Subject: Steroids and Baseball: Larry, reading about the congressional hearings on steroids, I realized that Shakespeare had described them and their probable results, with the phrase “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” By adopting a steroid-use policy that virtually guarantees that no ballplayer will ever be suspended (there is no required suspension for first-time use), baseball owners have signaled their preference: It is better to have exciting, home run hitting baseball, even if a few players suffer tragic health consequences, than to show any concern for our nation’s youth by taking realistic steps to stop steroid use. If owners and union representatives cared about the health of players, players would face stiffer fines and suspensions (with bans after repeated use), and teams would forfeit games if steroid use by their players was discovered. The sound and fury of Congress will diminish with time, as other issues gain its attention. Baseball’s bureaucracy will continue to ignore potentially deadly drug use, and records will continue to be broken. This will keep stadium seats filled, and after all, isn’t that what professional sports are all about. Bob C

RESPONSE: And where are the Congressional Hearings into the torture of prisoners and its coverup by this administration? But apparently, baseball is more important than the shredding of the principles of our claim to basic human rights and dignity and due process for all people. We should all be ashamed to be Americans that higher-ups are not being brought before the Courts for war crimes or at the very least fired from the administration...but there sits don THE TORTURER rumsfeld in charge of the defense of America...by any means...if torture worked for the Nazis let’s give it a try...to save American lives, of course...but if a few innocents humans are tortured by mistake....electrodes attached to their genitals...that’s the American way...or is it? The ends justify the means?