Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 80 Editor's Choice: 4
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Another Complete Waste of Time
[Read the article: Taking it off for peace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The late Great Edward Said summoned up this kind of 'shared experience' dialogue:
"Through the period from 1969 to 1991, I and many other Palestinians had had private, even secret, meetings and peace discussions with Israelis, American Jews, and others who were concerned about the issue.
By the period of the intifadah I had lost interest in the encounter groups principally because they were often manipulated by professional "conflict resolution" technicians, and also because they were now being used by the PLO not to
argue the Palestinian case but, in my opinion, to try to prove to Israelis how many concessions the PLO was prepared to make.
I also found that most members of the Israeli Left (including Peace Now) were focused on asking for more Palestinian concessions (recognize us, give up on the National Charter, etc.) without offering anything in return. In other words, these private attempts at reconciliation - with some notable exceptions - reflected the exact balance of power between us, a very weak partner and a very strong one, some of whose advocates shamelessly kept asking the victims of military occupation and dispossession for various moral acknowledgements from their victims."
Harry Clark wrote a powerful and eye-opening critique of this kind of action called "Refusing to be Effective" which appeared in CounterPunch in late March this year. I urge everyone to read it.
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Link to Critique of this kind of Action
[Read the article: Taking it off for peace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That article I mentioned in my first letter is here:
http://www.counterpunch.org/clark03282007.html
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What About the Iraqis?
[Read the article: Getting blown up, again and again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Makes you wonder what it's like to be some young Iraqi militia fighter, who has:
- No training
- No body armour
- No helmet
- No med evac if things go wrong
- No air support
- No tank or armoured support
- No artillery support
You're trying to engage the most powerful army in the world with a Russian assault rifle designed about 60 years ago, or maybe an anti-tank rocket launcher of about the same vintage.
I wonder what the long term effects will be like upon the Iraqi people, and how this cruel and criminal war will affect them and us in the West.
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The Long Wait...
[Read the article: We feel their pain]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Some of us have already been waiting six long years...
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Wow! Great Job Walter Shapiro!
[Read the article: Joe Lieberman, from his indie perch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Walter, what can I say beyond fantastic job!
You really had Holy Joe on the ropes there!
Too bad you couldn't have asked him a few more tough ones; you know, questions like:
"What's your favorite color, Senator?"
or maybe
"Senator, I'm sure we all want to know what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"
PS: I'll e-mail you next time my 7 year old and his buddies are playing softball.
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Strange Article
[Read the article: The 18 best Jewish ballplayers of all time]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I share others concerns - this piece has a weirdly racist whiff about it.
How else to describe the notion that it's surprising that Jews can play sport at the highest level - why?!?
Is it really necessary to point out that Jews are people (GASP!), and that a very fortunate tiny minority of all people have superb hand eye co-ordination (GASP!) and determination that enables them to play sport at the highest level?
This article is baffling, and to Salon's international readership most likely boring and puzzling.
Sorry Joan, but I don't know what on earth came over you publishing this piece in Salon.
- roGER
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An Unwise Assumption
[Read the article: Giuliani's proposal for endless Middle East wars on behalf of Israel ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Something that Glenn didn't really touch on is Giuliani's assumption that the other 25 Nato members would agree on Israel joining the alliance.
Many European member states are strongly critical of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and current blockade of the Gaza strip. Quite apart from the perception of their electorates that Israel is a regional bully, there are also realpolitik considerations in play.
For instance, the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Oman are some of the UK's biggest arms buyers. There is also the little difficulty of a predominantly French force currently keeping the peace in Southern Lebanon.
Since the end of the cold war, NATO has been looking for a role and in the absence of one, has been ossifying. Many member countries struggle to explain the purpose of the alliance now that the specter of thousands of Soviet tanks rolling through West Germany no longer exists.
If Giuliani actually made his proposal, it would fail either from rejection by NATO members, or by breaking the NATO alliance by the withdrawal of key states.
The failure of Giuliani to examine the implications of this policy show him to be a lightweight, a dreamer, or simply a fool.
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Oh Please!
[Read the article: How Oprah ruined the marathon]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh please!
Lets have a bit of sanity here. A sport grows from being almost cult-like in it's exclusivity, to being a major national and international pastime. At the elite level, Americans happen to have disappointing results.
So... blame Oprah!
Now don't get me wrong - I hate the fat narcissistic heifer as much as anyone, not least for her insane insistence that luck and good fortune do not play any part in any exceptional success.
But... much as though I'd like to blame her for everything, making her responsible for a lack of fast American marathon runners is ridiculous!
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Thanks!
[Read the article: The evolution of creationism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks to the many defenders of evolution here (such as Panask) - some really great examples and explanations.
Good to be reminded that crazed Christians are NOT representative of America as a whole, despite the current President.
- roGER
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Reality
[Read the article: My boss forwards fluffy kitten e-mails!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In his usual reasonable way Cary wrote:
"Your boss has to be smarter and better organized and more real-world centered than anyone else in the office."
NO NO NO! Your boss has to be lucky enough to join a small company that grows rapidly into a large company.
That's all there is to it.
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An Encounter with Reality
[Read the article: WSJ Op-Ed page decries hatred of the president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's funny how Bush supporters live in their own little right-wing bubble which is seldom punctured.
They have little idea just how much pure hatred there is out there - they percieve Bush as 'amicable' and 'friendly' and a 'regular guy'and assume the electorate (even if it disagrees with his policies) feels the same way.
This story reminds me of a David Brooks column a few years ago, which expressed genuine astonishment at much hatred of Bush there is...