Opinion

Opinion

Letter: Yiannopoulos supporters suddenly silent on pedophilia comments

Daily Lobo Readers | February 22

Editor, For those of us who campaigned against UNM’s special treatment of speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, including the waiving of a security fee regularly charged to student groups, it’s been satisfying to see his recent fall from grace due to comments he made last year that appeared to advocate pedophilia. However, it’s interesting to note that members of our community defending his visit in the name of the First Amendment have been notably silent on the pedophilia comments that led to the cancellation of his book contract and the dis-invitation from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

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Opinion

Column: Why the anger in comment sections?

Cathy Cook | February 20

When it comes to online comment sections, I break the rules. Even my browser tells me: never read the comments. Roommates remind me not to feed the trolls. I just want to read, respond and reimagine the people on the other side of my screen. Different comment sections have reputations: Facebook is mundane if somewhat surreal, Imgur sas the same five jokes in the first 10 comments, and YouTube has the comment section the devil would avoid if he had high speed internet (we all know the devil has dial-up, that has to be part of hell). YouTube comments are Bad with a capital B. Some of these tropes are true, but not universally. And even when they are true, I feel compelled to scroll. In my experience, the quality of comments has more to do with what content the commenters are responding to than what platform they’re responding on. Undeniably, though, anonymity does something to people. They get braver; they get meaner.

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Opinion

Letter: In reality, pot is completely harmless

Daily Lobo Readers | February 19

Editor, Brad King wrote, "NM liberal lawmakers seem to be clamoring to climb on the pot legalization bandwagon, just like our ill fated neighbor to the north."  Here in the reality-based community, "Colorado’s GDP increased by 3.6 percent in 2015, the fourth most of any state in the country.

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Opinion

Column: The history of "fake news"

Nichole Harwood | February 19

In a world where the legitimacy of news is constantly called into question by politicians and readers alike, whose responsibility is it to determine what is "fake news" and what is not? It is both the reporter's job to write factually accurate news, and the reader's responsibility to check the legitimacy of their choice in news outlets, whether this outlet is online or through a news network. But all news has one measurement in common that is ultimately connected to its value and newsworthiness: the ability of news in any form to catch the eye of a reader, a viewer or a listener.

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Opinion

Column: The absurd consequences of a "right to privacy"

Thomas L. Knapp | February 15

British MP David Davis's text messages poking fun at the appearance of a female colleague make him the latest whipping boy for those determined to root out sexism and misogyny in public life, the Daily Mail reports. Curiously, they also make him the latest poster boy for exponents of an expansive "right to privacy" like Brendan O'Neill of spiked magazine.

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Opinion

Column: What to wear in the face of fascism

Cathy Cook | February 15

There’s been a lot of talk about fighting fascism in my Facebook feed lately, but are you really prepared to resist an Orwellian police state? And when I say prepared, I mean do you have the right outfit? Of course not! The 2000s were a fashion nightmare from which we are only just awaking, which is why I’m here to tell you what looks will be hot in the picket line this fall.

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Opinion

Letter: Lovers should be shared, not caged

Daily Lobo Readers | February 15

Editor, Like many people, I am able to be openly and honestly in love with more than one person at the same time. We teach children to share food, toys, and friends. How selfish and cruel the child who demands that his child friend have no other friends or playmates! We adults can learn to share our lovers with others. We enjoy a variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, colors, books, songs...Many of us also enjoy a variety of lovers!

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Opinion

Column: An eco-friendly, and cheaper, way to celebrate Valentine's Day

Celia Raney | February 14

Once a year we are assaulted with pink and red heart-shaped boxes, giant stuffed bears and overpriced chocolates. But at what cost? As stated in a report by the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend over $18.2 billion on Valentine’s Day this year. Of that money, at least $4.4 billion will be spent on jewelry.

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Opinion

Letter: UNM has a long history of activism

Daily Lobo Readers | February 12

Editor, Racism, sexism and prejudice and the logical response to them -- activism -- have a long history at UNM. After the Vietnam era, the '90s saw renewed tensions, with many incidences of hate crimes on campus. In 1995 a report was delivered to the vice president of Student Affairs by the Anti-Defamation League and the Dept. of Campus Affairs/Higher Education. The report compiled from 1992 to 1995 over 20 racist/hate crimes at UNM, mostly dealing with White Nationalist propaganda, graffiti and swastikas targeting Black, Jewish, Gay and Lesbian, feminist, and Hispanic students and campus organizations (UNM Board of Regents Minutes, CSWR). These incidences caused UNM President Peck to immediately denounce such activities at a press conference saying that UNM didn’t tolerate hate speech.

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Opinion

Letter: The USA should condemn its own crimes before the crimes of others

Daily Lobo Readers | February 12

Editor, I absolutely condemn the beheadings and mass murders committed by ISIS! Are the beheadings done by U.S.-backed Saudi Arabia less evil than ISIS beheadings? Was the U.S. murder of tens of thousands of women and children in Iraq less evil than ISIS murders? Was the U.S. murder of hundred of thousands of women and children in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia less evil than ISIS murders? Is the U.S.-backed Israeli murder of hundreds of Palestinian boys and girls less evil than ISIS murders?

