Letters to the Editor
rodian
Published Letters: 134 Editor's Choice: 9
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call 'em tight
[Read the article: Celtics: The big lead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Call them even, sure - but I like it when the refs keep the game on the level. Primarily because I don't want to see anyone get injured.
Never mind the ensuing drama, no matter who you root for, you have to admit, it took the wind out of everyone's sails to see Pierce get wheeled out in game one. What kind of series would it be if one of the team captains was on the bench? You don't even need to bench someone. How about a broken nose to make someone play gingerly? There are lots of ways to win. Banging up your opponents is one way, but not very honorable. Of course Pierce's injury had nothing to do w/ rough play; but rough play does tend to increase the probabilities. When it gets to game seven, then sure, maybe the refs should lighten up a bit. But early in the series - keep it on the level.
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celtics fans kicked ass too
[Read the article: Celtics demolish Lakers for title]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Lakers win at home when they are down three to one and you'd think you were at a narcoleptic convention. Game five was a fight to hang on, and the Lakers fans were drooling on themselves.
Compare that to game six. Celtics fans didn't need seats, they were on their feet almost the whole time. It was GODDAMN LOUD in there. YEAAAHHH BABY!!!
Did you see Odom's smile after swiping Allan's face? It wasn't half as wide as KG's after slamming Odom to the floor to conclude their humiliating defeat. Perfect comeuppance. I had nothing against the Lakers going into this, but after listening to their whining, hearing about Kobe's tantrums, and watching their pathetic fans, I absolutely relished this rout.
Let's also not forget it was Celtic's ticket sales when times were tough that helped them improve the franchise.
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expand your blog's reach
[Read the article: Obama's support for the FISA "compromise"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think one of the biggest reasons such abuses of power go unchecked is because of the way mainstream media presents the issues. They don't. All most people ever read are varnished uncritical fawning cover pieces which all essentially repeat the same AP newswire milk and toast news. You could write a book about the reasons behind the media's complicity in the dumbing down of America, but whatever the reasons, the point I'd like to make is that anything that would increase the public's exposure to critical analysis such as yours would help.
I don't know how much time you can afford to market yourself, but you really are doing the world a service. Use that 300,000 to buy a giant megaphone, I dunno (that would probably not go over so well, but really, I certainly wouldn't object). Of course, we'll have to put some checks on your power when you get too big for your britches, but right now you're David against Goliath. We know how that turned out one time, but unfortunately that story usually has an alternative ending.
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Bill's philanthropy is a sham
[Read the article: Bill Gates, the greatest hacker of all time]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bill Gates has pulled off one of the greatest hacks in technology and business history, by turning Microsoft's success into a force for social responsibility.
I think Farhad's man crush has dulled his senses.
Note this: Bill Gate's so-called charity opposes the use of generic drugs to combat disease. It's the same old MS play book, but a different industry. Promote the regime of intellectual property rights holders, damn the consequences. In this case, the consequences are that people die every die for lack of access to generic drugs. Gates' foundation stands as a bulwark against those who would address the issue in truly charitable fashion. Far more important for Bill to promote the internationalization of the abominable intellectual property laws that allowed Gates to make his fortune in the first place.
Bill Gates' legacy will be that of a man who wouldn't save a sick child if the child didn't pay fealty to the internationalization of intellectual property laws.
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there are plenty of resources
[Read the article: Triumph of the low-carbon city dweller]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There are plenty of resources. There are too many people. Most of them live in cities, where they spend their time gazing at their navels.
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Andrew's a supply sider?
[Read the article: A biofuel food-price bombshell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Never would have pegged you for a supply sider, Andrew. What about demand? Maybe we simply happen to have at least several billion more people than the planet will support. It's just amazing to me that no one wants to talk about the elephant in the room: there are too goddamn many people. No, instead everyone keeps trying to rationalize supporting denser and denser populations with less and less - and they call it "conservation". Or they simply stick their heads in the sand, pretend fundamentals are really just fine, and blame the damn "speculators". Both positions are sadly misguided.
The only thing I've ever heard consistently correlated with diminishing birth rates is education. Human population is the world's number one problem, for humans and every other species. Instead of throwing a trillion dollars into baseless human destruction in far away places, we should be waging war on ignorance; because education is the only way out of this mess. That, or face catastrophic annihilation - bombs, plagues, starvation - take your pick.
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@JackSprat
[Read the article: A biofuel food-price bombshell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The elephant is total consumption. If somehow the total population was reduced by half tomorrow, but that half all consumed like the wealthiest today, we'd be in even worse shape.
That's just plain stupid; and that's the kind of thinking that has put the planet in such peril. I'm talking about one variable: population. You can throw in a bunch more variables and adjust them however you like to come up with whatever nonsense you like; but the fact is indisputable: more people require more resources, period. Positing some nonsensical argument about everyone living like Bill Gates is laughable. Of course people should be conscientious of the world around them, but that consideration is completely independent of the strain of overpopulation.