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Wertia

Published Letters: 37
Editor's Choice: 3

Sunday, August 10, 2008 03:50 PM
Original article: Let 'em eat steroids

Please don't compare all sports to women's gymnastics

Thanks to Jennifer's earlier articles, we already know that women's gymnastics is screwed up. But that doesn't mean the same is true for all Olympic sports, like swimming for example.

I swam on a team in high school where a number of the swimmers were elites at the national level. One made the Olympics and medaled there. (I was just an average state-level swimmer.) Quite a few of the swimmers had shoulder issues. But I can't recall anyone taking Advil like M&Ms, using cortisone shots, taking laxatives, etc. I'm sure there are swimmers who do that, but it's not rampant. And yes, some swimmers have been caught taking steroids, like the Chinese women and Eastern Europeans, and even some Americans. But still, steroids would do far more harm than anything that's widespread in the swimming community.

If we allowed steroids, those elite swimmers would feel pressured to follow suit. I don't like the idea of having to do something that's knowingly bad for you just to compete. Just because the women's gymnasts already do so, is no reason to drag all the other sports down.

Friday, August 8, 2008 02:02 PM
Original article: What's next for Edwards?

Sad

I was a strong Edwards supporter. I still don't regret that support today. But, I am very disappointed. The cheating I could live with -- it's his personal life after all -- but lying repeatedly and adamantly upsets me.

C'mon, it's always the lying that's the worst part. The cheating hurts too, but it's the lying about the affair that poisons any relationship.

I wish he had come clean about it earlier.

That said, I don't really care about politicians' personal lives. So many of them have cheated, etc. And as the other posters have pointed out, I'm much more concerned about who mislead us into going to war, who commits fraud, or who is corrupt.

Sunday, July 20, 2008 09:06 PM

Just take the test

Worst case scenario, you fail it and have to take it again -- which is pretty much the same position as studying for it, but then not taking it.

I had a similar issue with the GMATs for business school -- except I never signed up to take the test. I just practiced endlessly because I didn't feel ready (and kept on getting less than my goal scores on the practice tests).

Finally, my dad got fed up. He made me promise that I would take the test in 3 months. Whatever it took. No matter how prepared I felt. It was up to me to do whatever I needed to take the damn test. He didn't really care how I did; he just wanted me to take the test. I set a test date and started preparing once more. I was extremely motivated to not have to study for the damn thing again. I ended up doing great. But I probably would have dragged my feet much longer if my dad hadn't pushed me.

Presumably at some point, you're going to get tired of studying for the damn bar. Just do it already. You have nothing to lose at this point, so just take the test.

Friday, July 18, 2008 12:43 PM

And the other misleading claim . . .

that McCain has always supported our troops.

What about the update to the GI Bill, which McCain opposed?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 06:24 PM

Let me get this straight

It's terrible when he cheats on your best friend with other people, but he's a good person when he cheats on her with you?

Friday, July 11, 2008 06:07 PM

@ bernbart

Please don't tell me I'm wrong when I'm not.

First off, Obama's spokesperson said "Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies" in February. Obama did not speak these words personally, but never contradicted them. If we're to assume everything that an official spokesperson for the campaign (and speaking on his behalf) does not represent the candidate, then we're in trouble.

Secondly, Obama voted for cloture on the bill, which included immunity. A vote of cloture is a vote to end the filibuster. There would have been a fillibuster if the cloture vote had not passed. Voting to close off debate on a matter in the Senate is exactly the opposite of supporting a filibuster.

Therefore, Obama did not do what his campaign promised in February.

Friday, July 11, 2008 04:35 PM

@bernbart - You're not paying attention

Please read Glenn Greenwald's article from June 21 - 'Obama's support for the FISA "compromise"'

------------

The Obama campaign has just sent over the following statement from spokesman Bill Burton:

"To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."

------------

So, Barack did not, in fact, support the filibuster of the bill that included retroactive immunity for telecoms. Instead, he voted against the filibuster and then voted for the bill. That is a complete reversal from what his campaign announced in February.

Friday, July 11, 2008 01:23 PM

@Eric Free

Switch to the digest option on the Obama FISA group. I only get one digest email a day from them.

Friday, July 11, 2008 01:21 PM

Keep up the good fight, Mike!

I'm also a member of this group and see no need to disband it.

Let's be very clear. I absolutely will vote for and support Obama for the Presidential election. I think four more years of a Bush-imitated, McCain presidency would be disastrous for this country. To the people who say that there's no difference between McCain and Obama, I'm not even going to waste my time responding to you. I never liked Hillary and still don't, so that's not an issue for me.

However, it's not immature to say that I will no longer support Obama's campaign financially. Obama has no right to my donations. That money will go to other charities and groups dedicated for fight FISA (such as, Accountability Now) and the ALCU.

Seeing what happened with this FISA issue, I am concerned that Obama will slide rightward throughout the election and during his presidency, should he win. It's important to stand up for the liberal base of the Democratic party and ensure that the Democrats don't compromise deeply held values -- as Senator Feingold says, that's not compromise, that's capitulation. I want none of that with the next Democratic administration.

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