Reader Mail, 11/21
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Re: Dems: Take Our Leader, Please (11/15)
Anti-Raimondist speaks out
Brian,
In your column on Nancy Pelosi, you seem to think she has nothing going for her. Actually she has two strong points: In a city with a 50% Chinese population, she has criticized Red China for its human rights violations, and its militarism
Almost as importantly, she heroically defeated Justin Raimondo in the 1996 Congressional election. That has to be considered a victory for sanity.
Gene Berkman
Renaissance Books
Re: Poindexter's Laboratory (11/15)
A patriot
How the hell did someone with such an elitist, socialist, "big-brother" attitude get to such a position?!? It's bad enough when the elitist, socialist Democrats attempt such invasions on liberties, but Good God, now the so-called "other party" in the self-proclaimed "two-party system" is doing it! I've said for years that there's not a dime's (used to be a nickle's) worth of difference between them. The elitists, whether Dem or Rep, are leading our Nation away from the Constitution… I fear for my grandchildren and future generations. But then, I guess it will be OK, because the NEA is working on them, so the kids will just become good sheeple and not even realize what their heritage should have been…
Yours truly,
Wayne Orwig
PS: In case anything above attracts Net-Cop attention, I invite you, no I BEG you to PLEASE PLEASE COME AND TRY TO GET ME!!! Before I go, I'll teach a bit…
PPS: Jacob, I'm 58, a Viet Nam vet, a Patriot (ie: America first), and an amateur Constitutionalist. Just in case it's not clear, I believe STRONGLY in the founding principles of our Nation… W.O.
Re: Who Am I—.25 Automatic (11/15)
Jury Duty Layabout, heal thyself
The verdict against Valor Inc., while unpalatable, is really unsurprising, considering the people who sit in jury pools these days. Juries, not judges or lawyers, are the ones who come to idiotic conclusions of fact and hand out ludicrous awards that result in little more than costly appeals and wasted time.
Unfortunately, many educated, hard-working people duck their civic duty for selfish reasons. They can't rearrange their precious schedules for a few weeks to see justice done. What's left are those with an axe to grind and those who have nothing better to do.
Jurors of this ilk do not see that the lottery-sized awards they hand out raise the cost of living and doing business for the rest of us. My advice is for reasonable people to quit looking for ways to duck jury duty—and when deciding a plaintiff's fate, think about how that decision will affect the rest of society.
Anil K. Singh
New York City
Mr. Know-it-all
40 years ago, our family's 1954 Chrysler wasn't defective. Nowadays, a car designed to its standards would be.
No seat belts.
No padded dash.
Etc.
The gun is defective in 2002. Would all of these issues be so easy.
Michael Buxbaum
Take off!
Interesting piece, to say the least. The current mania to assign "blame" to inanimate machines for injuries arising from their misuse seem to support my contention liberals are basically technophobic. Little else can explain what part a properly operating machine has in inflicting harm if misused. Were we to ban all such machines, we would soon find ourselves afoot and starving while trudging to court to seek redress for injuries inflicted by someone's horse or ox.
Patently, all such suits are merely cash cows for various law firms and grandstanding pleaders seeking reputation and wealth at the expense of all of us. Unfortunately, redress seems unlikely so long as present political practice prevails.
Jeff Hoser
Re: Ecumenical Intolerance (11/12)
Impeccable logic
Cathy Young's missive on the religious intolerance of Christianity is the type of writing I expect from a newbee reporter at the New York Times. The Bible is the authority for Christian behavior, and no where does it demand that Christians kill non beleivers and the Koran does. Do not smear Christianity because politicians who claim to be Christians made war on others. Pedophile priests and bloodthirsty princes are not the authors of the faith, and they do not speak for the church. Mohammed clearly does speak for Islam. As for the intolerance of Christianity preaching one method of salvation–is it not just as intolerant to preach that murder is wrong? After all Stalin thought murder of his enemies was right and prudent. How can you call yourself a believer in anything if your do not hold to core principals? Even you probably believe in freedom of the press. What a religious extremist you are!
randall harrell
Praise Allah, Mrs R, where do we convert?
