Letters to the Editor
DurianJoe
Published Letters: 1318 Editor's Choice: 69
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That old fart is misguided in so many ways.
[Read the article: Who says novogenarians can't have fun?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where do we begin? He won't be around to raise his kids. His kids are at a high risk of birth defects and developmental disorders. It's not like India is suffering from a shortage of people. And for my tastes, the muthafucka should stop killing animals after 90 damn years on Earth. C'mon, dude, you're in India, home of some of the greatest vegetarian cuisine on Earth!
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"Scromping?" Did J.K. Rowling come up with that?
[Read the article: Scromping after 60]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hey baby, wanna scromp?
Anyway, I think that 60 years ago people could have told you they were, er, scromping for as long as they could manage, but it's nice to know that we have a shiny new study to confirm what people have known forever.
Me, I plan to gaffoing my wife until I can't gaffoing no more!
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Domini: regarding your vigilante option.
[Read the article: Pit bulls are innocent]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't endorse vigilantism, but if you were to do it, I hope you would do it right: shoot the scumbag owners and rescue the pit bull puppy. You'd be doing two good deeds at the same time.
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Decline in reading goes with decline in leisure time.
[Read the article: Roundup: Books, birth control, James Brown and more]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If it wasn't for my daily subway commute, I'd read far fewer books than I do (which is at least a dozen a year). Unfortunately for my wife, reading on the subway makes her queasy, like a lot of people, so she doesn't read as much as I do. Still, thank goodness she does have time to read books. I suppose our not having children helps a lot in that regard.
It's a shame and a worry that fewer adults are reading fewer books, and of those who do, how many of those books are self-help or nonfiction? Reading fiction and poetry expands the mind.
When you have a time-exhaused population which is stressed out over money worries, crime, and the mega issues of disaster, both natural and man-made, and doesn't have the time to read and learn, much less be activists, it's easy for the aristocracy to keep contol. A little more poverty, a little more despair, a little more stress: the USA will make it to third world status yet.
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The same way you deal with the crazy aunt in the attic.
[Read the article: How can I love my Republican parents?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]With love and pity, and attempt to restore their sanity.
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No matter why, it's unacceptable behavior.
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whether they were damaged good from Somalia, or just indifferent scum, regardless of the why, what happened in that building is competely unacceptable.
If the people there are too ignorant too know what to do, hopefully there will be fallout from this and they will learn. If they are indifferent, then they are hopeless.
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A better question: when will the human race disassociate itself from Nugent?
[Read the article: Wango Tango]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He's an embarrassment to the species.
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San Diegan, no offense, but
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bullshit.
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The more I think about it, the less I buy the "Somali experience" excuse.
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's more likely that this is the kind of all too common human behavior that makes me ashamed of my fellow man (and woman). I don't buy the Somali experience, and here's why: about 20 years ago in Washington, D.C., I was having dinner at an outdoor cafe in a nice part of town. Everyone there was well dressed and looked like typical professionals coming home from work.
So out of a nearby alley darts a man, closely followed by two other men. They caught him, threw him down, and began to savagely kick him. Not one of my fellow Americans from peaceful America did a goddamned thing, not even shout stop, until I stood up, jumped over the damn cafe fence (2 feet tall?) and yelled at the guys to stop. Amazingly they did, and the guy they were beating ran off. No, I didn't have to fight anyone, and no, I'm not a giant bruiser, just a regular guy.
It's not a case of Somali war trauma. it's a case of no one doing anything like a bunch of Elois. Jeebus Christmas, and people wonder why I'm a misanthrope.
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Six, don't be ashamed of yourself.
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The thing I've learned in fight class is that not even Bruce Lee was Bruce Lee. In other words, a world class fighter can maybe beat off three people at most, but the reality is that if you're dealing with more than one opponent, you're in a heap of trouble. There are things you can do against a group of people, but busting a hole through them and running away is at the top of the list.
In other words, you could easily have ended up in the ambulance along with that poor woman, or been killed. That doesn't mean you should never intervene: just yelling at people to stop, or calling the police, makes a big difference. (Of course, if you're armed that changes everything).
Don't be too harsh on yourself. That doorman might have saved your life.
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Allie, about that karate instructor.
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Being a blackbelt or even a karate instructor does not guarantee that you can prevail in an honest to goodness streetfight. I'm sure your friend the instructor was strong and skillful and could beat anyone in a sparring match in the dojo, but -- and I mean no disrespect to him -- not all martial arts training is equal. Too many schools teach forms and point sparring while wearing gis (those white karate outfits) with no shoes, but that's not real life. It's terrific exercise and all, but what you really want is what is known as training under stress, that is, with people yelling at you, in poor lighting, when you are scared and physically exhausted.
Stress can make you freeze. It can make you forget 30 years of karate training. Training under stress, wearing street clothes and shoes, teaches you to survive a real streetfight. My style is Krav Maga, but there are other equally good, "street fight" styles out there. Rape defense classes are very good for this sort of thing.
Honestly, though, against a gang of armed and violent men, your blackbelt instructor never stood a chance. If he really wanted to help that victim, he should have used his car as a weapon against the attackers. No joke: part of real world self defense training is to use anything at your disposal as a weapon, from dirt to newspapers to umbrellas or bottles, or even cars.
Remember the golden rule of self defense: if you get home alive, you've won the fight.