Site Presented By
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009
Forced To Register
Published Letters: 76 Editor's Choice: 5
Actually, I just finished reading a good chunk of Hitchen's new book and beyond religion being a waste of time, he refers to it as poison. Religious leaders are always trying to demonize people who 'believe in nothing' as shallow and amoral, all the while the true believers are killing each other all over the world, or at least making life miserable for everyone around them. As for me, I try to live my life based on the available facts and refuse to believe in anything beyond what's for lunch.
he is a hypocrite because he works with bigots and keeps his mouth shut. I can see him nervously changing the subject when Rove breaks out the latest gay joke and the staffers chuckle.
After recently watching the first 5 seasons in a short amount of time, I can boil the mix of visceral excitement, street grit, and moral ambiguity of The Shield down to two words: James Ellroy. Seriously, watch all 5 seasons in about 2 weeks and it plays out like a modern-day Ellroy novel.
Mikey Palmice in hell (the Irish bar where every day is St. Patrick's day) says 3:00.
The reason that we don't have government healthcare is that we can't afford it, due to our huge national debt and the interest that we pay every year, which last year was a staggering $406 billion. So for everyone who dozed off when Perot pulled out his charts, this is the price for not holding your politicians accountable for the deficits that they have created.
You know, you Republicans always like to bring up Clinton's vices and corruption, but where was your blathering about justice and fairness when Republican Rutherford B. Hayes conspired to steal the election from Samuel Tilden? That's right, you was quiet as a church mouse!
Until you comment on the above, I accuse you of being a hypocrite and a liar.
(Or we could quit focusing on crimes of past presidents and get back to the current one)
If joining up with Mexico and Canada means that they now share our huge national debt then count me in!
And hopefully, when Farhad Manjoo's new book comes out in 2008, someone will post it and we can download that too! I mean, he obviously doesn't mind!
- "I didn't even link to the site where you can get it."
You named the site, which in the Google age is practically the same thing as linking to it. If I told you that I saw an article on 'Salon', how long would it take you to find the site?
The point is that you're an author, with a book coming out next year, who downloaded another author's book, then posted about it on a popular site and told everyone where to find it. So how could you possibly complain next year if someone buys one copy of your book, posts it online, and then everyone else in the world downloads it for free? How would your publisher feel, for that matter?
One day a couple years ago I was listening to a local radio broadcast and Nuge and the DJ were talking up a personal appearance that he was making the next day. It was boisterous, outrageous fun until he ended his spiel by saying 'and we're gonna kick some Jewboy ass!' The DJ, stunned I'm sure, was silent for a good ten seconds and then quickly wrapped up the segment. I'm still amazed that the incident didn't get more media attention.
"Hanlon Field was hand-sprayed Wednesday with “an environmentally safe” disinfectant. It will be retreated today or tomorrow."
Don't they know that urine itself is a mild disinfectant?
I've gotta go with The Wire. The Sopranos is a great show, but The Wire just seems more relevant, more real.
One thing I like about The Wire is how it reveals major plot twists with no fanfare, no string music, it just assumes that the viewer will get it, which adds to the realistic feel. For example, there is a certain extremely foulmouthed character who is a pain in the ass in the first two seasons. There is one quick wordless scene in Season 3, just a quick scan of a man in a place, that changes the entire way that we look at the character. No fanfare, no exposition, you either get it or you don't.
Also, the Wire never flinches while showing us how rotten the system is in a way I don't think we've ever seen on television before. In real life, intelligent caring professionals who know how to effect real positive change if allowed are instead forced to spend their time catering to the whims of their superiors, as seen with the pissing contest between Valchek and Sobotka in Season 2. This is contrasted with the cold blooded efficiency of the drug dealers, who play a real-life game of Risk with street corners and project buildings.
To put it in a nutshell, the Sopranos may be a bit more entertaining, but the Wire is a lot more important.
I have to say, your post may be one of the single greatest achievements of the Salon letter writing community in the last ten years. Bravo!
Pick a day to go to the grocery store, buy a pack of gum, and get some cash back! Are we all so feebleminded these days that we can 't estimate how much cash we will need for the next few days and plan ahead? I haven't used an ATM in years and yet I still manage to keep some cash in my wallet at all times. And yes, banks are just one of the many institutions out there that will rip you off if you let them.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost
Once one obtains Seriousness credentials in the Washington media, they are irrevocable no matter one's conduct.
Salon headlines in your mailbox
