Letters to the Editor
ikuiku
Published Letters: 127 Editor's Choice: 16
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"The greatest living critic"?
[Read the article: The greatest living critic]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This paragraph alone suggests otherwise.
The first is from a review of a Liza Minnelli concert that he wrote in the Observer in 1974: "Ms. Minnelli sang the Lorenz Hart song 'My Romance' as if her task were to put significance into the lyrics instead of getting it out."
Why would the "greatest living critic" even be attending a Liza Minnelli concert? Does he have a review of Cher's seemingly endless farewell tour as well?
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Is there a link between illegal aliens and crime?
[Read the article: Memo to Bill O'Reilly: More immigrants equals less crime]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Of course there is. Not everyone crossing the border from Mexico can become a successful gardener, housekeeper or day laborer paid under the table.
Violent crime, as a rule, is not committed by people with a college (or even high school) degree and a full time job with benefits.
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Camelot falling.
[Read the article: History according to Vanity Fair]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Kennedy was a hawk whose presidency reeled from calamity to predicament, including the Cuban missile crisis," read the magazine's clueless caption.
And just exactly what of this caption is "clueless"? In less than four years, Kennedy authorized America's most embarrassing foreign policy debacle of the last century with the failed invasion of Cuba, began the escalation of the our involvement in SE Asia, carried on affairs with at least three woman, and was photographed with known crime figures.
Even now with most of the sordid details known, Kennedy's legacy is a triumph of image over substance that somehow remains sacrosanct.
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And behind door number 3 . . .
[Read the article: From the Iowa plains to the Amazon jungle]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Biodiesel is not the answer unless, as in Taiwan, we are required to recycle cooking oil, and even then it would benefit only the relative handful of diesel powered autos in the U.S. and, perhaps, commercial trucks.
Ethanol is the post-industrial age equivalent of snake oil. It's really worth nothing (except to the criminally subsidized agri-business giants) unable to cure our energy woes.
The third way is, of course, the hard way. We regulate the auto industry so that you'd never again see Becky-Jo driving a Ford F-350 (with obligatory NASCAR number on the rear window) to Wal-Mart or some freshly-minted professional athlete multi-millionaire, with posse in tow, cruising to Fat Burger in his "pimped" Escalade. The Govenator would be paying several thousand dollars a year in gross weight and engine displacement tax for each of his "Hummers," with the proceeds going to pay for mass transit.
Americans have proven to be incredibly selfish, shortsighted and, frankly, none to bright. Since we can't make the right decisions about our energy use, they will need to be forced upon them. But, of course, this will never happen.
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I won't be reading the book or even the interview . . .
[Read the article: The marriage industrial complex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]. . . but I wonder if the author has researched Japanese weddings for the sake of comparison? Unless the wedding is of a socialite daughter or a woman from a wealthy family, American weddings still sort of pale compared to the more-or-less typical Japanese wedding, especially in Aichi Prefecture. In fact, I'm pretty the Japanese were the first to come up with the Disney princess theme.
These lavish affairs, beginning with traditional Shinto ceremonies, and then typically moving on to "wedding halls" for additional Western-style ceremonies and/or receptions, averaged $20,000.00 a couple of decades ago. In some cases the traditional ceremony is followed up by a combination Western wedding/honeymoon to Hawaii or Australia.
Perhaps they've become more modest affairs since the collapse of the Bubble economy, but they were jaw-droppingly extravagant back in the 1980s and early 1990s.
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Age verification on MySpace
[Read the article: The front line in the fight against online sexual predation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And I'm not quite sure how MySpace is supposed to do things like implement an "effective age verification system," as demanded by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann. What would that involve? A pop-culture quiz? (If you can't name the top three "American Idol" contestants, you're out.)
WTF?
A lot of MySpace users live outside the U.S., and therefore are unlikely to know anything about American Idle. For example, dozens of UK pop artists (Lily Allen, maybe you've heard of her?) have MySpace pages. Why would you expect any of these people to know anything about American Idle? Not everyone that uses MySPace is a clueless, culturally-challenged high school sophomore, it just seems that way.
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I don't watch much television, . . .
[Read the article: Tease me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]. . . but maybe one of the committed, nay addicted, can tell my why the fat guy on Lost is still fat after being marooned on an island for a couple years now?
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Oil companies: High gas prices are Bush's fault
[Read the article: Oil companies: High gas prices are Bush's fault]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nope. High oil prices are exclusively the fault of the American public. We have had more than 30 years (since the first "oil shock") to wean our economy away from petroleum as our primary fuel and have done nothing.
Americans claim they don't want too much government control of their lives, and that's exactly what they've got with regard to energy in general and our oil consumption in particular. Yet, the citizens of this country have not been willing to make the necessary changes themselves to reduce our nation's oil consumption.
Our petroleum predicament is not the government's fault, it's not the oil companies' fault. It is a weak, shortsighted and selfish public that is to blame.
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Bring her on!
[Read the article: All aboard the Condi Mobile!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Rice lied before the 9/11 commission and has lied before Congress. She's hitched herself to not only the wrong wagon but a certifiable train wreck of an administration. She's probably had or wish she were having an affair with Bush (her "husband"). She's speaks poorly in public. I think she's perfect for the Rethugs!
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Wolfie out, Frist in?
[Read the article: Wolfie out, Frist in?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LOL!
Wolfie, while apparently blinded by ideology and none too modest about his own talents, is intelligent. Frist, on the other hand, probably should have had his medical license revoked after the pitiful Schaivo debacle.
My guess is that they may operate without a bank head for a while. The longer they wait, the weaker Bush becomes, and more likely the possibility of someone other than an American is nominated and approved against the U.S. wishes. As it is, they need wait only about six-months to figure out who the new Democratic president will be.