Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following Salon Premium Member:

AncientAssyrian

Published Letters: 672     Editor's Choice: 53

  • Calm Down, Michael!

    [Read the article: Ask the pilot]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Have a glass of wine. Deep breath. There...isn't that better?

    The line about their "job is to fly the plane, not explain technicalities to passengers" was the last line of "previous poster" named CW in the post titled: "Fun with Airlines!"

    You wrote: "Please don't use quotation marks to refer to comments I never made. Such behavior in a public forum makes you appear ignorant and unable to communicate effectively or concisely."

    While I so appreciate your insightful observations, can I offer some of my own? I suggest that you also read through an entire thread before getting upset -- and perhaps you should also commit to memory the definition of "previous" (fyi, it's going before in time or order, existing or occurring before something else in time or order) -- before you start tossing around accusations of ignorance, or inability to communicate effectively or concisely.

    Oh, and some unsolicited career advice -- given your temperament, there's an airline job just waiting for you!! Maybe they'll even make you a Customer Service Manager!! :-)

  • One-half of the men WANTED a partner with a sense of humor...

    [Read the article: Funny women a turnoff for most men]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    If one half didn't want one, that means it's likely the other half DID.

    Could we find something slightly less inane today to blog about?

    Mary

  • The OLD Cary is Back...in FINE FORM!!!

    [Read the article: My mother-in-law, my mother-in-law, my mother-in-law!]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Hallelujah, Cary. You're back!!!!!

    Great response.

    I wouldn't change a thing.

    And it's true...nutty MIL won't change...only the LW can change her response to nutty MIL...

    Bravo....Cary! Whatever inspiration came to you to write this, keep it coming.

    --Mary

  • Such a sweet man...

    [Read the article: Ferguson's Wake]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    What a sweet tribute...brought tears to my ears, just this short clip. Wish I'd seen the whole show.

  • Deep in the Heart of Tulsa is...Doug Marlette -- Another Closet Bigot Putting a Nail in the Coffin of International Understanding

    [Read the article: Them damn pictures]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Sorry, Marlette...not buying it. Way too cozy that they've recruited you to defend the right of cartoonists to slam Islam, someone whose claim to fame on the subject of depicting the Arab world is a bigoted anti-Arab cartoon of a Ryder truck carrying a giant missile with "What Would Mohammed Drive?" as the caption. Gee...could you be any more biased in favor of anti-Islamic sacrilege unless you were one of the Danish cartoonists yourself?

    What do you want, Marlette, to be taken seriously as a "political cartoonist," or to conveniently rush off and hide behind the idea that cartoons are meant to be "unruly, tasteless and immature" when things get hot? Take your pick. You can't have it both ways. Either your work is "unruly, tasteless and immature" and no more meaningful to world events than every day's strip of "Family Circus" (in which case, give back the damn Pulitzer) or it's not. You don't get to have it both ways.

    And seriously...do you think anyone actually believes that "by engaging satirically with Islam, these brave artists included Muslims as peers in the tradition of satiric self-examination and irreverence...?" (And I guess by your logic, by engaging with Iraq, we've opened up the possibility for Iraw to experience the "democractic" tradition of civil war, right?) This idea that it's somehow inclusive for the cartoonists to attack Islam is like someone telling a new arrival to NYC that "by robbing you of your wallet, these brave muggers included you in the tradition of New York street crime..." Gee, doesn't every new arrival to New York want to feel like they belong? I mean come on. You have reduced cartooning and satire to the status of some sort of fraternity hazing ritual!

    If you want to look for "corruption of our own values and character in the West," start looking at illegal wiretapping, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, the missing WMD, Jack Abramoff & company, the theocracy we call an Administration.

    Marlette, there are a lot of closet bigots in America, people who secretly are afraid of Islam, afraid of Arabs, and simply don't understand it. I hear there are more than a fair share of them down in Okly-homey.

    In this article, you made it clear that you are one of them.

  • Not a Vegan -- an ADDICT...

    [Read the article: I'm so vegan it hurts]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Cary, can you not spot them by now???? This is not about being a vegan.. this is a pathology of an addict who has a problem...

    LW...take the test...

    1. Do you proselytize about veganism more after a disappointment, quarrel or rough day?

    YES NO

    2.When under pressure, do you proselytize about veganism more heavily than usual?

    YES NO

    3.Do you proselytize about veganism more now than when you first started being a vegan?

    YES NO

    4.Are there certain occasions when you feel uncomfortable if everyone is not also vegan?

    YES NO

    5. Do you sometimes feel a little guilty about your proselytizing about veganism?

    YES NO

    6.Are you secretly irritated when friends or family discuss your proselytizing about veganism?

    YES NO

    7. Have you experienced memory blackouts more frequently?

    YES NO

    8. Do you often regret things you've done or said while proselytizing about veganism?

    YES NO

    9.Have you tried to control your proselytizing about veganism?

    YES NO

    10.Have you often failed to keep promises about proselytizing about veganism?

    YES NO

    11.Do you try to avoid family or friends while proselytizing about veganism?

    YES NO

    12.Are you having an increasing number of social problems?

    YES NO

    13.Do more people seem to be treating you unfairly without reason?

    YES NO

    14.Do you sometimes proselytize about veganism for several days at a time?

    15. Do you sometimes feel very depressed and wonder whether life is worth living?

    YES NO

  • Golden Rule, LW...

    [Read the article: During the blizzard, I refused to shelter my friend]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Do unto others....What goes around comes around...instant karma's gonna get you...and all that...

    I'm sure I could think of a few more platitudes, but they're quite apt in your situation.