Letters to the Editor
MAV in Florida
Published Letters: 309 Editor's Choice: 22
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Say, siebecker, speaking of "suspending"
[Read the article: What does the Clinton campaign's denial mean?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I recall that was the phrase that Mitt "Secretary of Lookin' Good" Romney used. Not ending, suspending (Egads, now I sound like Jesse Jackson!).
So, is he hedging his bets in case John McCain keels over, or cracks up, or spontaneously combusts between now and November? For all the talk of Hillary Clinton supposedly alluding to Robert F. Kennedy's demise in early June, 1968, you'd think somebody would have asked Mitt Romney why he's positioned himself to step into a possible vacancy.
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Another question the anti-abortionists won't answer
[Read the article: Coat hangers and crochet hooks ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I noticed that in my days as an inkstained wretch that if I asked any anti-abortion people how they planned to also prevent illegal abortions, I never got any answer more substantive than "Well, er, uh, say, is that my phone ringing?"
The first question none of them ever answered, of course, was "What form of birth control do you reccomend to reduce the demnand for abortions?"
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Imagine if John Kerry or George McGovern had said the same thing!
[Read the article: McCain camp debuts new ad with big buy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The talk-show pundits would be falling all over themselves talking about how unmanly such candidates were.
As compared, say, to the wealth of military experience represented by Bill O'Reilly or George Will or Chris Matthews.
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Refresh my mind, please:
[Read the article: Louisiana schools open to creationism?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Doers anybody remember all of this talk from conservatives about "the freedom to question the curriculum" back when segregation was the law of the land, and all kids were ordered to say Christian prayers in school? Were "supplemnetary materials" ever encouraged for biology classes when the subject was sex? I'm just wondering.
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Same Old, Same Old from the Texas GOP
[Read the article: The new racist, anti-Obama fashion statement]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In 1984, when Walter Mondale named Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, delegates at the GOP convention in Texas wore buttons that proclaimed "Fritz and Tits in `84!"
Is the "White House" button racist? I don't know, it strikes as an attempt to say "Obama's not White," but I think it kind of fizzles. Maybe because as every election goes by, more people are comfiortable with the fact thart tehre are nonwhite people in and ariound their lives. Heck, my ancestors from the Emerald Isle in the 1840s were probably considered nonwhite by some snarky nativists.
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What a great selection of feedback letters today!
[Read the article: Stop the noise!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I found almost all of these letters as interesting as the original article!
When I was younger I was very sensitive to high-itched sounds, to the point where I once heard the high whining noise produiced in somebody's pawn shop by the burglar alarm. It's decreased somewhat over the years from the abuse of my ears by highway noise, loud music and other byproducts of what we call civilization (Was it Ambrose Bierce who said that noise, "a stench in the ear," is the mark of our civilization?) When I was in the Army riding inside an armored vehicle sometimes made me nauseous not from the heat, but the high shrieking of tracks grinding as we rode along. Wearing earplugs solved that problem with amazing speed.
I have gone to noisy gyms, usually where the staff consists of a high-school-age kid beghhind teh counter who's bored. Fortunately, the one I go to now is fairly serene, but I'm amazed how many people are walking around wearing Ipods, sheltered in their portable cocoons.
As for people who have loud cell-hone conversations in public, I feel free to join in, such as the woman in the doctor's waiting room:
She: Hi, how are you?
Me: Oh, I'm OK,
She: I'm at the doctor! (as she waves at me to shut up)
Me: Well, it's about time you did something about that foot odor!
I notice nobody has yet mentioned that it's not just the volume, but the frequency of the noise that's a problem. High-pitched shrieking noses such as jet turbines, drills, and the aforementioned grinding of metal seem to go right to the core of somebody's being in a way that, say, the crashing of surf or even the low-pitched rumble of a passing freight train might not.
One more source of noise I personally loathe: Bible-thumpers who stake out crowded intersections at rush hour, wait until traffic is stopped for a red light, and begine shrieking with their battery-powered bullhorns. I know these people have very unhappy lives but why do they have to inflict their anger and frustration on the rest of us?
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@ areawoman
[Read the article: Stop the noise!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My TV-b-Gone just arrived in the mail! I got it because I'll be traveling by air ain a couple of weeks, and possibly be bombarded by giant-screen TVs uised to subdue people.
And a guest on NPR once suggested how to stop cell-phone yakkers: carry a small pocket (is that redundant) tape recorder. Pull it out and begin recording the talker. When he or she says "Whaddya doin?" just say "Just recording."