Letters to the Editor
Nick44
Published Letters: 153 Editor's Choice: 6
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Why not get a gun, close your eyes, and shoot in a circle?
[Read the article: My backroad memorial]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hey Ms. Straight, what is wrong with you? You're not a teenager. Presumably you understand that what you are doing is endangering the lives of others. What will it take for you to stop? Hit a person who wanders into the road? Kill someone's dog or cat, or just a wild animal unlucky enough to wander into your car's path as you enjoy yourself? Do you need to hear screams of pain and see sprays of blood? Will that make you finally stop using your car as a weapon?
If you crave speed, ride a roller coaster or find a race track where the only life you'll put at peril is your own. If you crave danger, there are plenty of things for you to do: go diving, jump out of an airplane, climb mountains without ropes. I have no problem with people doing dangerous things which risk only their own lives, but you, lady, are selfishly willing to take the lives of others, be they people or animals, in the pursuit of your own desires. That is indefensible.
For those of you out here who think I and other's like me here are "prigs" or some such thing: grow up.
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What's "PC" got to do with wearing a helmet, Adam?
[Read the article: My backroad memorial]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Your point is weak. Sure, other activities kill more people and animals than driving fast, but so what? Here's an analogy: oil companies cause vast amounts of water pollution, so does that make it okay for you to pour a can of motor oil into a lake?
What matters here is that driving too fast down a dark country road presents a completely unnecessary danger to people and animals. If they get smashed by a car, why should they care about the driver's ecstasy? Idiocy is a better word.
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What's with the "do-gooder" bashing?
[Read the article: Embarrassment of riches]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]no doubt Catherine's motives were no purer than those of all the middle-class do-gooders who pass unmentioned in "Poor People" and no purer than Vollmann's own knotty attitude toward the poor
I have no shame in doing good deeds and trying to help others. People who use "do-gooder" as a pejorative are not people I respect. What is wrong with doing good? Is doing bad, or doing nothing, preferable?
I also have no shame in being middle-class and am sick of other people, often middle-class themselves, throwing around that term as a cheap device to somehow establish themselves as superior. Is it better to be poor or working class? Is it better to be rich? Don't we desire that no one be poor? As for the working class, Michael Moore once said that the working class don't want to be working class. They want to get the hell out of the working class.
I'm a middle-class do-gooder and proud of it. My motives are a desire to alleviate suffering in others. If Ms. Miller or others want to psycho-analyze that to death, well, whatever floats their boats.
Fortunately, however, I do not feel compelled to drink pus or whip myself. I guess I won't ever be a saint, but I can live with that.
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I agree with Blackpaw: rescue a dog
[Read the article: I dream of living a heroic life but I fear I'm just mediocre]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW, save a homeless dog's life and you will be a hero for that dog. Save two and you'll be a hero twice over. Save a third, foster him, and find him a good home, and now you're doing heroic work.
In fiction, one person saves the world with one glorious act. In real life, many people doing small heroic acts save the world in increments. Part of being a hero is realizing that you do what you do because it is right, despite the lack of glory and adulation. If you can put aside your need for ego stroking and save a homeless dog, and no one but the dog knows it, then you are a hero.
P.S. While you're at it, save some cats too.
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Brooklyn Hoosier
[Read the article: Beyond the Multiplex]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You wrote, "And incidently, and this goes for the Vegans in Cary's column too, crimes against animals are not the same...you know why? Cause they are freaking animals!"
So, does that make you a vegetable or a mineral?
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No to circumcision
[Read the article: The invisible AIDS cure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That was an interesting article, though I agree with the two scientists who posted here that Ms. Epstein's criticism of AIDS researchers seems overly harsh. Whether motivated by altruism or greed, if they find a vaccine or cure, does it really matter why they did it?
As for David Sugarman's arguments in favor of circumcision, and his allegation that opposition to such stems from anti-semitism, I can respond that as a Jew I am adamantly opposed to circumcision. If an individual desires to be circumcised, let him make that decision when he is old enough to do so for himself. Otherwise, it is just the imposition of genital mutilation on a helpless baby, done in accordance with the religious dictates of ancient, superstitious desert dwellers.
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Sugarman
[Read the article: The invisible AIDS cure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're deluded.
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For the record, Manatee
[Read the article: The invisible AIDS cure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I do not know if you were referring to my letter on circumcision, but to make it clear, I do not equate male circumcision to female circumcision with regard to their respective effects on men and women; it's like equating a broken pinky with a broken leg. Regardless, both are forms of genital mutilation -- and I am proud to be both Jewish and an opponent of such barbarism.
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Mr. White is a bully
[Read the article: The man who made Gordon Ramsay cry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I appreciate Mr. White's concern for his customers. It's good to know that he understands that for most people, going to an expensive restaurant is a special treat. As a former waiter, I like that he puts concern for his wait staff above rude and disruptive customers.
On the other hand, he is a bully (or at least was; perhaps he has grown up). I would not give my money to a restaurant where the boss bullied his workers. There is no excuse for bullying, ever.
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Just one question, Brightstar
[Read the article: The fall of man]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Thus Brightstar can go for hours and always has and is rock hard."
Okay, but what about when you're actually with another person?