Letters to the Editor
aveutter
Published Letters: 198 Editor's Choice: 32
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books are obsolete, they're not going anywhere
[Read the article: Opus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]once a technology is relegated to obsolescence, it gains permanence. the city became a museum when the margin between the center and the outlying areas of economic production vanished. preliterate children understand computers before they understand how to read. the medium in turn defines everything we do, and in turn shapes our social, political and religious institutions.
when books are no longer the primary method by which people gather information, those institutions will change also. we have at least, at this moment in history, a conscious grasp of the problem.
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Continuity?
[Read the article: Most Dems no better than Bush on Pakistan]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you believe there are some bilateral agreements with the Central Asian countries bordering Afghanistan, please elaborate. This administration is all about gunboat diplomacy, and nothing in the record suggests otherwise. Your policy views seems close to Barama's. who prefers transferring the animus of the war on terror back to the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where one has always felt that Karzai was a puppet, a Bollywood imposter, who dare not stray more than a few blocks from his office in the capital. No one really knows what the Taliban is doing, some say they were instrumental in destroying the opium trade, and a lot of television sets as well. Now they are accused of being some sort of criminal gang. Who can really say? Fundamentalists who traffic in drugs to fund the global war on terror, the truth isn't being well served by these speculative gestures.
Is Charlie Wilson's War, a feel good film about American hubris at Christmas time, probably. There is reason to question everything you said, except the sorry behavior of the Democrats who campaign on the slogan of continuity. Continuity?
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Mutually Assured Mass Economic Destruction
[Read the article: The economic consequences of Huckabee]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To paraphrase Bob Novak, early in the Bush tenure, "We need to run this economy for the benefit of the business community, and not to satisfy a bunch of liberal stockpickers." Bush didn't follow that advice, or any established Conservative wisdom. Lately there is a lingering criticism of Bob Rubin, and the Clinton policies, which laid the foundation for the bubble economy, the global trade imbalances, and economic equivalent of MADD. The Democrats will be running away from their record before this is over.
Huckabee is a juggler, capable of finding disparate threads and weaving them together. He is also capable of tailoring a message. Most people who voted for Bush feel betrayed. If Huckabee starts talking out of all three sides of his mouth at the same time, his star will fade.
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Hewitt a member of the Federalist Society
[Read the article: Hewitt: Romney's loss real reason for stock dip]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If the markets had gone up on the unemployment news, the wags would be telling you that weak economic numbers will guarantee additional rate cuts, bail outs, and liquidity infusions, not to mention the gifts bestowed on Wall Street by the President's Working Group, Goldman Sachs and the Plunge Protection Police.
The Fed controls the economy, and the President controls the Fed, by expanding the money supply at a uniform rate, not so fast that we overheat mind you, through MONETARY means, and government spending (Fiscal Policy) follows.
Wall Street takes the first slice of Main Streets money. Government retirement funds go directly into stocks, and managed funds. These retirement plans are often completely opaque. In many cases if the employees assets decline, the government employer will raise the employees contributions to make up the difference.
Hewitt is a member of the Federalist Society, which ostensibly believes in seperation of powers, and is opposed to other than corporate welfare spending. Evidently, so is Romney.. The economy described above, one in which the Congress abdicates its Constituional power to control the money supply, is Socialist, leaning toward Fascism.
TO get a more spirited read on this, go to http://www.Goldenjackass.com
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China Solar
[Read the article: Pop goes the solar bubble?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The primary ingredient in solar panels is silicon, and silicon is hard to process from the raw material, which is why there are no silcion extracting plants in this country. Most of the silicon used in solar panels is recycled from discarded wafers. Most of the work is done in China. China has laws which encourage all new construction to use solar panels, reinforcing local demand. Additionaly China passed a new tariff this year on commodity exports, and repealed the tariffs on commodity imports, this also applies to intermediate goods as well, probably silicon.
The thin panels are potentially cost effective, at electric rates much higher than they are currently. Solar isn't ideal for industrial use, but would work with a home size hydrogen generator. If you buy into the wrong solar panel company now you run the risk of being on the wrong side of the VHS/Beta, Blue Ray, DVD competing design shakeout.
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A Foolish Consistency
[Read the article: A Democratic donnybrook]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I think that what we're looking for is a president we can count on, that you know where that president is yesterday, today and tomorrow.
If the Bush presidency proved anything, its that you can reinvent yourself without changing direction. Bush the globalist, the big spender, the new New Deal, the ownership society, amnesty for illegals, walking hand in hand down the aisle with Democrats. Perhaps you want to believe that 9/11 reinvented Bush, but he signed off on WTO for China a week after the attack.
Bush may have succeeded at changing tack, if he hadn't insisted he wasn't changing message. He was flipping and flopping so hard we weren't sure we could keep him in the boat. To maintain the deception he hammered Iraq, Iraq was his rock. All around that rock the waters were swirling.
The question for these Democrats, Hillary: If you think continuity is the thing, why not resign right now, and move to Paraguay? For Obama: Those inspirational moments may fool some kids in Iowa, but there are some people in this country who lived through the FIRST great depression. For Edwards: is being the Trail-Lawyer-in-Chief really a good idea. Who's going to be your VP, Spitzer?
The candidate who can change without appearing to change has the best chance this year, because the world one of these people will be in charge of, will not allow for a foolish consistency of judgement.