Letters to the Editor
LeCastor
Published Letters: 1916 Editor's Choice: 86
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Airline Weight Restrictions
[Read the article: Madrid to models: Here, have some tapas]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And, legal experts, weren't the airlines forced to moderate their restrictions on the weight of flight attendants in recent decades? Note that the problem with weighing waitresses was the opposite of this issue-- the waitresses would have been disciplined for being too heavy, not for being dangerously thin, and I doubt that there was a fear that they might become obese behind that practice.
The airlines were no longer allowed to fire women for getting married, not wearing makeup, being fat, or being unattractive, because, as it turns out, being attractive or single has nothing to do with the skills one needs to be a flight attendant. Sure, they can have a dress code, but past that, what flight attendants need to do is serve food, tend on passengers, and be responsible for their safety.
By contrast, being attractive has EVERYTHING to do with being a model. Professions like ballet, any theater, most performing arts, party promoters, etc. are allowed to have discretion in who they hire because physical looks have everything to with how effective someone will be at their jobs. I am not sure if they can discriminate on marital status, though, but they can definitely discriminate against pregnant women, fat women, ugly women, or skinny women, anything they want that is based on physical looks.
So, the analogy doesn't work.
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Well, I guess there will be no multi-racial people on the show
[Read the article: Race to the bottom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]since it's divided into only 4 races.
Just a thought.
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*eye roll*
[Read the article: Race to the bottom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Near midnight on a Friday night
and the fabulously wealthy popular lawyer-cum-banking-cum-gadfly who is sooo fucking above us all has nothing else to do but read Salon and write letters to the editor.
Talk about a fucking pathetic life.
-- keep selling the lie, LeCastor
You're right, I actually live in a box in Times Square. We have really good wifi here, and my 2 box is quite roomy, there's room for my laptop, and my espresso machine.
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Negative v. Positive Rights
[Read the article: The GOP wants to see your I.D.]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]PS Here's a hint: if owning a car is RIGHT, why don't we give everyone a free car?
-- No Name Given
You're touching on the difference between positive rights and negative rights. in the US, we have mostly negative rights, which means, having a right to do something is equivalent to "no one will interfere with you doing this thing," and not "the government will support you in doing this thing." for example, your exact quip could be rephrased into a question that was decided by the supreme court "If having an abortion is a RIGHT, why don't we give everyone a free abortion?" and the supreme court decided that the right we have is not one to a free abortion, but a right to have one without interference. So, the supreme court said that the state could actually choose to pay medical costs for childbirth, but not for abortions. So, the same with the car, you have a right to own property, but the government isn't going to furnish you with property for free.
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The Klimt Paintings
[Read the article: Compensating "comfort women"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]claimed to have been stolen from a Jewish family, and displayed in austrian museum for decades, have in fact been returned and were recently in display here in NYC at the Neue Gallery, before being returned to their rightful owners.
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I admit
[Read the article: The breast of times]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was pretty creeped out at first, but the author, if you keep reading, really lays out some interesting issues and ideas about the subject.
In any case, i'm glad salon publishes interesting essays like this that you can't find anywhere else.
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Have more children so you aren't distracted by pesky thoughts
[Read the article: The breast of times]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mom of 3, laughing my ass off
None of this stuff, not the extended nursing, not the navel gazing, not the obsessing over your child's earliest memories, is possible when you have more than one child. And everyone is better for it. Breastfeeding aside, you clearly have too much maternal energy for the Little Man. Do your son a favor - HAVE ANOTHER BABY! Or, if that's not possible, learn to say no. Trust me, it doesn't get any easier with time.
-- Anonymous
Wow, that may be the worst advice ever. "Oh, i have so many chidlren, i don't have time to have sophisticated thoughts." Congrats, mom of three, i imagine you used to do things like high school and college, and now you're advocating surrounding yourself with screaming children so you don't have to think. How repugnant.
I also think it's great that you advocate having children so that the mom doesn't have to think. What a horrible reason to bring a child into this world!
So often, people have children for awful, selfish reasons.