Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 368 Editor's Choice: 8
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Conspiracy Against Kids?
[Read the article: Plus size, minus a few years]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I took my nephew and my niece and her friend to the movies a few weeks ago. While waiting in the lobby, I saw two overweight teenage girls flirting with a boy who appeared to be the same age as the girls, but not overweight. He smiled and said hello and the girls walked away, giggling to each other. Friends of the boy began to tease him about "two tons of fun" and he looked embarassed. It all made me feel kind of sad.
I watched my nephew, niece and her friend walked toward me past the snack bar and I asked them if they wanted anything before we found our seats. They passed on the offer and we went into the theatre. All three are teenagers who are not overweight.
I don't know why they can pass up the snack bar (hey, I offered to buy them whatever they wanted), and others don't. I was so skinny growing up, my grandmother used to take me to the doctor without telling my parents. I had problems finding clothes that fit until I was a junior in high school and it was really frustrating - especially when you're a kid and you want to fit in. I was also able to eat anything and everthing I wanted until I hit my late thirties.
I don't know what the answer is here. I hate to see kids being made to feel bad about themselves (I remember the pain of being singled out for ridicule), and also knowing all of the health problems they'll face if they don't begin to eat a healthy diet and get daily exercise.
I always preferred the taste of fresh fruit over greasy microwaved prepared food, but I think I may be in a minority these days. I still look forward to summer in the produce department: berries, plums, melons - yum. Sadly, I think it may cost more than processed food.
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Particularly Haunting
[Read the article: "The war as we saw it"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is more balanced and illuminating than any other accounting I've heard or read.
I'm deeply saddened by the news of the deaths of these men who joined with their fellow soldiers and made the decision that it was more important to report to the American people what they know to be the truth in Iraq than to adhere to empty convention and keep it to themselves.
It is my sincerest hope the wounded soldier fully recovers. I will remember all of them and I will pass this editoral along to everyone who hasn't read it.
I don't know what the answer is, but it's clear that this administration is determined to stay the course and run out the clock until the next president is sworn in.
If you can read this and not feel a kind of rage inside, you're no countrymen of mine.
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Like a Circle in a Circle
[Read the article: Cherry-picking and sugarcoating]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This administration has demonstrated a pattern of selling the American public on their policies using circular confirmation.
The Italian Letter for example - a forged document confirming that Niger made a deal to deliver 500 tons of pure uranium to Saddam Hussein. This information was debunked by Sismi (Italian intellegence who some consider to be the original source of the forgery), France, and most famously by Joe Wilson, among many others. This dubious information became the cornerstone of their argument to invade Iraq.
They bolstered their argument with the claim that everyone had the same information. They did. The British had received the forged documents which ended up as part of the "dodgy dossier".
So, the Bush administration confirmed their information with the exact same questionable and often debunked information.
Now we have Petraeus selling Bush's stay the course Iraq policy with Bush citing Petraeus' report as the source of his "return on success" Iraq policy.
I laughed at his address tonight so many times, it was like watching Extras or Curb Your Enthusiasm.
He sounds like he's talking in circles, and he is and it's deliberate. I'm sick of it. It doesn't make any sense and it never did.
If the Democrats don't collectively grow a pair and do the right thing and stop funding this tragic debacle, they shouldn't automatically count on my vote. I switched to the Edwards camp tonight.
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One More Thing...
[Read the article: Cherry-picking and sugarcoating]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Does anyone else find it curious that in 1962 we had the technology to provide Adlai Stevenson with photographs proving the Soviets had placed missiles in Cuba with which to confront the Soviet UN ambassador, and in 2003 we had no photographic evidence to show a procession of trucks hauling 500 tons of uranium from Niger to Iraq?
Considering the fact that we had been patrolling the no-fly zone over Iraq since the end of the Gulf War one could reasonably assume that we would have noticed such a parade.
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Keep Your Eye on The Prize
[Read the article: What happens to private contractors who kill Iraqis? Maybe nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I suspect what is going on here is that the central Iraqi government, such as it is, has just pulled the rug out from under Hunt Oil and the Kurds.
In an under reported story last week, Texas-based Hunt Oil signed a contract with the Kurds to explore for oil in northern Iraq. The Iraq central government responded by declaring the contract illegal.
While there is little violence in the Kurdish region, its remains a risky proposition for private companies to operate in Iraq without the protection of a company like Blackwater. With Blackwater banned from operating within Iraq, there will either be another "security" firm hired to replace Blackwater, or Blackwater will change their name, or private firms may determine the risk outweighs the reward.
Oil is the primary concern for the Bush administration and Iraq. I don't want to discount the loss of innocent life in Iraq. Personally, I find the fact that Blackwater is allowed to operate with virtually no oversight or consequence not only reprehensible but counterproductive. I can only guess how many jihadis were inspired by the actions of Blackwater.