No One Exceeds Like Execs

Re “Former GE Chief Has ‘Met His Match’ in Divorce Court” and “SEC Probes Welch’s Benefits,” Sept. 17: I am astonished and saddened by the irony of a front-page story about a high-profile divorce presented, in part, as a warning against the shrewd and powerful woman--the kind of story that used to be relegated to the society pages--while one had to go to the Southern California Living section to find “A Baby and an Outcry,” a story about a Nigerian woman who’s been sentenced to death by stoning for being a single mother. (Although that article continues opposite a fashion spread including a large photo of a model’s half-naked backside.)

The Times’ sense of news priority reflects our tolerance for the oppression of women, our lack of outrage and our fear of powerful women, proving that sexism is alive and well.

Michael Eselun

West Hollywood

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I read with fascination and wonderment about the impending divorce action of Jack and Jane Welch. What a tale of human excess and behavior! It is a tale of human self-indulgence and greed almost beyond belief. In plain language I would describe it as wanton, unbridled gluttony. We could add to the list Kenneth L. Lay, the Rigas family, Gary Winnick and L. Dennis Kozlowski. And, in plain everyday language, I would describe the attempt to justify such excessive CEO rewards as corporate, obfuscatory jabberwocky. In plain language, that’s my opinion. I am 89 years old, and I should know.

Bernard Leventhal

Oxnard

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My early cup of coffee was ruined by your report of the lifestyle of Kozlowski (“Tyco Details Extravagance of Ex-CEO,” Sept. 18). During lunch hour, listening to Warren Olney’s “To the Point” on the radio, I was disturbed again by guests describing our local health-care system as the Chernobyl of our infrastructure. I am not a communist, a bleeding-heart liberal or a Robin Hood--simply a retiree on a fixed income. The above news makes me very sad.

Edith C. Zeller

Los Angeles