Letters to the Editor
Allie_
Published Letters: 1242 Editor's Choice: 109
-
re: several
[Read the article: Chatty Cathy, Taciturn Ted?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have peace, quiet and room to grow. Is there anything else I really need so badly that I have to trade them for it?
Beautifully said.
I'm a firm believer in Plato's view of love (which was not 'Platonic' in the modern sense) - that the purpose of love is to inspire each of us to be a better person in hopes of being worthy of the beloved. Therefore, love should always start with awe - mutual awe. And this awe should grow with time, because both of you should improve over time. If he's not awestruck by you, and you aren't by him, stop there.
Plato lived in a world where he could only envision this kind of love as happening between two men. That's tragic.
Re: anonymous about mindfucking. Also beautifully said. The problem with trolls is that there's always SOMEONE who will bite. There's essentially no moderation here, Ben and Brightstar haven't been banned despite months of contributing nothing other than personal attacks, and there will always be someone on any given day who responds to them. Therefore, there can be no meaningful communication on any subject on these forums. That's why most forums have moderators.
-
hey deering, Juliebird
[Read the article: Chatty Cathy, Taciturn Ted?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the boycott until there's moderation here is a good idea. Are you gals on board? This won't work unless we all do it.
-
moderation and viewpoint
[Read the article: Chatty Cathy, Taciturn Ted?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"You're fat and ugly," is not a viewpoint, it's an attack - no one here can see anyone else, so it cannot be an opinion.
I'm not aware of any other online space in which speech like the above is protected.
Visiting Broadsheet's letter pages makes me sick. I have encountered more dick-waving hatred here than in any other online forum, including ones run by teenaged boys. Reading Broadsheet's letters is like voluntarily wading through vomit. No reasonable person would do it for very long at all, which is why so few reasonable people are left.
-
again with the "I'm going to accuse you of doing what I do myself"
[Read the article: Chatty Cathy, Taciturn Ted?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Troll" and "misogynist" are descriptive terms with clearly-defined meanings, the validity of which can be determined online. A misogynist is someone who hates women. Ben and brightstar have both claimed to hate women, therefore they are misogynists. A troll is someone who makes offensive comments for the sake of provoking a response. Both Ben and brightstar have admitted they do this for this purpose, therefore they are trolls.
"Dimwit" is less defensible - however, I know few people who are capable of standing still and taking repeated punches to the face without hitting back eventually. No woman here has initiated an attack.
Okay, last suggestion, and then I'm out of here, with the exception of making posts explaining the boycott: use that "contact writer" form and write everyone at Salon to explain what's up and why.
-
a word of caution
[Read the article: Mom's a pothead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The kid can and will leave. That would be pretty stupid of her, to push her son into leaving over something like this.
I raised a foster kid. I was a court-appointed special advocate. I can tell you all about stupid parents. This lady is one. The way you tell the stupid parents is that they always think they can rule the teenager the way they ruled the child. These parents are never, ever, ever right. Teenagers don't accept "I'm the parent therefore I rule even when I'm wrong." As well they shouldn't - teenagers are learning to be adults, and an adult who thought that way would be a pretty sad excuse for a human being. Teenagers fight back like wolverines. If you force them into a corner, they will self-destruct rather than give in.
So the kid runs away. Yay! He's destroyed his life! All because some stupid bitch wouldn't stop smoking pot because "no kid of mine is going to tell me what to do."
-
not every doctor is a healer
[Read the article: Inside the minds of killer doctors]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why the assumption that these people had to "snap" from healer to killer? There are many reasons to become a medical doctor. Wanting to help people is about halfway down the list. Status is probably at the top of it, followed by a desire to make money. In the case mentioned in the article, the good doctor was simply following the expected career for his family.
In America, it's fairly difficult to get the money for the education to become a doctor. In much of the Muslim world, it's much easier. Egypt for example guarantees a higher-level education to anyone who can pass the tests. It only makes sense that if it's easier to become a doctor, more people with more widely varied motivations will become doctors.
-
dangerous bees?
[Read the article: Hives among us]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sweet suffering... Is the sky falling yet, Chicken Little?
And I say this as someone who is allergic to bees.
-
re: allergies
[Read the article: Hives among us]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I really am allergic to bees. The last time I was stung, in 5 minutes my arm was so swollen I couldn't bend my elbow, and by the time we got to the ER, I couldn't breathe. I have a dime-sized scar from that beesting.
And I think the fearmongers are being ridiculous. I'm much more afraid of being hit by a car than of being stung by a bee. The only reason I was stung in the first place is that some dumbass who was afraid of bees tried to swat the poor bee. I don't walk barefoot in clover fields, but I smell flowers on bushes covered with bees all the time. Honeybees aren't dangerous.
-
don't fuck her
[Read the article: A 19-year-old wants my husband]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Knowing that a man values her for a reason other than sex will do her a world of good. Her trying to become the most important person in your husband's life will do no one any good. If your husband doesn't get this, you're better off both staying the hell away from her.