Letters to the Editor
bystander
Published Letters: 1348
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Ah, Christ!
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for the gentle prompt Bebop (that maybe would have been a justified quirt to the flanks).
Yes, thank you Garry Ownen, Bebop, RMP, HawkDriver, and any other veteran reading these pages today.
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Veterans Day thoughts via the NYT
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The NYT dedicated space to blogs from service men and women returning from the middle east. I can't remember precisely when it began, but presumably it was a guest blogging opportunity that ran for a discrete period, and then rolled over to a different topic and different authors. Then the Times brought it back. I run into it intermittently, and still have yet to figure out what the Times is trying to do.
Anyway. The Times dedicated space today for those 5 bloggers (4 men, 1 woman) to reflect on their service and middle east. I think it's worth a read. http://tinyurl.com/3cjj6u
Of course, the question that causes me endless hours of highly conflicted rumination is this one:
Q: Are we mature enough as a country to thank those who risk their lives on our behalf while voicing our outrage at the actions of the politicians who put them in harm’s way?
[Disclaimer: Jeffrey Barnett has been my favorite of the group. Others can be more poetic, or insightful, or evoke more empathy/sympathy, but Barnett is simply blunt.]
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Jkalos
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And now it comes down to us.
Yes it does. I choose to be hopeful. I know there are dark days ahead. And, I also know progress can be made. I reject the alternative. Ego strength. I have some to share for anyone who needs it.
I've no doubt that with you among us, we are in very good company.
Thank your for your service, Jkalos.
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Ondolette, re: progress report
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I must have missed a comment (or, two) a ways back. What are you working on?
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Ondolette
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Okay. I remember that discussion now. I missed that you were actually going to model it. Cool. Yeah, your outcomes will be interesting...
Excuse the idiot question. I'm unfamiliar with this technique. Are you also (or, does the software allow you to also ...) include the probability of "losses" that Nace identified in his testimony? TPM link http://tinyurl.com/yrwnzk
... It's not just what a subject says in an interrogation that an interrogator needs to watch for clues, Kleinman said. The way in which he expresses himself is significant: does the subject fidget? Does he shift in his seat? Does he gesture, or suddenly stop gesturing? All of these non-verbal clues -- "clusters, groupings of behaviors," Kleinman called them -- provide interrogators with valuable information to observe what a detainee is like when he's lying, when he's being uncooperative, and when he's being truthful, or a combination of the three.
But if a detainee has his hands tied, or if a detainee shivers because a room is chilled, then "I don't know whether he's shivering because the room is cold or because my questions are penetrating," Kleinman said. That degree of abuse "takes away a lot of my tools." It's one of the clearest explanations in the public record about what torture costs professional interrogators in terms of actionable intelligence, as the debate is so often set up as what a lack of torture ends up costing national security. ...
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Ondolette
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ah, okay. Thanks.
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Gasp!
[Read the article: Dianne Feinstein -- Bush's key ally in the Senate -- to support telecom amnesty]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank all the dead who made the Modern World neocon era possible.
What is the emoticon for being doubled over in shock - that moment before the brain registers pain from a punch to the solar plexus?
I suspect that is the answer to Q: Are we mature enough as a country to thank those who risk their lives on our behalf while voicing our outrage at the actions of the politicians who put them in harm’s way?
I'm sure I'll start breathing again any moment now. Thanks, Bebop, for clearing that up for me.
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Why?
[Read the article: Jonah Goldberg's deeply "conflicted" thoughts on war and torture]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the more relevant point is why does anyone pay attention to Jonah Goldberg?
-asl sandiego
[To] Tend and cultivate the truth.
-bebop-o
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Too cowardly to ask someone who knows, that Jonah.
[Read the article: Jonah Goldberg's deeply "conflicted" thoughts on war and torture]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps Jonah Goldberg could resolve his deep conflicts about torture by talking with Tom Sutherland. That former Colorado State University professor, who in 1985, while serving as a Dean at the American University in Beirut, was taken hostage by members of Islamic Jihad. He was kept captive for 6.5 years. He was also tortured. I'm not sure Jonah is man enough to ask Tom Sutherland about the wisdom of torture. I expect Jonah couldn't endure a day of what Sutherland endured for over six years. I've no doubt that Professor Sutherland would have strong words for Jonah, and could cure Jonah of his ambivalence in fairly short order, were Jonah to ask. But, Jonah is a coward, and only a coward would promote torture.
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bbrock and anon 4:43
[Read the article: Ron Paul distortions and smears]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]@ bbrock
If Ron Paul said (and, I'll take your word for it), "Excessive government spending has created the insolvency crisis in Social Security. We must significantly reduce spending so that our nation can keep its promise to our seniors.", that is a more nuanced, or accurate statement than Obama has recently been credited with. See Paul Krugman: http://tinyurl.com/2bjz25 If Ron Paul was actually talking about the misappropriations from the Social Security Trust Funds - he was dead on. You haven't provided me with enough information to gauge your concern.
@ anon 4:43
For now, $200 oil is hyperbole. We should well expect the price of a scarce commodity to rise as supplies are more in demand. A "tanking dollar" is not automatically bad news. Care to flesh out your argument(s)?