Letters to the Editor
domini
Published Letters: 1162 Editor's Choice: 79
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A theme
[Read the article: What is La Leche League smoking?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Snarking on grammar and reading comprehension always seems to end badly.
It is horrible that teens were forced to bear and give up children in the 1930s-early 1960s. That does NOT mean adoption itself is evil. Adoption is not inherently evil. All good things can be corrupted. When mothers abandon children or endanger them, why should the children be returned to them? Does the right to have custody outweigh the right to protect the children's lives? Had someone taken custody of the children from Rusty and Andrew Yates, those kids would be alive. Would being alive in an "artificial" family be better than dead by your psychotic mother's hand?
If a parent dies, and the other parent remarries, I guess that's "artificial". If both parents die, and someone adopts the kids, that's "artificial". If the parents are druggies and gangbangers who go to jail, should the kids languish in foster care while waiting for them to get their acts together?
There's a logical disconnect here.
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There is a link between drugs and street prostitution
[Read the article: Diary of a sex slave]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It seems to be a strong one. While few high class indoor prostitutes use drugs, street walkers evidently do.
http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/problem-street_prostitution.htm
"Previous research on women who engaged in prostitution has found a high rate of drug abuse among this population (Kuhns, Heide, & Silverman, 1992; El-Bassel et al., 1997; Nadon, Koverola, & Schludermann, 1998; Potterat, Rothenberg, Muth, Darrow, & Phillips-Plummer, 1998). Among the reasons for women entering into prostitution, drug addiction itself is one of the main explanations given by researchers (Weeks, Grier, Romero-Daza, & PuglisiVasquez, 1998; Kuhns, et al; Gossop, Powis, Griffiths, & Strang, 1994)...While previous research suggests that women enter into prostitution as a means to support their drug use, it is often overlooked that prostitutes may cope with the negative aspects of their job by using drugs, further perpetuating the downward cycle of prostitution and drug addiction."
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3733/is_200010/ai_n8906396
Onset places on street prostitutes' usage as high as 50%+
http://www.bayswan.org/stats.html
This site discusses arguments against legalizing sex work from a non-religious view
http://www.csun.edu/~psy453/prosti_n.htm
"Among females, arrestees charged with prostitution, drug possession or sale were most likely to test positive for drug use."
http://www.ncjrs.gov/htm/chapter2.htm
Drugs are involved in youth prostitution in Canada
http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/rs/rep/1999/tr99-3a.html
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Half of Texas is West, Half South: It's all about CLASS
[Read the article: Terms of endearment]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From Houston to the eatern line with Louisiana, from Houston through Dallas to Oklahoma, that's SOuth. Thew western part (across the rolling flat land going to San Antonion and Austin) is West. It makes a difference.
There are different Souths, with different geographic, cultural and generational custom. In Atlanta, depending on where you are, You won't get a "sugar". Mississippi is a culture unto itself. Within this, different people are different. Class is the real divider now.
But really, sometimes the nosy questions at home really are just to judge. I'm from Louisiana, and when meeting other people from there, I still get the "who ya people, who ya mama" questions. That's part of the reason I'm in the Midwest. I can live without the clannishness based on class.
In the north, segregationa on race and class exists. It's more undercover. In the South, you have a faction that is very in-your-face about it. You also have a hug you to stab you faction.
Then again, there's idiots in every region. Why should the South be different?
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Put the Farley letter in
[Read the article: Since You Asked: The Book]
[Read more letters about this article: Here] -
Server ate my justificaiton
[Read the article: Since You Asked: The Book]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Farley letter was about the husband who would not have sex. It lit up Table Talk for ages. It came out whenever people were bored. It's a classic.
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The letter form 2005
[Read the article: Since You Asked: The Book]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where the husband would not let go of the homosexual affairmates.
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Uh, Bob
[Read the article: Reclaiming hip-hop]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Salt-n_Pepa? McLyte? TLC? The Queen? Roxanne Shante'? I don't know which rap you remember, but there have been positive women before who were very popular.
Commercial rap promotes the stereotypes because thats what corporate bean counters want. From "The Message" to "Death Certificate", rap has discussed the inner city. To dismiss the Sugar Hill gang days as all party rap is to miss "The Message" and its followers.
Even the party rap wasn't as misogynistic and anti-gay as what hits in the 90s. Part of that was commercialization, part of it was the influence of the Nation of Islam on a number of rapper, part of it was NWA and 2Live Crew trying to see what would sell records.
Reclaiming rap is hard, because it is meant for suburban teenage boy idiots. They don't really know or care about the inner city or women. They want "cool", to be the "outlaw".
Go read Slate's article on Weird al Yankovic for his sendup of these wannabes and their images of "cool".
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If you drop past the drop date your money is gone
[Read the article: I have found hell on earth -- an "MBA program"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It depends on the university. At mine you can get partial refunds up to the tenth week, but we are generous. At others, you have 3-4 weeks before you can't get a refund at all.
LW should talk to a financial aids counselor and a school counselor, as well as the advisor. Good luck.