Letters to the Editor
Malusinka
Published Letters: 350 Editor's Choice: 49
-
I don't want a black president
[Read the article: Multiracial man]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I want an American president. That's why I'm voting for Obama.
It's also why I'm glad he's not running as a black American. And why I was disgusted at Bill Clinton for comparing him with Jesse Jackson. Jackson entire career was based on advocacy for African-Americans. Maybe that's an important issue in the country, but it's far, far, FAR from the sole issue.
The way to overcome the country's tedious obsession with trivial details like the melanin content of skin is to ignore it, not try to parse how "black" he is. So Obama's skin is darker than the average candidate's. So what?
Think of all the other trivial details we could discuss. Height (is Hillary vertically challenged?), hair color (does McCain's gray lend a touch of gravitas?)
-
Whining/Symbol man
[Read the article: An anti-birth-control dystopia]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whining is harping on the same old thing over and over again. You do it, I call it. I don't see how it anything to do with gender, sexual orientation or discrimination/lack thereof towards either.
Frankly, your efforts to attach the big guns of homophobia to bolster up your argument sounds like more whining. The parallels between that whining kids big guns, "I won't love you if you don't give me a cookie," are pretty clear to me.
Why do men have to support children they father? Because single mothers tend to end up on welfare and why should society bear the burden you're not willing to bear? You don't want society, in the interests of reducing unwanted pregnancies, to prevent you from enjoying your social life. Sticking you in the stocks for 'illicit' sex.
And, as I pointed out, you have a lot of options to prevent fathering a child you don't want. And let's face it, if guys could get away with walking away from their children, a lot of them (maybe not you, but a lot of them) wouldn't be bothered with birth control.
And you know the rules. You know what your options are. What's your problem?
Get a vasectomy and use a condom and start worrying about more likely scenarios, like the chances lightening will strike you dead.
-
iPhone's market share
[Read the article: Will they call it Microhoo? Yahosoft? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I suspect the iPhone's share of the US cell phone market is a lot lower than the numbers show. The iPhone is the hot new must-have accessory in Moscow. There are lots of them. Everyone who goes to the US picks up a few. Getting them hacked to run on Beeline or MTS is no problem.
Needless to say, since the iPhone is not sold outside the US, all sales of iPhones are probably counted in the US market share.
-
It's not a choice between the African American or the Woman
[Read the article: Undecided '08: Should I vote for Clinton or Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The choice is between old and safe and new and inspiring.
Hillary is a competant politician. She's got Bill behind her. She carefully plots her course. You know if she's president she'll be okay. But, the country won't move much beyond the Bush-Clinton era. Sure, she'll probably reverse some of Bush's worst moves, but so would any Dem.
Obama is inspiring. He's different. He's outside of the box and he's capable of thinking outside of the box. That gives us the opportunity to really change the country. But, he has less experience and he might make some errors. Probably not big ones. And certainly nothing like well-seasoned Bush Jr's confident two-week war to oust Saddam Hussein.
To me, that's the choice. And I'd be embarrassed to say that race or gender mattered to me in who I vote for. I'm not quite decided, either, although I'll probably vote for Obama. But whatever I do, I'll be happy to explain to my friends, acquintances, the world who I voted for and why.
Because my vote won't be one based on predjudices like race or gender.
-
Firebird
[Read the article: The end of menstruation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I can one up you. I can think and menstruate at the same time.
-
You're going to get stuck
[Read the article: I think I'm addicted to quitting my job!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You've got a great job, the economy is tanking. Pretty soon, you're going to find it hard to find another job. Maybe not this time, but how do you know the next job will be better? Most jobs are average, if you've got a good one, chances are the next one will be worse.
You can find other ways to be special. Bringing in cookies usually works wonders. Picking up the slack for people out sick. You can volunteer for special projects (and this might be a good route to promotion and pay raises.)
Or you can focus on your friends and family. Do random acts of kindness. Listen to people. Volunteer at a nursing home.
-
Crazy scheme
[Read the article: Aboriginal STDs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The scheme sounds crazy because it ignores all sorts of issues:
1) If large numbers children under the age of consent (let's assume it's 16) are contracting STDs then there is a serious child abuse problem. That needs to be solved.
2) Rampant STDs implies low knowledge about safe sex or access to condoms or rape or women who aren't in a position to insist on a condom (ie sex where consent is less than total)
These are serious problems to be resolved and unless they are, the STDs will come back, and pretty quickly, even if the anti-biotic campaign is implemented and successful.
3) It obviously takes way too long for test results to get back. Even nomadic people stick around for a week or so. And they should be able to predict their future at least a week in advance. How hard is it to get test results back in a week? It should be a day or two.
4) Obviously not enough Aborigines have good medical care.
If you solve these problems, you'll be able to give medicine only to those who need it.
What the whole campaign sounds like is an attempt to cure some symptoms with a quick cheap bandaid.
These are serious problems to be solved.
-
Democrats Abroad?
[Read the article: Super Tuesday results]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why are Democrats Abroad listed as Super Tuesday voters? I don't vote until Sunday.
-
Funny
[Read the article: How does a single father ever get laid?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Your article was hilarious and your daughter's hair sounds gorgeous. Tell her it's gorgeous.