Flak Magazine Letters
Sep-Dec 2004
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12-30-04
To:
Re:
Many things seem worse to me.
"Cheese is made by coagulating milk to give curds which are then separated from the liquid, whey, after which they can be processed and matured to produce a wide variety of cheeses. Milk is coagulated by the addition of rennet. The active ingredient of rennet is the enzyme, chymosin (also known as rennin). The usual source of rennet is the stomach of slaughtered newly-born calves."
Maybe I can use a "possible cheese eating situations." Maybe the calf died in a tragic BMX accident, or fell out of a poorly supervied 4-H fair's carnival ride.
I don't think I can give up cheese... And yes I know there are vegetarian cheeses. But I hate vegetarians.
Erin
11-22-04
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Re:
Nice work on the column, Bob — as a fellow Hoosier, I share your pain. After a largely sleepless night, I still end up at: the suspensions are too punitive of the team and (Pacer) fans beyond the individuals involved, and too one-sided against players with hardly a word said about the many failures of the Palace — but when you go into the stands and start throwing punches, you put yourself at the mercy of the league. And Stern, maybe rightly so, is in no mood to show mercy. The Pacers were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and so will pay for the sins of many — but they put themselves there.
But I'm standing by my team. And I hope the Colts put up 77 points on the Lions this Thursday.
J. Daniel Janzen
10-15-04
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Re:
I just read the Granmother's Pennysaver column on Air America's site. Thank you for making this column available to people like myself. I'm not a pacifist but I beleive war is what happens only when ALL else fails. It is so poignant to read the words which so clearly illustrate the truly unjustified use, and death of one family's loved one. I cried. The first thing I've read that has deeply affected me in a long time. Thank you.
10-15-04
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Re:
I just read your piece where you quoted Alice Collins, and I want to thank you for sharing her words, and yours. God bless you both.
Regards,
Matt Coleman
bdbgi@yahoo.com
10-14-04
To:
Re:
I swore today I'd start my day different I would not get on the Internet, I would actually try to get something, anything, done.
Every day seems to start and end the same way I wake up and cannot believe this is what my life has become constantly thinking, worrying and praying for my son in Iraq, writing to legislators, the press, the leaders of our country, as well as crying more tears than I thought humanly possible, and yet here I am......
Another day will probably be squandered on the Internet and I saw the Pennysaver Grandma story, so now here I sit crying my eyes out. I cry for a family I don't even know. I cry for their son who gave his life, in my son's words, "For what?" And I say that knowing my son too could die and I would still be haunted with his words of "for what?" You see my son has told me many of his fellow soldiers wonder "for what?"
In my mind I answer this question every day: "For what?"
For a leader who had the arrogance to go into a war withnot only a weak plan but a plan which was based on the premise of a lie. This is what happens when lies are used for the basis of policy, this is what happens when lies are used to convince people to follow their commander in chief into a war, this is what happens when deceit and false information are spread as truth, this is what happens when we the people have abdicated our responsibility as citizens to demand the truth be told to demand that our leaders are beholding to us the people this is what happens when people want to follow like sheep and roll over for their "so called" leader.
This is what happens when people are so beholding to "their party" to the party that retains only one or two of a people's do or die fundamental beliefs that they are willing to not give their own lives but watch other people's children die. Is your belief of pro-life so important to you that you would give the lives of our military for a lie? Is your core belief of pro-life so important to you that you would waive the lives of others and watch as they die, are maimed, are dismembered for your selfish goals? Do you see the contradiction here? do you see the hypocrisy?
Is your core belief of "Democrats tax and spend" worth watching our children die for a lie? Is your hatred of "liberals" so strong that you would place your faith in the conservative who has not once conserved anything? The conservative who has continually taken the "easy way out" of every situation?
The conservative who rolls over to big business in every way shape and form? Do you hate liberals the ones who have fought for decades for clean air, clean water, for quality of life issues like maintaining land and natural resources (does anyone remember our old growth forests anymore?) for wages that keep up with inflation, for retirement benefits for workers who give their livesworking, toiling just to get by and barely have enough to save for the future, for medical insurance that is affordable, for safety standards to keep the people of our country safe i.e., car safety standard, food/medicine safety, etc., etc., etc..
Is your core belief of having a self-declared, non-church going "Christian" the leader of our country so strong that you would allow this Christian to lie to you and then believe the lie so unflinchingly you would watch the children of our country die? People please look deep inside and realize it may be hard to accept but your leader has lied about the need for this war in Iraq (Afghanistan is a different story in my eyes) he was able to surround it with our fear of 9/11 but the Iraq war had nothing to do with protecting our country or any other country.
Do we really want to reward this president with another four years of which will be spent in more wars — and don't fool yourselves thinking we will ever have the blanket support of other countries — those days are long gone thanks to GWBush. Do we really reward leaders who lie, cheat, steal and murder in our names? A vote for GWBush is just this.
I'll end it here but I certainly hope our countrymen support our troops in the best possible way, by voting Nov 2 for John Kerry.
[name withheld by request]
Blue Star Mom
Sacramento, CA
