Letters to the Editor
Silenced
Published Letters: 1358 Editor's Choice: 75
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And here's a reason why nobody is going to ban hunting
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Many wildlife programs are funded by hunting license fees. Without hunting license fees, a lot of those programs would have to be cut.
In fact a lot of wildlife programs across the country are now in danger because hunting is declining in popularity and hunting license fee revenue is way down.
I really don't see California Democrats lining up behind any statewide ban on hunting any time soon.
These gun lobby people are just being manipulative. I don't think they even really believe that hunting ban argument themselves.
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@hubcap_halo just a question
[Read the article: Binge-drinking problem? Blame Amy Winehouse! ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It'd be easier to find the places in American capitalist life that aren't obsessed with sex and drinking--I'd say PBS and the National Park system.
If capitalism causes alcoholism, then how do you explain the high alcoholism rate in the USSR? Just wondering.
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People really ought to take this seriously
[Read the article: Is Star Simpson's "fake bomb" just an art jacket?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Asperger's is a dangerous syndrome to have because even really smart people can end up making fatal misjudgments about how normal people perceive the things they say and do.
You can't just blame the stupid people and be done with it. If you want to be safe, you have to do better than that. You have to start thinking of empathy not as a sign of weakness but as a survival skill.
This student was almost killed because she misjudged the reactions of the people who aren't on her special gifted wavelength.
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We can judge hunters all we want
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But how would we make up for the revenue they contribute that gets used for wildlife management?
Like it or not, the state budget is dependent on them. I don't see any easy replacement for their money looming on the horizon either.
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@welcomerain let's do the math
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So many disingenuous folks here claim that this isn't an attack on hunting, that there is no slippery slope. Keep it up, fellas. Those of us who know enough to support the NRA have heard this nonsense from gun-grabbers before.
Well let's do the math. There are about 500,000 hunters in America. Suppose each of them spends a mere $200 per year in license fees and tags.
You think we liberal Democrats are really going turn down $100,000,000 per year in money for the state budget that we don't have to get by wrestling down the rich for more taxes?
That money goes to programs that we liberals love. Wildlife management and research. Scientists get that money. Liberal scientists.
I think perhaps your fear of losing your rights is clouding your ability to analyze the political reality on the ground.
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disigny so where would would get the extra money?
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tangerine's reply is breathtaking: "slippery slope is bullshit".. Ever heard of "Habeus Corpus", and the "Patriot Act" ? Or "Declaration of War", or the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution? Probably not. disigny
Have you ever heard of wildlife management programs beloved by Democrats that depend on hunting license fees for their funding? Probably not.
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By the way there is a major HUMAN rights problem in California
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You'll never read about that one in Salon, because it was caused by Gray Davis, who made the decision that those human lives were NOT worth saving.
In contrast, the condors' lives ARE worth saving, apparently, so let's try to save them.
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The social climate has really changed
[Read the article: Apathy rules?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think people today have lots of information. The things they're lacking are anything resembling empathy and a sense of connection to one another.
I think we've just become too mean for democracy.
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What I see here
[Read the article: Is Star Simpson's "fake bomb" just an art jacket?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Arrogant, privileged, entitled people without the tiniest scrap of human empathy.
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A modest solution to solve two problems at once
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We could take all the prisoners in our overcrowded state prison system and kill them all and feed them to the condors.
That would totally solve the human rights problem that you're never going to read about in Salon.
Since condors are nature's garbage disposal system, and since we treat prisoners in California like they're garbage, that should work, right?
Just make sure we don't kill the prisoners with lead bullets and everything should be fine.
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One thing it says in my Asperger's book
[Read the article: Is Star Simpson's "fake bomb" just an art jacket?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People with Asperger's who have high IQs can become very egocentric and are often relentlessly hypercritical of others they perceive as having lower IQs, while accepting absolutely zero criticism of themselves and their own behavior towards others.
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I have an idea for a new TV show
[Read the article: Is Star Simpson's "fake bomb" just an art jacket?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]High IQ Asperger Nation, like Kid Nation, but with people from this letters column.
I wonder how that would work, actually.
It could be interesting to see people who don't register social clues, think they're better than everyone else, and aren't good at feeling or expressing empathy could work together and build a town.
Could it be done? Or are the "stupid" people good for something after all?
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Well I'll say one positive thing
[Read the article: Is Saudi Arabia afraid of the dollar?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If anyone is thinking of writing post-apocalyptic fiction, this column is an excellent place to do research for the pre-apocalyptic flashbacks.
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DurianJoe
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I want people to keep hunting. I want them to keep up the human knowledge that is wrapped up in hunting, the skills that hunters develop -- because who knows -- we may need that knowledge in the future.
You live in the modern world and you have the luxury of considering yourself morally better than all your moral inferiors who hunt because you don't need anything (right now) that they hunt.
But your padded, protected life now is only possible because people hunted in the past.
And they didn't all do it for noble reasons that you're willing to condescend to and accept from your superior moral high ground way up there in the morally perfected clouds.
Humans hunted in the past not just because they needed to do it, but also because they loved to do it. You today are the beneficiary of their love of hunting and the skill they developed out of their love for hunting.
So you owe hunters a lot more than you're willing to give them.
One thing people seem to reject today is gratitude for the past.
People today seem to have moral judgment oozing out of every pore of their body, while old fashioned things like empathy and gratitude are increasingly hard to find.
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I can say something else good about hunters
[Read the article: Condors vs. the NRA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you get lost in the back country when you're skiing in the winter, many of the people who will go out voluntarily and work extremely hard on their day off on your search and rescue team are likely to be hunters biding their time in the off season.