Letters to the Editor
stackey-dackey
Published Letters: 242 Editor's Choice: 8
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Sad and Kind of Funny
[Read the article: Women and Clinton: Damned if they vote, damned if they don't?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Something AKA Smith wrote in one of her excellent posts got me thinking about how despite his words to the contrary, Obama's campaign is becoming more and more divisive. I don't blaim him, but it seems to me that there's level of touchiness at everything Obama does that's not very helpful to the discussion. I'm not hating. I'm a member of a minority whose touchiness is legendary. I spent most of my time in college sitting classes with rich white students who couldn't even see why I would find some of their comments offensive. Finally, I realized I was looking at everything they said through the prism of my own race and my sex. A fair amount of the time, I was taking offense when offense wasn't meant. It's just like when I see people on these threads call Obama arrogant, it get's my back up; all I can think is that they are implying he's an uppity n**** who should know his place. Maybe some of y'all are actually saying that; however, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Something I wish all democrats, male and female, would give both canidates.
Since I'm a black woman, I suppose I'm not as conflicted as white women. In my mind, I win either way. A female president or a mixed-raced president. Either way, we've come a long way baby.
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Proving Heath Ledger was a crack fiend
[Read the article: Understanding Heath Ledger's death]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Amerigo,
Look, either way, we will probably never know for sure if Ledger was an addict using prescription drugs to get off of harder drugs, a "recreational" drug user, or an unfortunate prescription drug addict. The fact is, it's all speculation. The only people who might know for sure are his parents and his close friends and his ex-wife and they aren't talking right now and probably will never talk. If Ledger was an addict, kept his addiction to himself; he never ran around carrying someone else's cocaine in his pocket, smashing up cars, or doing anything that would give the tabloids any reason to write about him before he died. What his story can show is that even "functional" drug addicts can die from playing around with drugs, which I think is important for any young person to know.
As someone who worked for while in the periphery of Hollywood, drugs are so prevelant over there I'd be more surprised he didn't do rails at a party or smoke a whole bunch of pot. I never went out a night in LA without someone offering me some sort of illegal drug, and I was hanging out with people who worked behind the scenes, at production companies and as assistants. The truth is, the folks who are really screwed up on drugs in Hollywood are probably the ones we don't know anything about. They aren't acting out; they are too fucked up to go out.
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I've been in this exact same position, LW
[Read the article: Help! I'm committing professional suicide!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And I managed to get fired. I did everything I possibly could to get fired; I didn't show up for work, I stopped doing any work, I spent my time playing computer games and made as many mistakes as I possibly could. I was hungover and sometimes even drunk after a pitcher of margarita lunch, surly, and I frequently wept at my desk when I wasn't hiding underneath it. My insane antics are probably the stuff of legends over there; I'm not proud, but it does make for some pretty funny cocktail stories.
Finally, after a staff shake-up, they let me go. It was the first time in my over-achieving life I'd ever actually failed at anything.
I may have been depressed or suffering from ADHD (doubtful) but truthfully, I think it really came down to the fact that I worked so hard to get my foot in the door in that particular profession and I LOATHED it. And maybe if you're anything like me, it has less to do with brain chemistry and more to do with a need to find something, anything, better.
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I don't watch the Today Show
[Read the article: Russian centenarian doesn't need your stinkin' shuffleboard]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But I betcha Al Roker wouldn't get rid of such a popular franchise. My great-grandmother hung on for two years just to get on the Today Show.
As for killing varmints: Oh the horror. My ex-boyfriend used to shoot racoons, squirrels, and other assorted woodland critters for food when he was growing up. He had 8 brothers and sisters, they were sharecropping on a tobacco farm, and they didn't have the money to go to Whole Foods and buy organic tofu. They got food stamps (sometimes) but that presupposed they could get a ride in to town to buy the food.
This may or may not be the case for the old Russian woman, but maybe some of ya'll should take into account the fact that animals are food in most of the world.