Readers Write for Tuesday, Nov. 17

Judge Stephen Aldrich is under fire for saying in open court during a domestic case, "I've been married 45 years. We've never considered divorce; a few times murder maybe" ("Judge's joke puts him in hot spot, again," Nov. 13).

It is cute. It obviously was intended as humor and as a "relaxer" from tensions. Criticize it? My suggestion: Put a muzzle on WATCH, the watchdog group that filed a complaint against Aldrich with the state Board on Judicial Standards, and not on the judge.

I practiced law 45 years before retiring. Sometimes a shot of humor from the bench is good medicine to defuse tensions between battling parties. I've appeared before Judge Aldrich and found him to be fair, wise and pleasant.

What more can we ask of a decisionmaker and sometime peacemaker? One thing we can ask of critics is to use common sense.

STEWART PERRY, WAYZATA

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I agree with WATCH. Judge Aldrich's comments are inappropriate, and he needs to be removed from Family Court.

It's great to know that we can someday live on the moon, thanks to the presence of water.

However, it seems offensive to the ultimate mother (Earth) that we are exploring our options for extraterrestrial living. This planet was a gift to us, and we humans are failing to treat it with respect.

There are enough resources to support our enormous population, and yet we behave like little kids fighting over toys. We're not mature enough to be grateful for what we have and share it with our brothers and sisters.

The moon is a desolate place, and it has none of the beautiful flora and fauna that we are so lucky to have here. What if the money NASA uses was directed toward something like solar power or cancer research? That seems a lot more practical to me than dreaming about laboratories on the moon.

CHARLIE OLSON, EDEN PRAIRIE

The question isn't whether the show will sell out, but whether University of Minnesota students will get out of bed by 7 p.m. to attend.

COLTY HINZ, RICHFIELD

A Nov. 11 Variety section article opened with the question "What prompts women to swap good jobs for days spent watching "Dora the Explorer," stirring mac 'n' cheese and mediating play-date squabbles?" What an ignorant and offensive statement about what it means to raise children!

Isn't the more pressing question: "What prompts parents (why is child rearing always presumed to primarily be mothers' responsibility?!) to have children and then hire someone else to spend more time raising them than they do"?

JENNY DAHL, ROSEVILLE

Absolutely no evidence was introduced to support this bald speculation and so far as we know, there is no evidence for it. While it is the responsibility of our judicial system to ultimately convict or acquit Petters on charges of conducting one of the largest frauds in history, what is known is that the Sabes family is a stalwart of the Minnesota philanthropic community whose support has enriched the lives of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish Minnesotans.

As beneficiaries and voices of the community, we have known Robert Sabes for his generosity, caring, honesty and forthrightness through relationships that have spanned decades. We were deeply saddened to see his and his family's reputation tarnished when they have done so much to help so many.

KRIS MACDONALD AND Joshua M. Fogelson, Minneapolis Jewish Federation; Robin Neidorf and Stuart Wachs, Minneapolis, Sabes Jewish Community Center; Brian Kamin and Steve Hunegs, Minneapolis, Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, and Heidi Schneider and Rabbi Harold Kravitz, Minnetonka, Adath Jeshurun Congregation

I would like to correct the information that was included in a Nov. 7 letter to the Star Tribune.

At 4 p.m. on Nov. 5, CentraCare Clinic-Becker learned that it would receive a limited supply of H1N1 vaccine for high-risk patients the next day. Clinic staff immediately started to identify and call patients who fit in the designated category so they could schedule an appointment for their H1N1 vaccine as soon as possible.

ANGELA BARNETT, BECKER;