Letters to the Editor
BLodge
Published Letters: 4 Editor's Choice: 1
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Marriage Didn't Steal Her Self
[Read the article: Marriage: Greatest conspiracy in modern history?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Kristin doesn't seem to have been paying attention during her marriage, or at least while looking back. While reading her piece in Glamour it was so obvious to me what it was that really destroyed her sense of self. It wasn't the celebrity engagement, the ridiculously fabulous wedding, nor living in Europe (poor thing), not even quiting her religion (yet another destroyer of "self"). It was having kids that robbed her of her own being. Don't blame marriage. It's having children that causes a woman, and sometimes even a husband, to lose herself. That's what having kids does ... at least if the woman/couple/husband actually make the attempt to do the parenting thing right. There are thousands of happy marriages in which neither partner has sacrificed self, within which couples carry on meaningful, vibrant, loving, cooperative relationships while staying true to their individualism. The key to it is not having children. Raising kids demands that couples, er, I mean the wife - because that's the unfortunate nature of our culture, demands that parents sacrifice self and their relationship for the good of the child. My wish for Kristins next marriage is that it is childless, thus leaving her free to be herself and for she and her husband to be a true partnership of equals.
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Don't forget the volunteer recuers
[Read the article: Who's to blame for James Kim's death?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As someone said here earlier, nature is indeed an unforgiving bitch. Even so, thousands of people volunteer (!) to join search and rescue teams all across this country. Their purpose? To rescue both the seasoned outdorsmen and women who occasionally make a mistake, and the idiots who venture out clueless to the inherent dangers of this country's few remaining wild places. Yes... they VOLUTEER to come to the aide of the unlucky accident victim, and those making the stupid conscious decisions. How many volunteers and professionals alike risked their lives searching for the Kim's? Yes it's a fact ... the searchers themselves are all too often at risk of injury or death despite their training and presumed control of their circumstances. Mr Kim's father might better spend his time campaigning for more money, more training, and more equipment for the Search and Rescue Teams and Volunteer Fire Departments of this country than advocating knee jerk legislation and blaming the authorities for his son's bad choices. These days "the rescued" routinely fail to reimburse their volunteer rescuers for their services (a donation to the operating fund would sure help). And worse yet, in all too many situations, the victims family instead threatens litigation! Lucky for the Kim's that anybody still volunteers these days. If not for the volunteers and dedicated professionals (spending their meager budgets well into the red) Kim senior may today be mourning the loss of the entire family. Instead we find him blaming the rescuers et al for the death of his son. Classic American inability to take responsibility for ones own actions. Sad.
Also sad is the poster who called us critics of Kim's actions "annonymous assholes", then signed their post "Annonymous". Perfect
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Posting in public is like speaking in public ...
[Read the article: Who's to blame for James Kim's death?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I gave up public speaking years ago... now I know I can't spell so well in public either.
But I know my limits in the wilderness!
And I also misquoted Anonymous ... it was "shameless assholes".
Sorry
still, no less perfect.
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origins of a phrase - "Bling Bling"
[Read the article: Baby mama drama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So this author thinks Bling Bling originated in a 1999 rap song? Do "journalists" or even editors, do any research any more?
In the early '90's I was a state Fire Captain supervising wards of the state's Youth Authority at what was called a Conservation Camp... but in fact was a minimum security correctional facility housing young urban gang bangers from around the state doing time for any number of property and drug crimes typical of the urban gang culture of the time. We turned them into wildland firefighters for the last couple years of their sentence. Since I'm the textbook definition of white, small town and middle class my encounters with urban gang bangers for 4 years was something of a clash of cultures to be sure, but provided me some insight beyond what we might typically learn from the mainstream media like Salon writers.
I first heard the term "bling bling" around 1990, early in my time in camp, while listening to these young thugs describe their street crimes to me or each other. Their stories were often laced with "bling bling", which I quickly learned was used to describe the sound of spent bullet casings hitting the ground during a drive by or other gun play. How it morphed into a reference to bad jewelry and everything gaudy and pretentious I can't say. I learned a lot about gang culture in those days and it has always amazed me since then at the number of elements of gang culture- language & style etc, that have entered the mainstream of pop (white) culture. Bling Bling... brass against asphalt.
I reckon there may be several simultaneous origins of a phrase like Bling Bling... but I'm pretty sure it didn't start with a 1999 rap song or a silly video game. Later.