Letters to the Editor
Kupajava
Published Letters: 13 Editor's Choice: 2
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Great article, but why that hideous monster on the front page?
[Read the article: Beyond the Multiplex: Cannes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is a great article, but could you maybe reconsider the friggin picture? My god, this is my homepage! I would rather not wake up in the morning and see a scary monster with eyes on his hands! I understand this is art but does it have to be the first thing everybody sees when they come to this page? This is just one of many times I have seriously considered changing Salon from my homepage because the main story picture was too disturbing. Come on! Just put some thought in to how scary it would be to open Salon and see some yucky monster jump out at you first thing in the morning! Please consider this when making these decisions in the future.
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Stop and think for a second
[Read the article: The Mideast death dance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you think about the other rivalries that wage worldwide, can you come up with any other that even comes close to comparing with this 3000 year old idiocy? As a Jewish person I can tell you I am already sick of this bull$417!
Yes, we are all idiots and we are more than willing to end our lives for nothing and no-one while the rest of the world spins.
Does anyone else have a problem with this? Many will say I have turned against my own people but my people are acting like idiots, fighting their own strawmen and making things worse with every action... the only one more idiotic than us are the Arabs... Maybe the sooner we kill eachother off the better...
see you in hell!
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Another example of passing the buck.
[Read the article: "Lebanon has been torn to pieces"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree with you Perry. Although I do see blame in this for Israel as well, Its funny how someone as bright as Siniora can never accept blame for his own government's actions or the actions of Hezbollah. Many will say the same can be true for Israel, and of course, it can... Unlike many others discussing this, I don't see WW3 or any silly armageddon in this, just decades and decades more of misery for everyone involved.
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The Nordic Peoples in the Americas
[Read the article: The all-time worst president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Just so you know, Mr Keillor, the Nordic peoples were chased out of North America by the Natives over a accidental poisoning incident. As for Greenland, there were no living colonists 75 years after landfall. The difference between Christopher Columbus and the Vikings (and the Chinese for that matter) was staying power. This does not in any way apologize for his actions, but Columbus was far from a pirate or an accidental tourist. The reason he has his name on so many things in the Americas is because he came and stayed. All this being said, maybe we could rename April 1st for Bush...
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The Vinland Saga (mostly for Erik)
[Read the article: The all-time worst president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Erik, when I was talking about the Norsemen being driven from the mainland US, this is what I was refering to.
"From the saga literature we know of two notable episodes. Natives came to the Vinland settlement and were willing to trade animal hides for strips of red cloth. The Norse kept tearing their red cloth into smaller and smaller strips but still the natives wanted to trade. Finally the red cloth was entirely gone. The Norse offered to trade cow's milk for hides and the natives were willing to accept this. Everything appeared to be cordial and the natives left. The other saga tells of the natives returning shortly on the warpath. What seems likely is that the natives, being of Asian ancestry, could not digest milk. Milk would make them sick and they would think that the Norse had poisoned them. Thus the relationship between the Norse and the native degenerated into violence because of lactose intolerance."
As far as I have read, the Vinland Saga was not looked upon as a true historical record until recently, and now as seen as a stylized version of the actual story, with certain parts proven without a doubt by archeological evidence and other parts seen as possibly exagerated. Although I could understand that this is not exactly perfect, its the only known extant record of the time. As for the part I am refering to, it seems like an excessive amount of specific detail about a group of people who, if the story is untrue, were unknown to the Vikings. Alot to have guessed about and actually been correct, if you ask me.
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Another part of the Vinland Saga that corrects my second point about Greenland (sorry)
[Read the article: The all-time worst president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Eirik, sorry I misspelled your name earlier. I see you were spot on with your statement about the Greenland colonies. I don't remember where I got 75 years from, but I was obviously incorrect.
"Although the Vinland settlement was unsuccessful, the Greenland colonies lasted for at least four and perhaps five hundred years. It is a mystery as to what led to the disappearance of the colonies. Both colonies were on the west side of the island of Greenland. The one in the south was known as the East Colony and the one in the north was the West Colony. The West Colony ended some time between 1350 and 1400 AD. Visitors from the East Colony told of coming to the West Colony and finding no humans there. There were livestock roaming about. The West Colony did not die because of Inuit (Thule Eskimo) attack, nor did it die because of an epidemic. There were no bodies in the farmyards or farmhouses. It was as though there was an orderly evacuation. Kirsten Seaver argues that Enlish ships may have made contact and the inhabitants of the Norse colonies voluntarily left with them."
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Yet another Correction!!! (sorry)
[Read the article: The all-time worst president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The story of the Vinland settlement is told in two sagas, the Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders. There is some matching of the details of the story in the two sagas but there are also discrepancies between the two versions of the story."
Ok, there is no "Vinland Saga" but 2 different stories that both tell parts of both, and they are both accurate about some things and wildly exagerated other things.
This is why you should always cross-check your references!!
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Thank You!
[Read the article: Goodbye, Columbus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have been trying to put that idea into words for years.
Thank You!!!!