Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Memo to Jeb Bush: You're delusional. Nobody wants you to be president. Go away.

Has anyone out there seen Homeland, on Showtime? We don't get Showtime (though we could, if we were willing to pay for it). I've heard about Homeland for years, and almost always favorably. I'm thinking about buying the first season on DVD. Feedback welcome.

To the Editor:

Peter Wehner argues that the incarnation of Jesus led to a “radical commitment to the dignity and worth of every person.” I expect that all religions could cite a role in that commitment, just as all, including Christianity, would probably acknowledge lapses in their commitment for which they owe an apology.

At the risk of being labeled a Grinch, I suggest that we not forget the secular contribution to human dignity and worth, in particular the idea of democracy that came from the ancient Greeks. It’s the idea that places the responsibility for our humanity and our commitment to a more humane future for our children and our countrymen exactly where it belongs—with ourselves.

DAVID KERNIS

Trumbull, Conn.

Note from KBJ: Nice try. The Greeks had slaves. The "secular contribution to human dignity and worth" has given us Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Mao Zedong, among others. The end justifies the means!

Here.

Here.

Genesis 1983-1998 (2007).

Your five favorite musical artists of all time, please. Mine are (in no particular order):

• Yes
• Genesis
• Black Sabbath (with Ozzy Osbourne)
• Led Zeppelin
• Queen

The Who makes honorable mention. Note that all of my picks are British. I must have English blood.

Addendum: I have seen Yes, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Queen in concert. If Genesis and the Who ever come my way (and I hope they do), I'll be sure to see them.

I'm nothing if not goal-oriented. Today's 35.4-mile bike ride completes a successful cycling year for me. I had three goals back on 1 January 2015. The primary goal was to exceed my 2014 mileage total of 4,366.6 miles. The secondary goal was to exceed 4,706.9 miles, which would make 2015 my second-best mileage year ever (in 35 years of cycling). The tertiary goal, which I set for myself after I achieved my secondary goal a month or so ago, was to reach the 4,900-mile mark for the year. Today's ride gives me 4,903.6 miles. Missions accomplished!

I rode my bike 153 times this year (in 365 days), which is an average of 32.04 miles per ride. My best month was July, when I rode 16 times, and my worst was February, when I rode nine times. I rode in every type of weather, from bitter cold to oppressive heat, in torrential rain and in gale-force wind. Nothing kept me from my appointed rounds. (Sorry.) To put my year in perspective, consider this. The mileage from San Diego to Charleston, South Carolina, is 2,446, so you can say that I rode from San Diego to Charleston and back this year. Assuming that I averaged 16.5 miles per hour, I was on the bike for 297.1 hours this year. That's an average of 48.8 minutes per day. I have now pedaled 84,461.1 miles in my lifetime. It may sound silly, but I have a love affair with my bike. As soon as I complete one ride, I start thinking about the next.

My first ride of 2016 will be Saturday, 2 January. I have three goals for 2016. The primary goal is to exceed this year's total of 4,903.6 miles, which will make 2016 my second-best mileage year ever. (My best year was 1990, when I rode 6,205.9 miles.) The secondary goal is to reach 5,000 miles, which is a nice round number. The tertiary goal is to reach 5,353.7 miles, which is 157 rides of 34.1 miles. (My standard ride is 34.1 miles.) Wish me luck! I ride, therefore I am.

Addendum: It was bobcat city on the trail today. The image in this post (click to enlarge) shows three adult bobcats in leisure mode. I had already ridden past them when I stopped to snap this picture. I wouldn't say that they're tame, but they've lost whatever fear of humans they once had.

To the Editor:

Re “The Curious Comeback of Cassettes” (Op-Ed, Dec. 24):

In questioning why on earth the cassette has made a comeback, Rosecrans Baldwin maligns the cassette as a medium for recorded music, pointing to its generally inferior sound quality and penchant for physical deterioration. He laments how annoying it is to have to fast-forward to find the song you want at just the right moment and supposes its newfound popularity is due more to nostalgia than to any practical concerns.

Basically, he points out exactly all the reasons we still need the cassette. The cassette does not lend itself to on-demand listening. And when you play a cassette, you do not listen to only half a song before nonchalantly skipping to the next track. The cassette is for people with an attention span, people who are generous enough to let an artist curate a whole half-hour of listening, or in the case of a mixtape, between 60 and 120 minutes.

The cassette is a reaction against our attention-deficient, on-demand, fast-forward-through-life, listen-to-only-half-a-song culture. Digital-only recorded music has helped devalue the song and especially the album as art forms. People who want to own a cassette in 2015 recognize this and reject these disposable aspects of our culture.

DAN ZAJACKOWSKI

New York

Note from KBJ: The cassette is for morons. We got rid of it for a reason.