Letters to the Editor
Chris Rywalt
Published Letters: 29 Editor's Choice: 6
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Stop Treating the Dirt like Dirt
[Read the article: Lords of the dirt]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the main trouble here is lots of people don't understand how exactly plants grow in dirt.
Seeds are just instructions for turning dirt, water, and sunlight into plants. Plants use solar power to rearrange the dirt into corn or roses or sugarcane. If you take the plants away afterward, you have less dirt left.
The whole biomass concept means taking dirt, making it into plants, and taking the plants away. How long can that possibly last before we run out of dirt? That's the question.
But it seems that lots of people assume soil is just some magic container in which plants grow, and that it never goes anywhere. So we could grow all the corn we want and take it away to burn it and grow more forever and ever.
Of course that won't work.
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There's No Such Thing as a Pro-Choice Roman Catholic
[Read the article: Why I won't stay silent anymore]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One thing missed entirely here is this simple fact: You cannot, by definition, be pro-choice and Catholic. If you're pro-choice and still attend Catholic Mass on Sunday, then you're just someone who likes to hang around the church during your free time. You're not Catholic. In order to be Roman Catholic, you have to believe what the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope tell you to believe. And that means you must believe that contraception and abortion is wrong. Them's the rules. If you disagree, you're not Catholic any more. Time to go start your own church, or join a different one.
Remember the Nicene Creed? "We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church." "Catholic" means universal, meaning only they are correct. "Apostolic" means you believe in the authority handed down from the Apostles. You can't disagree with Jesus and be Catholic; you can't disagree with the Apostles and be Catholic; and you can't disagree with the Pope. It's all one line.
Now, I'm not personally Roman Catholic. I'm a secular humanist. But I was brought up Catholic and I paid attention in CCD. I disagree with Jesus, the Apostles, and the Pope. So I dropped out. You should give it a try.
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Success Is Sexy
[Read the article: Like my breast stroke? What about my breasts?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Isn't it possible that Amanda Beard is not successful because she's sexy, but sexy because she's successful? Why should we assume that sex appeal is purely physical -- for women or men?
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Not Like "Myst"
[Read the article: Tease me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As I wrote two years ago, Lost isn't like "Myst." It's like "Zork."
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William Castle's "Bug"
[Read the article: "Bug"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not only was the 1970s "Bug" a lousy movie, it wasn't zippier at all, unless 30 minutes into the new one Judd and Shannon fall into a coma and stay there until the end of the film. Just the inclusion of a nipple -- anyone's nipple -- makes the new "Bug" vastly more exciting than the old one.
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More on Blake's Mills
[Read the article: One iPhone to rule them all]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Also, I dimly recall one of my English lit professors saying that Blake's "dark Satanic mills" weren't the factories of the Industrial Revolution in England, but the "dark Satanic mills of the mind." (Quote from the professor -- I can't remember anything else about her argument, but I remember that.)
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Mermaid Statue
[Read the article: We're so over Vanessa Hudgens' naked pictures]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you're like me, the real star of this story is that awesome mermaid statue from Kollam Beach, India.
It looks like it was sculpted by Kanayi Kunhiraman or someone who wanted very much to be like him. This mermaid at Shankumugham Beach is his for sure. But I really love his Yakshi. Just remember: SHOULD NOT CLIMB ON STATUE.
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No Shoes, No Service
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My psychiatrist told me he was flying recently and when told to take off his shoes he simply said no. He'd already emptied his pockets and taken off his belt, and he decided he wasn't taking any more. So he simply said no. After a couple of minutes of trying to convince him to go along, the security drone let him through with his shoes on.
Now, my psychiatrist is a Jewish guy in his sixties. Being so clearly a non-threat probably helped. But, as he pointed out to me, if we all simply stopped following orders, the TSA would have to back down.
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Distracting Abs
[Read the article: Purchasing power disparity]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]AL sez:
"[T]he echo effect"...can be very useful in separating out the truly noteworthy news from the chaff.
True. Without it, how would we ever know that Shah Rukh Khan's six-pack abs aren't a deeply important and newsworthy topic?
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Funny and CHEAP
[Read the article: More fun with payday loans]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the things the commenter you quote didn't note was that throwing together a Website like the PLA's is really, really cheap, especially compared to "Microsoft millions." If that site cost ten grand it'd be really overpriced.
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Tuber?
[Read the article: How to power an iPod with an onion (not really)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Farhad, darling, I'm starting to worry about you. First you were bowled over by the iPhone because it could connect to the Web, when people have been connecting to the Web via cellphone for years. And now you call an onion a tuber!
Take some time off. Get some rest. You'll feel better.