Christian Evangelists such as Falwell and Robertson(and Bush & co) are extreme ignorant members of the human race. They live in an insular world with no true knowledge of the outside world beyond their own suffocating and intolerant version of Christianity which is an utter insult to Christ's honourable teachings. Unlike Christ, they are racist and bigotted and do not represent the kind of world Christ would have wanted and he would have avowed to them NOT IN MY NAME!
Contrary to what many ignorant American Christians believe, Islam is NOT a pagan religion. Its founder was not the prophet Mohammed, but Almighty God Himself. Allah is not the name of a pagan God—it is the Arabic/aramaic word for God just as Dieu is in French or Dio in Italian, Dios in Spanish!!!
These ill informed Christians are so thick and obviously they have not read the KORAN properly otherwise they would have realised that Islam actually incorporates the Old Testament, that it reveres God's prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Christ and Mohammed. Jesus Christ is revered by all Muslims and held in great esteem and respect. Unlike Jews who do not even recognise him and got him killed.
Read the bible again and you will come across many verses in the old testament where violence is encouraged by Moses and others, such as in Deuteronomy!!!!!!
The words in the Koran were spoken by Almighty God and written down word for word, unlike the bible which has so many variations and corruptions that it has in fact deviated from the true message of God through His messenger, Jesus Christ.
Christians already break God's first commandment when they create images and have idols which is forbidden: "Do not create graven images of thy Lord thy God" which is also forbidden in Islam.
In some Arab countries Islam has been corrupted by man's cultural practices that existed pre monotheistic. Islam is an honourable religion when practiced in its pure form just as Christianity is. Interpretation is the key word here. Cultural practices have been wrongly allowed to mingle with religious adherences. This is also the case in Christianity where pagan practices have merged with it , as in Christmas trees, the date of Christmas etc… which used to be pagan rituals.
Before judging Islam, judge your own Christian religious practices and observe how Christians are not honouring God or Christ. One can criticise corrupt Arab leaders who in fact are not really religious at all, but you cannot criticise most innocent Muslims who believe in God and God alone, not Mohammed, his prophet, who is of secondary importance, but GOD—Almighty God, creator of our world for ALL our Human Family, and not just for the so called chosen few!! regards and peace be with you
Mrs R
Re: You Can Call Me Al Qaeda (11/7)
More credible by the day
Thanks for your piece on the dubious origins of the Indonesia bombing claim.
It is becoming more and more clear that "claims" like these, just like the bogeymen and their supposed "organisations," are just fabricated, to be planted at an opportune moment in the mainstream media. Some say OBL always was, and continues to be, a CIA asset, and the "organisation" Al Quaeda as well. These are the claims which are becoming more credible by the day.
The most interesting aspect of the Bali bombing is that it had to be some sort of very powerful bomb, probably a "micro-nuke," technology to which no 'freelance' terrorists would have access. For a full series of articles on this, please visit Joe Vialls' website. An example of his investigation can be found here.
best regards
Richard Wall
Re: Dirty Tricks (11/6)
Banana-fana-fo-Karen
My idea for a dirty trick would be to find a candidate with the exact same or similar name as the opponent, and run that person on a 3d party ticket. E.g., in KC, Karen McCarthy is our congressman, unbeatable b/c it's a city, urban, and blue collar district that votes democrat just as night follows the day. The GOP should find a "Karen McCarthy" to run as alibertarian or green party candidate. That woudl suck votes away, maybe enough to steal the seat.
Patrick Cierpiot
Get a life, Stuart
Please explain how you get from this:
It also claimed that, before you could cast a ballot, you had to pay off your parking tickets, your overdue rent, "and most important any warrants."
To this:
"….actually dissuade blacks from voting".
Are you racially profiling; suggesting that it would only be blacks who would need to pay parking tickets, overdue rent, and warrants? Or are you suggesting that blacks aren't intelligent enough to know these requirements don't exist, or that election day is no Nov. 6.
