Letters to the Editor
phoebe
Published Letters: 37 Editor's Choice: 6
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Phoebe
[Read the article: Playing doctor in inappropriate clothes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not a prude, but I am of a "certain age" and I work on a college campus. A combination of the tight, clinging style of knits and more open attitudes toward display of the body do make me, too, roll my eyes at female dress these days. It is disconcerting to enter a classroom with female students bending over their notebooks revealing deep cleavage and the tops of their heads-- and little else to identify them.
I celebrate the freedom women have to dress up or down, wear skirts or pants, don fabrics and colors that men never get to explore... but it seems to me it is exactly this freedom that needs attention. Men just have fewer options--they can be unkempt and casual but they just don't usually show up in speedo's as a matter of daily style.
I haven't read the article in question here, and no doubt it is the usual thing to take women to task for "asking for it", but I do think professional (reserved) attire is called for when a person is expecting to be seen and treated as a professional (that is, taken seriously). Maybe we've neglected to teach that to young women in the same way we teach other appropriate behaviors such as speech and table manners.
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Grandmother cred
[Read the article: Scenes from the new beginning]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]OK, get used to it. When good women have real power in government, the concern for the next (and next) generation gets attention. Let's hope it isn't too late to "do it for the children." That is exactly the focus that has been missing in our misuse of the environment, in waging needless war, in greedy short-gain capitalism. If we don't do it for the children, what future do we have?
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More accurate headline
[Read the article: Iran and Iraq, anonymously]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LAME DUCK CRIES WOLF (AGAIN)
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Theo Chocolate
[Read the article: Dark chocolate goes green]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is another huzzah for Theo Chocolate in Seattle. Organic, fair trade, delicious; bar flavors range from truest milk to intensest dark with inventive and complex side trips.
I've toured the factory where it all starts with the beans, and met the committed, enthusiastic folks who make it. I hope they'll thrive along side the corporate chocolate giants...much the way microbreweries do in the face of Bud and Coors. If you find a righteous product like Theo's, buy it!
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Go, Mike!
[Read the article: Gravel's complaint]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hope Mike Gravel stays in the race and is given a place in the debates. He's a HERO for getting the Pentagon Papers in front of the Senate in the 70's and for making them available to the American public. If for nothing else, he should be revered for that.
He has candor and courage, so, yeah, maybe that makes him a little nuts. He seems to enjoy making fun of the campaign process--even mocking it. (Imagine!) And he speaks out strongly against the Iraq war. He has a sense of humor and principles... I like those traits in a politician!
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Confused
[Read the article: Barack Obama, jihadist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've read his statement 3 or 4 times now and I'll be damned if I can figure out what he's trying to say--regardless of the name you put in the blank. He's definitely in the GWB speaking tradition.
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Who's burdened by landfill costs?
[Read the article: Stop junk mail for good]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've long wondered why local municipalities that are responsible for dealing with the mountains of junk mail waste haven't organized against cheap mailings. No need to restrict anything a household wants to receive, but why isn't there some noise about the postage advantage bulk mailings receive? That advantage gets translated directly into disposal costs. A systemic approach to deal with this problem might make a bigger dent in the problem than individual responses. Like California has shown, a state can set car pollution standards more demanding than the feds...why not attack junk mail in the same way.
In the meantime, thanks for the links for individuals to stop the deluge of junk. Every bit helps.
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Can't help myself... I'm beginning to love her
[Read the article: The witch ain't dead, and Chris Matthews is a ding-dong]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've got an Edwards bumper sticker on my car, but I find my basic feminist nature taking real pride in Hillary's success. Maybe it's because I never really believed a woman could become president --in my lifetime, anyway-- but I'm surprised at the deep satisfaction I feel at Clinton's win in NH.
This article is right on for me. I find in my heart I want Hillary (and John and Barak) to win big. Does that make me Undecided or Inclusive?
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Authentic tears
[Read the article: Obama co-chairman: Clinton didn't cry for Katrina]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hear, hear, Sampson141... I agree. Let's get all the teary moments from all candidates and put them on the Authenticator-meter. Women candidates: emotional, soft, PMS-ish. Until Hilary when the Ice Queen image prevails. Men have cried before and it was curtains for their campaign. It's really time we start facing our fallacious prejudices. Shame on Jesse Jackson.
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Rudy's on a roll...
[Read the article: Rudy's on a roll]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ever notice when something's rolling it is usually going downhill?
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Too old to be a babe in the woods...
[Read the article: McCain attacks Obama again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We hear the distant noise of the McCain bulldozer starting up--and ugly as it will be when it's used on Hillary, it'll be even nastier when it runs over Barack. McCain is old but he's not toothless...he'll have the RNC machinery behind him when it's clear he's the candidate. We've seen it before and we'd be wise, as another poster said, not to underestimate him.
(The Obama "plan" details I've been looking for are the ones where he tells us how he's going to get both sides to work together. We'd all like to have the Other Side come on over to Our Side, but personally I'm not ready to move any farther right than we've already been pushed. I'll have more confidence in his Plan when he addresses this one directly-- otherwise it IS just a platitude.)