Letters to the Editor
laura-fox
Published Letters: 9 Editor's Choice: 1
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My vote...
[Read the article: The sexiest man living!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...goes to the shockingly unrecognized Gael Garcia Bernal. Did no one on the Salon staff see "The Motorcycle Diaries"?
Ditto on the Fiennes brothers (Ralph and Joseph) and Rufus Sewell ("Dark City," "Dangerous Beauty").
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Apparently, The Secret "attracted" Nightline...
[Read the article: Oprah's ugly secret]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hope people saw Nightline tonight...as they totally skewered "The Secret."
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2975835&page=1
Even better?
Nightline anchor Cynthia McFadden's interview with one of "The Secret"'s promoters, Bob Proctor:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/images/Nightline/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Proctor%20Transcript.pdf
Proctor maintains that the President of the American Cancer Society, who claimed that "there is absolutely no evidence that we bring cancer, disease upon ourselves," is simply "not well informed in this area."
Regarding Brian Greene, a professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University, who told McFadden that physics can't demonstrate the reality of the "Law of Attraction," Proctor says, "I don't know where he's coming from. I do know that a Doctorate's degree doesn't make a person necessarily aware of what we're talking about."
Oh, and my favorite? While children in Darfur may not have attracted starvation to themselves, "[their] country probably has."
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Cheers for PDX!
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd like to second (or third, as the case may be) Portland, OR. Other letter writers have mentioned the easy access to public transportation and the food/shopping options, which seem to consist mostly of low-cost, local businesses (including a small branch of the best bookstore in the world, Powell's). I would also note that the larger terminals (which house Southwest, Continental, among others) are really beautifully done -- the inlaid flooring depicts the rivers of the Pacific Northwest while the skylights give the whole area an atrium feel.
My vote for the worst: Oakland. Miserable food choices and apparently always under construction.
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Two points
[Read the article: My roommate bounces my cats the wrong way]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First, the OCD and the annoyance at the roommate seem to be two separate issues. People without OCD can also get annoyed with roommates who treat their possessions in a way they don't like or appreciate.
Second, as callous as may seem, the LW's cat is, in fact, a possession. Other posters have commented on the fact that cats are pretty independent, autonomous, etc., but the fact of the matter is that the LW provides the cat with food and a safe home, cleans its litter box, and probably make sure that the cat goes to a vet once in a while. By doing all these things for the cat, the LW assumes ownership.
For all those people deriding the LW for being too controlling or comparing the LW's request that the roommate stop treating the cat like a baby to a command that the roommate put marmalade on her toast "correctly," get a grip. The cat belongs to the LW, therefore the LW gets to determine how the cat is treated. If the roommate used the LW's blender, for example, and left it in the sink dirty for a few days, the LW would have every right to let the roommate know that it was not acceptable (and I doubt anyone would call the LW controlling).
LW, if reminding your roommate not to bounce your cat on her lap isn't working, take the advice of one of the previous posters and start taking the cat away from your roommate when it happens. She'll get the hint.
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Oh, thank heaven...for period suppression
[Read the article: The end of menstruation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm sorry, no offense to anyone who teaches courses in "feminist communications," but refusing to get a period every month does not mean I'm "objectifying [my] body."
It means I don't feel like putting up with a messy and uncomfortable pain in the ass every four weeks. It's my choice. Oh yeah, remember that word?
I've used Depo-Provera and am currently on a generic form of Seasonale, and I can't sing the praises of either one any higher.
Sure, getting a period is something that we have in common as women or makes us part of a "sisterhood" (whatever that means). So does having a baby or breast-feeding. It doesn't mean all of us want or have to experience them.
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Just to clarify...
[Read the article: In the military we trust]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]John Kerry might not be a superb public speaker, but he definitely wasn't insulting the troops. As he explained later, the line he spoke was supposed to read (before he mangled it), "Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get *us* stuck in Iraq."
A reference to Bush, not to our men and women in uniform.
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And this is my problem...
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton's long strange journey on Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...with strategists and pollsters.
Being able to admit you make mistakes doesn't make you look weak -- it makes you look human.
Just as refusing to admit you made mistakes doesn't make you look "strong" and "resolute" -- just look at Bush.
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Sigh.
[Read the article: Professor Obama, I presume? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are we really going to do this until August?
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Shoddy reporting
[Read the article: Hey, Obama boys: Back off already!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm sorry, but interviewing hand-selected people in order to provide you with choice anecdotes does not make for good reporting. I stopped counting how many times one of the women quoted in this piece used the words "I feel that..." or "I just have a feeling..." Real reporting uses facts and evidence, not just the stories of people who can't prove there's something going on, but just *know* it must exist. I might have taken this article seriously if it had something more than just "feelings" to back it up.
As a secondary point: If young women start using this primary election to continue (or in some cases, start) thinking about the state of feminism in America today, I'd be thrilled. I'm less thrilled about feminism being hijacked by the supporters of a particular candidate who claim that disliking their candidate makes you sexist.