00050	                                                     February 1, 1974
00075	
00100	Consumer Reports
00200	P.O. Box 1111
00300	Mount Vernon, N.Y. 10550
00400	
00500	Dear CU:
00600	
00700		Early  in  1973 or possibly in 1972, I sent a contribution of
00800	$25.00 to the Consumer Foundation recommended  in  CU.   Except  that
00900	they  cashed  my  check,  I have seen no evidence of the existence of
01000	this organization.  What has been done with my money?
01100	
01200		In March 1973, I wrote to CU disagreeing  with  the  position
01300	you took on microwave ovens pointing out that whether microwave ovens
01400	should be used depends on thresult  of  a  comparison  with  standard
01500	ovens  which  are  certainly dangerous.  I was not surprised when the
01600	letter was not printed; CU receives lots of letters.  I was surprised
01700	that  no letters on the microwave oven issue were printed and further
01800	surprised when a check showed me  that  CU  apparently  publishes  no
01900	letters  that  disagree  with positions that CU takes.   In fact, the
02000	letters printed seem to be chosen to  reinforce  CU's  positions.   I
02100	find this distressing.
02200	
02300		I  have just read the February 1974 issue, and perhaps I have
02400	just become sensitizd to the matter, but I find  it  incredibly  smug
02500	and  self-righteous.    The  article  on  oil  is  especially  bad in
02600	attributing bad motives to anyone whose point of  view  is  different
02700	from  the  writer's.  Its analysis is sloppy and every fact presented
02800	carefully chosen  to  support  its  conclusions.   For  example,  the
02900	environmental  movement  clearly  has  some  responsibility  for  the
03000	consequences of its actions even if they claim that if everyone  else
03100	had done what they said, the results would have been good.
03200	
03300		So  you won't suspect my own motives, I have been a member of
03400	CU since the middle 1950's and have never had any connection with the
03500	oil  industry  or with anyone who makes or sells microwave ovens.   I
03600	simply find CU increasingly unobjective and its increasingly strident
03700	and self-righteous tone unpleasant to read.
03800	
03900					John McCarthy
04000	
04100	
04200					Computer Science Department
04300					Stanford, California