Letters to the Editor
mattwa33186
Published Letters: 394 Editor's Choice: 41
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RIP Proposition Joe
[Read the article: Hot off "The Wire"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Always one of my favorite characters in any medium, he became the perfect embodiment of Einstein's saying about people trying to destroy their betters. In the end he was brought down by his pride, born of having thrived for 40 years in a business where 30 year olds are considered senior citizens. Could he have had Marlow killed? Any time he wanted. Could he have set him up for the cops? Of course. But he was committed to his Jeffersonian experiment in representative government among swine, and it cost him his life.
I foresee an alliance between Slim and Omar, 2 of the last men who understand that there are rules that can never be broken and also 2 of the 3 most dangerous men left standing in this tragedy, with Chris being the third. Marlow, like Barksdale before him, is so focused on what he wants and so unable to consider the possibility that he can't have it that he will wind up delivering him self to Omar just as surely as Cheese delivered Joe to him. And Chris, who already understands that he has far more in common with Joe, Slim, and Omar than he does with Marlow - he showed true respect for Butchie, as opposed to the sociopathic sympathy Marlow showed for Joe - will become Marlow's Brutus. The saddest moment on the show will be when Chris kills Snoop.
McNulty is is the flip side of Marlow. Just as much of a loose cannon, so focused on his goal that he can't see that his quest is destroying him. Lester is the smartest guy in the room, Proposition Joe with a badge. Daniels is afraid of having what he wants, he always is at first, but that won't last and he will be a force when he takes hold of his responsibilities. The tragic figure here is Bunk, the best police Baltimore has ever seen and now so worn down by the system that all he wants to do is go home to his wife and his new furniture and wait for his retirement.
One thing you know for sure, the end of the season and the series will not bring us any happy endings.
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When the only tool you have is a hammer
[Read the article: Why Google only tells you what you already know]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Every problem looks like a nail. And when the only platform you have is a technology blog, every issue becomes a tech issue. Which this is clearly not.
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Regardless
[Read the article: Take heed, Apple: The iPhone wants to be free]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]of how many iPhones are actually unlocked, and my personal survey of a very small sample says 20%, all still using AT&T, the point has clearly been and is still being missed by many, including Jobs,
The 2 people I know who unlocked their iPhones (told you it was a very small sample) did it just because they don't like Apple telling them what they can or can't do with their $400 phone. The price point is too high for some people to just accept what they are given. Same thing that killed DivX as a physical media years ago. If there really are several hundred thousand unlocked iPhones out there in the US, the answer is to lower the price until unlocking your phone becomes nothing more than an interesting excercise, not worth the trouble. If they get it right they'll make more money in the long term.
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So much sad, sad commentary
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But what else can we expect in world where Britney Spears is the new General Motors (or so it seems given the spate of articles about her impact on the economy), and Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are being ridiculed for not being as white trashy/skanky/crazy as the market leader?
The writers went on strike, and the reality shows we are getting dumped on us are no worse than what they were getting paid to write.
Anyway. I know a lot of the guys that chick is trying to get hooked up (metaphorically speaking - I don't actually know anyone on the show). I have, in fact, come perilously close to being one of those guys, and God help me but I still hold out hopes of doing so. Used to be that in order to become filthy rich you had to either choose the right parents or be a highly charismatic individual who could get others to listen and believe. Now you just need to pick the right company and hope it doesn't fold before the IPO. Blame it on the day traders, but these guys haven't spent their childhoods vacationing in Europe and attending the right schools. They were holed up in their rooms with their PC's developing the skills that eventually got them all that money. So don't hate on the gold-digging sea-donkeys. They were simply born 2 generations too late, and are doomed to spend their lives wishing they could have lived in a time when a gold-digging sea-donkey could get hooked up with a guy who would never dream of using a pizza for a wristwatch (old programmer's joke) or making her watch him do something really cool on his X-Box. On the other hand, hopefully the guys in question will still be rich when they get over this and find better women.
It really is pretty amazing that HBO continues to create some of the best television ever in the middle of the current media dark ages, especially when you consider that a) they'd still be the best if they were only half as good and b) their corporate masters have never shown any particular desire to be excellent at anything. Hats off to them.
And Roger, what do you expect? She's writing about television, which has become an absolute wasteland. I don't watch most of the shit she writes about, but I still make time to read sharp, funny commentary - even when it's wrong :)