Letters to the Editor
Quiet Type
Published Letters: 698 Editor's Choice: 32
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Not game for gaming
[Read the article: My boyfriend is nice, but I fantasize about wilder times]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This was tossed off so casually in the letter that I pretty much missed it the first time around: He's a gamer? No wonder she's getting antsy. If he's a gamer in the way I'm imagining, well it IS a crashing bore to spend hours and hours with a guy who's "there," in the same room with you, but not "there," relating to you, because he's lost in childish video land. Maybe it's this isolated gaming thing that's really getting to her. It sure would to me.
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Isn't it about time....
[Read the article: Bashing Elizabeth Edwards]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...to administer a drug test on Ann Coulter before she's allowed to perform on these shows? That flailing, hyped-up paranoia thing is kind of methy. Or at least cokey.
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The answer lies within (within Cary's previous columns).
[Read the article: I work with the most annoying man alive]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think you should pick a day, tell everyone (but him) to wear a t-shirt that reads "Kitty Not Happy;" then each of you be sure to make a big show of pausing at his desk as you file in, eyes glinting with menace, fingernails up and curled in a scratch position.
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Clause perspective
[Read the article: In the midst of joy, I have dark thoughts]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, the way I look at it, if in the midst of joy you have dark thoughts, congratulations and welcome to existence as an average human being. Now if in the midst of dark thoughts, you have joy, that indicates you have only occasional moments free from fear and anxiety, and that would REALLY suck.
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To Kiteflyer:
[Read the article: Oh, horrors: Childless marriages, unwed cohabitation!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"As society focuses less and less on the importance of parenting, any hope of support for, say, family friendly work policies or family friendly government policies slips further and further out of our grasp."
It is interesting, isn't it? It does seem the "importance" placed on parenting is a kind of token sentimental slop put out there with none of the nourishing meaty substance you mention here. I don't think it's any coincidence.
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Kicking Robin Williams
[Read the article: "License to Wed"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The definition of insanity is seeing one Robin Williams movie, then seeing another, hoping it will be better.
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Oprah needs help.
[Read the article: Does self-help breed helplessness?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I channel surfed to an Oprah show last night - I'm not sure if I was watching something pretty old or a rerun from earlier the same day. There were several overweight women on stage who were either about to start a "best life" (I think?) type program or were already on it.
And at one point all I could think to myself is that Oprah has gone nuts, completely desperate to make sure others are desperate -- because there was one overweight woman on there saying she's happy, she's got a boyfriend, she's fine -- and Oprah practically threw a fit shouting her down that no, she's not happy, she's got a big problem she doesn't want to face.
It was shocking bullying, and the woman finally went into appeasement mode, assuring Oprah that yes, indeed, she must need help.
Oprah, go build a school somewhere.
REALLY, really weird television.
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Carrier Day
[Read the article: Air head]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You know who deserves a national holiday? Willis Carrier. The economic and technological implications of his invention, well beyond "mere" personal comfort and health, have been pointed out in other letters here.
Let's pick a day in August, gather 'round our air conditioners, and raise a glass of iced tea in his honor.
(Btw, my modern American heroes are the heating and air repair guys.)
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Chicago
[Read the article: A condom for every city]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Chicago condom:
"Use early! Use often!"
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I don't even get high and I'm not getting this.
[Read the article: Mom's a pothead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's a lot of presumption on Cary's part that Mom is pretty much lost to Kid, but I re-read the letter and nowhere do I see any evidence of that.
Actually, all I'm seeing from the letter is a mom who has a successful marriage, successful kids, and nice life in the suburbs, and a son who, for his own indeterminate reasons, is trying to convert her into a non-pot smoking mom. (Hmmm, sounds just like every other co-dependent relationship I've ever heard of.)
So am I missing something? To me it all just sounds like some big tug-of-war control issue going on at home. Maybe what this is really about, is that the kid with all his DARE programming is, at bottom, scared to death mom's going to get busted, and THAT would be the loss of Mom. It would be a pretty legitimate fear, unfortunately.
When it comes down to it, as regards morals, lying, weaknesses of all kinds, pretty much every parent alive is a Big Dopey Hypocrite, one way or another. One of the most painful parts of growing up (and it can take till well past middle age, or even not happen at all), is to accept it and love Mom and Dad anyway.
Hate to say it, but if Mom on pot is the biggest problem in this family, they're kind of lucky.
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Couric's Greatest Hits
[Read the article: No apologies, Katie Couric!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I remember her announcing the Salt Lake Olympics, '[Here comes the Iranian team, part of what George Bush refers to as the Axis of Evil.]' Thank you for letting us know."
Ha! Thanks, Elisabeth, for reminding me of that gem. I don't think I've seen Couric a half-dozen times in my life, yet stuck in my own brain is the giggly, hair-flipping smittenness of her alleged "interview" of Howard Stern.
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Yeah, about that sputum thing
[Read the article: No apologies, Katie Couric!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've known that word since I was a teenager discussing medical topics. What is the ditz's problem with that word? It reminds me of all those fools who freaked out over "niggardly" a while back. Nothing like flashing ignorance like it's some kind of badge of honor!
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Repeat:
[Read the article: No apologies, Katie Couric!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"If the CBS Evening News goes in the tank, it will be the fault of BOTH the network and Ms. Couric. In my personal opinion, they both looked to each other for part of the solution on the ratings decline when they should have looked to people interested in the news for their answers on how to construct a newscast worth watching."
Amen and amen.