Letters to the Editor
speeder
Published Letters: 130 Editor's Choice: 12
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Just because they do it in the game . . .
[Read the article: Grand Theft misogyny]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]. . doesn't mean they fantasize about it in real life.
And that is the problem I have with the idea that everyone who has sex with and then kills a hooker in GTAIV must actually fantasize about it. They don't. You kill the hooker after you have sex with her in GTA because it's GTA and often you kill people in game just to see what will happen.
This idea that fifteen year old boys are getting hard after killing hookers and desperately wishing they could do it in real life is getting old.
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Special Edition
[Read the article: "Grand Theft Auto IV" sales top $500 million in a week]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There is a "special edition" version that retails for 89.00. That will account for at least some of the discrepancy.
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house size/car power is irrelevant to price.
[Read the article: Mortgaging our credit card debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry, you can't compare the size and power of what a previous generation was able to purchase vs this generation and make any conclusion about the respective frugalness.
Cars today are quite a bit better than cars used to be. Yes they may be more powerful, but that power comes from technological advancements (especially the computers inside your engine), not increased spending by consumers. Additionally, the reliability of a car has vastly improved to the point where the long term value of a modern car is much higher than one 20 years ago.
Houses are bigger, but the general quality of construction materials tend to be lower, and the techniques used substantially reduce construction costs, combined with the fact that in many parts of the country the land is the primary cost you are paying on your mortgage, that extra thousand square feet (often attributed by one simple large room) really has much less of an impact.
We pay people to often clean our homes. Is this a luxury? Probably, but when both adults are working 60 hours a week and trying to raise a family, are we really going to point to this expense as some sort of symptom of an over entitled culture?
The simple fact is that the things we need, housing (and by housing I mean the land your house is on, not the actual house) fuel, healthcare and food have been getting more and more expensive compared to inflation, while the things we want, TV's, cars, video game systems etc, are getting cheaper and cheaper (and better) compared to inflation.
So even as it gets harder and harder to obtain what we need, it gets easier to buy what we want. Which tends to result in this idea we are all flittering away our money, when instead we are often spending less money on toys than ever before.
It isn't the 1000 dollars people spend once every seven or eight years for a nice new HDTV that is killing everybody. It is the 2000 dollars rent, plus 450 dollars health insurance that is doing it.
And the rent isn't 2k because of the size of the house/apt. - it's because of the land it's sitting on.
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Real Estate
[Read the article: What should we do with our $3 million?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe not for a few months or a year due to the wacky market, but buy property, A few duplex's perhaps, or, maybe a small building. To maximize your investment if you need to do work on the places before they rent out, do it yourself. Heck, for a few years you two may even want to manage a small building yourself. Your young, and no matter what your major was or how little you know about this sort of thing you can do it. (My brother and I installed new fixtures, laid down new floors, painted etc etc, in his rentals and we are not what one would refer to as "handy men")Do your homework, do a lot of homework. But if you do it right, you could basically ensure you and your (possible future) children will be in good shape.
Oh, and buy a few shares of Berkshire B to get their shareholders reports which contain some of the best economic analysis out there.
And this in no way need stop you from starting some sort of other venture that you are passionate about.
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Dubious?
[Read the article: My business trip ended with me in four-point restraints!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]. . . for such dubious conditions as flight fright just infuriates me.
Did you miss the part where LW was already afraid of flying, and then witnessed 9/11 live?
I know a lot of people were there and many of them did not develop a fear of flying, but come on, I think we can let this slide without throwing out terms like "dubious"
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wanna bet?
[Read the article: Hygiene and the city]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]. Men too, and you don't see them getting a complex about it.
You would be surprised.