Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 58 Editor's Choice: 5
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More like advertising copy than a book
[Read the article: Good to the last drop]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I got interested in the post-Starbucks generation in 2005-2006 and took a trip to see a bunch of coffee plantations where I was treated to photo-ops.That's the Conde Nast, industry-approved way of learning about coffee. And you'll learn exactly as much as you do from watching an ad on TV.
If you really, I mean really want to learn about coffee go for the crazy wisdom of the Great Gonzo Coffee Fanatic - The Devil's Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee by Stewart Lee Allen. For a little more context try A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. They'll tell you how it came to be, what it means, how it forever transformed the world. You won't get "insider tips" on which overpriced brand to buy. But you'll actually know more when you finish reading than when you started.
And yes, coffee is an acquired taste. That's because even the most expensive stuff is burned, bitter and broken. Thats what roasting does. Most of us have never actually tasted coffee. For that you need kopi tarik. The beans are heated until they're just past green into whitish/very very pale brown. It doesn't taste like Folgers or Starbucks. It tastes nutty, more like barley tea. The liquor is pale. It's never bitter. And it gives a double dose of life-giving caffeine.
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Shame on the Democrats. Shame on Obama for blowing his chance to lead.
[Read the article: Obama bites the bullet on FISA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've voted the straight Democratic ticket for 27 years except for the once-every-six years ballot for Mark Hatfield. I've given money to the Democrats every single election.
No more.
The Democrats voted to strip us of our most precious liberties. They gave Bush and Cheney everything they asked for. Obama had a chance to lead. He could have stood up for something when it counted. He could have stated that as the nominee and as the presumptive President he would support the Rule of Law and civil rights. The Democrats, maybe enough for a filibuster, would have meekly lined up. But he didn't. He "triangulated". He "moved to the center". He "moderated".
He voted for this treacherous piece of fascism.
So no more. No more money for Obama. No more money for either gaping maw of the Two Headed Republicrat Monster. I will vote my conscience and support the lunatic wing nut Bob Barr this November. He has no hope in hell of winning, but at least he's on the right side on the most fundamental issues.
Damn the Democrats.
Damn Obama.
And G-d bless my Senator, Ron Wyden, for standing up and being counted even when his Party put the screws to him.
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"Nuance"
[Read the article: Obama bites the bullet on FISA]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nuance? What in the world do you mean by "Nuance", mc?
The Democrats gave the Republicans everything they wanted as they have done on every single civil liberties or war measure in the past seven and a half years. They caved. The GOP said they got "more than we could have hoped for".
It isn't the "best bill" we could have hoped for. It was pure surrender and represents a 100 percent record of caving in to the worst excesses of fascism so as not to "appear vulnerable".
To the other poster, no I don't like a lot of Barr's opinions. I'm pro-choice and for draconian campaign reform and so on. But he has always taken a strong consistent position on freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the separation of Church and State, speedy public trial by jury, the right to freedom from unlawful search and seizure, the right to see evidence and confront witnesses, opposition to post facto law and the rest of those pesky little things.
We've come to the point where both Parties are eager to destroy those things. At least the Libertarians, bless their simple-minded Market-worshipping fundamentalist hearts are the only ones who support the most basic, bare bones, fundamental civil rights. As Churchill said when he was asked how he could support the USSR during World War II "If Hitler had invaded Hell I would have had something to say in common with the Devil."
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Better than a Purity Ring!
[Read the article: "WTF" of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That actually makes a certain amount of sense. Some men have that atavistic "To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before" fantasy. And in some cultures or subcultures it's a matter of survival. A woman who doesn't have a hymen can be sent back to her family in disgrace or killed.
In these days where birth control is considered abortion and the next best thing to illegal there's a lot of other old unsavory "traditional family values" on the loose. Purity rings. The Rules. Abstinence only sex education. Full Quiver Christianity. Second Virginity. No doubt the Junior Anti-Sex League isn't far behind. A woman who wants to keep her Heaven-ordained husband and Master had better be able to show that she's a pure and gawdly woman. If that means a little deception on the wedding night, it's a small price to pay for marital bliss.
I just threw up in my mouth a little writing that last sentence.
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Good Lord, doesn't anyone read anymore?
[Read the article: "WTF" of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Junior Anti-Sex League is from Orwell's 1984.