Letters to the Editor
ELYDOG
Published Letters: 735 Editor's Choice: 53
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Georgia and Athens
[Read the article: Obama, telecoms and the Beltway system]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been going to Georgia frequently recently, and folks, except for Black people, Latinos and some 'foreigners' and some 'hippies,' that state is still living in the past.
In Athens, a supposedly intellectual and 'liberal' town, home to the University of Georgia, I found very little politics. There are barely any unions - the black folks work menial jobs at UGA or in the local economy. The white workers are mostly broke too, but some have skilled labor jobs. The 'alternative' paper, the Flagpole, is mildly liberal, but very defensive and weak. And Athens is home to REM and a 'liberal hotbed.' Right. Mostly all they do is drink and eat and listen to music, and as long as they can do that, they are satisfied.
Savannah, again, is a more urban and liberal town, but the same situation, I think, applies. There has been no massive movement to change the South since the civil rights movement in the 60s-70s. That is nearly 35 years ago. The unions tried to organize the south and failed in the 30s-40s. The Republicans have made it the second confederacy (a confederacy of dunces?) in the last 30 years.
Only a new appeal populist to working class interests there, like John Edwards tried, will upset the rule of the neo-planter aristocracy and their corporate cousins in Atlanta. Populism has always played well in the south and left-wing populism is what they need.
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The Rider of the Donkey
[Read the article: What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is what 'bipartisanship' really is ... A Republican rider on top of a Democratic Party donkey. Picture it. Sancho Panza, except more like "Franco Panza."
Of course, that assumes the donkey doesn't want to be ridden. Perhaps it does? Maybe it is an eager and cooperative donkey, not a 'mule' but a passive ass, a docile burro, really, perhaps donkey and rider are ... one.
Bingo. The rider and the donkey are on the same side. It is only the confused angry mules that don't understand.
Time to become a horse.
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Here is what has changed ...
[Read the article: What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Obama has the nomination. Obama has the netroots, the progressives, etc. He doesn't care. So the 'leadership' doesn't care. Because the Obama supporters have no where else to go.
The end.
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What is it about environmentalism ...
[Read the article: Ask Pablo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... that brings out the political troll (a global-warming denier who supports Mccain), the clueless (Poco who has stopped shitting, and is now full of ...), the freakin' odd, (Celery, celery and more celery.)
I guess when it's mother nature, i.e. inevitability, the humans just naturally flail about. Sort of like the behavior on the Titanic.
There is no iceberg, there is no iceberg ...
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Cannot change ... cannot change ... cannot change ....
[Read the article: Ask Pablo]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Humans cannot control, reduce or change climate change"...McBush/McCain.
Well, this sentence says it all, though badly. The addendum seems to be, "Our only job is to make it worse ..."
Indeed, we should 'get over ourselves' and start paying attention to the world outside our personal eggshell. You'll notice all the head-in-the-sand folks insist they will continue to live as before. That is almost the constant thread. "No one makes me change ... my lifestyle!" What could be more egoistic? A minority, of course, mostly a Republican minority.
Mother nature doesn't give a shit about your personal lifestyle. Can we change it? Well, we are already past the tipping point in carbon in the atmosphere...and that didn't happen by accident. We are running out of basic commodities, like. oil. Streams get polluted ... by humans. Mountain tops get removed ... by humans. Garbage gets dumped in oceans ... by humans. Species get destroyed ... by humans.
Every scientific step mankind has made has been against those who are antagonistic to science and logic. They don't call them 'no nothings' for nothin'! Stop shitting in the river? What? Keep cuts clean? What? Kill mosquitoes? What? Etc.
It is obvious to anyone living their daily life that humans affect the environment they live in. Most of us can see visible effects of climate change and peak 'commodities' in our own lifetime. It is not much of a stretch to believe that BILLIONS of humans can effect the 'world' environment they live in to its detriment. And if so, the reverse is true.
And by the way, I'm not a liberal. I'm much much worse than that.
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Trains
[Read the article: Is local food really miles better?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What about transport using trains? I did not see that in the article. A train is more efficient than a semi. Train transport would make north American foods emit less carbon.
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McBush
[Read the article: Solar power: Just about ready for prime time]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush and McCain represent the oil/coal/gas industries, and the auto industry as well. They are all invested in preventing progress on solar and wind.
They are environmental criminals, as this is a conscious policy, though unspoken. Pretending to be environmental while fighting enviromentalism is the latest strategy.
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Loud Motorcycle Pipes = Safe Is a Falsity
[Read the article: Stop the noise!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been riding stock motorcycles for years (26 to be exact); quiet Japanese and English bikes, and I've never had an accident ... that I didn't cause myself.
The same people who think their farting pipes are 'safe' don't wear helmets - almost ever. A lot of these guys drink and drive. I know, because I hang out with some of them. I don't think they really care about safety. Harley guys are part of a sub-culture, and many of the people in that sub-culture value macho and being an 'outlaw'. What better way to show that than just barely legal or illegal pipes? It has little to do with safety, but they always bring it up as their justification. Loud pipes get you noticed. Just like the guy with the thundering bass in his car wants to be noticed. (Who the fuck cares about his music?). Or the punk with his blaring I-POD on the train.
Get really tough, Mr. Harley Davidson, or Mr. Sport Bike, and get quiet pipes. Respect everyone else, it's not all about you. And you will still be safe.
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I Hundreth that ...
[Read the article: How gay it would be]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...as a heterosexual son, I find this mother not funny, and actually creepy. Very creepy. I hundreth Aemuth.
But I guess some people are so conservative that they live by gender sterotypes. Even in Austin, Texas.