Letters to the Editor
Rufus Sondheim
Published Letters: 40 Editor's Choice: 8
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Whether your son is gay or not...
[Read the article: Is my 13-year-old son gay?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Be active in advocating the rights of homosexuals and take a stand when those around you exhibit homophobia. If he's not gay, he will learn that defending the disenfranchised is the proper thing to do. If he is gay, he will know that when he is ready to tell you, that you will love him unconditionally.
Other than that, I think you should just let the matter rest. This is a path to discovery that he has to take alone.
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It matters because...
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Certain media figures are powerful enough that they influence what is and isn't acceptable in public discourse. Because people like Imus and Coulter are in positions to interact with powerful government figures in highly viewed situations, things they say definitely have an impact on what is considered acceptable and unacceptable discourse.
Anyone who's ever been a member of a denigrated group understand this. Yeah, some of us grow thick skins (we have to) but we still flinch when those schoolyard taunts are repeated by influential public figures.
The Coulters and Imuses(Imi?) of the world try to make us feel less human. And if we don't, as a society, condemn and punish these people when they cross that easy-to-see line, we as a society say that entire groups of people are not worthy of respect.
If forcing someone who has made millions of dollars off such trade into early retirement is wrong, well, that's something I guess I'll have to live with.
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You guys are all a bit silly
[Read the article: The death of hi-fi?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hasn't it been proven way long ago that the Grateful Dead sounds better on pot than on vinyl? And that the Run Lola Run soundtrack sounds better on coke? And that Bolero sounds better when accompanied by orgasmic moans?
It is true, It would be nice to be in the Art Institute of Chicago rather than staring at the shrunken reprint of A Sunday Afternoon On the Island of La Grande Jatte in my friends overcrowded living room. But I'd also rather be with my friends than alone in Chicago.
I guess, to some, high quality music is worth the pursuit, but when I hear U2's cover of Unchained Melody and I think about the time I first heard it and who I heard it with and how that person left my life long ago, I'm not wishing for Bono to be sitting on the couch next to me humming it in my ear, I'm longing for that long ago memory to seem vaguely real. Music is an art form designed to enrich our lives, to make the universal personal.
I'm fine with my iPod.
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!q
[Read the article: Goodbye to the Fix, for now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Talk about a Friday evening news dump!
But I felt less guilty reading the stuff on Salon!
Due to a certain self-promoting fixture on Scarborough Country we'll still have tabloid gossip here!
How about starting a figure skating blog!
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What I would love...
[Read the article: Goodbye to the Fix, for now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...is a blog-like daily column of legal news (and no, I'm not talking about the Phil Specter trial.) I'm talking Supreme Court and appellate court stuff. Don't just cover the SCOTUS decisions. You could preview cases, talk about the proceedings and anticipate what decisions could be. You could talk about important appellate court decisions (and maybe even lower court stuff) that's heading to the Supreme Court.
As the recent partial birth abortion case showed, I think it's urgent that the mainstream media be aware of what's taking place now that Roberts and Alito are putting there stamp on things. This current make-up of the court could be Bush's worst legacy.
Throw in the fact that this is a Presidential Election Year and Stephens' likely need to be replaced soon, the Supreme Court could be the forgotten issue in politics this year. Nothing would be worse than the entire country slapping their forheads in unison saying "Why didn't we see this coming?"
I think court issues in general are overlooked by the mainstream media in general. Salon should be making that same mistake.
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Please forgive all the typos
[Read the article: Goodbye to the Fix, for now]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]in the previous letter. It's late and I'm tired and I thought about it on my way home and wanted to post it before I forgot it, or it got lost in a 300 letter thread.
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Nice Reviews (as always)
[Read the article: New music]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But I was hoping for word on Rufus Wainwright's disc. Not that anything you say will prevent me from buying it, but I was just curious what you thought.
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New Podcast!
[Read the article: Music Video: "Ankle Injuries," Fujiya & Miyagi]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hopefully you'll but the videos in a separate podcast. That would be swell!