Letters to the Editor
Mister Marker
Published Letters: 174 Editor's Choice: 6
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@mchebert
[Read the article: Beyond the Multiplex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You have completely missed the moral issue, which is entangled with the logical one Chomsky evidently evinsced. People are going to have sex. Condoms fail, as do diaphrams and spermicides. Even the pill is not full-proof. And many, many people who have sex will wind up with an unwanted pregnancy or, worse still, an unsupportable pregnancy, whether due to health or economic issues.
According to your moral - or perhaps more accurately - ethical argument such people should be condemned (and that is the proper term) to an 18 year burden they did not want or, again worse still, cannot bear. And what of those people who cannot bear that burden? What you have failed to consider is the hellish life the unaborted child in question will have to endure. And for what? To prove that "personal responsibility" is an absolute value foresaking all others? That, sir, is what is commonly known as a "fallacy."
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We Are Already Sliding Down the Slippery Slope
[Read the article: Beyond the Multiplex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Twenty years ago pro-choice advocates warned that once the abortion was lost or nearly lost the religious right would come after contraception. And that's exactly what they're doing. And there is only one explanation for going after the pill, condoms, diaphrams, the morning-after pill and spermicides. These people want to control the sex lives of their fellow citizens, and they'll use the law to do it. That means they have not one iota of credibility. None, zip, zero. They are nothing more or less than theo-fascists. And they must fought and fought hard.
Men have a stake in this fight, for once abortion and contraception are illegal, how long do you think it will be before they go after vasectomies? Emboldened by their previous legal victories, they will drop all pretense of the issue being about "the children" and simply state that vasectomies - and tubal ligations, to be sure - allow people to have sex "without consequences" and so must likewise be outlawed.
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A Clarification
[Read the article: Beyond the Multiplex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All those who are pro-choice must remember that at the organizational level, excepting people's individual consciences, the "it's a child not a choice" rhetoric is a red-herring. This is about controlling women's and, eventually, men's sex lives. Nothing more, nothing less. The fact that these same organizations have fought the morning after pill and are now beginning to make noises about the original pill is proof positive.
And please don't try and argue with me. I am a Constitutional absolutist, a "Don't Tread On Me" person. I say to all those who would attempt to use the law for the purposes of tyranny:
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Translation: "So it ever be to tyrants" The meaning is unambiguous.
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Benjamin Disraeli Said It Best
[Read the article: Defendant owes $222,000 for illegal downloading]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When the law makes of itself an ass, no reasonable man is bound to respect it.
And modern American copyright law is the biggest, foulest smelling, loudest braying jackass in history. That poor young woman could not have been more legally violated if a bailiff had strip-and-cavity searched her right in front of the whole court.
This is ludicrous nonsense, and it has to stop. And I say that as a writer and budding filmmaker.
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Ben Stiller
[Read the article: "The Heartbreak Kid"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe I'm just out of synch with the times, but it's not Ben Stiller whose career mistifies me, it's Will Ferrel's. Ben Stiller old FOX show did indeed have some great writers, not to mention cast members (Janeane Garofolo for starters), but the man himself was ALWAYS funny. The claims of nepotism just don't fly. With that underrated (Nielsen-wise) but highly rated (popularity-wise) show, Stiller earned his shot. Sure, his dad may have made a few phone calls to get him the gig, but it was he who was smart enough to hire people like Odenkirk and Garafolo in the first place.
As for movies, Stiller has been hilarious in MANY of the films in which he's starred. MEET THE PARENTS, anyone? THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, ZOOLANDER, DODGEBALL, etc., etc. He's not a genius, but he IS very, very good most of the time. His specialty is playing the guy caught in embarassing, squirm-inducing circumstances, so he was a natural pick for HEARTBREAK KID.
Now Ferrel, THERE'S somebody whose whole career has been shepherded by Hollywood's equivalent of the Axis of Evil: Bernie Brillstein, Brad Grey and Lorne Michaels. Without them, Ferrel would be deservedly unknown.
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Sorry Guys
[Read the article: The untouchables]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But I agree with those who didn't want WRISTCUTTERS released. It's theme is despicable. Throwing the gift of life back in God's face gets you one thing and one thing only: An express ticket to Hell.
And it's an unbelievable act of selfishness.
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This Idea Won't Work, Though It Is Intriguing
[Read the article: How scalpers hoard "Hannah Montana" tickets]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You in effect answered your own question:
Still, it would trip them up, especially if Ticketmaster imposes the plan across all acts. Are the scalpers going to hire Bruce Springsteen expert, a Justin Timberlake expert, and a Genesis expert, too?
The answer is "Yes." If I recall correctly, tickets to a Stones concert are in the triple digits. The scalper can pay some burn out rocker teen who is obsessed with the band just enough to supply him with a couple of weeks worth of weed, and make a killing. There's just too much money to be made in scalping tickets for big acts. The upside is that with your idea in place scalper's would abandon low-price acts like "Hannah-Montana."
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No!
[Read the article: The untouchables]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have seen the collateral damage in not one but three suicides over the course of my lifetime. Those who chose death over life oftentimes ruined the lives of those close to them. Hence the remark about selfishness. As for religion, I suppose I should have left that out of it. My apologies to anyone offended for that reason.
Lastly, as to compassion, I reserve that for the weeping, confused and often inconsolable people I've encountered at the funerals.
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Once Upon a Time, Boys And Girls...
[Read the article: How scalpers hoard "Hannah Montana" tickets]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...there were TWO mass ticket sellers. They were called, respectively, BASS and Ticketron. Then one day they decided it would be more profitable to merge and become Ticketmaster. And were they ever right!
So those of you arguing the monopoly angle are absolutely correct. Just don't hold your breath waiting for the Federal Trade Commission to do anything about it.