Letters to the Editor
Etrigone
Published Letters: 159 Editor's Choice: 31
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I say let ID be taught
[Read the article: The evolution of creationism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And while we're at it, leave out math & anything hard, or at least make them optional. This will result in a whole pack of kids who can't compete, making the competition a little easier for slightly older folks like me. In total the country would probably decline, but there will be enough enclaves of those with clue to get stuff done.
(Arguably, that's why I'm doing so comfortably well now... the California school system smacked those around me, but I'm from out of state where they actually taught me K-12. College was a breeze, and I can grok stuff easily in my normal job while those my age struggle with these things called "computers".)
Some of those enclaves will be in other parts of the world, quite true... and as it is now for some thing. H1B visa, anyone?. But hey, if you have a group that wants to become have-nots, why stop them? It's what they want, right? And we're oh-so into personal freedoms as long as it doesn't cost us anything immediately out of pocket, eh?
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Like, OMG, soooooo fake!
[Read the article: Here comes the Earth]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]They didn't even use the same fake moonset NASA did back in the 60s and 70s. Soooooo lame & fakey!
Hmm, I wonder if Hannah Montana is in the news...
Seriously, totally awesome. I know someone is going to accuse me of the usual, but... the Japanese deserve the moon, and I mean that in a positive way.
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Perhaps she would have used one of those answers
[Read the article: "Radical groups"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But I'd still prefer she had to resort to them as opposed to being given an out.
I prefer the villain grabbing the defenseless as hostage over having the door help open for them by the "hero".
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@ the first anonymouse
[Read the article: The K Chronicles ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's a great comment by Jared Diamond along the lines of felling the last tree (in this case with respect to Easter Island). I'd go into more specifics, but you're a troll. Other respectable readers either are aware of what I'm talking about or at least grok the basic concept.
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If I was banned from the kitchen...
[Read the article: Keeping men out of the kitchen?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We'd both starve. No, that's not completely true... she's pretty good with deserts, which has never been my strong suit. But then, that's not precisely a balanced meal.
I'm also a better cleaner IMHO and she's fine with me handling at least the laundry along with anything kitchen related; her sense of even job sharing doesn't let her allow me to do too much more.
Then again, we're extremely non-traditional atheists who sometimes think "traditional" households are hardly past the middle ages, hangup wise. If people are happy with their lot, fine; we'll just have fun making yummy dinners, having the time off & being together (sometimes with also less hung-up friends).
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I timed mine right...
[Read the article: The K Chronicles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](or rather, my parents did).
My birthday is almost precisely 6 months from Xmas (June 26). I got tired of my toys before the 6 months was up, sure, but it was pretty well balanced.
I never had my birthday in school, which was a downer, but really not that bad.
A friend of mine, otoh, was born Xmas day. We always felt he was more like the anti-Christ than me though. The date never bother him, as far as I know.
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Henry is dead on here
[Read the article: Crashing Larry "Don't be evil" Page's wedding]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Cut down, not out" is another way of looking at it. It gets a little tiring to hear from the anti-enviros a dis on someone because they (gasp!) aren't perfectly green. No one that I know is saying we need to live in caves, wear hair shirts and eat grubs. You know, there is a lot of room between that and what we're doing now, and *that* is where the goal lies.
Sometimes, I wonder if the dis'ers just want an excuse - kind of like the dieters who eat a cookie & declare "that days a loss" so they can pig out at the BBQ joint. If so & so isn't perfect, why should they even try?
I mean, goodness, I refill the gas tank in my 35 mpg Civic every 4-5 months, carpooling in our EV the rest of the time. Goodness, gas consumption! I might just as well be driving a Hummer, eh?
And yet, that is *precisely* what I see.
Sometimes I just think we're doomed.
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Thinking about that line...
[Read the article: "We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"What were you thinking? Why didn't you act?"
If I were the betting type, I'd say this is more likely. Don't get me wrong, I'd vastly prefer and hope that we do the right thing.
But... I tend to doubt it. We're much more on comfort, getting what we can, and letting someone else deal with it. It's why I think most of the big time Xians (or pick a religion) abusers aren't really religious. If they were, they'd be freaking out over the eternity they'd spend in Hell/Pandemonium/Burbank for damning future generations. It's just a path to making themselves feel good about their offenses. For every decent whatever, scores of "I'm special" types are idling their SUVs in traffic or road-raging.
Regardless, I keep thinking of this:
"It's not that history repeats itself, it that sometimes she screams "Won't you ever listen to what I'm trying to tell you?" - and lets fly with a club."
John W. Campbell
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I don't know...
[Read the article: Al Gore in 2012?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I tend to agree at times with him (and I don't like anyone - I just dislike him less than most), but...
I think he & we are best off with him not descending into the mire of presidential politics. Don't get me wrong, I think he'd be better than most. I just think the role has devolved into who can make people think they are getting away with the most and getting the best-est toys. Any kind of "we need to make some sacrifices and do what's best" rhetoric was last played out at that level by Carter. Although hardly the only nail in the coffin of that political career, it was a big one.
He's not the only one who's been forced to play the game by consultants & looked half PO'ed, half bored by it. If anything, maybe he'd be best as the power behind the throne.