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In response to the Aug. 19 "Thorns and flowers: A thorn to our society's preoccupation with celebrity romances."

The last sentence caught my attention: "Perhaps reading about celebrities is . . . a distraction from what's happening in our own lives."

In 2003 my young daughter, age 38, was diagnosed with a rare cancer in her right leg that metastasized to her lungs. Her treatment over 3 1/2 years included five surgeries, a year of interferon self-injections, radiation, a trial study, blood transfusions and a variety of chemotherapy.

She began reading People Magazine, US Weekly and other celebrity magazines. At bedtime, in severe pain, she'd read about celebrity romances, pregnancies, fashions, lack of style, weight gains and losses, and awards, until she could finally fall asleep.

A little embarrassed, she always felt the need to explain and told everyone, "I know it's mindless, but it's a distraction from what I am going through."

In response to the Aug. 17 guest opinion "Don't let those silly myths bug you."

Carl Olson makes it very clear that we are not to believe that cockroaches would ever enter a house by way of a toilet trap. But don't be so sure. Whether the little spelunker was under duress when he took the plunge and manipulated his way through the water-filled trap, I couldn't say, and in all fairness I confess I have witnessed this remarkable feat just once in all my many years in Tucson. But who knows how many times it has been performed when I wasn't looking, which has been, after all, most of the time.

In response to the Aug. 18 article "Task force is set up to watch heavens for killer asteroids."

Why is there so much concern over asteroids? After all, according to George W. Bush and his minions, we have a workable anti-missile missile system capable of destroying ballistic missiles in midflight. If this is true, destroying an asteroid approaching Earth should be a snap.

In response to the Aug. 20 article "Aspen Fire made this year's flooding worse."

Had County Supervisor Ray Carroll paid more attention to the needs of his district, he would not now be scrambling to get federal funds to repair flood damage. Preventive maintenance on the streambeds and other waterways in this area would have cost very little; now we are faced with millions of dollars worth of repairs. If the county government cannot take care of this area, maybe it is time for the city to annex us.