Letters to the Editor
Amerigo
Published Letters: 955 Editor's Choice: 60
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Tradition
[Read the article: Should strip-club bachelor parties be men-only?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was having a discussion with the passenger next to me in an airplane the other day in which I was advancing the theory that it is impossible for immigrants in the USA to intergrate into mainstream culture, because mainstream culture no longer exists and has fragmented into a delta of many different currents. It probably died along with Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Stewart.
He didn't agree with me and cited the example of many people having grown up watching the same TV shows. I said I would not allow that, because commercial activities which one undertakes as a consumer of a product could not be included in "culture".
The fact that George Bush and Tony Blair both use the same brand of toothpaste is not evidence of a shared culture.
However, I would readily have conceded that the bachelor party is a valid cultural phenomenon of mainstream America. Its purposeless and meaningless is exactly what makes it so. It is a rite of passage that most people probably don't enjoy, but it has to be done to show that you are not a spoilsport,and that though you may be a young bull, you are also part of the herd.
So is the LW suggesting that this lone female is going to jump her husband-to-be in some kind of public mating as a farewell to the single life? Seems highly improbable to me.
Anyhow, if she is angry about it, you can be sure that he will be paying for the rest of his life.
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Why no openly gay Republicans?
[Read the article: The GOP's crowded closet]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There aren't any openly gay Republican legislators in Washington,and for all I know in the 50 states too, because an openly gay man who supported most aspects of Republican policy, e.g. low taxes, foreign wars of aggression, no flag burning or abortion, ordinary workers paying cash for health care, would not win nomination at Republican primary elections where the electorate is overwhelmingly hetero.
Hence Republicans who are gay or semigay keep it mum. Is that so hard to understand?
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Vaginoplasties
[Read the article: Doctors: No more designer vaginas!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't think there is anything wrong with women having surgeries to make their vaginas work better, if that is what they want. I hardly imagine that this is something that anyone would go into casually, unless they thought there was a real need for it.
The problem, though, is that certain medical specialties like Lasik eye surgery and plastic surgery seem to be run more by salespeople who are looking to maximize the number of procedures performed through aggressive advertising on TV or on Web sites.
Here, for example is something from a Web site: (http://www.drdepena.com/ingl/front.html)
Our Mission is to empower women, with knowledge, choice and alternatives.
This sounds fine, if it really is your mission.
Our Board Certified Gynecologist can completely re-sculpt and rejuvenate the vagina with a 1 hour laser procedure. Call or Email today for a complimentary consultation with our Board Certified Gynecologist.
Come in for a sales presentation, because we are confident that we can sell you a procedure, and how about a tummy tuck and breast augmentation while we have your attention?
High pressure sales presentations tend not to put a lot of emphasis on the fine print, so women who may think they are making a free choice are often actually being manipulated for profit. At least that is how I see it.
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Making it legal...
[Read the article: In defense of Larry Craig]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I take it that the author thinks it should be legal for gentlemen of the homosexual persuasion to solicit other men in public bathrooms, places where, needing to piss, they have to unzip their pants and take out their penises for the pleasure of onlookers.
As one of the few surviving nongay men in America, I am in favor of being allowed to take a leak without having someone ogling my (naturally, enormous) member. However I am not sure whether I should now vote Democrat or Republican to get legal support for the preservation of my ass, since so many Congressional members are apparently bivalent on this question.
I hope that all presidential candidates will make it clear what their stance is on this matter during the upcoming campaign for the White house (or bath house, as the case may be.) I have no actual objection to having an occupant of the White House who favors sex in public toilets, or even who practises it, but I think I am entitled to know what they stand for before they get the keys to the Oval Office bathroom.
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What is the problem?
[Read the article: My son is almost 30 and won't leave home]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The problem is not really that he won't leave home, but that he won't make a fair contribution to the joint home. If he was doing the cooking and maintenance and chipping in for the groceries and utilities, this would probably be a happy enough menage.
He is kind to animals, which is a useful quality to be sure, especially when you live in a city, but not so kind to his old mom, whom he takes for granted. He needs his bottom smacked, except that he is too old for that now.
Maybe, as one write inevitably pointed out, he does have a mental health problem, or maybe a secret drug or alcohol problem. When look at my tenants, their failure to thrive economically and ergonomically is almost always related to expenditure on drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
She probably needs to get herself a copy of Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, an excellent little book that teaches you techniques for getting animals and other significants to do what you want them to do.
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How could this happen to a good person like me?
[Read the article: Lately I've been kissing women I'm not married to]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But why wasn't I smart enough to stop it earlier, when we were having drinks and were both giving clear signals to each other?
It's the drinks, stupid. They contain a chemical called ETOH that destroys willpower and makes good people do things that only bad people do.