Letters to the Editor
thorin01
Published Letters: 200 Editor's Choice: 30
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Two Major Problems
[Read the article: Kindle: Amazon's e-book reader is here]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As others have pointed out, the biggest weakness with this concept is the fact that I have to individually buy each book. There are two problems with this.
1 – While $9.99 a pop is less expensive than a hardback book it is more expensive than a paperback (which I normally purchase). It makes no sense to charge that much for an electronic copy. The price point should be around $3-5 bucks.
2 – With an MP3 player I can copy my already existing CD collection and buy only new stuff. With this if I want to have access to a book I already own I have to buy it again. That’s a no go.
The only supposed upside to the Kindle is the internet access and let’s be honest; at this point EVERY electronic device we already own is hooked up the internet. So the advantage of this one is?
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The Clinton Impeachment ….
[Read the article: The Republicans who would've impeached Bush?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Made the entire process seem silly and arbitrary. The Republicans managed to compromise and render meaningless what impeachment meant.
After that debacle calls for the impeachment of Bush are met with snide comments by Republicans that it’s simple partisan payback for the Clinton years.
Of course the other major difference between those years and today is the lack of a strong national voice on the Democratic side advocating impeachment. Reid and Pelosi have squashed any all efforts to begin an impeachment process against Bush. Why would any Republicans defect when there is no one to defect to?
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Talking Points Up and Running …
[Read the article: Giuliani advisor: Doubt the NIE!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I just got finished watching Bolton (frm Bush Ambassador to the UN) saying the same thing to Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room (sorry, that’s IN The Situation Room tm). The intel is faulty, the analysts are all former state department officials who hate Bush, it only says ‘probably’, Iran is still dangerous etc etc etc.
It’s scary how fast the spin machine starts. They Republicans have built one hell of a system.
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Has the ’24 Scenario’ Ever Happened in Real Life
[Read the article: Did waterboarding really work on Abu Zubaydah?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I’ve asked the question before and I shall ask it again.
Has the US EVER captured the ‘one guy’ on the eve of an attack who had the ‘crucial information’ to save ‘millions of lives’ or even ‘thousands of lives’ at any point in our history?
I am dead serious. Because this is the scenario that drives all discussion of torture (oops ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’).
To the best of my knowledge the answer is no.
As I’ve said before this entire ‘debate’ is being driven by what people watch on TV. And bad TV at that.
It is truly sad that our nation has been reduced this.
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My Unofficial Recession Measure
[Read the article: A not-so-merry Christmas from Bill Gross]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have an unofficial measure of how healthy the economy is and right now it’s not looking real good.
This time last year my company received over 10 boxes of candies, 3 of those meat and cheese boxes, 4 bottles of wine and slew of other presents from our vendors.
This year, we’ve gotten two boxes of chocolates and a bunch of cards.
On the phone with our suppliers I’m hearing a lot of stories about Christmas parties being scaled back and employee perks going by the wayside.
It ain’t pretty out there folks.
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I Would Love to Go to a Record Exec’s House ….
[Read the article: The recording industry isn't attacking iPods. Yet]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And see how many mixed tapes/CDs they and their family have. How many MP3s are on their hard drives. How much of their music collection is copied from their friends or family.
I will lay odds that EVERY single executive at EVERY single record company is a ‘thief’ by their definition.
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The Well Rested President …
[Read the article: Quote of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Look at pictures of GW Bush in 2000 and compare them to Bush 2007. He still looks pretty good. Fit, relaxed, not a care in the world.
Compare pictures of Clinton in 92 with Clinton in 2000. You can see eight years of being President on his face.
Do the same with Bush senior. The man looked like he aged 20 years during his four years in office.
Jimmy Carter did the same.
Hell even Reagan looked like he aged in office (The layers of makeup and hair dye got progressively thicker/more obvious as the years went by).
But not good old GW Bush. He gets goes to bed early every night. Exercises every day. He doesn’t look the least bit stressed out after presiding over 9/11, two wars/occupations, major economic crises and the loss of America’s leadership in the world.
That’s the clearest proof I can offer that the man doesn’t care a whit about what’s happening around him. And certainly doesn’t care about how his decisions affect the world.
Every other President before him (even his father) has been aged by the office. Was clearly stressed by the responsibilities and demands of the job. The late nights, the ridiculous schedule, the life or death decisions affected them all.
But not Bush.
But at least he’s well rested.
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Credit Where Credit is Due …
[Read the article: Now Netflix tries for streaming movies on TV]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]At least the movie industry (and TV industry) is experimenting with models for downloading/streaming content. And working hard to find economic models that will work.
The music industry stuck its head in the sand for nearly a decade (in the early 90s the only people not predicting the MP3 world worked for the RIAA). And in the wake of no legal market for MP3s the ‘illegal’ file sharing market exploded. Image a world where the RIAA had embraced the technology in the late 90s or early 00s rather than suing everyone to death (actually more their deaths than anyone elses).
The movie and TV industries are at least trying (although not always succeeding (bit-torrent anyone)) to create a viable market before a large number of ‘free’ alternatives take over. They haven’t found one that seems to work yet. But I think Netflix is on the right track. On-Demand and similar services from cable and satellite providers are also coming along nicely.