FRENCH ARE NUTS. WE DON'T TRUST THE FRENCH AND CHIRAC!!

Dear Melvina: French, Russian and U.N. officials warned against making hasty judgments  after the U.S. Iraq Survey Group reported that Saddam Hussein had used  France,  Russia and the U.N. oil-for-food program to buy influence at the United Nations. I know the French did. The report accused key officials, including former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky and retired U.N. oil-for-food director Benon Sevan of accepting oil vouchers, which could be exchanged secretly for cash. They mage big bucks. Everybody at the U.N. knows that. So why to hide the truth? French are nuts. They deny everything. And you want the American people to trust the French? In your dreams. U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said that Mr. Sevan had denied the charges, and he urged patience until a U.N. appointed panel, led by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, issues its own report. The U.S. report, which was posted on the CIA Web site told the truth. Of course, the CIA report infuriated the French and the Russians. Read what Zhirinovsky: "I never took a drop [of oil] or a single dollar from Iraq or from any other country. I have never dealt with oil." The truth is Zhirinovsky  was a frequent visitor to Saddam's Iraq. Some of the most damaging  accusations in the report by the U.S. Iraq Survey Group (ISG) are against senior French officials, including charges that they accepted payoffs to counterbalance U.S. power inside the sanctions committee on the U.N. Security Council. And I believe that. According to former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, both parties understood that resale of the oil was to be reciprocated through efforts to lift U.N. sanctions or through opposition to American initiatives within the Security Council," the report said. French officials urged caution in reaction to the scandal. Dave Syms, Washington, D.C., USA.
 

ARROGANCE COULD BE THE NATURE OF SUCCESSFUL SUPERSTARS IN AMERICA 

Kanye West's debut album, "The College Dropout," is a masterful piece of work that should be mentioned among the classic albums of our time. That's what West thinks. And he'll tell you so — again and again and again. "You can't judge 'The College Dropout.' It's something completely different," the 27-year-old musician declared in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "It's definitely a classic, if I stepped aside from myself and say that. ... we'll see the results in the next six months, of whether it did change the game or whether it is it's own entity." Those kind of declarations have earned the blazing young rapper and superhot producer the reputation of being, well, a bit arrogant. Yet it's hard to blame him when "Dropout" has sold more than two million copies and is being hailed by most critics and fans as the answer to a stagnant rap scene. From the clever, thought-provoking "All Falls Down" to the religious fervor of his latest single, "Jesus Walks," to the witty skits and clever rhymes, the album takes a welcome detour from materialistic, violent hip-hop fare to subject matter that's more substantial — and more realistic. "I appreciate people like Kanye, people that dare to be different.

Hip-hop is supposed to be an avenue of expression, and people are supposed to be able to express what they feel, what they believe," said the recently unretired rapper Ma$E, who dropped a verse on the "Jesus Walks" remix. But it's not only Kanye's rap career that's gotten people's attention. He's become one of today's most prolific producers, working with everyone from Ludacris to Brandy to Alicia Keys. "He definitely put his foot in the game with his style of music. He's the beat man," said Twista, who had his first No. 1 hit this year thanks to West with the humorous smash "Slow Jamz," featuring West and actor Jamie Foxx.  Even a life-threatening car accident in 2002 didn't defer his dreams — he turned the experience into a hit single, recording a song about the crash and rapping with his jaw wired shut on the clever "Through the Wire." The chorus featured West's much-imitated trademark sound, a sped-up sample of a soul classic, in this case Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire." "My thing is, how can I possibly overly confident? Look at my accomplishments!" says West, in between breaks sketching out designs for his newest project — launching his own sneaker. Yet in his next breath, the Chicago native (and true college dropout, from Chicago State) admits that much of his exuberance is just an act — a mental trick to give him the confidence he needs to succeed in the rough-and-tumble music world. "I say in my songs, I'm so insecure. So a lot of times, arrogance is to combat insecurity. So in order for me to go out and do what I've done, facing insecurity and facing people telling me I couldn't do it, I had to build a force field around myself," he explains."I had to be a borderline lunatic to think that I could do what I've done. It's crazy ... what I've accomplished is crazy," he says. West's rise to the top may not be crazy, but it certainly is the stuff rap fairy tales are made of. Drawn to rap since childhood, he set his sights on being the next superstar. But instead of just dreaming about it, he took action. He got his mother, a college professor, to lend him money to buy an expensive keyboard when he was a teen so he could work on his tunes, and started hanging out in clubs to taste the scene, though he was too young to get in. "I thought I was going to get signed back when I was 13 years old, and come out with a record and take Kris Kross out," he said of the '90s kiddie rap group. Kanye actually got an opportunity for stardom a few years ago — West recalls Columbia Records dangling a record contract, and it helped contribute to his decision to drop out of school. But he didn't have the big game to back up his big talk back then — and it may have cost him a deal. "I said, I'm going to be bigger than Michael Jackson, I'm going to bigger to Jermaine Dupri. I said that to (Columbia executive) Michael Mauldin" — not knowing that he was Dupri's father. "Whether that torpedoed the deal or not, by the time the meeting was over, "they hit me with those three words — we'll call you. They sent limos on the way up, and when I got downstairs I couldn't even catch a cab." He didn't give up on his dreams, instead using producing to get his foot in the door. And he kicked it wide open when he provided Jay-Z with the beat to his smash "Izzo (H.O.V.A)." The hit not only made West's stock soar as a producer, it eventually led to a deal that made him the latest member of Jay-Z's Roc-a-fella label. "That was the turning point in my life. Jay made all the difference," West says. "I can't say that I wouldn't have done it without him, but he made it easier because he gave me a stamp, he gave me the streets. The Roc-A-fella chain helped me get my name." One of the reasons West has some of the hottest records is because he's offered something different. He introduced the rap world to sped-up samples, yet he's also been diverse enough to offer buttery-smooth soul for the likes of Janet Jackson and anthem-like raps for Dilated Peoples and a party jam for Ludacris. Fernando Reyes, Mexico City, District Federal, Mexico.