Sure seems racist to me.
Stuart LeVine
Jerusalem
Re: Who Am I—Endora (11/1)
Serious denial
Somebody is having a serious denial problem. Why is it hard to admit that historically women did suffer from sexism? If 75% of the poor people executed for the ridiculous crime of witchcraft were women, what conclusion can be made other than "unrelieved misogyny, blind ignorance, superstition and woman-hating" were the problems.
Priscilla McGreer
But you are aware there's an invention called television, and on it they show shows
Anton LeVey is a Satanist—not a witch. HUGE difference. Witches do not believe in satan nor hell. GEt your facts straight.
And as for Crowley—he was a speed freak who was caught up in black magic. If you consider him a warlock, please consider him an advocate for exclusively the black arts and black magic. And also consider that black magic left him destitute as well as his drug addiction.
As for the ones on bewitched—honey that is a tv sitcom. IF you think TV is reality, you need a shrink, not a website to argue faux theories on women vs. men in the pagan communities.
PS…. yes you are correct about how many men are/were warlocks. but please do not use bewitched to argue the point. bad example.
Mare
Then how come Hagrid is a man?
Pretty interesting! Wonder what those Canadians think about Michael Pollen's comments on witches, brooms etc. in "The Botany of Desire".
Sorry guys, the hag is a female archetype!
Hag Amy, in San Jose
A woman's got the power
I don't know anything about the book cited but it seems to me that the persecution of witches (real or imaginary) had something to do with power. It seems rather obvious that there were more women than men at the bottom of the power pyramid at that time, but there were certainly men there too. So maybe the 3:1 ratio does tell us something about the distribution of powerlessness. Nothing surprising, though. I saw a TV spot with the author of a new book about the Salem Witch Trials this week, who also makes a similar point for that historical event–there were a significant number of men among the accused. But when the accusations reached to the governor's wife, he put a stop to it–power in action.
Dr. Dwight Galster
Everybody's gay
I am in total sympothy with the view that the witch-burnings were among the cruelest events in human history and represent woman-hating at its worst. Where I differ from the standard ideological slant associated with this recognition is that I am willing to highlight awareness of the role in history of homosexual males of the masculine ("butch") persuasion in promoting misogyny. It is politically incorrect, but historically relevant, to talk about this.
The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review (fall 1999) presents an adoring picture of King James I, who was gay. The article fails to highlight his woman-hating and his prominent role in stirring up anti-witch hysteria in the period of the burnings. For this you have to consult other sources. See my website.
I have learned what I know of gay culture from gay writers, medical literature about AIDS and HIV transmission vectors, and professionally associating with gay organizations and consultants during my experience as an AIDS researcher, supported by two federal grants awarded to me.
The woman-hating tradition in the Catholic priesthood can be traced back to St. Augustine, who was also gay. This information comes from gay English professor Paul Russell of Vassar, author of The Gay 100. Russell called him a "thorough-going misogynist."
Michael Wright
Re: Pride and Prejudice (November)
Chomsky's down with the poor
Mr. Sullum:
The difference between Chomsky and his critics is quite simple. Chomsky does not regard people's lives of less value because they are from poor countries.
The US bombed Afghanistan killing thousands of people who had absolutely nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. It is preparing to kill thousands of Iraqi's who have nothing to do with Saddam's crimes, in fact who are his victims. The thinking that allows people to accept these actions lies at the heart of terrorism..
Mainstream pundits shrug at this and say "we're trying to keep the number of deaths down, we're not trying to kill innocent people." This is seen as a crucial distinction which only rabid anti-American's can't understand. But if the 9/11 bombers had been more targeted in their execution, had they tried to kill US officials without inflicting too much "collateral damage", we would not have seen them as less murderous. The "crucial distinction" is further evidence of the callousness of the people who make it.
