Letters to the Editor
LindaAnne
Published Letters: 17 Editor's Choice: 1
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Woodward
[Read the article: Woodward's disgrace]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You become what you hate.
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Kate O'Beirne interview
[Read the article: My lunch with an antifeminist pundit]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Traister should have listened to Dr. Laura or read some Coulter to prepare for this interview. Their diatribes--like O'Beirne's--rest largely on straw men (sorry, guys!), which shows how truly light they are. Feminists 30 and 40 years ago fought different battles under different circumstances and won most of them. O'Beirne's desire to re-fight them is anachronistic, and Traister shouldn't have let her get away with it.
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Game of Shadows
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]RE B. Bonds' supposedly sacrificing his own body for the good of his team: There are other teams out here, other cities that want their teams to win. Adults should be able legally to do what they want to their own bodies, but when it hurts other people, it shouldn't be allowed. What Bonds and other cheaters do hurts everyone not on their teams or payrolls. Steroid users should have their own leagues.
Also: Bonds was brutish and threatening to a seven-year-old I had brought to an exhibition game in Scottsdale. The child wanted an autograph on a ball he'd bought with his own money for that purpose. Once again: this was a SEVEN-YEAR-OLD wanting an autograph!!!!
Bonds hurts people.
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Edward O. Wilson
[Read the article: "Religious belief itself is an adaptation"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One can be religious without accepting the reality of either death OR heaven, as dictated by Christianity and Islam. Wilson is bound too tightly to western views of god and heaven and spirituality. Eastern religions allow the notion that existence won't end for us, nor will seeking and learning. In fact, that's why we exist--to do exactly what Wilson loves to do. I certainly agree with Wilson that tribal dominance shouldn't be part of it.
And yes, all creatures have souls. Why not?
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Feminism
[Read the article: The happy hypocrite]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have the senior citizen's habit of looking back on the successes and failures of my younger days. One of the sweet successes was the battle I and my contemporaries fought, beginning 5 decades ago, to obtain equal rights and opportunities. A sweet success, because we won more than we expected. A sweet success because my brother now occasionally thanks me for making the world better for his now-grown daughters--for being part of something that gave them competitive sports, freedom of (outspoken) speech, adventuresome and rewarding career choices. Feminism has different challenges now, as evidenced by Walsh's article and women like Dr. Laura and Ms Flanagan. And it's ironic that today women square off against each other, more than against the wider culture. I think it's because we're each battling ourselves now, questioning our personal choices. Feminism's continuing evolution still fascinates me, despite my being far less dependent on its outcomes. I hope it forms a sweet success for all the younger women now engaged.
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Cohen's gripe
[Read the article: Cheney, Cohen and Colbert: The rhetoric and the reality of free speech]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cohen's point is misdirected. In his performance, Stephen Colbert never claimed to be speaking truth to power; occasionally he uses that expression on his show, while parodying blowhards like O'reilly--who DO claim to be speaking truth to power. I suspect Colbert would agree with Cohen's point--we DO have more freedom here to speak truth to power. But we rarely have a chance to confront this insulated president and his people without being quickly silenced. Colbert had the chance and he took it. I don't care whether he was funny. I LOVE that he took his shot.
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threatened atheists
[Read the article: The believer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Some of us are not so much defensive as disappointed. I envy Collins his comforting faith, and I read the article hoping to be persuaded. But he states only the usual arguments of the reasonable person, whether scientist or janitor, and demonstrates (for the nth time!) that nothing in science proves there is no god, and nothing in science proves God exists. We are on our own when it comes to faith. Science can't help us. We aren't on our own when it comes to scientific progress, however--we depend on the minds of (giant) others. That's why we don't like it when their progress is stalled by those who would have us conform to their religions.
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midterm elections
[Read the article: What we lost]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The gush of optimism Joan Walsh ends her article with makes me sad. The October Surprises (Shocks) are still ahead of us. Perhaps they will not frighten voters enough to save the Republican house, but they will extend the list of losses that Walsh so effectively chronicles.
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childless
[Read the article: Penalty Boxer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Elephantman asked, "Any questions" I didn't read all the postings, but I read a lot of them and didn't see him or anyone else address my question: Why is it insulting to note that a woman is childless? I mean that as a serious question. Why is it a bad thing or embarrassment to be childless? I ask that as a woman childless by choice, something very few people in my life (I'm now 64) ever really believed, but it is true. I've been happily married twice, I love kids, but I never, ever wanted the job of raising one. Or two. Or God forbid, more.
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Imus
[Read the article: Imus offends]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As a fan of college women's basketball AND a frequent listener/watcher of Imus In The Morning, I can attest that Don Imus doesn't respect college women's basketball, period. I believe he thought no one else does, either, and thus he could offer an incredibly crude remark with impunity. Still, I wish that SOMEDAY, SOMEONE targeted by a racist remark will riposte, rather than mope. Years ago, I regretted Tiger Woods' sullen reaction to Fuzzy Zoeller, when he could so effectively have made fun of him instead--this over-the-hill, out-of-touch competitor whose game pales beside Tiger's. Instead, we were asked to agree with Tiger that somehow, despite being incredibly gifted, privileged, and young, he had been made to suffer.