Letters to the Editor
domini
Published Letters: 1093 Editor's Choice: 76
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Thank you for a good analysis
[Read the article: The city of lost children]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The Wire" is painful to watch. It is especially painful for those of us who have escaped it. The institutional failures pile on top of each other. This show has an ear for the tangles of problems. In the 4 children (because for me, a 14 year old is still very much a child in need of protection), we have a human face for what commentators far too often dismess as "those people". It denies the simplistic solution (love will not save those kids, nor will professing Jesus, to the troll on the first page). A nuanced show deserved a nuanced review, and this was it. The fate of being labeled a snitch was actually downplayed on the Wire. In a number of cities, they wouldn't stop at burning down your house. Gangbangers will straight up execute you. To show why people are so scared is so important. Unfortunately, the people who need to watch "the Wire" will never watch it. They will continue in their simplistic views, blaming "those people" for wanting to "live like that". Then again, if they did see it, would they care?
I wish more people watched. I think it is easier for some people to escape to ignore than to look. If we don't see this human face, if we don't understand it, we can easily turn away, and say "why waste more money on..." We can incarcerate instead of look for solutions.
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"Ghetto capitalism" the academic book
[Read the article: The city of lost children]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]All the academic critics are lauding this book. It doesn't sound one tenth as insightful as the Wire. The author discusses the underground economy, but never makes real the price of that economy, and what happens when a critical mass in the community rely on "shadiness". "The Wire" does this so beautifully.
I agree that the vice-principal was trying to help.
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You are missing some of the best things in life.
[Read the article: May I dip my English muffin in my egg yolk, please?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For the record I am also against the eating of ribs, chicken wings, or anything else messy in public. It looks disgusting. And while we're at it, most people can't even eat spaghetti and sauce without creating a repulsive display. Don't slurp it up and let the sauce drip from your lips, you vile heathen! Use your fork and spoon to make human sized bites that can be fully contained, sauce and all, in your mouth!
I freely admit I have issues. -- Karen
No wings at BW3 on cheap wing night while in college? No Tomy Roma's or Famous Dave's for ribs? No no-name rib joints? No tortillas?
There is pain, and then there is deprivation. Eating these things among your friends is one of the great parts of life. No having to cook them yourself, or clean up the joint, just makes it better. I hope you will reconsider this. Well done ribs hot off the fire are one of the Universe's great pleasures. Hot wings are another. They rank right up there with chocolate.
Along with "Tom Jones", try "9 1/2 Weeks". You'll never look at strawberries the same way again.
Goddamnit, now all of these letters have made me hungry!
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Methodology problem
[Read the article: Epidurals bad for breast-feeding?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]C-sections rates track very closely with geographic location. We have good studies showing doctor attitudes heavily influence when a c-section is done. That has a lot more influence on when c-sections happen than epidurals.
I will agree lactation support is the key. I had an epidural and breastfed successfully after for 25 months. The beginning was very painful. I had 54 hours of labor. My friends in Louisiana said their doctors would never have allowed that. My nurse in-laws in other states also said that I would not have been allowed to labor so long without a C-section in their states. Here, vaginal childbirth is prioritized by the Mayo system. So most women here have vaginal childbirths. Women here have equal rates of epidurals.
I had both non-epi and epi pain meds. That puts me in the roughly 80%+ of women who give birth. The study posits causation here where you have correlation. Epidurals are common. Lacking support for breastfeeding is also common. The two things are linked to American attitudes and geography, as ice cream and murder are linked by summer heat. This does not support the idea that one causes the other. We need a more rigorous study for that.
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Most single mothers don't chosse that outcome.
[Read the article: Choice momism?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Choice implies power. WHile the affluent over 30s are making a choice from strength, the majority of 19-28 year olds (the majority of single mother births in the country) do not usually make the choice from strength. They make it from birth control mishaps and problems of access. The small group of women in the age groups 19-35 who do not use birth control have a more than half of all single pregnancies. This group's abortion rate went up as wellbetween 2000 and 2005. http://www.slate.com/id/2150557/; http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm
"The majority of unwed births in the United States today are to adult women in their 20s. These are not 'children having children,' nor are they 'Murphy Browns.'"
http://lists101.his.com/pipermail/smartmarriages/1999-September/002296.html
"Choice" only applies to a small group. The real story here is the decoupling of the expectation of partnership. People are going it along because more people out there are refusing responsibility and pushing off adult responsibilities to their 30s. Most single mothers want a partner- their problem is finding one. That's not because of pickiness; it's actually a geographic, class, and cultural issue.
Can choice. Don't celebrate "choosing" motherhood. What that choice means is that too few people, male or female, hetero or homo, are willing to partner up for childrearing. Single motherhood is hard, and fatherlessness/motherlessness are problems. Single parenthood is better than foster care, or any other group of outcomes. For pro-lifers, it is definitely better than abortion. But two partners, whether same or different sex, are the gold standard because parenthood is exhausting and difficult with two people.