Letters to the Editor
ELYDOG
Published Letters: 498 Editor's Choice: 43
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Kufir Won't ride a Motorcycle
[Read the article: Ask Pablo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I carry groceries on my MC with saddle bags and a tank bag. 3 bags full. And an occasional loaf of bread stuck in my shirt... I don't ride in the rain, though, unless I have no choice. Does it rain where you are every day?
Kufir,
Congratulations on coming in on the train, and leaving your newspaper. I did actually forget to mention you might want to take a bead on the wild horse out on the mesa. See if you can shoot all of them. But save one, the most broken down nag, so that you can use it to ride out of that one-horse suburb you were born in.
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"Debate" stopped momentum
[Read the article: Obama can't close the deal ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Most analyses show that Obama was gaining on Clinton - until the ambush on ABC by Clintonite Stephanoupolous and Republican Gibson.
Stupid and dirty politics is the name of the game in the U.S.
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Focus
[Read the article: Freedom is hard work]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Focus, Garrison, focus.
What is this about? One line gets the header, the rest wanders ...
I think Salon should ask Keillor to say something new, and not just ramble, as part of his contract.
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Doomsday
[Read the article: Let's dump "Earth Day"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The difference between Republican scenarios of Islamic "doom" and fundamentalist Christian scenarios of Armaggedon on the one hand, and environmental / peak oil / water shortage / starvation scenarios on the other, is that the first two are based on politics and religion, which are non-scientific, and the third is based on science for the most part.
The degree varies as to how much effect climate change, leading to water and food shortages, and peak oil will have, but the basis of the argument is essentially scientific, no matter where you are on the scale.
In other words, if there really was a meteor headed towards the earth (which I doubt...) than we would treat that situation differently than if someone is telling us we are going to be invaded by little green men ... which we have never seen.
Now, does ANYONE want to hear bad news? No. No one does. When Hitler was striding acrosss Europe, I'm sure plenty of Americans were busy listening to the baseball game. There are still plenty of Americans listening, perhaps now, to Britney Spears' latest folly. So how do you break it to people? Very carefully ...!
If you have noticed, due to over development, peak oil and ethanol, food prices are going sky high, and now people all over the world are rioting. Still think this whole thing is a joke? Buy a plane ticket to Haiti, if you still afford one, and find out.
As to whether animals mean anything to human existence, except as 'food' for carnivores, think about the bees. I am not a biologist, and a biologist would be the best poster here. But if we have bee colony collapse (which we have already, partially), what is going to pollinate the plants? I have pollinated plants with a tooth pick, but that is somewhat laborious. As you can see, probably not possible globally to pollinate without the little fucking ... bees.
If the oceans continue to warm, many cold water fish are history. You eat fish, right? 1000s of species going extinct constantly is going to break the 'food' chain for humans eventually. So, as an animal, which depends on other animals, we are screwed if that happens.
Of course, if you are a Christian fundie and believe your soul is not 'animal' then you certainly have the right to lord it over the rest of the animals, kill them, ignore them ... until your turn comes. Because basically you are just another upright hominid biped, no matter the illusions as to your superiority over the animals.
Peak oil is self-explanatory. Oil is the most useful, powerful thing every discovered, and it is running out. Oil is now at $118 a barrell? Who here thinks this is just a temporary blip, and its' going to go back down? If you do, go buy some airline stock.
The problem is most environmentalists see into the future, using science, and most people's horizon is now... that is a failing of the human race, and nothing is going to change that. But even 'now' gives you clues as to what is going to happen ... then.