Letters to the Editor
margzim
Published Letters: 7
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Hair obsession
[Read the article: What we missed this week (McKinney, mostly)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Member of Congress McKinney's hair has become fodder for (never mind rightwing blogs & talk shows, I don't pay attention to them) people like Jon Stewart.
Perhaps a convenient excuse to strike leftward?
However, joining the furious throngs on the right over a black woman's hair, even using the convenient tool of humor, obscures what Ms McKinney's real crime is: she is a progressive voice in the House.
She has often been misquoted as saying that Pres Bush "knew about 911 beforehand"when what she said was to indicate that the administration had information pointing in the general direction of 911-type attack.
Then there was the "crime" of criticizing US policy on Israel --aligned with Likud -- which cost her the Democratic primary in 2002.
What is important about Cynthia McKinney's head is what's inside it, not on top of it.
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Another fine book on "free trade"
[Read the article: How do you say "free trade hypocrisy"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy: an economist examines the Markets,Power & Politics of World Trade", by Pietra Rivoli, associate professor at Georgetown University's business school, presents the development of cotton production in the US, the textile industry (knit goods) in China, international trade ("How politics came to rule the global apparel trade").
Rivoli concludes that there isn't free trade, but rather protracted conflicts over subsidies and legislation,ungil her T-shirt "...finally encounters a free market" in the global trade incast-off clothing.
After T-shirts leave the Salvation Army bin, they make their way to used clothing markets in African countries.
Rivoli examines the many stages between US cast-offs (wholesale rag trade, shippers, large distributors, mid-level dealers) and the African buyers.
The book centers on the men and women involved in the complex processes of agricultural, industrial and commercial development .
Yes, tables , graphs, ample footnotes & bibliography.
This is a wonderfully readable book that breaks down complex processes, always in historical context.
It was published in 2005.
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Different kinds of veils
[Read the article: Sneering at the veil]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yesterday BBCTV showed scenes of the women & Jack Straw.
The former were not wearing veils covering just their hair, but rather face covering veils that barely left a sliver for their eyes.
This specific incident appears to confuse those two sorts of veils.
I wonder if the women involved always cover their faces or perhaps at times use the head-covering hijab.
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Cognitive dissonance on polls
[Read the article: David Brooks and the deceitful tactics of the Beltway pundit]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't believe in polls. I don't mean that statistical methods are deficient. I mean that polls' reliance on telephone surveys when a large percentage of people avoid answering land lines, use caller ID, and of course use cell phones, must surely mean a high proportion of self-selection.
Then there is a widespread suspicion of questioning: marketing + opinion polls are deeply intertwined, or overlapping.
Invasion of privacy, sale of personal information: who answers pollsters' phone questions?
The continued, unquestioning use of opinion polls may be explained by the lack of alternative methods.
And, of course, the powerful vested interests of the polling business, mainstream media etc.
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Don't let them in the door!
[Read the article: An elderly salesman terrorized me in front of my kids!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The main thing in such a situation is, you never let a person in the door whom you don't know.
Someone rings your doorbell, or knocks, or whatever. If you have a chain on the door, use it. In any case, never let unknown persons in your house!
I believe the writer of this letter is plagued by the same sort of "politeness" that makes so many of us unable to hang up on unknown callers.
There are many door-to-door pests in neighborhoods of individual houses. So: no salespersons (floggers of religion included) ever.
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A welcome call to civility
[Read the article: Mind your manners online]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I very rarely post on the sites I visit, because I realized early on that brief, thoughtful expressions of opinion weren't what it's about.
So: I love the Haaretz site, scan the headings of the posts, never read them.
The nastiest, most hostile posts target Amira Hass + Gideon Levy, both of whom are fine journalists, IMHO.
I don't need to read ugly, offensive, screaming posts on any site.
What's the point? To show that progressive, left people can be as obnoxious as the rightwingers?
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ARG's unforgivable sin
[Read the article: The man who ruined the novel]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Boring! I read one of his novels, in French, don't remember the title. I do remember an amazingly tedious description of minute ,uninteresting details of water as a boat navigated somewhere.
I also began to read Nathalie Sarraut's "Planetarium".
I didn't get very far, remember nothing.
I am an avid reader of what the publishing world deems "literary novels".
My recent favorites include Charles Bock's "Beautiful Children" + Vikram Chandra's "Sacred Games". Yes, it's long (900 pages) but is endlessly fascinating.
Thank you, Stephen Marche, for your article.