Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 233 Editor's Choice: 14
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as a referee
[Read the article: (Feigned) death on the soccer pitch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First off King, I encourage you to keep up with the game and to continue to write about it. I've played for 20 years and refereed for almost as long.
My observations (and thanks for the many links to video and other commentary) are:
This situation is the defenders/keeper's worst nightmare. Nikopolidis made an incredible save, but the ball was left floating high, droping slowly towards the left upper corner of the goal. At that moment Kyrgiakos had two choices--either gain control and clear the ball or hard-foul and draw the red. His movemnt to the attacker just as the ball falls back into play is a beautiful mix of both--he artfully manages to foul the striker but does so my moving towards the ball (had he moved a split second sooner or later he would have been guilty of a foul, most likely). Larsson's skill and persitence was too much--he managed to keep the ball in front of him and his body effectively screened the goal keeper.
I see the pause on the ground as part of the play, or a consideration of not wanting to draw the red.
The laws of the game relevant to this discussion are:
A player is cautioned...if he...is guilty of unsporting behavior.
or
Any simulating action anywhere on the field, which is intended to decieve the referee, must be sanctioned as unsporting behavior.
Clearly then, as far as the laws go, there is no issue with him laying there for a second. If there is an issue, it is with the shoulder to Larsson's chest. I can't tell where the referee was for this, but the no-call was good, since Sweden got the goal, and if it affected Larsson's play, he recovered quickly enough that he actually retained advantage throughout.
Just my two-cents. And good riddance to Bud.
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Nancy Pelosi, true to form...
[Read the article: George Bush's latest powers, courtesy of the Democratic Congress]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've always found her to be beneath contempt--not quite worthy of pity either.
The Beast has a wonderful illustration of her:
- http://buffalobeast.com/113/50_most_loathsome_2006.htm
as #36 in the list of the 50 most loathsome Americans of 2006. That list is still pretty accurate, IMHO.
I think the term "left wing torch thrower," was coined by a paper in her district. She usually shows up after the party is over, looking somewhat out-of-it....which is more than I can say about my "lone representative" in the house...
Thanks for the update Glen. I've donated. I've written both of my Senators, and I telephoned O'Bama.
I was also thinking shouldn't we be calling Howard Dean? Anyone have his cell phone number?
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our collective sadness
[Read the article: What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All of the sadness and disappointment here is heartening in a bitter way--it shows some thread of common interests between us. While the institutions, intended to protect us, turn on us in selfish betrayal, I am left to turn a few pages. This is one of my favorites:
When blackguards and murderers under cover of their offices
accuse the world of those villanies
which they themselves invent to torture it--
we have no choice but to bend to their designs,
buck them or be trampled while our thoughts gnaw,
snap and bite within us helplessly--
unless we learn from that to avoid being as they are,
how love will rise out of its ashes if we water it,
tie up the slender stem and keep the image of its lively flower chisled upon our minds.
A poem by William Carlos Williams, The Wedge, 1944, the Cummington Press
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Kwok totally missed the point
[Read the article: Is local food really miles better?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The notion of local or beyond organic produce competing with the Industrial food chain on cost or carbon footprint is absurd. The reason to patronize your local food producer/distributor/farmer's market has nothing to do with any of those considerations--indeed, I would happily pay twice the price for, let's say chicken, if I knew where and how the chicken was raised and that it was processed humanely.
I suggest you actually read some of Michael Pollan's work. The Omnivore's Dilemma is an excellent place to start.
The difference between "good" chicken and "industrial" chicken is like the difference between sending your elderly relatives to live in a nice home nearby or Auschwitz. Indeed, there are some things more important than money or carbon footprint.
I would like to completely opt-out of the whole notion of industrial food. If that means I tend a big garden so in order to can veggies for the winter, fine. If that means I need to pay more, fine. If that means I need to contribute labor, material, whatever to my local agricultural society, fine. I hope that someday we can all have the option to opt-out of industrial food--which is, quite literally, killing us.
My name is a link to a nice review of one of Mr. Pollan's books--enjoy (subscription may be required).
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@Human Hawk
[Read the article: Is local food really miles better?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]you analysis is flawed. Industrial agriculture does a wonderfuly job of shifting the burden of many costs away from the product and onto society at large. Indeed, corporate America in general is pretty good at this.
One of the best examples is the waste produced by Cattle and Feed Operations (CAFOs). Out wonderful congress has exempted this industry from the clean-air-and-water act, permitting them to essentially pollute for free, shifting the cost of that to down-stream neighbors.
There are plenty of other cracks in your "free market" pipe dream, whether it be federal subsidies or illegal/migrant labor. One of my favorites, which is beyond the scope of this context, is the cost of fuel/energy itself. Whenever we burn fossile fuel we are getting a free ride.