Letters to the Editor
lyleleander
Published Letters: 9
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yeah
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It would be as if someone constantly linked to individual obituaries as proof that world population is not really growing. It is that dumb and dishonest.
yeah. the really pathetic part about it is that the people who do it ("global warming my ass! it was in the high 30's tonight in san antonio!!!") know exactly how idiotic and desperate they sound.
the only problem is, they have nothing better. that's literally as good as it gets, or will ever get.
the only solace we can take is that there's a whole bunch of that shit on the web now, and it ain't going anywhere even if they delete it. (google cache, anyone?)
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too much credit
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When Global warming skeptics use these anecdotes, they are merely trying to poke holes in the prevailing theory. When we cite examples of grave breaches of security within Iraq's most theoretically secure sites, we are actually citing examples which proove our competing theory about the surge: That a military solution is impossible, and that US forces only serve to exacerbate the situation and provoke even more violence.
i wouldn't even give global warming skeptics that much credit. saying they're trying to 'poke holes' in our argument would mean they actually are trying to 'prove' what they believe in, or are trying to prove anything.
but when you look at it, come on, they don't believe anything they're saying. it's the equivalent of fox saying they're fair and balanced. they know they're not, they know no rational human being believes they are.
it's the 'nah nah nah nah nah' political argument.
'yeah, we know what we're saying is complete shit, but there's nothing you can do about it, is there?'
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damn
[Read the article: Various items]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there sure is a lot of feeding of the trolls going on today.
i'm not saying we shouldn't respond, but it begins to become a shame when you look around and realize how smart almost everybody that reads glenn's blog is, how much we as a collective unit have to contribute to rational and intelligent discussion of what's going on, and then see that basically the equivalent of a first grade intellect can come in here and shift the entire course of the discussion for the whole day to whatever idiotic and baseless shit they choose to let dribble out their mouths.
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hmm
[Read the article: Our benevolent surveillance state]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]i guess the devil's advocate position on this one is that there are lots of government jobs that you supposedly are not 'fit' for if you've ever had to rely on psych meds before.
i also recall reading about a story recently where the VA is denying vets from iraq disability for 'PSTD' under the guise that they had pre-existing psychological problems and it's not the army's/marine corp's fault that you got fucked up in iraq, because you already had a screw loose due to that two week span doctors put you on prozac your freshman year of high school when you're parents were concerned with how you were sleeping in more than normal. so, no to the lifetime paycheck for your troubles.
and i'd have to imagine their using that database for coming to those conclusions.
another thing is, social security disability will look back on your record of med usage when trying to determine if you are, in essence, 'untreatable' to the extent that you have tried medication and it doesn't work for you well enough to get you back to normal 'working condition'.... whatever that means.
i suppose if the SS admin. has a record of someone taking tons of different medications, and they have doctor testimony saying someone isn't responding to treatment, it might be a little easier to corroborate then.
which, i don't know. i would assume in most cases talking to doctors and going through hard-copies of people's records would be sufficient.
that said, i don't endorse it at all, and i think it's an extremely cheap way to try to assess someone's psychological makeup.
how many people have been healthy all their lives and have had something happen to them (spouse/close one passing away or the like) and had to rely on anti-depressants for a while to get through it?
it's just such a slippery slope, and obviously that's where reasonable people object.
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they did
[Read the article: The Bill Moyers documentary on our failed and barren press]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Can someone tell me if the documentary had anything to say about the de-emphasizing of the anti-war protests? Although this is arguably not one of the most significant factors in their selling of the war, it is one of the hardest to prove and also hardest to explain away.
it was more briefly mentioned than i would have liked, but they at least touched on it; touched on the fact that the number of people at protests would consistently be underestimated. etc.
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wow
[Read the article: The Bill Moyers documentary on our failed and barren press]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now, I can understand if Moyers didn't like the President's answers. Fair enough. But to portray reporters as mindless conduits of White House policies is unfounded.
wow, talk about your text-book definition of actions speaking louder than words.
66% of americans think saddam ordered 9/11 during the run-up to invading iraq.
hmm... where does that come from? certainly not the press!! how in the world could they possibly even remotely be responsible for that mis-perception?
it's like showing up a used car lot, jumping in a car and taking it for a test drive, and coming back with it having completely fallen apart during the test drive.
and the dealer comes up to you and goes 'so, you taking it?'
'but, it fell apart.'
'no it didn't.'
'yeah it did, look at it now and think about what it looked like ten minutes ago.'
'it hasn't fallen apart sir, it's a perfectly fine and useable car.'
'but the engine fell out while i was driving it and had to coast back.'
'like i said, sir, it is perfectly drive-able. how would you like it if i came to your house and called your house crappy and told you it was falling apart? this is ridiculous, leave now.'