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Intolerable Movie

I am an avid movie-goer and enjoy all kinds, even silly ones. But, after seeing Intolerable Cruelty, I have to ask: Who wrote the movie review for it for Coast Weekly? And, more importantly, how did Intolerable Cruelty end up with the same four-star status as a movie like Whale Rider?

I went to see Intolerable Cruelty with an open mind, thinking it would be at the very least, since it had a four-star rating, cute and lighthearted. About halfway through the film, however, I felt increasingly unamused and dissatisfied.

It was reviewed in Coast Weekly as a "delightful comedy of modern manners." Expecting to see a modern-day comedy such as Dilbert Mann, I found Intolerable Cruelty completely devoid of the charm, innocence, and wholesomeness of that wonderful Cary Grant-Doris Day spoof. Instead, Intolerable Cruelty is a shallow depiction, disguised as humor, of our human downfalls: greed, deception, betrayal, superficiality, selfishness and corruption. In fact, sitting through Intolerable Cruelty was exactly what the title implies.

Danielle Dufayet | Monterey

Frightening Government

Terrorism scares me, but what scares me even more is losing the basic civil liberties that make our country great. Our national security depends, above all else, on keeping our democracy strong. And there's no doubt in my mind that if we give the FBI the power--as we did in the Patriot Act--to monitor the books we borrow from the library and videos we rent from the video store, then we are weakening our democracy. This is exactly what terrorists want us to do.

I hope Congress repeals the Patriot Act, or at least nixes the worst parts of it as some congressional Democrats and Republicans have proposed.

Colin G. Gallagher | Monterey

Irreplaceable Service

I am an instructor who supervises physician assistant and nurse practitioner students from the Stanford Primary Care Associate Program training at Natividad Medical Center. The students train with the attending and resident physicians treating the families of Monterey County. They work in the family practice clinic, women's clinic, pediatric clinic, emergency room, surgery, inpatient medicine, HIV clinic and many other specialty areas of the hospital.

It is a varied, complete learning experience and the students not only learn medicine, they learn about dedication and quality health care provided to all. We specifically admit students who have a history of living in the area and working with medically underserved populations. The ultimate goal is to have graduates stay in the community to work with these same populations.

I have spent many days in the clinics with students and have seen first hand the kinds of patients and problems that are handled by the staff at Natividad Medical Center. They range from expectant mothers to elders with multiple complex medical problems. They include well-baby care and immunizations as well as life-threatening emergencies. They include patients who cannot speak English, patients who have no insurance, and patients who have not had access to medical care for many years.

The service that Natividad Medical Center provides is invaluable and cannot be replaced. It is critical to continue access to quality, affordable healthcare for those in the community. I urge you to vote "yes" on Measure Q.

Sheila Siegel | Palo Alto