Chomsky's critics can't accept that the lives of Afghans, Iraqi's or Sudanese are worth as much as American's. Hence they assume that Chomsky must not sympathize with the victims of 9/11.
Joe Emersberger
Bennett is good and decent
Dear Editor:
I don't agree with all of William J. Bennett's ideas, but he is a good and decent man who loves this country, its system of government and its free enterprise economic system. Noam Chomsky is the opposite. He hates this country, its democratic system and capitalism in general. Chomsky gave moral support to the cause of Communism when that evil empire was still around, and he is an apologist for Palestinian and Islamist terrorism today. On top of that Chomsky is a liar. To imply that Mr. Chomsky and Mr. Bennet are equally misguided strikes me as the worst sort of moral equivalence.
Unfortunately Chomksy's writings are widely admired in the academic community and among the left-liberal so-called intelligentsia in this country. In the San Francisco Bay Area of California where I live Chomsky's brand of anti-Americanism is widely shared. William Bennett is not wrong to be worried about the lack of patriotism among academics and media people and those whom they influence.
The good news, as Mr. Bennett says, is that President Bush has widespread support for the war on anti-American terrorism. President Bush is no rocket scientist, but he has the sense to know that if somebody comes into your house and tries to kill you put him out of commission, and engage in psychoanalytic speculation about why he was behaving the way he was only afterwards.
Maybe Ben Laden and company have attacked us because they had unhappy childhoods. Maybe it's because we support Israel and they hate Jews. Maybe it's their culture, maybe it's their religion. Whatever, we can try to "understand" them after they are safely dead.
Yours truly,
Joe Willingham
Berkeley CA
Re: Bitch Goddess (October)
Can you get me Ann Coulter's number?
I am interested in finding out more about Ann Coulter and how I can subscribe to her writings. Can you send me some contact info? I happen to agree with her that we need to occupy and convert the Moslems to Christianity. We've been fighting these bastards since the Crusades (and before) and the only reason we've been able to put up with them is they couldn't hurt us. Now that they can hurt us, we must eliminate them from the equation.
Michel Whitaker
Beaufort, SC
There's a book too?
"Sweeping declaration"?
Liberals as "savagely cruel bigots who hate ordinary Americans and lie for sport"?
I think she is dead on. You must not have read the book.
Cheers.
Mike Gallagher
Cape Coral FL
Rush misunderstood
You Madam, based on your anti-Coulter/bash Rush column, are an idiot. I've listened to Rush Limbaugh since 1991 and I have NEVER heard him say anything even close to the comment (re: Christians) that you attribute to Ann Coulter. She may have been tongue in cheek…if not, she was indeed over the top. …..BUT….you obviously don't (have never) listen(ed) to Rush. Your loss lady.
Jim Gagnon
Love's labour's lost
Ahhhhhhh……
Did some leggy blonde still your boyfriend in your youth????
Poor baby…..
Tim in Phoenix
Arab dirtbag
I was disappointed to see your article, which bashes my favorite conservative pundit, appear in a magazine that I have enjoyed reading over the years. As a former libertarian turned post September 11th conservative, I have revelled in Ann's consitent frontal assaults on the lefties. She is attacking the political faction that wants our nation to lay prone while the likes of Saddam Hussein(don't even get me started about the Saudis or the Iranians) conspire with Islamic terrorists to kill Americans on American soil with the most horrible weapons imaginable. Ann was right to urge the killing of their leaders, and we should start with Saddam Hussein. In fact, when we do get our hands on that Arab dirtbag, we should let Ann deliver the coup-de-grace. That would be worth the price of admission.
Gary Duncan
Reynosa, Mexico
Finally, a cogent point!
Here she is, you dried up old lezzie. You'll never be able to match her for intelligence, wit, or looks. How does it feel to be so overmatched? Pathetic, I'll bet.
Name withheld
Miscellaneous
You hath not the privilege
Do you people have nothing better to do than have a web page that, is full of Anti-American, Anit-Everything. Maybe you should have not the privilege of living in the United States of America.
Rebecca Taylor