EGYPTIAN DIVAS AND WORLD'S LARGEST MOVIES MARKET. IS THE MONTHLY HERALD UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF JEWISH POWER? 

Photo: The Egyptian superstar, Faten Hamama.

Dear Ms Melvina: I noticed you are heavy on American cinema and superstars from Hollywood. In one of your articles you stated that America has the world's largest movies market. This is not quite accurate. The world's largest cinema market belongs to India. The second regional largest movie industry belongs to Egypt. Also, please allow me to point out that Egypt produced outstanding films and gave to the world great screen actors and actresses like Omar Sharif, Ahmad Abaza, Choukri Sarhan, Lubna Abdel Aziz, the wonderful Faten Hamama, many many other great stars. Yet, you have never mentioned those names in any article you wrote about international cinema. Are you playing politics here? Are you under Jewish media influence in England and the United States. Is the powerful Monthly Herald under the influence of Jewish power? Recently, the international film community and children's world organization paid homage to one of our greatest actresses. She is Egyptian and her name is LUBNA ABDEL AZIZ. She has been compared to Simone Signoret, Marina Vlady and Ida Lupino. An article about the Egyptian cinema and Lubna Abdel Aziz or Faten Hamama would be a nice gesture. Would you do this? Would you write about Egyptian cinema stars who rival the best of the best stars in the world. You don't have to believe every word I tell you. Just check your archives and find out for yourself. You will be amazed. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter. Your magazine is well read and very much admired here in Egypt. Respectfully, Ahmad Serhan, Cairo, Egypt

Photo: Lubna Abdel Aziz. Most certainly, she is one of the world's greatest movie stars.

Mr Serhan: First fact: The MONTHLY HERALD is not even under the influence of its own editorial board. We have writers, reporters and correspondents from around the world and from multi-varied ethnicities. Many of them are free-spirited and quite unconventional. We do not play politics. Second fact: Dr Maximillien de Lafayette, former Editor-in-Chief and current Bureau Chief ( Overseas Bureau) wrote extensively about Arab culture, Arab artists, painters and comparative history of Arab nations. Probably, he was the only journalist in the West, who so eloquently and warmly wrote at length about Egyptian actresses. His articles on Nour Al Houda (Nee Alexandra Badran) , Berlinti Abdel Hamid, Bechara Wakim,  Ismahan (Asmahan), Riyad Al Sunbati, Mohammad Abdel Wahab, Hind Salami, Tahya Karioka, Omar Sharif (Ne Michel Chalhoub) and Abdel Aziz Mahmood  are monumental. With pride and joy, we published those articles. However, it is quite accurate, we did not write about Ms Faten Hamama and Ms Lubna Abdel Aziz. However, we did, recently, contact Ms Abdel Aziz. We sent her two e-mails at her office at AL AHRAM Newspaper and informed her that, we are interested in writing a piece on her. Unfortunately, we did NOT hear from Ms Abdel Aziz. We will try one more time. Yes, we are fully aware of the great talent of Egyptian movie stars. We will write more about the Egyptian cinema. We have a great admiration for Ms Abdel Aziz. Unquestionably, she is one of the greatest movies stars of all time. But in order to write a comprehensive and an up-to-date article about her, we need Ms Abdel Aziz's collaboration.

BUSH IS NOT WELCOME HERE. Dear Melvina: Here in Chile,  riot police are using water cannons and tear gas to break up a demonstration by hundreds of rock-throwing protesters before more than 20,000 people marched to vent their anger at Pacific Rim leaders, particularly U.S. President George W. Bush who is so much hated in our country. Tell your readers that we have nothing against the Americans. We just hate Bush, Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice. They are the three stooges of international politic The Chileans oppose the APEC summit, and the heartless American politicians which they likened to a rich man's club that does nothing for the poor.  Bush's and the U.S. war against Iraq is a war crime. Manuel Rodriguez, Santiago, Chile.

WE LIKE AMERICAN HIP HOP STARS. Hi Melvina, a short note to tell you that we love American hip hop stars. I know you don't like much Rappers and MTV music because you are conservative. But look at it this way. Millions of fans in Europe start to like Hip Hop. And guess what? Who is winning all the award now? Americans! So, don't you think that your magazine is ready for a change? Don't you think it is time for the Monthly Herald to start writing articles about this genre of music? This week ceremony featured performances by Usher and Keys, Eminem, Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand, Swedish punk band The Hives and Gwen Stefan. Many important people from all walks of life came to see the performances. I read news coverage and many articles about this event. The Monthly Herald did not bother to write one line about it. The event was broadcast to an audience of one billion people in 156 countries. More than 12 million people cast votes for the awards. I think you should write about Eminem, Gwen Stefan and other first class singers. Mario Moreno, Roma, Italy.