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Admiring the "Mona Lisa," the sculpture of "Venus" and other works of art, even the statue of Liberty, are they all just covenants of animalistic pigs? Sexual porn? What do I know? I am just a man [Letters, Feb. 20-26].

I thought objects of art were just that, something beautiful, to behold and admired like a bee is attracted to a flower. So why am I attracted to my mate when she dresses, perfumes and coiffures? Is God trying to tell me something?

All art is beautiful, from music to a sunset, the chicken and the egg on last week''s cover, the photographs of male and female models in the Weekly, all try to sell me something but I don''t find anything objectionable. I try to understand the letter writer''s point; however, I am not going to take my children or young relatives out of the 21st century.

Preventing children from reading National Geographic, Coast Weekly or watching the daily news on MTV is censorship, at what age does a child grow up? Play the latest video games and see the level of violence and sexual sexist male and female pigs young children watch. It will only concern your children, family and friends if you make it a concern. Release your agitation, take your family to Carmel or Monterey, admire the nude sculptures and realize that is art trying to be sold.

Richard Stock | Monterey

Warning: Irony Ahead

I was quite disturbed this week, to find a nude photo of a man (Dan Koffman exposed) within the pages of your paper, not because you are using a man''s body to sell something that has nothing to do with what you are trying to sell-but because, as a man, I''m upset by your statement that men are nothing more than sex objects!

Keep up the good work!

Snick Farkas | Monterey

Wall Is No Good For Nature

Tut, tut, Mr. John Daziens, who avers that "Hypocrisy is popular here on the Peninsula" [Letters, Feb. 13-19]. His aim is at the homeowners on the Carmel River lagoon, whom he accuses of seeking to protect their homes at the expense of the endangered steelhead trout by opposing the proposed plastic-coated steel dam.

Because we have been favored to live for 20 years on the edge of the lagoon, my wife and I have seen how the dam would impact the wildlife. And we also know that the claimed benefits of a "natural" opening of the flooded lagoon that the dam theoretically would permit are illusory.

Two large red foxes, each with great bushy tail, gamboled right outside our windows on Dec. 24, one leaping in sheer exuberance, one rolling in the soft grass. At the same spot on Dec. 15, my lagoon notes show, 13 great egrets, white and stately, stood resting in shallow water, as a squad of mallard ducks filed by. And at that very spot, as the white markers show, would run the dam, five to nine feet high, 2,500 feet long. And think of the damage to the lagoon from heavy equipment wallowing on the fragile surface, pile-driving the long metal panels into the ground.

The wall would be an irresistible challenge to graffiti outlaws. Pacific Grove''s history wall was recently defaced with gang markings. In Los Angeles a ring of men and women have been arrested for doing $1 million damage yearly to overpasses and parks.

The last natural opening of the flooded lagoon, as shown in my log, was on Nov. 19, 1982. And once the rushing waters tore at the sand barrier, the draining was as sudden and complete as if the opening were man-made.

As for Mr. Daziens'' hypocrisy charge, the foxes, egrets and other animals set him an example: Judge not, that you be not judged. And because he asks, yes, my wife and I have been Monterey Bay Aquarium members since it opened. And we also support the Sierra Club, LandWatch Monterey County, Big Sur Land Trust and helped start the monthly Carmel Beach Cleanup.

Howard Skidmore | Carmel

War is Dangerous

With no war on the horizon, would Saddam stupidly launch a first strike against a much more powerful adversary such as the United States? Would he be an imminent threat to us? Would he, under normal circumstances, give or sell weapons of mass destruction to al-Qaeda-religious fanatics who might eventually use them against his secular government?

Of course, once we start a war all bets are off. Just as we and the Soviet Union were allies in WWII against Germany, a common enemy, the ties between Sad-dam and al Qaeda would be temporary at best, but they would undoubtedly cooperate in their objective to demolish us.

The latest news from dissidents inside Iraq is that Saddam has about 50 miles of underground subway in Baghdad the inspectors don''t know about, with a fortress built to withstand nuclear attack. Saddam has a large supply of a nerve toxin stored there that has the consistency of motor oil. It sticks to anything. One drop can kill you.

When war is about to begin, Saddam will bring in his Republican Guards, and spread the toxin on the ground around Baghdad so no one can safely enter or leave the city. When street fighting begins in Baghdad, American soldiers-those who survive the nerve toxin-will be at a disadvantage because they don''t know the city. The death toll on Americans, and on Iraqi civilians who try to escape, will be enormous.

Our chances of catching Saddam Hussein in Baghdad will be an echo of our success at snagging Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, only far more dangerous.

Bruce Cowan | Pacific Grove

Do The Numbers

Pres. Bush is now telling us about his impatience with Iraq, but when will he start asking us for sacrifices? According to the London Mirror, the U.S. government has ordered 100,000 body bags, ready for our fathers, brothers, sons and grandsons. And at the end of it all will we be any safer?

Linda Agerbak | Monterey

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