Letters to the Editor
amspeck
Published Letters: 357 Editor's Choice: 50
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babelfish
[Read the article: John McCain: "The fundamentals of our economy are strong"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I put this sentence through the babelfish (mine at home, not the one on Altavista), and I got this back:
"My economic advisers tell me that their plans to extract the wealth accumulated in the middle class following the New Deal are proceeding on schedule."
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Yay!
[Read the article: A call to arms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Great to see you back, Anne. You're the writer I originally signed up for.
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Nice!
[Read the article: "Hockey Moms for Truth"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I like that while it is a parody, it makes the very real point that while Ms. Palin talks a good line about her involvement in her community, her history seems to be littered with stories of messes she left for other people to clean up. It's hard to make a strong case that you're a team player when you expect the team to behave like an entourage.
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Sharing the blame
[Read the article: The Wall Street meltdown -- and you]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am one of those homeowners who bought in within the past five years.
When I was shopping for my loan 3 years ago, my online bank, ING tried to sell me an ARM with lengthy quotes from Alan Greenspan about what a great option they were. When I hung up after hearing their spiel, they called me back a number of times trying to get me to bite. (And this week they sent me a note thanking me for sticking by them... perhaps they've reconsidered in light of the mortgage meltdown?)
A friend of mine referred me to her mortgage broker who'd recently moved to California because there were fewer regulations on the mortgage industry there. She tried to sell me a "4-plan", which boiled down to "pay whatever you want. We trust you!"
Another mortgage lender tried to get me approved for a loan that was nearly four times my annual salary. My experience is that when you walk in with a pre-approval letter like that, the agent tries to sell you a house that will max you out.
Instead, despite the advise of every real estate professional and mortgage person I knew, I found a house that I liked through networking, contacted the Realtor who was selling it, and got a conventional loan to pay for it. I have since lost my job, and my house has declined in value, but I still own 90% of it and my unemployment checks cover the mortgage plus a little. I'm scrambling, but I'm not in any stage of foreclosure.
It takes real determination to buy the house you can afford in down times when every professional you talk to can't imagine an end to the up times.
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Send in the Trolls
[Read the article: Save Bitch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bitch is a great, thought-provoking magazine that not only covers news and culture without ever needing to put down the women it's covering (or the men they love), it provides a thriving marketplace for women getting their businesses up and going.
Definitely worth saving. For one thing, they're not in this mess because they've been leveraging mortgage-backed securities.
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"Tougher guys than this"
[Read the article: McCain: Obama's fix for economy is "talk and taxes"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The "I've taken on tougher guys than this before" line leaves me scratching my head too. From the Savings and Loan meltdown to the Enron meltdown to the mortgage meltdown, it seems that John McCain and his friends are always close to center stage, if not standing in the spotlight... it's hard to say you're gonna take on the "bad guys" when they're exactly the folks you've helped throughout your career.
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I Love It!
[Read the article: My candidate, myself]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I love the suggested assessment of the candidates, especially the thought puzzle problems. There are some terrific simulators out there, it could be a lot of fun to see the campaigns and their advisers play Buckminster Fuller's World Game, preferably on tape for showing as a reality show.
I am disappointed, however, that the only non-scientific beliefs listed were from the realm of charismatic Christianity, which is a sub-culture within a sub-culture of the US population. Whatever non-scientific beliefs we ask about, they should be fairly common beliefs held by people across color, faith, age, education, and class lines. For example: what evidence would you look for in determining the origin of an unidentified flying craft?
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Here's why
[Read the article: Chevy Volt is due out in 2010]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Volt is already a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. To upgrade a Prius to PEHV status, you have to get the car ($21,000) and then get the conversion ($20,000 -- if you can find a shop that does them and isn't completely booked for the year.)
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Shame
[Read the article: "As Putin rears his head"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that John McCain should be ashamed of not picking someone with at least a modicum of preparedness, but that's not what gets me. What gets me is this stupid action, this gaffe beyond gaffe, this macaca month hasn't put John McCain's campaign away for good. What thoughtful Republican voter can look at this train wreck and conclude that John McCain is rational, balanced, and willing to put aside petty slights so that the best possible outcome can be achieved?