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Opinion

Letter: Marijuana legalization will lead to trouble

Daily Lobo Readers | February 9

Editor, I would like to offer an opinion that I am pretty sure will not be well received, but I pray it will be published and considered.

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Opinion

Letter: Free speech is reality

Daily Lobo Readers | February 9

Editor, A Lobo reader quoted a professor, "We need to use standards of universality and logic, otherwise, freedom of speech masks reality." I disagree! Free speech is reality. Everyone has the right to express opinions without interference or censorship. To seek, receive, impart information and ideas through any media they choose. With that being said, freedom of speech is not without its limitations. With this freedom comes consequences which relate to: libel, slander, obscenity, sedition, incitement etc.

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Opinion

Letter: Be kind, be respectful, pay it forward!

Daily Lobo Readers | February 8

Focusing on positive aspects of our lives can be one way to find comfort in the midst of the current uncertainty, concerns, and challenges not only in our daily lives but also in our country. Taking the time to appreciate what we DO have and the things around us that bring us joy can help alleviate the negativity we are subjected to. Most importantly, today is a great time to show gratitude, appreciation, and respect for the good things and good people in our lives.

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Opinion

Letter: PPD should investigate possible break-ins

Daily Lobo Readers | February 8

Editor, I was appalled to read the story last week about the drug den in an underground tunnel on campus. The fact that the Physical Plant Department was alerted to the broken lock, but did not take the initiative to investigate or call UNMPD to investigate the first time the lock was broken demonstrates a level of either incompetence, naivety or both. I find the fact that there was a person, under the influence of drugs and in possession of a stolen APD shotgun, living in an underground tunnel on campus very alarming. PPD should be well aware of the occurrence of homeless people using the campus to live on, why did they not look into the tunnel the first time the lock was broken?

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Opinion

Letter: A line should be drawn between hate speech and free speech

Daily Lobo Readers | February 5

Editor, In 1982 an editorial in the Daily Lobo led to a student picket against the Daily Lobo. The editorial (October 13) by the managing editor stated that the 1980-81 scores of the SAT exams “proved what everyone knew all along – minorities are academically inferior to whites.”

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Opinion

Letter: Donald Trump election represents new era of American politics

Daily Lobo Readers | February 5

Editor, In recency, the University of New Mexico saw a flareup of political tensions. Reading between the lines, I'm happy to relate that we are currently undergoing a major political shift in the United States. Student groups at UNM expressed in a letter on 1/26 that they will "protect students from fascism and violence" in anticipation of the flareup, in which police were needed to protect event attendees from protesters; this and other occasions of widespread protest illustrating well how conservatism represents a new counter-culture.

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Opinion

Letter: Milo's speech is not deserving of being called "free speech"

Daily Lobo Readers | February 5

Editor, Nikole McKibben’s Feb. 2 column, titled “Milo has as much a right to a platform as protesters do,” is a masterly example of the deep well of hypocrisy that much of the right-wing American ignorati cheerfully draw from. There is, apparently, enough hours in the day to attend the speech of a hate-monger -- but not quite enough for the author of the column to exercise what is known to some university students as “research.”

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Opinion

Letter: Republican party is sliding from conservativism into fascism

Daily Lobo Readers | February 5

Editor, There is literally nothing “conservative” about U.S. President Donald Trump, the UNM Young Republicans or Milo Yiannopoulos. American "conservatives" have devolved into a reactionary, and even though it’s not politically correct to say, a fascist political party! 

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Opinion

Column: Milo has as much a right to a platform as protesters do

Nikole Mckibben | February 2

While attending the Milo Yiannopoulos event last Friday night, I was met with apprehension. But questions were swirling in my head: Will I be safe at this event? Is this one man really as bad as everyone says he is? I knew nothing about the Breitbart editor; only what people have said about him. Most of that has been negative, but this made me want to see what he was about all the more. Many of those I talked to felt the same way. They had no opinion one way or the other, they just wanted to see what the fuss was about. I hope that most people realize Milo Yiannopoulos is a provocateur. Despite his love for dramatics, people still chose to get very upset over his comments. Protesters attending his talk that chose to interrupt his “racist rhetoric” only resulted in being more offended than when they began. All of the protesters in the event added more fuel to the fire.

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Opinion

Letter: We must stand together against a totalitarian government

Daily Lobo Readers | February 1

Editor, I’ve never had to be brave. I grew up in a family who loved me unconditionally, who could provide me with a comfortable life, who would accept me no matter what. I have never once in my life been afraid to live my life loudly — to be myself, unreserved Friday afternoon, I walked to my first protest, clutching posters I had spent four hours creating, declaring my queerness to the world in the spirit of resistance. I walked through the campus, and I was afraid.