Letters to the Editor
Malusinka
Published Letters: 350 Editor's Choice: 49
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You have to ask
[Read the article: If I die, I want my friends to raise my children]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First, the friends might be facing responsibilities or burdens you don't know about.
Second, it's common courtesy to discuss it.
Remember, you don't expect to die. So the likelihood your friends will be called on to raise your kids is low.
My husband was asked if he would be the executor of an estate. He said no. He didn't live in either the country of the legator or the legatee and he was facing a stressful personal situation. He got named executor anyway. He put in a lot of time and effort, but the legatee would have been much better off if the legator's lawyer had been the executor.
This is a serious thing and make it clear, NO is an okay answer.
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Taibbi did some fantastic reporting
[Read the article: In the land of believers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]in Russia. The man has guts, an eye for detail and the ability to see the humanity in people.
A pity his "Expat" experience (The expat is an alternative English language newspaper in Russia) taught him so much of the obnoxious crap and posturing "edginess" found there.
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Before celebrating the 24 week limit
[Read the article: Reproductive rights roundup]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it is worth noting that some babies aborted in England have been born live. And, it's bothered medical personnel that a baby born at 24 weeks to a willing mother gets rushed to an incubator and a baby born to an aborting mother doesn't.
Stomach turning, isn't it?
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Phunkjunky
[Read the article: Ellen to McCain: Walk me down the aisle?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Having a non-legal religious marriage and a legal civil one would create lots of hassles. You'd end up with women, married in their eyes and the eyes of their church, with no rights in divorce. Further, the opportunities for bigamists would be much better.
If you think a marriage is only between a man and a woman, fine: marry a member of the opposite sex.
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Small regional jets
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Probably reduce costs associated with missed connections. When I fly into JFK from overseas, it's past midnight by my body clock, I'm miserable and every second spent in Delta's grungy, crowded domestic terminal is torture. And putting all the passengers who missed their transfers in hotels in NY is going to be a very expensive proposition. Holdng those domestic planes while we get through passport control is going to piss off the passengers not transferring from late in-coming planes.
I'm not arguing for them, but I think perhaps they're there because they reduce the cost of missed connections.
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4 airlines worse than Delta
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not much more can be said about the sorry state of US domestic air travel (which I haven't done much of).
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Yep, me too
[Read the article: Shocker: Sex-ed class mentions pleasure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't waste my time on slow, jerky, tedious video when I can read.
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Career sacrifice
[Read the article: Yours in holy "manimony"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If one partner has made a career sacrifice to support his or her marriage, they deserve compensation for that. Dividing labor to maximize your family income and well-being might not lead to both partners being fully financially independent.
The more successful career women there are, the more men who make compromises to support their wives' careers -- and therefore become candidates for alimony in the case of divorce.
I know a number of men who are 'trailing spouses' of their diplomat wives. They all have found ways to be productive and income-earning, but please don't suggest that what they earn is anything like what they'd earn if they were making choices based on their careers and not moving to a new country every 2-3 years. Because a few years as a fund manager in Moscow just does not provide great resume fodder when you find yourself in Botswana.
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Gosh
[Read the article: So long, Stepp!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Did this piece of juvenalia actually get published? I sure hope someone at Salon is embarrassed by the utter tastelessness and vapiditiy.
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Achilles
[Read the article: Pretty girls, and Bollywood starlets, get bullied, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're confusing popular with pretty. I was a relatively attractive teen -- like most teenaged girls are; youth is attractive. But, I have a large bust. I got whispered crap from some girls about my shirts (too tight)and my posture (sticking my tits out). None of the girls who whsipered cutting remarks in the halls were well endowed. They were jealous.
I ignored the comments since I knew that my clothes were modest and my posture normal. The catty comments were just one more part of the utter misery that was Junior High.
Probably the only reason I wasn't labelled a slut was because I didn't talk to boys and they didn't talk to me. No doubt one or two casual conversations or a single flirtatious glance would have been enough to "earn" the title.
I think I'd have been seriously bothered by being called a slut.
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There are three kinds of kid time
[Read the article: I'm a mom who needs more solitude]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]1) Intense time when your full attention is on your kid. THis is quality time.
2) Time when you are really paying attention and your kid is talking at you, trying to get you to do something, etc.
3) Time when the kid is busy doing his own thing and you are just in the house.
Number 2 is the killer. It saps all your energy and maked you cranky. It might be okay if you are doing something that doesn't require much thought (like laundry).
You need to minimize 2 for your sanity. Set times for you to do your own thing when the kid needs to be doing his own thing. (Lego, bike riding). Reward him for leaving you alone (maybe with some quality time.)
Think about what you need and how to change his behavior to get it. This has to fit his schedule and yours.
PS, Send him to day camp for the summer.
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My small college
[Read the article: Is Title IX hurting women's wrestling?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Had to make choices about what sports to offer. Women's gymnastics got cut, for what sounds like all the same reasons that women's wrestling often doesn't get offered. YOu can't argue that women's gymnastics is testosterone fueled.
The cost wasn't the issue: it was gym time. To maintain a competitive team, you need to practice several several times a week, most sports like to have at least an hour a day. Then there is gym use during competitions.
Everyone has their pet sport, but is it really sexism that's keeping the emerging sport of the moment out of college gyms, or maybe just resource limitations?