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farnsworth

Published Letters: 739
Editor's Choice: 22

Thursday, September 20, 2007 08:55 PM
Original article: Taser nation

Mr. Conason, do you know any of the facts of this incident?

This is a publicity stunt by a publicity hound.

He cut to the front of the line. He asked a question after the announcement that there would be no more questions. He resisted attempts by the security officers to restrain him. He goaded the officers into using the taser. When there were no cameras and no audience, he went along quietly and peacefully. When he and the escorting officers reached another area where there was an audience, he began screaming again.

Was there any "free speech" being stifled. Not that I am aware of. Was there excessive force used? Yes, clearly there was. But this was due as much to the student's attempts to escalate the situation as much as it was due to the inadequate training of the security officers.

But there is no way I can see that Bush or any of his policies played any part in this. Well, with the possible exception of the student grandstanding in an attempt to get the clueless to somehow blame this on Bush.

Thursday, September 20, 2007 11:13 AM
Original article: Number of the Day

A Winning Strategy

When you cover your butt with both hands, you don't have any hands left to do anything else.

Thursday, September 20, 2007 11:07 AM

All sorts of stuff

There is a reason so many people think this letter is fake. That is because they cannot even think of putting up with this kind of situation.

The LW says the BF is missing "all of his front teeth." To me that means four on top and four or six on the bottom. Actually dating such a person seems impossible to believe to most people. And then there is the "he stopped brushing his teeth...almost eight years ago...he is also a smoker" part added to it. This pushes the situation into a bizarre unreality. Most people want this to be fake. It is hard for us to imagine the existance of such a man. It is almost impossible for us to also imagine the woman who would kiss him.

And then there is Cary's response. In his typical Cary way, he spends almost his entire response trying to keep the couple together. Yes, he is giving the relationship the benefit of the doubt, and that is an almost necessary position to take as an advice columnist. But that is not what seems to be the primary issue.

Yes, such a person needs to change his attitude about his oral hygiene. But come on, this has to be indicative of some deeper psychological issues. This person is in not in any condition to sustain a relationship.

And the fact that the LW is even considering leaving him over this should indicate she is not fully invested in this man. She is not asking, "How do I get this man I love to start taking care of his mouth?" That, however, is the question Cary answers.

I don't know about anyone else, but I usually know what question I want to ask. It is worse than useless to answer some other question. Yes, this is typical behavior for the armchair psychologist. That doesn't make it any more usefull. Especially in an advice column, where there is no back and forth possible.

The LW asks, "[I]s this grounds for a breakup?" And the correct answer is, "Yes. It is grounds for a breakup for many many reasons. And the fact that you would continue in this relationship for three years indicates that you need to seek counseling."

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 08:56 AM
Original article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily

I would like to see King do a few more columns on OJ

That way we could see Bob In Pacifica rant about OJ's innocence again and again.

Monday, September 17, 2007 07:40 PM

Depends on the guy, but...

It is possible that he may be turned on by the thought of you with another woman. It is possible he may want to join you in bed with another woman.

I have no idea what the likelihood of this is. But I have known many men who at least claimed to desire such an experience.

Before you make any decision about telling him, you need to decide how you feel about such an encounter. That way, if he brings it up, at least it will not take you by surprise.

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

For me personally, I don't think it would make any difference to me. It might put me off, I dunno. I think the thing that would most concern me would be the fear that the woman would decide to switch back to women and leave me.

I am not saying that I would automatically have such a fear. I probably wouldn't. All I am saying is that that is the only way I can think of that it would affect me negatively to find out that my girlfriend had dated women in the past.

Thursday, September 13, 2007 07:51 PM

Short, to the Point

And right on the money.

Enough said.

Thursday, September 13, 2007 10:42 AM

King Kaufman

I had been ignoring this article since it first showed up. Then I noticed it was written by King Kaufman, so I decided it might be worth reading.

It was, I guess.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 07:30 PM

Manjoo's true colors

Extra Extra!!

Wannabe journalist interviews wannabe performance artist!

Manjoo had begun to redeem himself with his tech blog after embarrassing himself trying to be a political reporter (or whatever he was trying to be). But this pathetic interview of a pathetic child shows that Manjoo really is in the wrong industry.

Ah, Salon, how low you continue to sink.

Monday, September 10, 2007 09:47 PM

Surprising Intellect

If you have very low expectations for something, finding it not quite so bad can be surprising. For Bush's intellect to surprise Draper may just mean that Draper had very low expectations.

For someone who seems that stupid, his intellect is surprising.

He can't be as stupid as he seems. Based on what I have learned, the Convair F-102 is a very difficult aircraft to fly. Bush could not have learned to fly it if he didn't have some native intelligence.

But he does seem very stupid. So the description "surprising intellect" could easily be a case of damning with faint praise.

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