Letters to the Editor
KitchenGirl
Published Letters: 531 Editor's Choice: 38
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Highlighting
[Read the article: The Fix]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that the random highlighting is extremely irritating and an affront to my personal judgement and taste, as if I need someone else to tell me what I like or should think is important.
It would be nice for that highlighting to go away, but please wait until April 10th because I would like you to highlight The Alternate Routes appearance on the Conan O'Brien Show on April 9th. That's real good stuff right there, trust me on this one.
Thank you!
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Freedom of speech is a protected right
[Read the article: I-mess]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Last I checked Freedom of Speech was still a protected right.
It is. Freedom of speech means that the US government cannot put you in prison for speaking your mind.
It does *not* mean that you can't lose your job, or sponsorship, or have college acceptances withdrawn, or any other myriad consequences befall you should you choose to shoot your mouth off.
"Freedom of Speech" alludes to the relationship between private citizens and the Federal government, and nothing more. If you want to shout horribly offensive things from the rooftops, by all means go ahead. If you want to use your company's letterhead to send racist/sexist/'phobic communications out to the world, by all means go ahead. Just be sure to man up when it comes time to face the consequences of your actions.
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Appalled at the inhumanity
[Read the article: More cruelty from right-wing crackpots]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One survivor did state the gunman even stopped and reloaded while in a classroom filled with intended victims. I think it's fair to ask why didn't his guns get taken away?
First: reloading a semiautomatic takes a matter of seconds. They're designed that way, so that police don't have to fiddle and fumble with ammunition clips and let criminals get the jump on them.
Second: Shock? Panic? Fear for your life? I think seeing your professors' and friends' blown to pieces might cause even the strongest people to simply shut down out of a survival instinct. Let me tell you from an unfortunately personal viewpoint: there isn't much left of a human head after it's been hit with bullets. By the accounts of the physicians treating the wounded, the killer was particularly savage in the number of times he fired on individuals.
This isn't the movies, and while there are some people who will react differently, I suspect the natural human reaction for the vast majority of us is incomprehensible terror, and a subsequent inability to do anything other than try to get the fuck out of the way.
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I'm all about the last suggestion
[Read the article: Miss America: Crime fighter]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sure, why not? Make it a contest! The person who catches the most child-molesters wins... I don't know what. The chance to be the one to stick a needle in their arm(s) and end their abortion of an existence?
Sounds good to me.
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Other people's money
[Read the article: Attack of the female millionaires]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What accounts for the accumulated wealth of male millionaires? How many of them have earned their money versus acquired it from an inheritance (it's less likely that they would become rich due to a divorce settlement?)
As long as we're crunching numbers, I'd like to see how many of these people are actually self-made versus legacy millionaires, then we'd see how financially equal men and women really are...
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Worldview shaped by one's surroundings
[Read the article: My sister has become a monster cop!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I share a previous poster's astonishment that the county would have their newest recruits working with the most horrible people first.
I don't have any particular advice to give, only an observation: a friend of mine is an appellate DA, so her whole life is consumed with keeping rapists and murders in jail when they try to get out on technicalities. She has served search warrants for multiple murders, and seen some truly inhuman acts. Not surprisingly, she is one of the most negative people I've ever met. She automatically assumes the worst about everyone and every situation, because her world is so clouded by having seen the absolute worst of human nature.
I can't convince her otherwise (I wouldn't presume to try, it's not really my business), all I can do is limit the time I spend around her and make an extra effort in my own life to find goodness around me and to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It's unfortunate, because she is a lot of fun and when she's not informing me that complete strangers must have been victims of (say) sexual abuse because they are overweight and bossy (that is a true example) she's quite funny and we have a good time. Personally, I'd rather be optimistic and risk disappointment than life my life being suspicious all the time.
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Heart attack line
[Read the article: Finale wrap-up: "30 Rock"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Ride it, Donaghy! Ride it straight to hell!"
(*collapse*)
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Heart attack line, addendum
[Read the article: Finale wrap-up: "30 Rock"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I *think* there was another line before it, something like:
"This is it, this is The Big One! Ride it, Donaghy! Ride it straight to hell!"
Something like that. Alec Baldwin should have been doing comedy all along. "Hunt for Red October" and all that type of stuff is fine, but when he showed up on SNL making out with Phil Hartman that's when bells should have gone off for everyone. He's born for deadpan.
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Precarious finances and impromptu trips to England
[Read the article: At her majesty's pleasure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Re why he couldn't pay the fine and leave sooner:
I imagine his financial situation- like that of many others- is quite precarious.
How much does a last-minute flight to England cost in December -- peak travel time? I just checked online and seven months in advance a BA flight to LHR in the middle of December is going to run $700. The price will climb as those tickets book up for the holidays. If he's got at least a grand just lying around to zip off to England for a few days during peak travel season I suspect his finances aren't quite as precarious as you would like to think.