Letters to the Editor
Rayon Fog
Published Letters: 188 Editor's Choice: 7
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Hypocritical? Check your facts!
[Read the article: "Sicko"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I've not seen Moore's latest film, but I do know this: two of my friends were offered editing jobs which they turned down. Why? Not only did he want to pay them nearly half of their regular day rate, he would not offer them health insurance! (thankfully they were in a position to turn him down, but others probably weren't.) How can he draw attention to a problem while simultaneously contribute to it?? Providing health insurance is standard in the film industry.
These statements are made by someone who has no clue how the film industry operates.
To say that insurance in the film industry is standard is completely and utterly false. I am a member of IATSE Local 700, which is MPEG, the Motion Picture Editors Guild. You only get insurance if you work on a union picture, plain and simple. Of the 13 films I worked on in 2006 and the 9 I've worked on so far this year, only 5 of them were union pictures. Guess what that means! No insurance! And many high-profile people who work in film get no insurance at all - ever. Ever hear of film composers? No insurance. Ever hear of Production Assistants? No insurance.
Unless you are working on a project for one of the majors like Fox, Sony, Warner, Paramount/Dreamworks, or Universal (and even then it's not guaranteed), the chances are you are NOT getting any insurance. I have done many shows for Weinstein, who is responsible for Sicko. Not one of those shows I did for them were union.
I'm not exactly sure of the particulars, but in a nutshell, the majors are the only ones who pay into MPIPH, which is the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan. They pay something like 33% on top our billed rates for these so-called "fringes" that include insurance. Those of us who are part of one of the unions have to work 600 hours in a year to qualify for our insurance and then 300 hours every six months to keep said insurance. 300 hours may not sound like much, but let me tell you that even with 300+ days worked in a year, I usually just barely clear 300 - 400 union hours in six months. A vast majority of my colleagues never come close to working enough qualifying hours.
All this just further illustrates the need for universal coverage. It also shows that you should really check your facts before posting such utter second-hand nonsense.
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Good one...
[Read the article: "Is our children learning?"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]people want a tailored reality that reinforces their beliefs, not one that challenges them.
Excellent point. And further it is the fact, of course, that they want to be entertained above all else.
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One lone ficus...
[Read the article: "Is our children learning?"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tupelo is in Mississippi, not Missouri. And GWB did his undergrad at Yale. He went to Harvard Business School, but I presume that the program is less concerned with world geography than Yale undergraduate requirements would be. Bush should know that Afghanistan has no ports, but he wouldn't have learned it at Harvard.
Maybe people should look in the mirror--just a peek--before becoming entirely apoplectic.
Seems that someone can't see the forest through the (ficus) trees.
I, for one, think the little red star next to OP's letter is dizerved. Or is that deserved?
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USERNAME is wrong!
[Read the article: "Is our children learning?"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Video of a Cute Animal
You are so wrong. The news this week has been about a very ugly animal.
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/west/view.bg?articleid=1008118
lol
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Damianus...
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...is right on. To add to this:
Bonds’ outlandish HR totals in recent years have come despite being walked more frequently that any player in history. Had he been pitched to at a rate comparable to that of other power hitters - say, McGuire and Sosa circa 1998 – who knows how many he might have hit in a season. 80? 90? Would you be so ambivalent about an 85 home run season?
One thing I noticed last night when looking over his career stats: the year he hit 73, almost HALF of his hits that year were dingers! 156 hits - 73 of them yard. Ahem.
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Perspective
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was at the Oregon - Michigan game. As I expected, numerous Michigan fans cheered when they saw the score of the App State game. I went to the game as a Duck fan, but it was not lost on anyone that Michigan needs App State (and Oregon) to run its table just as badly as Michigan needs to start winning some games.
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Anonymous, the real Man
[Read the article: Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"BTW, he not only has a large house (which I'm sure you've already heard about) but he and his family still allow others to rent his land to grow tobacco. So much for his belief that tobacco products are bad."
Prove it. From a neutral source - prove it.
This crap has been debunked more times than anyone can count.
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@ Anon
[Read the article: Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The possibility that Mr. Gore had meant to deflect attention from the property was raised today in an article in The Knoxville News-Sentinel, which said that Mr. Gore had not itemized disclosure forms required of all members of Congress. Mr. Gore served in the House and Senate. The spokeswoman, Ginny Terzano, said that the $4,800 Mr. Gore received annually from his father through 1990 was identified on the forms as income from ''farm pasture lease'' and that no itemization was required. "
How typical to completely misfire.
The "possibility" is not fact. And income from "farm pasture lease" is a far cry from irrefutable proof that said lease was for tobacco farming.
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Anonymous in Europe...
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Right on - German security does seem much more effective. I go through MUC 3 times a year (doing so again this Sunday), and I will never tire of the general level of respect you are given by German airport personnel.
But then when you go home, the fun returns. I find it absolutely ridiculous that after you go through that first round of security, if you are flying to the US, you have to go through a second, Americanized version of security. TSA is, of course, implying that the German version of airport security is inferior to its own. Um, yeah.