Letters to the Editor
sesanders
Published Letters: 308 Editor's Choice: 18
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Soft, silky voice
[Read the article: No apologies, Katie Couric!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Katie Couric's plastered hair, her lack of eye make-up have not helped her news career. Looking unattractive has not made her appear more like a news person...her lack of grooming is distracting in a negative way. When I compare her to Leslie Stahl who seems entirely professional even though she is a blond, beautifully coiffed, and very pretty, Katie does not compare. She appears not right for the news, not because she is not intelligent or perceptive...that soft, silky voice and kid glove approach are simply not a traditional news style, and the audience doesn't know how to respond to her. That doesn't mean that given time, her news persona make come around...perhaps people will eventually accept a soft-spoken person as a news anchor, but in the meantime, she can expect low ratings.
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Brain Food
[Read the article: My other, older woman]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Being a duplicate bridge player myself, I really enjoyed this article. Bridge is a game of the mind...it is brain food forcing the player to practice memory, logic, and communication. More than that, it is a game of life with its ups and downs, and it can be terribly humbling when playing out a disastrous contract or making a blunder at defense which can happen quite often on a bad day. However, it provides great satisfaction when things work. And, yes, it is terribly addictive!
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Political Suicide
[Read the article: The Democrats' "gay debate" dance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Democrats had better dance around the "gay debate" because to do otherwise would cause nothing but trouble!
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Monumental Disaster
[Read the article: The scruffy charms of an insecure president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Draper is generous with Bush, but Bush is going to be furious with his contention that this president refuses to take responsibility for his mistakes and that he is incurious.
I cannot imagine that Bush will be considered a monumental president, ever! He has lied too much, covered up the truth about Iraq, stooped to outright vicious lies about his opponents in his political rise, and absolutely dissembled about being a compassionate conservative. I think the popular wisdom that Bush has always felt himself to be destined by virtue of his birthright to be a head of state has caused him to gloss over the facts and has made him a shallow, conservative stick figure not to be bothered with facts and humanitarian values. The swagger, the smirk irritate immensely even though they may have origins in his insecurity.
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The Boor!
[Read the article: Lee Bollinger's big moment]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bollinger's conduct was embarrassing and atrocious toward an invited guest. I would have much preferred he not invite him if he was going to insult him. This was a rotten thing to do...embarrassing for the academic community...a show of incivility and lack of common courtesy for the country...in a nutshell, it was just plain mean to invite him and mercilessly insult in front of everyone. Bollinger has been taking lessons from Bush on how to be a boor!!!
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The Ugly Sde of the American Nature
[Read the article: My questions for President Ahmadinejad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Lee Bollinger's intemperate, discourteous, and shocking ambush of the Iranian president should go down in infamy. This august university president invites a hated head of state to speak at his university which creates an uproar within the Jewish community and incites the neocons plus other rabid racists itching for a war with Iran. Because Bollinger finds himself in a terrible hot spot, he then proceeds to rebuke his invited guest mercilessly in front of the whole world. This is simply outrageous and embarrassing for the whole country even though many of our countrymen are very pleased that Bollinger was such a boor.
I resent Bollinger's behavior and I want him to know that there are many Americans who feel that his action was hostile, smug, arrogant, and sanctimonious. Definitely, it gives a glimpse of the ugly side of the American nature which gets this country in so much trouble. Fie on such conduct. How dare this man speak for Americans. He doesn't speak for me even though some of his points were good. His bad faith negates any good that might have come from this sorry turn of events!
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Sanctimonious Ambush
[Read the article: Ahmadinejad, big man on campus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the conduct on the campus was outrageous. Bollinger in a sanctimonious ambush berated his own invited guest...it was a cowardly act by a so-called educator and I am not impressed... nor do I think that this kind of frenzied spectacle is good for civil discourse with other nations. This is the kind of Bush behavior which I abhor!
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Everybody is exaggerating...only Dyson knows the truth!
[Read the article: Our rosy future, according to Freeman Dyson]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It would be wonderful if Freeman Dyson were right and these scientific scare mongers were simply trying to get their greenbacks so they can continue their research into global warming in order to fund their salaries. However, another thought crosses my mind: his rosy picture of the future is extremely appealing, especially to those who have an axe to grind by believing him. So, who are we to believe...one cogent argument as opposed to a huge group of climatologists all singing the same song.
Many of this scientist's statements are lucid, interestingly phrased, and compelling. There still remains that nagging little question about whether all those climate scientists are inventing a problem for their own benefit. That would take a super conspiracy which is hard to fathom among a group so diverse and as globally scattered.
As for his comments on Dawkins, I agree... he alienates many and this can't be good. If Dawkins would ease up on his rhetoric and quit calling everyone deranged if they are religious, perhaps he could have a more meaningful impact.
Another point, Dyson is in his eighties, not so good anymore with the computer by his own admission, and possibly reluctant or unable to admit the world has changed and the technology has become very powerful in climatology. It is entirely possible that he sounds like he has it all together...particularly when he begins the subject of altering genomes in ways we can't imagine today, but, in truth, he may be a dinosaur! Still, I sure would like to believe him....