Letters to the Editor
Portlander
Published Letters: 303 Editor's Choice: 13
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Pacifism
[Read the article: A history of nonviolence]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am a pacifist - my parents were pacifists - and I went to jail instead of serving in the military in 1970. This fact is not important per se, but full disclosure is needed to understand my biases. A few observations:
1- The Allies never gave a damn about the Jews - either before or during the war. Before the war, both the U.S. and Britain refused to allow Jews to emigate/immigrate. Hundreds of thousands - especially German Jews - could have been saved had we been less racist. During the war, we had the capability to bomb the rail lines leading to the death camps in Poland by mid-1943. We did not undertake that effort and more than 2 million Jews were killed after we had that capability.
2- Hitler would not have been possible without the Treaty of Versailles. This was the ultimate case of the victors rewriting history to serve their interests. We still teach our children the fabricated BS that Germany started WWI. It clearly did not. Both Russia and France mobilized their armies, declared war and attacked Germany before Germany did anything.
3- The Palestinians could have gained much by following the examples of Gandhi and King. Once Israel started its program of ethnic cleansing in late 1967, "massive, non-violent non-cooperation" would have been much more effective in bringing world opinion to bear against Israeli settlements, and we might not have the nightmare that exists now.
BTW, there are very few pacifists in the world. Pacifism is opposition to all war for all reasons. The number of actual pacifists in the U.S. is almost certainly less than 0.1%. Finally, just as a note, pacifism doesn't mean opposition to all violence per se - force, including lethal force, is quite acceptable in self defense or defense of one's family. Killing on command is what is not acceptable.
DZ
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Not the same
[Read the article: Arugula for everyone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Organic and sustainable do NOT mean the same thing. Organic means not using pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers in the production of food. Sustainable means not depleting one set of resources to produce food in a way that means the consumed resource will eventually not be available. Organic farming should be sutainable, but it isn't always. Most of the organic rice grown in the U.S., for example, relies on heavily subsidized water created by severe environmental degradation. Agricultural use of water in the WEST under current practices, organic or otherwise, is not sustainable.
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Death Threats?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Anyone who sends a death threat based on anything to do with any sporting event should be hung in public. Sick, sick, sick
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Limousine liberals?
[Read the article: High noon for immigration]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I see this nonsense posted in Saalon now and then - limousine liberals, trust fund radicals, etc. Does anyone know who these limo and trust fund types are? Have you met any? I know a lot of liberals, but I don't know any with limos or trust funds. I know a fair number of right wingers with limos and trust funds - but even those are mostly holdovers from my days at Brown. I knew Charles Schwab when I worked there, but he's an ultra right winger. So, who are these alleged people?
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Molly Ivins
[Read the article: Really bad trip ... to a museum]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Any state that produces people like Molly Ivins can't be all bad.
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Jettison the far left?
[Read the article: Wimpy Rambos]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]By most standards these days, I'm on the far left, and I know not a single person who doesn't believe that there is significant danger from Islamic jihadists. What you call the 'far left' is 50% of the Democratic Party. We oppose the war in Iraq, because it has nothing whatever to do with terrorism or jihadists other than to create a greater danger from them. We oppose torture, indefinite detention without judicial review, 'renditions', support for any dictator, feed the rich economics, etc. I will not vote for DINOs ever again no matter what the cost. Jettison us at your own risk.
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Longtime
[Read the article: Dude, where's my cross?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, there are some thoughtful evangelical Christians. I've met some. I've even met some evangelical environmentalists. Very interesting people. BUT, every single one of them wanted to impose their religion on me and my family - every single one. There are no grounds even for civility to people who wish to impose their superstitious claptrap on me. I don't care what they believe - I certainly have no desire to convert anyone to my brand of atheism - but they need to keep their crap out of my life and away from my family. AND, off our money, out of the Pledge, etc.
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Sardinia?
[Read the article: Destination: Southern Italy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sardinia is not in southern Italy. It is an island almost due west of Rome. Have you ever actually been there?
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Long Standing Problem
[Read the article: North Korea fallout]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is not some recent issue that involves just Bush and his pathetic henchmen. We have been total hypocrites about nucleur proliferation for a long time. Non-proliferation means no nukes - it doesn't mean it's OK for some but not for others. Israel's possession of nucleur weapons is just as criminal and just as dangerous as possession of such weapons by Iran, but we gave Israeli weapons just a wink and a nod. Moreover, Israel aided and abetted development of nucleur weapons by the apartheid government of South Africa - again a wink and a nod. We did nothing about nucleur weapons in India and Pakistan. Then, Saddam Hussein used phosgene, mustard gas and Sarin against Iran during his invasion of Iran, and we did another wink and nod.
This is not about a couple of countries - this is about our entire policy regarding WMD and it needs to be applied uniformly to all countries.
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Language
[Read the article: "Ridiculous," "out of control" and just plain "goofy"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am also 60, never befuddled and I heard a variant of this expression (Don't shine me on) fairly often when I was young. I don't know the etiology of the expression, but I grew up in the Detroit suburbs in the 50s and 60s, and use of the variant was fairly common. I went to Brown University which, while small, mostly white and mostly upper middle class, was quite diverse geographically. I heard the variant there a few times mostly from kids from Chicago, Milwaukee, etc.