Letters to the Editor
AndyinSD
Published Letters: 7
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Ironic name CPTMitch
[Read the article: Virtually dead in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]CPTMitch, I found your name to be ironic when you asked,
"Where were the people of conscience at Haditha or Abu Gharaib? Where were the people who would stand up for human dignity in the worst of circumstances?"
Perhaps you never heard of Christian Peacemaker Teams, commonly abreviated CPT. CPT's goal is to place pacifist protestors in crisis situations worldwide to witness for peace where the wars are happening. Their view is that if soldiers are willing to risk their lives for what they believe than where is the moral authority of the pacifists if they are not willing to do the same. To quote from the CPT web page, "CPT initiated a long-term presence in Iraq in October 2002, six months before the beginning of the U.S. led invasion in March of 2003. The primary focus of the team for eighteen months following the invasion was documenting and focusing attention on the issue of detainee abuses and basic legal and human rights being denied them." One focus from the beginning was the Abu Gharaib prison. They didn't just stand around and protest though. They interceded on behalf of Iraqis trying to gain access to relatives in Abu Gharaib and they documented stories of abuse long before we all heard about Abu Gharaib.
In November of 2005, four CPT members were kidnapped by Iraqi extremists. They were from several different countries with one American. On March 10, 2006 that American, Tom Fox, was found killed, apparently tortured to death. The others were released shortly after. So yes, the people of conscience were at Abu Gharaib. You're not going to hear about them on Fox News though. CPT are still in Iraq and CPT are still in many other countries where wars are taking place. Check them out, www.cpt.org.
Andy
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commentary
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What possessed you to do your running commentary backwards?
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out of date stats
[Read the article: Is there a doctor in the mouse?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You may well have a good point here but quoting stats about doctor's attitudes towards internet use from 2001 is beyond useless. Access to and perceptions about the internet were totally different then as opposed to 2008. As you point out yourself, in 1999 many doctors had very little knowledge about the internet. Two years later that was probably still the case. But in 2008 you can be very certain that has changed drastically.
Andy
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re: misunderstanding
[Read the article: "Yes, We Can," McCain edition]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Pay attention. It is certainly not a seig heil. It is also not a black power salute by a white guy. He is wearing a bandana and he says cien anos. He's hispanic. Think United Farm Workers.
Andy
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wingnut rhetoric
[Read the article: Radical Muslims threaten those who dissent]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Just watched "Sophie Scholls: Last Days", which is a fantastic movie. I was struck by how similar the rhetoric of the Gestapo agent who interrogated her and the judge who sentenced her to death was to the rhetoric about dissenting speech we get from these right wing bloggers. I highly recommend this movie.
Andy
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CBS sportsline users
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I assume that the CBS sportsline users is an average of multiple users' picks. If so, then it is no surprise that the #1's got to the final four in that bracket. Any individual user may pick several big upsets. But they don't pick the same upsets as the next guy so in an averaged bracket the higher seed would virtually always come out on top. Guts has nothing to do with it.
Andy
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gas prices in Mexico
[Read the article: The motor home fades into the sunset]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]@ Cazador
How can you live in Mexico and not know why gas in Mexico is cheaper than gas in the US, in spite of being refined in the US? Perhaps you haven't noticed that all the gas stations are owned by the government? Mexico subsidizes fuel to the tune of billions of dollars per year to keep prices artificially low.
In Tijuana they have major shortages of diesel and gas right now (especially diesel) because people are crossing the border to fill up.