berkeleygirl1962's Comments (206)

“Y'all put an extra "e" in "croquembo­uche." Please fix.”

“*stifling a yawn*...th­is story peaked way back when it was revealed that Ensign's daddy bailed him out by buying off the mistress and the cuckolded husband...”

“I'm not sure if anyone has actually studied the breakdown, JanP, but your undocumented claim actually _reinforces_ my point. I'm simply saying that fear makes us quick to yield our constitutional rights, and decisions based on anger or vengeance are often ill-considered; Ms. Breitweiser's appeal to our higher instincts deserves attention because under the circumstances her ability to set those visceral emotions aside makes her remarkable.”

“I don't know whether you, like Ms. Breitweiser, actually lost your husband to the 9/11 murderers, but I suspect you did not. In any case, no one can lay a greater claim to "justice" than she, yet she's managed to resist yielding to the hatred and fear that the terrorists sought to sow in attacking the United States, and in doing so sets an example for us as Americans.

I hope you'll pay attention to her words: "Indeed, in the fight against Islamist extremism, we should never bow to the terrorists by compromising, manipulating, re-writing or flat-out ignoring the core, bedrock principles of our Constitution that speak to the very heart of who we are as a nation--a democracy.­" And I urge you to heed her call to us to "trust our own judicial system to fully and openly prosecute the mass murderers of 9/11 while the rest of the world bears witness."”

“Heartfelt condolences on the loss of your friend. All of the absurd speculation obscures that this man who accomplished so much and was cherished by so many has been lost to those who cared for him and whose lives he touched.”

“I am so sorry for your loss. Suicide touches nearly everyone the victim ever knew or came in contact with, and leaves us wondering what if anything we could have done to prevent it--and even angry at the victim (or their alleged persecutors, if any)--compounding the grief we feel in the wake of any sudden and/or premature death.”

“"He would not have committed suicide just because of a federal grand jury..."??­?

There may be, as you suggest, grounds for outside investigation of widespread corruption in CPS--but this sad death is not a tipoff to anything other than the need to increase mental health awareness and de-stigmatize treatment.

With the possible exception of the terminally ill, the only reason that people commit suicide is mental illness. They don't kill themselves because their husband left them, or because they lost their job, or because they're being investigated--if that were so, suicide would be epidemic. People kill themselves because their clinical depression­--frequent­ly (but not always) undiagnosed or untreated--does not allow them to see any other options.”

“Hmmmm...I thought the verb was "defriend" (or, more properly, "de-friend"), not "unfriend.­"”

“If you want to get straight to the graphic sex part, check out the last paragraph on Page 9. You're welcome.:-­)”

“Thanks for the rundown, Jim. Sounds like an event worthy of the heroes it commemorated.”

“We can all "help," collectively and individually, by raising our voices to speak out against the hatred and prejudice against our fellow Americans who are Muslims that is already permeating the airwaves and internets in the wake of this tragedy.”

“Regarding J street, the first part of your statement (that "it" subscribes to Zionist racist policies, whatever they are--Jews are not a "race") is vague and unsupportable. The second part is probably true, and I am in fundamental agreement with you that we should not have a "Jewish state" or "Christian states" or "Islamic States" and that the existence of such states prevent peace in that region.”

“see Huffpost blogger Richard Silverstein at
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/10/30/j-street-supports-house-attack-on-goldstone/

I think it's significant that Ben-Ami himself contacted Silverstein to provide "additional information," though perhaps only if you are a seeker of optimistic signs (mea maxima culpa!) would you find any comfort in that development.

I still see a great deal of potential for J street as a loose aggregation of inchoate dissent from AIPAC. Debate within the conference was apparently far more vibrant and wide-ranging than the "outcomes" would indicate. And that there would be space for this kind of discussion today would have been nearly unthinkable a year ago.”

“You are so right.”

“You're right that Israel policy is has been the third rail for American politicians, but Gideon Levy's plea could not be more timely and I'm puzzled by your point here, Mr. Linkins.

There are a couple of crucial errors in your commentary: first, such opinion pieces "challenging [Israeli] exceptionalism" don't appear "from time to time" in Ha'aretz, they appear almost daily. Second, by its obdurate intransigence the Netanyahu-Lieberman government has made it EASIER for the US to take a hard line with Israel on the crucial issue of settlements, IN SUPPORT of anti-occupation, pro-peace Israelis.

Third, the rise of a visible challenge to AIPAC hegemony (by the heretofore "silent majority" of a certain segment of the American community of which I am a part), as exemplified by the large J Street conference that just concluded, has created a wedge of political space in THIS country for the US to revoke Israel's blank check. Obama and Clinton are wasting the opportunity created by this perfect storm, and your commentary only blurs the issues.”

“Great piece--thanks for raising the tough questions.”

“"No single authority interprets religious law for Orthodox Jews. But Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the revered 99-year-old scholar who signed the elevator ruling, is one of the most influential voices in the Jewish world, widely considered to be one of his generation's greatest authorities on religious law....Ely­ashiv has been behind other controversial decisions before. In September, he proclaimed Jews could not wear Crocs shoes on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, because they were deemed too comfortable for the somber fasting holiday." [Traditionally, leather shoes are not worn on Yom Kippur, so Now What?]

No imposition of rules on anyone who doesn't volunteer, Rand, but oy! talk about hairsplitting!;-)”

“WE DON'T NEED SIXTY VOTES to pass a bill in the Senate. We need Democrats to refuse to support a GOP filibuster. And frankly, rather than water down the bill any further, LET THEM FILIBUSTER. The Majority Leader has the right to force a "traditional filibuster­"--i.e., one where a quorum must hold the floor around the clock--and what could drive the pro-reform forces' point home better than this kind of spectacle, live on C-SPAN, with the bought-and-paid defenders of the insurance industry and the supporters of the status quo declaiming against Health Care For All (or babbling off-topic nonsense, reading bad poetry, or the DC phonebook, all allowable under Senate rules)? I repeat, let them filibuster!”

“I won't be commenting on this non-story. Sorry. Extra time and energy devoted to some difficult family issues. We'll be wrestling with ethical dilemmas, exposing hypocrisies, nursing long-simmering resentments, losing our religion, challenging long-held assumptions, and we need to have total privacy during this arduous process. We expect to be done by noon.”

“Quelle surprise, as we used to say in Junior High French class.

I suppose you go on such shows for the wider exposure they give you, Mr. Blumenthal. Turns out they're not a forum for an actual exchange of ideas...I sincerely hope your appearances prove a boost to book sales. You don't need to waste time recapping the gory details for those of us who would never watch anyway. And I say this as a die-hard fan of your work, including the work that certain sites won't cover because it offends The Powers That Be.”

“Amen, Brother Sullivan!”

“The biggest issue in most medical malpractice suits--and personal injury suits generally--is FUTURE MEDICAL COSTS. Universal health care ( I would argue single payer is the only logical cost-effective mechanism for providing that) solves that problem. That ought to help keep our auto and homeowner insurance costs better contained, too, and have a huge impact on state workers comp systems as well.”

“The person you are referring to is Andre Previn's daughter, not Woody Allen's. For Allen and his wife to have begun a relationship while he was involved with her mother was arguably tacky, and unquestionably humiliating to his wife's mother. Not incest.”

“Pray tell, what does "tribalism" mean? To what tribe do Polanski and his "defenders" (by which I presume the original poster meant "those who agree with his victim that he should not face further prosecution") belong?”

“Thank you for finally weighing in on the side of the only payment system that makes sense.”