Letters to the Editor
masaccio
Published Letters: 237 Editor's Choice: 16
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Empathy
[Read the article: Ron Paul's Internet cha-ching ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The thing libertarians lack is empathy. If you want a real dose of that problem, try Megan McArdle's blog on the Atlantic website: http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/
Her posts on health care drew hundreds of people arguing that single-payer was immoral because it would increase taxes, and use the money to pay for health care. When you read the comments through it became perfectly clear that the libertarians, the Randians, all thought that the problem with health care is the negligence of others.
Another great place to see this utter lack of empathy is http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/ This is great for some things, but when the guy starts in on the health care issue, he goes all Randian. He did a series on SCHIP, and his commenters were unable to see the point that health care insurance for kids meant that they would get paid for services that are either not being provided because the parents can't afford to pay, or were pro bono, or handled through the economically inefficient emergency room.
I think this is a common problem of engineers, not just computer geeks: no sense of the messiness of human life.
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Salon itself is a counter-argument
[Read the article: The Internet is making us stupid]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Blog Report each day lists selected blogs from both sides. I regularly click through, and occasionally comment on the righty blogs.
And, how would Sunstein deal with John Cole at Balloon Juice? Mr. Cole was a righty, but to me only occasionally descended into wingnuttery, at least the links from Salon didn't go to the really crazy Michelle Malkin/Who Killed Vince Foster area. Not long ago he left the republican party and became a democrat. I occasionally posted mild comments questioning his entries, and so did others, and it could conceivably be that those commenters from the left played some small role in his change of mind.
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I am a singer
[Read the article: I peed at my desk in third grade and now I'm afraid to sing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW, here is my story, I hope it helps.
I have always sung, but when I was young, my mother said I wasn't very good, so I just quit. Years later, I used to ride with a friend who played music and sang along, and I joined in. Then he told me I should try out for a community theater musical, and I went and auditioned. I got in, taught myself the music (I couldn't read music then), and sang in public for the first time when I was 36. My friend talked me into joining a choir, where I learned how to read music, and worked on technique. My choir leaders helped me, and four years later, I auditioned for an opera chorus. I got in. I didn't know how to sing in Italian, but I learned the opera and sang for a huge paying crowd. I started taking lessons a few years later, and now I have sung 50 productions and a couple of tiny comprimario roles.
I cannot imagine a life without singing. I have to audition, and I don't know when I will be judged not good enough for chorus, but when it happens, I will know that it was because I wasn't good enough, not because I was afraid to try.
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Elmer Gantry
[Read the article: How George Bush really found Jesus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Meet George Bush.
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Laws establish morality?
[Read the article: Mike Huckabee, on a wing and a prayer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That is just plain ignorant. "The law of speeding is saying that it's immoral to go at 85 miles an hour." Where do I get absolution for my lead foot? Or is being saved enough?
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European usage
[Read the article: The Smart car is coming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You don't see a lot of Smart cars in Paris, or anywhere in France, but they are huge in Rome and Florence. You don't see them on the inter-city roads. They don't go fast enough and they aren't comfortable for that kind of driving. For that you get something like a diesel-powered (called gazoil) Renault Megane. I drove one of those all over France, getting well over 40 mpg at European highway speeds. The car is small, but easily holds luggage enough for two on a three-week vacation. And gazoil is a lot cheaper than gasoline.
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helping means active listening
[Read the article: Our best friends are scarily, heedlessly in debt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The next time one of them mentions creditors calling, say: You know, you said that before, what's up? Let them do the talking. Ask what they are doing to solve the problem. Encourage the steps that make sense.
Security is more important to some people than others. The need for security increases with age, and especially with children. So, just listen and see if you can't encourage good behavior.
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What about Mme. Sarkozy
[Read the article: America's next top spouse]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If we go international, we find the real winner, Cecilia Sarkozy, who refused to campaign, announced she wasn't sure she would be willing to act as Premiere Femme, stood up George and Laura; and then we come to find out she left Nicolas and lived with some American in New York, went back to Nicolas for the campaign, and then got a divorce. That has to top the list.
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thanks for Anthony Lane
[Read the article: Sexiest Man Living 2007]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How did I miss that perfect review of Pride and Prejudice? Come to think of it, did Judy Dench play the night scene with a flashlight under her chin?
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This group of Mittsters are ignorant people
[Read the article: Mitt Romney: Perfect tough guy for right-wing war cheerleaders]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When Romney and his fellow Mormon missionaries encountered anti-American sentiment from war opponents, they decided that the French -- unlike Romney and his war-supporting, war-avoiding friends -- were "weak"....
Ignorant people, apparently they weren't even aware of the French defeat in Indochina, or the toughness of the French as displayed in Algeria, or the general respect in which French Gendarmes are held.
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Leave now
[Read the article: America's water war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People reading this are ahead of their neighbors, and should use that to their benefit. If you live in a drought affected part of the country, sell your house to someone who isn't reading this and move to a part of the country where there will be water. If you live in a good area and are asked to move to a bad area, refuse. This is your big chance to show your forethought and protect your family and your heirs at the expense of the less aware. Natural selection will work for you and your genes.