Letters to the Editor
WeikuBoy
Published Letters: 487 Editor's Choice: 62
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Yes, but again: Overflowing Lavatories?
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Patrick, first of all, thanks for mixing it up with your readers. It's very cool. Please don't forget, though, how this began. People were confined for 9 HOURS on Northwest in Detroit (after which this wasn't supposed to happen again), and 10 HOURS this time around in New York. That's quite a bit different than your example of 120 minutes, and a very long time with no food or water and (most horrifying of all) "overflowing lavatories".
If there ever is any federal regulation, I certainly hope it will take into account The Pilot's points, all of which are interesting and well taken. For example, instead of an inflexible 120-minute limit for tarmac sitting, how about a 4-hour guideline with some flexibility if the "wheels-up" time is near? Personally, I'd be satisfied with an "overflowing lavatory" rule -- something that in a kinder gentler era would be an unspoken matter of common sense, but apparently needs to be mandated in this age of shameless corporate greed.
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The Future Isn't What It Used to Be
[Read the article: The "antiwar left" takes over America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Victory Caucus morons notwithstanding, those in the know among the Right Wing Echo Chamber have given up on Junior Bush and his Crusade on Islam or whatever it is being called this week. Their efforts are now being devoted to making certain the blame for the Bush-Cheney debacle falls squarely on the Libs and Dems. We know the drill: just as in Vietnam, the U.S. coulda shoulda woulda "won" in Iraq -- but for the traitors in our midst who hate America and oughtta be locked up at Gitmo.
The question is, will the David Broders and Richard Wolffes of the corporate media allow history be rewritten (again) by the neo-cons (or neo-fascists or whatever they are), or will they and their pampered and well-connected colleagues be compelled to tell the truth by Glenn, Salon, and the "lefty blogosphere" they so despise? Stay tuned.
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Learning to Fly
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Liberal (definition of): someone who, though fortunate enough to have not personally been made to suffer by being confined for 10 hours in uncomfortable positions in hot, humid, cramped metal tubes without access to food, water, air, or toilets, nevertheless sympathizes with strangers, especially young children and their parents, who, though convicted of no crime, have been punished thusly. (See also: Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, etc.).
Conservative (definition of): someone who could not care less about any of the people described above, but who will reflexively defend the government-legislated right of any corporation, partnership, or other business entity to squeeze every last nickel from its customers, its employees, U.S. taxpayers, and the general public, no matter how heavy the social cost. (See also: 'Iraq For Sale,' 'Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room', etc.)
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Enlighten Us
[Read the article: The "antiwar left" takes over America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sgt. Boucher, when your commander-in-chief started this war, against the wishes of most governments and virtually all of the people in the world, we were told it was about WMD's and connections to al-Qaeda, and therefore 9/11. When that proved false, we were told it was about spreading "democracy" in the Middle East; and we all saw the purple fingers, which were heralded as a U.S. triumph. Saddam is now dead and certainly "disarmed"; a Shiite-led government is in place; the persons responsible for 9/11 are still in Pakistan or elsewhere in the world; and the Iraqi people have made it clear they want you to leave.
So perhaps you can explain what the U.S. is doing in Iraq; who you believe your enemy to be; and what "winning" means to you. Your commander-in-chief certainly can't explain it.
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The WaPo has a Dan Balz? Don't tell Stephen Colbert
[Read the article: The "antiwar left" takes over America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let the re-writing continue: on Meet the Press some neo-con slipped in the falsehood that "80-90% of the American people" formerly supported the war in Iraq. Boy, that's not how I remember it. As I recall, after many months of labeling as "traitors" anyone who disagreed with their warmongering, Bush-Cheney did finally nudge their support above 50% once it became clear the invasion was on and it was then a matter of "supporting the troops." But the pro-war "fervor" in America was never anything close to 80-90%.
Needless to say, no one challenged the neo-con's baseless re-writing of history.
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'Babel' is Best Picture
[Read the article: Regarding Oscar]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Appparently the script and early marketing for 'Babel' focused on the confusion caused by languages; and therefore a lot of professional critics were confused by the finished movie, and felt it failed to do what it set out to do. Entertainment Weekly, for example, predicted Rinko Kikuchi would not win Best Supporting Actress, despite her amazing performance, because (among other things) "her plotline is the most tangential to the film." Not so!
The 'Babel' I saw for the first time last week [SPOILER ALERT] had nothing to do with the confusion of languages. It instead had to do with the worldwide trail of death, near-death, and emotional devastation, caused by a single powerful gun. Ms. Kikuchi's plotline was in fact central to the film -- the full weight of which floored me when I realized her problems had nothing to do with her deafness and everything to do with her mother's death.
The message of the film -- that people make foolish choices, which can have fatal results in ways we never imagined when guns are involved -- might have been ignored for U.S. marketing purposes, and in any event escaped the notice of a public inured to daily gun carnage and regular school shootings, mall massacres, etc. U.S. government paranoia is the real cause of confusion and dismay in 'Babel' -- which thus could be seen as a timely comment on the choices of our leaders and those consequences on the other side of the world they never imagined and do not even yet comprehend. It is a remarkable film.