Letters to the Editor
GeeJay
Published Letters: 126 Editor's Choice: 20
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Hint, all have the same answer.
[Read the article: Did Chertoff lie to Congress about Guantánamo?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Did Chertoff lie to Congress about Guantánamo?
Does a Republican gay bashing Senator seek manly lips?
Does a Presidential Policy and Political director rap and pogo stick on stage?
Does a Vice-Presidential advisor get convicted of perjury?
Does a Secretary of State lie before a world audience?
Does a President fabricate reasons why the USA should start a war?
Does a President lie about his military service?
Does another Secretary of State refer to the President as “my husband”?
Did the EPA lie to New Yorkers about air quality after 9/11?
Does the same Republican Senator above want to rename Idaho to I’m a ho?
…. blah, blah, blah.
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College Football
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]College football demands belief in what it preaches while cloaking the starkness of its appetites. The discrepancies between a high school senior footballer and the board of regents of a college or university mandate that the baller be treated as chattel. The ballers must adhere to rules, that if imposed on the preachers would be declared immoral and unconstitutional.
All of which leads to the classic mismatches in college football. All done for money – none of which is forwarded to the ballers. Sure, the ballers receive a scholarship for a number of years (usually not long enough to receive a degree), but the board of regents gets their money back a hundred times over for their investment in those scholarships. Meanwhile, most ballers do not graduate from their college or university, but do receive life long physical and emotional injuries. Meanwhile, these players are as replaceable as any part feeding an assembly line.
The real score of the college mismatches is
Board of Regents 100
Ballers 3.
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I wish it were true.
[Read the article: Larry Craig's downfall]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For sexual issues and tensions to relax implies that tolerance will increase. Speaking from my experience in this country, tolerance is on the wane. This is displayed by the current occupant who steadfastly insists that there are two groups of people in this country, patriots and traitors. That doesn’t leave much room for dissent, thus tolerance goes lacking.
The next 20 years do not appear rosy. If this country follows its current path, children will spend their entire childhood smothered in an atmosphere of war, as every American child under the age of six has done. As has always happened, people will look for scapegoats, with religious believers pointing fingers away from themselves.
It is easier to act cowardly than it is to act tolerantly. It is easier to blame others for one’s own problems than to take responsibility for failure. It is easier to go shopping in a time of national emergency than to wrack one’s brain for solutions. It is easier to hate than to love.
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Last words
[Read the article: Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In case it hasn’t already been mentioned, the last sentence of Mr. B’s article contains the prototypical prose of insincere White House authors.
“… if left unchecked, [Iraq] probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade." (analysis in 2002)
If left unchecked, Grenada probably could have a nuclear weapon by the end of this decade. The White House authors are adept at writing meaningless statements that they know will be embraced by an illiterate population as studied fact.
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Lest we forget
[Read the article: Breaking the Iraq stalemate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The article forgot to mention the other forgotten war, which has lasted a year longer than the Iraqi War. Apparently there is not even a plan for an "American" victory in Afghanistan, just a process for wasting lives, psyches, cultures, the environment, and money. The Afghani chldren? Where is Hilary when we need her? -- Though many are encouraged that the drug trade is flourishing.
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The real west
[Read the article: Guns, not roses, for Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Some may think that arming every Iraqi with personal firearms will allow every Iraqi to defend themselves, causing hostilities to cease. To the contrary, this brings everyone to an even level, the same place where everyone would be if no weapons were in the possession of individuals. To gain an advantage, one would have to escalate to larger ordnance, thus leaving the non-escalating person at a disadvantage. Of course this spirals until a country spends 25% of their funds on military supplies.
The difference between an even playing field, one where everyone possesses a weapon, and one where none possesses a weapon, is that arguments are punctuated with firepower when everyone is armed, rather than with words.
There was a very good reason why the toughest lawmen in the old American West forbade the carrying of firearms in their town. Those gun-toting loved-by-Conservatives lawmen had a lifetime of experience with firearms, and they used that experience to demand that senseless killing would not happen under their watch. Of course a Twinkie salesman with a basement full of portable weaponry may think differently, but who would you rather trust? High Noon or a Junk Food Pusher?
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Kick the FG
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A part is missing in the go-on-fourth-down argument. If I was coaching, I would make it clear to the team that we will never go for a first down on fourth down, instead of attempting to kick a makeable field goal, unless we are at the end of the game and need more than a field goal to tie or win the contest.
The reason is that the above clearly defines a football decision point. Players who know that they will not have an opportunity to have a fourth down are inclined to focus better on third down - greater effort is made on every third down play. The players will have only themselves to blame for not getting the first down if they fail. They do not have an opening for questioning or dissent because they know going into a game that if they want to get a first down, they have three downs to do it, not four. This approach creates a tighter team, with fewer distractions.
Also, you should always get points on the board when you can, while not giving an emotional lift to the opposition by failing on a fourth down conversion. You win games by winning the morale battle many times.