Letters to the Editor
dragondawn
Published Letters: 19 Editor's Choice: 2
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All hail the King
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is the kind of column that keeps me coming back. I was laughing and grinning the whole way through, and I don't even like basketball. It's in big part thanks to your columns that I have become somewhat of a football fan, and now look forward to each Steelers season so I can watch with my stepdad.
Your columns are always educational, at least to me, since I've never been much of a sports fan other than motorsports. I have to say, if you wrote about underwater basketweaving I'd read it; you've got a way with words, man. Heck, if it wasn't for Since You Asked (what can I say, I like to watch human trainwrecks), Table Talk, and your column, my Salon subbie would have canceled long ago.
Thanks for the good reading, King!
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"reproductive rights"
[Read the article: Is "choice" really all we're fighting for?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it's all right there, in two little words. a few letter writers have touched on it, but most have veered off into other areas of discusion.
once abortion is outlawed, the fundies will start aiming at contraception and other forms of reproductive management. they've already begun, with attacks on IVF, the morning-after pill availability, etc. what should matter to every single one of us, male or female, is that there is a small group of people trying to legislate that most private of things, reproduction. the term "reproductive rights" is an umbrella that shelters a hell of a lot of things (basic women's healthcare, anyone?) that a hell of a lot of people in this country think are valuable.
the LW who mentioned that different segments of the population had different concerns about abortion (privacy, safety, choice ads)...the term "reproductive rights" can be discussed with each of those ideas as the thrust of the conversation. it speaks to privacy: the privacy to make one's own decisions about one's life; it speaks to safety in that a woman should have the right to health care while pregnant; it speaks to choice for both women and men about if and when to become parents.
the pro-choice movement needs to have a frame for the debate that is versatile and that can speak to a wide range of people and points of view. i feel that "reproductive rights" is that frame.
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read slowly next time
[Read the article: They called me a child pornographer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]to the bright sparks who misread the article: the author has 2 daughters and 1 son. both his daughters went on the camping trip: the 3-year-old girl was skinnydipping in the pictures and the 8-year-old boy was shown drying his underwear by the campfire. one of the other family's children, a girl, was in a picture holding a broken beer bottle she had found. the author states on page 3 that these were among the six photos (out of an entire roll) that the police turned over to DFCS. so, no, one 3-year-old girl did not go camping with a horde of males who would have surely ravished her.
it's all there in the article, folks. if you hadn't read it so fast (why, were you rushing/hoping to get to the dirty parts?), you would have got your facts straight before submitting a LTTE on the internet. in fact, as i was writing this, i referred back to the article in question several times to make sure i was getting my facts correct. y'know, FACTS. so i don't open my mouth and say something stupid in front of the entire internet.
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amazing letters
[Read the article: How the left caused 9/11, by Dinesh D'Souza]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]everyone who's written in on this article is firing on all cylinders, and with nitro. damn, y'all! not a dud letter (except this one).
the complete disconnect to reality of d'souza and the rest of the neocon/bushistas/xtianist fundiwhackos group continues to amaze and befuddle me. i do have to disagree with the letter writers who said salon shouldn't have given d'souza the platform to talk about his book; i say they have done a public service by doing so. this interview crystallizes how crazy these people are, and the more americans get to see it the better.
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brava, hc! brava!
[Read the article: How can I, a middle-aged single woman, just enjoy the rest of my life?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW, listen to what hc says. She's telling you the truth (and she said it really nicely, too. compared to how it could have been). I'm currently in the middle of the process: I got tired of men treating me poorly, and I finally realized it was because of how I felt about myself. I've got a good therapist now, and a few really good friends and I'm getting there..slowly, but surely. If you do the same thing, LW, I think you'll eventually find a man who will treasure the obviously intelligent person you are.
It's not easy to do the work, but the end result is SO worth the effort.
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Grief
[Read the article: I found my father dead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sean, I'm so sorry for your loss. I was in your shoes 2 years ago with my mom, and I'm now having to watch my beloved stepdad face cancer after he took care of mom with hers. As Cary and Virgo said, things do get better with time. The heaviness, the emptiness...it will recede with time, even though right now it doesn't feel that way. Be kind to yourself, and with your family, and take things one at a time, and it will get better. Or as my biodad says, you learn to live with the loss, adjusting to the weight of it (as it were).
Virgo, I'm also sorry for you and your family. I can't imagine what you've all gone through with your mom...you have all my good wishes. I hope her passing was a good one, to make up for the dementia.
You are both in my good thoughts...may the passage of time be kind to you and yours.