorial (Sept. 11) was right on. President Ronald Reagan and his fellow right wingers are trying to do just that, or else push peace aside altogether. It makes no difference to them how many Nicaraguans are raped, pillaged and killed by contra thugs. All this is in the name of "promoting democracy." This crowd wants to return to the (dictator Anastasio) Somoza days when the U.S. could dictate to Central America and our arms merchants could run wild with obscene profits extracted from human misery.

Dennis Prager (Commentary, Oct. 20) has distorted a Jewish legend to serve his unfortunate argument that by choosing "peace over justice" the jury failed to render a just verdict in the Reginald Denny case. In truth, the ancient Rabbinic story does not at all say that "Justice and peace . . . would not be able to live together." It is rather a tale about a debate among the angels as to whether God should or should not create "man." Love and justice (righteousness) argue for his creation.

Hundreds of people, including members of church, youth and community groups, will pound the pavement for peace on Saturday. The fifth annual Walk for Peace is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Triangle Square, at Newport and Harbor boulevards, to promote peace within local communities and around the world, and to raise awareness of other such efforts.

Pakistani lawmakers and Indian peace activists lighted candles in a rally at a Wagah, India, border checkpoint to promote friendly ties between the hostile neighbors. "We want friendship!" chanted the participants, watched by border guards of the two countries, which have fought three wars since they won independence from Britain in 1947. Nearly 8,000 Indians from nearby villages and towns watched Indian performers sing and dance as part of the rally.

A comment on Michael Parks' Oct. 3 article, " 'Head of the Class' Learns Some Lessons in Moscow," about the trip to the Soviet Union by personnel of the ABC comedy series: Of course the Russian people are like us. They walk hand-in-hand, buy groceries in stores, care about their children, long for peace and surpass most shallow Americans with the sincerity of their conversation and the depth of their friendship. But, unfortunately, these people live under a dictatorship of the Communist Party, the same totalitarian government that murdered millions of its people in the 1930s and 1 million Afghans in the 1980s.

This is in response to the Oct. 4 letter by Bill McIntyre of San Clemente, who apparently defends the placement of basketball equipment in the streets. McIntyre attributes property values as the reason some people oppose basketball equipment in the streets or perhaps in their driveways. One important item he did not address is "disturbing the peace." The constant noise of a basketball on pavement or a backboard can be extremely disturbing. There may be persons who are ill at home.