Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

I'm not really a "Letters to the Editor" sort of person, but I felt it necessary to respond to this article about a blogger reposting material from a website that was published in a very good writing newsletter. Writers (myself included) have a lot of justifiable concerns about people using their work and not paying them for it. Yes, writing is real work and worth actual money, particularly when done by professional writers who have to pay for their rent, groceries, and bills from that money. You'd be surprised how many people are idiots who think people should write just "for the love of it." Sure. Why don't you go be a doctor "for the love of it?" That said, this response seems harsh without knowing more about the circumstances involved.

( So I wrote a letter. )

Edited to add: The follow-up to this post is here.

"Whether or not an animal can recognize itself in the mirror has long been used by scientists as a means of self-awareness. Apes pass the test, but monkeys have been thought to perceive a stranger in their reflection. The results of a new study suggest that what monkeys see is not so simple: although they don't recognize themselves, they also treat their mirror twins differently than they do real animals."

The rest of the Scientific American article

There's a nub of a story idea here. Intriguing....