Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 355 Editor's Choice: 43
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Gas Prices
[Read the article: Why gas is so expensive]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Even at $4.00 per gallon, Americans pay about 50% less than anyone else in the world that does not have a Govt. subsidy for fuel i.e. Mexico & Iran.
That's not really true, though. What Americans pay less of is gas and oil taxes. Factor those out and the price of the gas itself is about the same. In other countries those taxes go to fund the government. Here income, sales and property taxes are used to do that. So consumers are paying roughly just as much in taxes, it's just that elsewhere those taxes are targeted to limit fuel consumption. That means those countries are now in a better position to weather the global run up in oil prices, as their consumers have had an incentive for decades to use fuel more efficiently.
It's another reason why we're going to have so much difficulty climbing out of the economic hole 30 years of rightwing idiocy has dug for this country.
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Um, Why Should Users Have To Do All Of That
[Read the article: What to expect in the next Windows: The iPhone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's called an "Operating System". It ought to operate the damn computer itself. If the users have to go in and tweak obscure settings by hand just to have Word perform its spellcheck in the correct language, scan every 20 seconds for viruses, and hunt for and apply patches all the time, what exactly is the "Operating System" doing? Watching videos on YouTube? Ordering porn? Selling your stuff on eBay?
I've encountered the same Outlook holiday bug by the way, and I've seen it on other machines, so it's hardly uncommon. Just another example of poorly-written software from Microsoft, part of an avalanche of crap from Redmond.
Is Apple flawless? Hardly - iTunes bugs the hell out of me sometimes. But they're better, which is admittedly not saying much. Still, I get the feeling they at least try to do something other than lock customers and businesses into their platform, which seems to be all that Microsoft is about (and indeed, all they've been about for the past 20 years).
Again, that strategy worked in the days of $2,500 computers and software that could only run on a single platform. We're entering a world of $300 pocket PC's and web-based applications that'll run in any browser. The future belongs to companies which can produce integrated devices that just work, using operating systems that actually operate. To succeed, consumers must be willing and eager to purchase these devices on their own merits, not because of FUD. Microsoft has clearly shown they can't compete in such a space - they aren't even a presence in that space.
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I'm Not Sure SJP Was Trying To Make Carrie Look Better
[Read the article: "Sex and the City"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I recall reading an interview somewhere in which Parker sort of called the character of Carrie hopelessly f'ed up. Not quite so explicitly as that, but that was the meaning I took away from her statement. I thought it was both surprising and enlightening at the time. So I don't think she ever intended to make Carrie look better - if anything I thing she got into that character's head and figured out what made her tick so erratically.
I always considered Carrie the center of the show, and didn't notice any shift in focus during the final two seasons. I thought the show sort of went off the rails in the 3rd and 4th seasons, and really only got (sorta) back into its groove during the 5th. Miranda and Samantha both had great storylines during that final season.
Nothing will top the 2nd season, though. That was brilliant television, with an incredible finale. One of the best episodes of anything, ever.
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2nd Season Finale
[Read the article: "Sex and the City"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]2. Second season? What happeened in that one? What was the finale?
Carrie got back with Big, tried to get closer, failed, he went off to Paris and then got married. The finale, "Ex And The City" was the big kiss off outside the church. Dramatically it was the best season, and had not only the funniest moments, but also the funniest plots.
A highlight was, of all things, the Bon Jovi episode, where post-Big she meets this seemingly nice guy at her new therapist's office. They flirt, they date, she finally sleeps with him. In bed the next morning she asks why he's seeing the therapist. He says he can't have a relationship with women - after he sleeps with them once he loses all interest. He asks what her problem is. She says, "I pick the wrong men." Priceless.
There's a great episode on "cheating" too, when Carrie first gets back with Big and is cheating on her friends by not telling them, knowing they'd disapprove. Meanwhile Charlotte is sorta pretending to be a lesbian to hang out with her new power lesbian friends, and Miranda has a boyfriend who can't leave his porno videos for her.
I think there's some truth to the idea that the show was really written for four gay men, and they they simply cast women in the roles, at least during the 1st season. But I think plots like we saw during the 2nd season (and on) can only really work with women. Some of the incidents within those plots are pretty universal though.
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Cooking
[Read the article: "Sex and the City"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cooking is no more the "mark" of a functional adult than sewing. There are plenty of folks in Manhattan who don't cook, in large part because apartments tend to be tiny and many have small, practically useless kitchens. For a single person it's often cheaper and easier just to eat out, especially if you're working crazy hours (or work in a restaurant to begin with, as I believe Carrie did on the show during her 20's).
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Whose Failure
[Read the article: "Sex and the City"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That that motif, of women who are friends through thick and thin, is totally absent in Zacharek's observations of the film says volumes about its failure.
The film's failure, or Zacharek's review? Because it wouldn't be the first time Zacharek completely missed the point.