Letters to the Editor
catling
Published Letters: 37 Editor's Choice: 8
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When I hear 'hockey mom'
[Read the article: I am not a hockey mom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think of a family that's pretty affluent. It's an expensive sport in the US- ice time is costly even during the off-peak (5-8 AM) time slots at the rink, and even if you're buying used, you can spend a couple hundred bucks on goalie gear after every growth spurt. And that's just for a house league. If you're talking travel squads, the teams from my part of Florida routinely have to go to Nashville and such for tournaments.
I'd guess that the median income of families with youth hockey players is far higher than the median income of families with children who do not play hockey.
As for the political leanings of hockey families and hockey fans, I can say that I've seen Obama ads in heavy rotation on at least one major Detroit Red Wings fan site. I guess part of the 50 state strategy means that he's willing to fight hard for the hockey fan demographic too.
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Every review of the Smart
[Read the article: Zooming to the future]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]that I've seen seems to come to the same conclusion: unless you're dealing with the European-style parking difficulties you only really see in America in Manhattan and parts of San Francisco, it doesn't make sense to buy a Smart. For a similar price point, you can get a Honda Fit or a Toyota Yaris (or spring for the more expensive Prius if you're feeling rich) and you get a larger, more practical, more comfortable for most Americans vehicle that has just as good or better gas mileage as the Smart.
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I've known a good number of secret service agents over the years
[Read the article: Did anyone really yell "Kill him"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And politically, as the saying goes, they tend to be somewhat right to Atilla the Hun. But they also take a great deal of pride in their own professionalism and ability to keep their protectees safe. No one wants to have another Kennedy situation go down on their watch. It would be a sign that their entire career was a failure.
And they also seem to genuinely like Obama. Granted they're not going to vote for him because they think he's a left wing whackjob, but they do like him and feel like they've developed a good and professional working relationship with him and his campaign staff. A lot of them specifically asked for Obama when they heard they were going to get stuck on a primary details because it was seen as a good position to have, even if it was a higher risk detail than, say, Christopher Dodd's.
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My county Supervisor of Elections is having to do a lot of rumor control
[Read the article: Another election nightmare in Florida?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As provided by Pat Hollarn (a Republican who managed to get sued by the RNC in 2000 because they couldn't bully her into volating Florida election law)
http://www.govote-okaloosa.com/content.aspx?id=68&s=68
"Know the Facts
The Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections office is committed to providing voters with accurate and timely information. We have compiled a list of current fictitious rumors and provided the facts below.
Fiction
Voters can not wear political or promotional apparel to polling places.
Fact
Voters can wear political or promotional apparel such as t-shirts, hats, pins, etc. But they may not verbally express political support or views about candidates, parties, or issues inside the polling place or inside the 100 ft restricted area outside.
Poll workers and poll watchers inside the polling place are not allowed to wear anything political nor carry on any political discussion of any kind, at any time.
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Fiction
If your address is not current on your Florida Driver’s License you will not be able to use it as identification to vote.
Fact
The Florida Driver’s license is used for photo and signature identification only. It does not matter if the address is not current. However, you are required to provide your correct current address verbally to the poll worker.
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Fiction
Absentee ballots are only counted in a close election.
Fact
All valid absentees, properly signed and received in time, are always all counted, regardless of the closeness of the race
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Fiction
If the middle name on your driver’s license is different than your name in the voter rolls, you will not be able to vote.
Fact
A recognizable name or nickname for your first name and your legal last name is all that is required to vote. If your name is Thomas or Elizabeth on your license, but you registered as Tom or Betty, that is acceptable. Middle name matching is not required."
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I can't say it's a huge shock
[Read the article: A skinhead plot to kill Obama?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I used to live not too far from Jackson, TN, and I used to describe where I lived for a couple unpleasant years in the late 90s as 'Two hours north and thirty years behind Memphis'. While I definitely wouldn't call everyone there racist, it seemed like the locals I'd talk to had a certain tired resignation about how bad it was just underneath the thin veneer of Southern hospitality. Seemed like all the natives could name a father or a grandfather or a cousin who had gotten caught up in the Klan or some other white supremacy group, and they wished it hadn't worked out that way, but it was just how life was around there. And it was impressive just how many white power bumper stickers you'd see on pick-ups and 4WDs on the backroads of local park lands.
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My big 'I'm getting out of Michigan' moment
[Read the article: The snow shovel is the secret of happiness]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Came my senior year of high school. It was the first weekend in May, and I was at a track meet that had not been cancelled even though the ground was frozen and we were supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow that day.
I was a discus thrower and we made any number of jokes about how it would be so easy to accurately mark throws for a change becuase the judges could easily see where the discs had landed in the snow. But all the while I was plotting my escape to a place that didn't have seven annual months of snow, slush, and wet stockings.