Robert Schmidt

The obvious spelling error eloquently exposes the home-schooling movement for what it is: a case of the blind leading the blind. ROBERT SCHMIDT Westminster

In " 'Me, Myself' & the Farrellys" (by Matthew Coltrin, June 22), The Times asked the Farrelly brothers the following: "Some of 'Irene's' gags are aimed at, among others, a midget, an albino, lesbians and African Americans; few escape unscathed. You say you're not making fun of anybody but poking fun at everybody. What's the difference?" I don't see the Farrellys making fun of "everybody." I see them making fun of people who are different from them, who have an inferior status in society, who can't fight back.

In " 'Me, Myself' & the Farrellys" (by Matthew Coltrin, June 22), The Times asked the Farrelly brothers the following: "Some of 'Irene's' gags are aimed at, among others, a midget, an albino, lesbians and African Americans; few escape unscathed. You say you're not making fun of anybody but poking fun at everybody. What's the difference?" I don't see the Farrellys making fun of "everybody." I see them making fun of people who are different from them, who have an inferior status in society, who can't fight back.

Re "No Room for a Real Horace Bushnell Survivor," Commentary, Dec. 9: So some low-level staffer with 20 other things to do didn't have the time to research M. Larry Lawrence's background exhaustively at the Pentagon. Instead, he or she took the word of a well-heeled, well-appointed ambassadorial candidate. Because everyone knows members of the power elite don't lie, right? I'm sure an Arianna Huffington would never tell a whopper--for instance, about a nanny who was an illegal alien. I wonder how many times mistakes like this one are made in Washington every day. A hundred?

Re "No Room for a Real Horace Bushnell Survivor," Commentary, Dec. 9: So some low-level staffer with 20 other things to do didn't have the time to research M. Larry Lawrence's background exhaustively at the Pentagon. Instead, he or she took the word of a well-heeled, well-appointed ambassadorial candidate. Because everyone knows members of the power elite don't lie, right? I'm sure an Arianna Huffington would never tell a whopper--for instance, about a nanny who was an illegal alien. I wonder how many times mistakes like this one are made in Washington every day. A hundred?

When the American Trade Center in Moscow opens for business in September, top U.S. and Soviet officials will be on hand to cut the ribbon to the first Western-managed hotel and business complex in the Soviet Union. The complex is the first Soviet project of Americom International Corp., an Irvine development company. And Americom seems to have scored a hit. The deal may look simple on paper, but it took years of behind-the-scenes political and economic maneuvering to pull it off.

Thank you for your editorial on the plight of the Hopi tribe (April 16). To think that the Peabody Western Coal Co. continues using ground water to transport its coal when it may destroy a culture that has existed for almost a thousand years. And conservatives wonder why people still consider Big Business to be immoral! ROBERT SCHMIDT Culver City

The answer to the question Howard Rosenberg poses is simple ("Littleton and the Rush to Judgment," May 3). Many of us were shaped by positive role models in the media. If I admit Superman, Capt. Kirk and Mike Nelson ("Sea Hunt") influenced me, will Rosenberg admit Leonardo DiCaprio ("Basketball Diaries") may have influenced Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris? ROBERT SCHMIDT, Culver City

A Glendale man who allegedly threatened the life of President Bush in a phone call to the White House was ruled competent Wednesday to stand trial. U.S. Magistrate John Kronenberg said he was persuaded by a staff psychiatric report from Metropolitan Detention Center that Karl Robert Schmidt, 47, was able to understand the charge against him. A federal complaint alleges that Schmidt threatened the life of the President on Nov.

Martin Mulvihill (letter, April 6) asks, "Naturally, students of wealthier, suburban school districts enjoy advantages, but why begrudge them?" Uh, because the "natural order" creates a mass of second-class citizens mired in poverty and despair? Because Americans believe in fair play and a level playing field? Because we disproved the doctrine of "separate but (un)equal" long ago? Some people still think only the rich deserve to get richer. So much for equal opportunity in America.

The obvious spelling error eloquently exposes the home-schooling movement for what it is: a case of the blind leading the blind. ROBERT SCHMIDT Westminster

When the American Trade Center in Moscow opens for business in September, top U.S. and Soviet officials will be on hand to cut the ribbon to the first Western-managed hotel and business complex in the Soviet Union. The complex is the first Soviet project of Americom International Corp., an Irvine development company. And Americom seems to have scored a hit. The deal may look simple on paper, but it took years of behind-the-scenes political and economic maneuvering to pull it off.

Levi Strauss & Co. reached an agreement with two former tax managers who are suing the company that would allow it to review accounting documents sought by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS is conducting audits of Levi's accounting during the 1990s. Robert Schmidt and Thomas Walsh, former employees at San Francisco-based Levi's global tax department, claim in a suit that the company cheated the IRS out of $70 million in 1997 and 1998. Levi denies the claims.

A 31-year-old North Park man was found stabbed in his pickup truck late Friday on a downtown San Diego street, police said. Officers responded to the report of a traffic accident in the 3300 block of 6th Street about 9 p.m. and found Robert Schmidt of the 3500 block of Louisiana Street slumped over the steering wheel of his 1988 Nissan pickup truck. Police theorize Schmidt was stabbed at another location and was driving to get help when his truck struck a parked car.