Letters to the Editor
number1laing
Published Letters: 99 Editor's Choice: 9
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Why don't these idiots get it?
[Read the article: A surrender before the fight begins?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush is the Glorious Commander In Chief. He is not going to listen to anybody (except for Cheney) who tries to talk to him about the war. He is not going to change course. He is not going to listen to anybody trying to convince him to accept "incremental" changes, especially a bunch of fucking Democrats who don't even have the balls to stand up for what they believe and what their constituents want.
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No biggie
[Read the article: A setback in Anbar]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush will use this as proof that we need to stay.
"dangerous extremists have killed a crucial ally to set back progress in Anbar. We must be vigilant"
Similar to the idea that the insurgents blowing up the Red Cross building, or taking down helicopters, or bringing down bridges, is proof they are losing.
Remember, friends:
if violence goes down in Iraq, its progress.
if violence goes up in Iraq, its progress.
if violence stays the same in Iraq, its progress.
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It increases their power...
[Read the article: The Bank of America's ATM heist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If someone finds themselves very close/convenient to a BoA bank, they are better off just signing up for an account to avoid the fees. So it increases their power in that way, and drives business to them.
At my office there is an ATM machine that thankfully does not charge a fee. So that's good. But before I got my account changed my bank (WaMu, who has been good to me otherwise) was dinging me for a few bucks every time I used it! They charged me for not using their ATMs! If I used my WaMu card on a BoA ATM I would've been hit for $5 or $6 a pop! And these guys act like they are above the payday loaners?
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what type of country am I living in?
[Read the article: Limitless wrongness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I understand the need, sometimes, actually make that rarely, for politicians to sometimes defy the will of the people. But, I mean, this war is a disaster. Everyone knows it. The entire country hates it and hates Bush. Nobody trusts General Petraeus, nobody trusts anything Bush says, nobody wants to stay. So why are we there?
In a functioning republic shouldn't 65% of politicians (just about enough to override a veto...) be pushing with all their might to get us out of Iraq immediately? Why is it that the American people so hate this war, and are so right about it, while the political class in Washington continues to prance about, indifferent to the will of the people, marching forward with their cookie-cutter storylines? The question is, if most people believe what the MoveOn ad said (and they do), why aren't more politicians saying it?
It's loathsome. This is not the way a functioning political system works.
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Surprise surprise
[Read the article: Joe Lieberman and three Republicans]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks Connecticut.
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Why does the media do this?
[Read the article: Turning Ahmadinejad into public enemy No. 1]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]By this, I mean making him more important than he actually is? As Cole says he holds little power in Iraq. Sure he might be the "President", but the neocons intentionally use that term, not clarifying for differences in the Iranian system of government, with the intention of confusing people into thinking he is the equivalent of the American President.
So the question is, why doesn't the media clarify it? The guy might be nutty, but he's not that powerful. Plus, I have read that he isn't even unanimously popular in Iran, or close to it. There are no Triumph of the Wills in Iran being made in his honor.
Maybe the neocons should focus instead on the shadowy, unaccountable figures that really run things while he gives speeches and looks good for TV, as that could be a real cause for.... wait... yea
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Why is the Navy so stupid?
[Read the article: How the Navy plans to recruit "coddled" kids]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Between September 11th, 2001 and the start of the Iraq War there were lines out of the recruiting stations. Many of those people were, in fact, part of that age group.
After the Iraq War started, recruitment collapsed, and nobody wanted to sign up.
From that, the Navy concludes that people in this age group (of which I am one, graduating right on the dot in 2000 and of age 25 today) is coddled, narcissistic, less patriotic, and crave respect?
LOL! No wonder we have such a mess on our hands - the people in charge can't put 2 and 2 together.
The problem is not people my age. If it were, recruitment would have been low throughout 2001 and 2002. No, the problem is the Iraq War. Our parents taught us through the experience of Vietnam that the government has no problem throwing away young peoples' lives to further their own, cynical pursuits. They have no problem sending other people to fight and die for their own ego and accumulation of power. And guess what, people my age collectively saw what the Iraq War was. That's why recruitment numbers are so low.
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I saw this at UCLA
[Read the article: We paved paradise]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From what I remember, UCLA has more parking space than all of, maybe, 2 or 3 universities in the country (but its certainly not one of the 3 or 4 biggest universities). It's not really a commuter school like it originally was.
But parking is a NIGHTMARE. The school gives parking to students on the basis of "need", which means people just lie and say they have a job in Pasadena or Santa Clarita. The university has to waste time and money maintaining these rolls and auditing random people. The rest of the parking was mostly made up of students who would rather drive the 5 minutes into campus than walk. It was $8 but a lot of them do it anyway.
The school keeps adding parking in response. Lots were going up during my time there but it's not enough. The situation keeps getting worse. The LAPD has a field day driving around the campus looking for parking violations.
When I was there I never drove my car into the campus and always walked around Westwood - but a lot of people don't.
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Well deserved
[Read the article: Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Climate change was barely a blip on the radar before Gore started this campaign... yes there was Kyoto and other things like that but now it is truly a worldwide, global challenge everybody (except the resident of 1600 Penn. Ave) wants to work to solve. He deserves it.