Letters to the Editor
thorin01
Published Letters: 156 Editor's Choice: 24
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Brad Bird is a Genius
[Read the article: "Ratatouille"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I would rate John Lassiter, Paul Dini and Brad Bird as the best in modern animation. The fact that two of those gentlemen currently reside at Pixar speaks very well for their future product.
I think Bird, at long last, is getting his due outside the animation world. “The Iron Giant” was one of the best films I’ve seen in the past decade and the best film I saw in 1999. Truly an underappreciated classic. I hope with Bird’s success at Pixar more people will look for and find this wonderful little movie. And “The Incredibles” is one the best Superhero movies to come out in years (since Paul Dini’s animated Batman flicks which were far superior to any of the live action movies (including, just barely, Batman Returns)). It certainly blew away last years “Superman Returns” and was better at capturing the true spirit of the genre than any of the X-Men or Spiderman movies.
On the small screen Brad Bird’s stint with ‘The Simpsons’ marked the high point of that shows run and I, like many, mark his leaving ‘The Simpsons’ as the beginning of that show’s decline in both consistency and quality.
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Obama’s Support is Largely Outside the Democratic Party
[Read the article: Obama in the money]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The reason Obama’s broad support shown in his fundraising is not repeated in the poll numbers is because much of his support is coming from Independents who don’t vote in primaries. Much has Howard Dean’s support in 2004 came from outside the party. On the broad polls of individual Democratic candidates vs Republican candidates Obama does at least as well as Clinton and the other Democrats and often better.
Unfortunately, of course, the Democrats who actually vote in primaries will pick Clinton, thinking that she can win in 2008. Obviously this is idiotic since Obama clearly would do a better job of bringing in independents and swing voters. But who ever said Democratic primary voters were smart? This is the same group that gave us Kerry over both Dean and Edwards.
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Applause to Anonymous
[Read the article: "Ratatouille"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for being an obviously caring parent and someone who is considerate of the people around you. I always wonder about parents whose children are clearly upset by a movie who continue to just sit there. I think a child in those circumstances is not just being traumatized by the movie. A child has to pick up on the hostility of the people around them as well. Adults and teenagers flashing them ugly looks. The muttering going on. That will just ratchet up a child’s anxiety even more than the movie, making the experience even worse.
Of course you’re referring to a G rated movie. What really freaks me out is the parents who bring their 3-5 year olds to R rated movies like The Matrix.
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I’m Shocked, Shocked to Discover Politics Here
[Read the article: Google vs. Michael Moore's "Sicko"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So Google now wants to join every other media corporation in the world and pick up some of the billions spent on political advertising. You’re surprised by this?
And money has an affect on political discourse? I never would have believed such a thing possible.
Sorry the sense of outrage here just makes little sense. Political advertising is a fact of life. Google is a company based entirely on ad revenue. The fact that Google wants people to buy adds and that the people with the most money buy the most ads is nothing different than TV or Radio spots. You want to rail against money in politics attacking Google makes about as much sense as attacking my local cable company for running ads for the mayoral candidates.
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It Does Add Up …
[Read the article: Japanese history lessons]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]sgaana you are misinterpreting the comment. The defense Ministers comments supported the view that America had no choice in using nuclear weapons on Japan in order to end the war without a direct invasion of the Japanese home islands.
There is a great deal of dispute about whether Japan would have accepted surrender without an invasion if America had offered the correct terms. Many Japanese historians (and quite a few America ones) argue that Japan’s leadership made overtures of surrender after the invasion of Okinawa and it was America in its stubborn insistence on ‘unconditional’ surrender who rebuffed Japan’s efforts and decided to kill 10s of thousands of people in nuclear fire. This is basis for the ‘victim hood’ mentality that is talked about.
Many Japanese history texts when discussing the use of the atomic weapons leave out the context of why America felt compelled to deploy nuclear weapons against civilian targets. They leave out the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the treatment of POWs, the bloody campaign in the Pacific that convinced many military commanders that Japan would never surrender and the atrocities committed in occupied Korea and China.
Many historians note that Japan’s offer to surrender came with a number of conditions that were unacceptable and it was never entirely clear if it was genuine or would be followed by senior Japanese military commanders. After nearly four years of war, already winning an unconditional surrenders from both Germany and Italy and given public attitudes it is doubtful Truman and the other Allies were in a position to accept anything less than unconditional surrender from Japan.
When the Defense Minister hinted that America might have been justified and that the decision ‘could not be helped,’ many in Japan responded with outrage.