Letters to the Editor
Pastafarians Unite!
Published Letters: 182 Editor's Choice: 5
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I can't say I am surprised by Clinton's tepid response,
[Read the article: Obama, Clinton join Dodd in filibuster threat]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But I really had hoped for more from Obama.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Well - I think those words have come true - I really don't care about the color of his or any of the candidates skin, but I am deeply concerned about the content of his or any of the candidates character...
and most of them ain't cutting it.
Looks like my donation to Chris Dodd wasn't a waste after all.
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Bailouts don't only help the poor -
[Read the article: Countrywide's desperate rescue plan]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"As of June 30, in Nevada, 32 percent of all prime mortgages in default and 24 percent of subprime defaults were on non-owner occupied properties, according to the MBA. The numbers for Arizona were 26 percent prime and 18 percent subprime. In California, they were 21 percent and 15 percent respectively."
I live in a condo with 200+ units. We had 3 foreclosures by one non-resident owner and another who had 2 non-occupied units go down. I feel sorry for those who lose their homes, but if you, like Countrywide make a bad investment - to damn bad.
I lost money in the stock market when the tech boom died, and I didn't expect anybody to bail my butt out.
Not to mention the impact that all the real estate speculators have had on my area - Santa Clara county, CA - where $1 million buys you a fixer upper - if I wasn't in a special program for educators, I still would be living in rental property - even with a household income slightly over $100,000 year.
The Bay area - only place on earth where you can qualify for a housing subsidy with a household income up to $125,000/year.
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As a practicing agnostic,
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I came up with the statement of belief (or non-belief)
"As an agnostic, I lack not only the faith of the true believer, but that of the atheist."
Though if someone put a gun to my head, I would probably pray loudly, if that's what they wanted, or would deny the existence of any higher power, if that's what they wanted. And when the smoke cleared, I would even things up.
I have a number of fundamentalist relatives and, fortunately, I don't have to spend much time around them, as they lack the respect for my beliefs that I try to hold for theirs.
My cousins pulled their kid out of martial arts training as they were afraid that the child would be taught about "chi" and any power that doesn't come from god comes from satan. The music at their wedding was the most triumphalist crap that I have ever heard: "My GOD is the ONLY GOD - HE KICKS YOUR IMAGINARY, EVIL GODS ASS! AND YOU ARE ALL GOING TO BURN IN HELL, YOU MONGREL SINNERS! Hallelujah!" Christers can be pretty damned intolerant. Save us all if they ever truly take control - a Handmaiden's Tale - anyone?
I was born a mormon and even they don't get this carried away (as long as they get their 10%).
I avoided organized religion for 20+ years, but as the old joke goes:
"What is a Unitarian? An atheist with kids."
I became involved in the Unitarian Universalist Church about 5 years ago as a means of providing a place where my child can be taught by well meaning people who are not going to make him believe that he is bad if he doesn't believe in Santa.The UU's also believe in social justice and donate more money and time to making the world a better place than any group I have ever been in. There is another, telling joke:
"Why are UU's the worst singers? Because they are always reading the words ahead to see if they agree with them."
I have even gotten to the point where I can sing Christmas carols without my conscience twinging - as a previous poster said, I sing Silent Night with the same degree of belief as I sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Our previous minister was a gay agnostic - our current is a lesbian with eclectic religious beliefs - which, I guess, is okay, too.
PAX
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Flat taxers piss me off.
[Read the article: Why Democrats are afraid to raise taxes on the rich]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Who do you think is hurt more - the person earning $30,000 per year who pays $3000 in taxes or the person earning $500,000,000 per year who pays $50,000,000 in taxes?
And the $30,000/year worker also pays sales tax, which are regressive, gas tax, social security, and disability,property tax - again regressive.
So who pays the least percentage of their income under flat tax?
The richest.
Who pays the highest percentage of their income in a "flat tax?"
The poorest.
If you say that the other taxes will be done away with, you are deluded - and the tax base wouldn't be sufficient.
And the wealthy would still find a way out of a flat tax.
Flat tax = Big Lie
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Everybody run, everybody run...
[Read the article: Cheney's got a gun, again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Vice-Presidents got a gun!
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When we talk about the hostages...
[Read the article: Hitlers, Hitlers and more Hitlers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]does anyone remember Iran Air's Flight 655 -
"Iran Air Flight 655 (IR655) was a commercial flight operated by Iran Air that flew from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai, UAE. On Sunday July 3, 1988, towards the end of the Iran Iraq War, the aircraft flying IR655 was shot down by the U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children. The Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters at the time."
Any ideas what would happen if Iran had done this to us?
Being a Superpower means never having to say you're sorry.
Pax