Letters to the Editor
amspeck
Published Letters: 269 Editor's Choice: 44
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Ack
[Read the article: The king of beer mergers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In talking about Budweiser summarizing all that is wrong with business in the U.S. today -- particularly public shareholders selling out to the highest bidder instead of balancing the interests of the communities, workers, and the business itself with the pursuit of money -- you missed a big one. The reliance on fakey nostalgic branding instead of working on real quality and craftsmanship.
We don't use Clydesdales to transport beer and milk any more. We may in the future. The Budweiser stables may turn out to be an important pool of stock as we start breeding more. But the last story I heard about horse-delivered been happened during prohibition to one of my ex's great uncles. It's not something we hold in common.
What we hold in common is watching Superbowl commercials and reaching into the cooler for a 6-, 12-, or 24-pack. It's likely that'll be around for awhile.
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Fruits of the PC era
[Read the article: Geeks gone wild]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I liked and excelled in science in high school, and I remember being barely adequate in math, although adult experience and new perspectives on events makes me suspect that I was no slouch there either. But it was the 80's and math and science departments at public schools hadn't yet been touched by sensitivity training.
Which meant, in my very real experience, that a girl who attracted attention by performing well on a test, or in chess club, could expect to be harassed by certain teachers. And teachers who were under investigation by administration for improper sexual conduct with students remained in the classroom, without coaching on how to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
When my physics teacher cornered me alone in his classroom, I could not hear him say I'd done very well on a placement exam for the School of Mines and he hoped I'd go... until the rush of blood in my ears settled down about a decade later.
Sensitivity training started when I was in college. And I remember the hue and cry, the anger, and the resentment. That reaction fueled the Bush backlash, but these girls -- who can appear as girls -- are the very positive result of those years.
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Another lesson
[Read the article: Judge Alex Kozinski regrets posting those pictures]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It also teaches us that in the future, we will know that our esteemed officials really do put their pants on one leg at a time... because we've seen the photos.
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Huh?
[Read the article: Oh no they didn't]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Do you really not know where this comes from? It's "Baby Mama" -- the Tina Fey/Amy Pohler film. What Fox is telling it's viewers exactly what kind of liberals have a problem with slandering Michelle Obama in the name of politics -- educated white women for whom marriage is a convenience, not a lifeboat. Women between 20 and 50 who work for a living, often in the media. Our kind of women, Joan.
We know they used the term in an incorrect and deliberately insulting way, but the real goal is to make us look like whiny tattletails. A role we're filling well.
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Cool!
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Go Dad!
The PFLAG contingent at the Pride parades always make me cry.
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LOL
[Read the article: Tennessee Dem leader suggests Obama has terrorist connections]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I can only guess that one who thinks it's so easy to have terrorist connections has found himself with terrorist connections without really even trying.
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Um...
[Read the article: What's wrong with Obama's FightTheSmears.com]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I would say that anyone who believes Sen. Obama is a Muslim actually hasn't actually looked it up. So it's not a matter of dismissing good Google information, it's a matter of going directly to sites that support your point of view and either hearing wrong information or not hearing information that contradicts the perception.
This article on Keith Ellison, the first Muslim congressman, illustrates the point: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,233983,00.html
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Yep.
[Read the article: Heart disease is a feminist issue]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm waffling between pure outrage and apathy. Women have lower paying jobs and lower paying jobs have even worse health care. Women are frequently responsible for taking care of other people in their lives and so may feel they've been to the doctor so often that they'll put off another visit. Women have higher pain tolerance and are less likely to take every complaint to a professional. If they do go to a professional, they (like all patients) have to be lucky enough to hit the sweet spot of the knowledge their health practitioner has in the active part of their brain -- a sweet spot that can be distorted by drug company reps, consumer advertising, the doctor's specialty and interests, and the latest journal to cross the threshold.
Finally, I would say that women are far more likely than men to assume their bodies will tell them what's right for them... and to override a doctor based on that assumption. They may resist getting more aggressive treatment because they're sick and tired of being treated aggressively.
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From a certain point of view
[Read the article: Is Obama a protectionist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Andrew Tobias once wrote that Libertarians were by and large very intelligent people who would thrive in a Libertarian environment. Likewise, people who see no downsides to "Free Trade" are likely sitting at that echelon that has had unalloyed benefits from free trade: everything they're selling has gone up in demand and everything they're buying has gone down in price.
That's not the case for most of us. Most of us have lost the opportunity to do at least one job we were skilled at and scrambled to retrain ourselves to do something with more value in a global economy. Most of us have faced the choice of staying close to family and friends or moving to where the jobs are. Most of us have seen our social capital drained away and "stuff" offered in its place.
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Ho Hum
[Read the article: Gore to endorse Obama Monday night]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What frustrated me about Gore's announcement is that he made it sound like he was picking from a broad slate of candidates: "Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America."
In fact, there are only two candidates. Which makes this a party-line endorsement.