Letters to the Editor
masaccio
Published Letters: 237 Editor's Choice: 16
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Very Old Books
[Read the article: The oldest story ever written]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I read a translation of Gilgamesh in 1970; I was stationed at Fort Bragg, and frequently went to the UNC library on the weekends, initially hoping to meet women, but eventually just to read ancient texts. I specifically remember reading Gilgamesh, translated stiffly, and with gaps, and thinking for the first time that our ancestors were just like us, with all the same fears and delights.
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Finding candidates
[Read the article: Are political consultants getting rich off your money?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Moira Kelly raises a great point. How can we contribute to candidates who will espouse our point of view?
I urge everyone who has this question to take a look at progressive blog sites. All of them provide recommendations for candidates all over the country where the relatively small contributions we can raise will make a difference.
Howie Klein picks progressive candidates for his own site and for Firedoglake (click my signature for a link). Last year we gave a lot of money to candidates he suggested. Those candidates appear on the blog on Tuesday and Saturday to discuss their views with potential contributors. Other sites do the same.
Giving to presidential candidates is an exercise in futility. The paltry sums we give don't matter to them. It may have meant the difference in a number of elections last year, including Jim Webb, Joe Sestak, Jon Tester,and others. It will make the difference in OH-2 where Dr. Victoria Wulsin came within a hairs-breadth of beating Jean Schmidt in a red district, and who will win in 2008 if we support her.
Don't waste your money on interest groups. Give to local Planned Parenthood, and to Vic Wulsin, who will be a staunch defender of women's rights.
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There is so much more
[Read the article: More from Dan Bartlett's Fantasy Theater]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dan Bartlett announced on NPR that Tenet is lying, Bush gave careful thought to invading Iraq. Or maybe it was that Bush gave careful thought to his policy of lashing out wherever he saw a threat, so he didn't have to think about Iraq carefully, because he saw a threat... Hard to follow some of this.
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The economy is never bad
[Read the article: The 2007 U.S. economy: So far, not so good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]for rich people with jobs and connections. Only the middle class has to deal with the ups and downs of the business cycle. Here's a piece of advice, Andrew, don't get sick.
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Dangerstein, Dickmorris
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Take your pick.
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What a bunch of commenters we have here
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Comments like the ones on this site show why Firedoglake is so widely respected. The moderators stop the kind of childish stuff I see here. I like Glenn's work, but reading comments here is painful.
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Mansfield on Women
[Read the article: The right's explicit and candid rejection of "the rule of law"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn understates this guy's conservatism; this is from a speech he gave at Hillsdale College (its claim to fame is its unwillingness to take steps necessary for its students to obtain federal grants):
"A second suggestion following the acceptance of sex differences is to respect the manliness of men. Manliness is the character of men that makes them insist on being men, on distinguishing themselves from women and also from unmanly men. Manly men reproach unmanly men, but merely look down on women, who are excused from manliness. After all, they are women. To accept differences between the sexes is to tolerate this apparently irrational prejudice of men. A man needs to feel he is important. "
http://www.hillsdale.edu/imprimis/2006/06/
I wondered if he was married, given his medieval concept of feminity, and his unwillingness to allow women to define their own feminity, and it appears that he has married twice. His first wife and his daughter were killed in a car crash.
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Do you know the name of the Reporter
[Read the article: "No, the president does not have a pre-9/11 mind-set"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]who asked the John Kerry question? That is a worthy question and we should give that person kudos.
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Shareholder get richer at the expense of the poor
[Read the article: You can't stop a tidal wave with a fork]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thomas Malkin is exactly right: shareholders get rich at the expense of workers. Ponder this:
1) In 2004, 5% of the households in the US owned 79% of the stock. That is about 6,500,000 households. So when we say shareholders get richer, what we mean is that 5% of the households get richer at the expense of all the rest. The numbers get worse in smaller slices, so the top .01% controls nearly half of the stock (I cannot find the figure).
2) Adam Smith talked about the invisible hand of the market and all sorts of other ideas that capitalists use to justify their behavior, and the rest of us (the 95%) just nod our heads and talk about using forks to turn aside tidal waves. Adam Smith thought that people would naturally invest in their own countries, and would create jobs in their own countries. But they don't. And the reason they don't is that our legislators (us, since we elect them) let them invest in other countries without penalties. In fact, we let them incorporate in other countries so we cannot even tax them. How stupid are we? And when an odd legislators or individual complains about this, there is universal condemnation: CLASS WARFARE.
We are really stupid about money in this country.
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The Five Catholics on the Supreme Court
[Read the article: Why I won't stay silent anymore]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Your Catholic Justices wrote the opinion that causes you such pain. We know that this procedure is done only when medically necessary. In a previous comment, I linked to a survivor's description of her desperate attempt to get the banned procedure as opposed to taking the risk of infertility.
At what point do you have to reconsider your commitment to this religion?
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Whoops
[Read the article: Why I won't stay silent anymore]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, the article in my earlier comment was Ms. Magazine. Here is the link:
http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2004/womanandherdoctor.asp
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Brightstar 65
[Read the article: Why I won't stay silent anymore]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Read the article I linked in my earlier comment, then come back and explain what an awful person the writer is. Maybe you can explain why she needed to put up with that misery, and where she will spend eternity.