Letters to the Editor
CyclingFool
Published Letters: 14 Editor's Choice: 1
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Early mornings
[Read the article: Black rappers made him do it!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been a watcher of Imus for a few years now because:
I started to live with someone who had been a New York resident for a number of years and had been an Imus listener during long commutes to the city.
I get up very early (5 am in the Midwest) to prepare to commute by bicycle to work and Imus is an eye-opener at that hour. He's a good interviewer, often asking the kind of questions that others were too polite or wishy-washy to ask. As one example, he was merciless at an administration that "supports the troops" but denies them adequate medical care.
Yeah, Don, could be a real jerk and there were plenty of times when I wish he hadn't said some of the things he did, but usually his targets were big enough to absorb the hit. That was most certainly not the case when he made the now-famous comment last Wednesday. (I was one of about five people in the country who actually SAW the incident as it happened.) I was truly shocked - this was way beyond the kind of comments he usually makes and genuinely insulting to a group of hard-working, successful college women. What bothered me more was that he didn't immediately understand what he had done and try to recover on the spot. He has in the past called his staff on comments that have gone to far, but no one seemed to "get" why this comment was so very wrong.
In sort-of Don's defense, he and his producer were trying to use street language, but had no real clue that what is acceptable (maybe it shouldn't be) from the mouth of a young, urban black male is totally unacceptable from a couple of middle-aged white guys. It was like an older woman who should know better showing off her sagging midriff. It was verbal mutton-dressed-as-lamb.
I'll miss Don in the morning and some of the good things he's done will be gone too:
--His strong advocacy for people who need it, like our soldiers. I would love to hear his comments on the "at most 15 month deployments" and how this shows "we're winning".
--His work for and fund raising with very sick children.
--His and his wife's advocacy on environmental issues. Her line of excellent, environmentally-sensitve cleaning products will disappear from the large-scale national retail outlets that were beginning to carry them. We'll all be back at Whole Foods again.
--His support of country musicians. He was bringing the best of CW to the big city.
I wish Don could serve a sentence, go to shock-jock re-education school, come out a better man with a more sensitive ear and return to the airways so he can continue to pillary those who need it. But I don't think it will happen - he doesn't know when he's shooting at a soft target or should hold his fire altogether. I might listen to him if he moves to XM or Sirius; I doubt Fox would touch him because of his environmental stands. I wouldn't go there anyway.
So it's goodbye, Don. Looks like it's time to hang up the spurs.
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Rove Clones
[Read the article: The U.S. attorneys scandal gets dirty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps a criterion for being hired by this Justice Department is that one look like Karl Rove.
Kyle Sampson:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002901.php
William Mercer:
http://www.epluribusmedia.org/features/2007/us_attorney_william_mercer.html
Rove:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove
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Cure for House Obsession
[Read the article: Stalking Dr. House]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Watch Hugh Laurie as Prince George in the third season of Blackadder. This showcases his strength as an actor, but is a guaranteed cure for House obsession.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/episodes/three/
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LOTS of CORN
[Read the article: The corn rush]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I live in St. Louis, Missouri, and frequently ride a bicycle through farm country east of St. Louis in central Illinois. In years past there's been a pretty even division between corn and bean fields, but this year there is easily twice as much corn as beans, maybe more. This is not scientific - I just counted fields as I rode by.
The weather has been warm and wet and if the current weather pattern continues, there will be high yields from much of Illinois. I'm not sure how this will affect the price of corn, but no one is talking about the price of beans. There may be many fewer soybeans - an important food source for both food animals and people.
So Americans will pay more through subsidies or directly to fuel their cars AND pay more for food, while others starve. Burning the yields of our farms so we can continue to drive large cars is just plain stupid. Okay, so I'm smug because I ride a bike, but this is not the way to "energy independence".
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Diamonds are a girls best friend?
[Read the article: Scientist: Women, stop destroying the planet!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Last time I checked the diamond industry said an engagement ring should cost two months of the guy's salary and lots of women hew to that expectation. Fast car, big rock, same stupid attitude. Things haven't changed as much as we would wish.