Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 22 Editor's Choice: 4
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What is so special about drinking alcohol?
[Read the article: Apple juice, straight up?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I totally understand that ill-behaved children or crying babies can be annoying, but the article wasn't about behavior, it was that the mere presense of a child would spoil their enjoyment. The funny thing is, there wasn't any explanation as to why this could be so, other than a general charge that its not "responsible" to have a child in a bar.
So, what's so special about drinking alcohol that it shouldn't be done in the presense of children? We've been taking our daughter to bars since she was a baby, and now at five is able to chat with the bartender, order for herself, meet new people, and generally have a good time along with her parents. I think that setting aside alcohol in particular as having an adult mystique elevates it to a point that can cause abuse problems later.
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Volume Please
[Read the article: Alito fireworks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know if Salon reformats video before putting clips on this page, but if that is the case, please try and up the volume. The vast majority of the clips have the audio so low its really difficult to hear what's going on, and are much lower than similar clips on other sites.
Thanks,
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Get in Line
[Read the article: I did the right thing for the planet, but now I'm bored out of my mind]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Right now probably more than 50% of Salon subcribers are thinking the same thing. The sad truth is that there are way more people interested in doing a job that is "creative and fun" than can make a living at it. Just ask your average waiter in New York.
When you're sitting behind your desk in an office, doing something "creative and fun" sounds wonderful-- who wouldn't want to do that? But that path is blocked by the large obstacles of reality:
1. Do you actually have enough talent to be better than the thousands of other people in that "creative and fun" field? Most people that are good enough at something creative to make a living at it just do it whether they get paid or not, and don't need to write letters about it.
2. Its a reasonable expectation to make a living in a "creative and fun" field. Take, for example, painting. The vast majority of painters, even good ones, can't make a living at it.
3. You'd even like the job even if #1 and #2 were true. Doing something as a hobby is totally different than having to do something professionally. Something that seems cool when you're something boring can be just as much of a chore when you *have* to do it every day.
When all is said and done, jobs aren't necessarily creative and fun, but people can be.
The business I started to pay the bills:
http://webperformance.com
The business I started as a creative outlet:
http://learningtosee.org
Michael Czeiszperger
Chapel Hill, NC
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Stop reading things into the will
[Read the article: My ex's grandmother left me some money -- should I share it with him?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From all of the letters saying LW isn't entitled to the money you'd think this had never happened before. After having sat down with a lawyer to draw up a will, let me tell you that:
1. Wills have been written for quite a long time.
2. Wills say what they mean and nothing else.
The Grandmother's money is hers to do with what she wishes, and its not about what's fair from anyone else's point of view-- its her money, period. People have been writing wills for quite a long time, and it should say what she meant.
Next, any conditions could have been put upon the dispersement, and apparently none were specified. Any requirement of some level of relationship could have been specified, and were not. The telling fact here is the money was left to LW by name, personally, with no strings. It is her money, period, no legal or moral strings.
The idea that morally she'd have to give money to her ex is also insulting to the deceased. Are you trying to argue that the grandmother doesn't have the right to give money to anyone? Are those the kind of restrictions you'd want to put upon yourself?
Of course, without the actual will to read, we're all at the mercy of the description, so who knows?
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A crazy person with a gun can kill large numbers of people anywhere, anytime
[Read the article: Virginia Tech: "Domestic" not dangerous?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Anyone defending the school is using that as a coping mechanism. If something is 'unpreventable' then that minimizes the tragedy."
Anyone thinking this type of thing is preventable is using that as a coping mechanism. The fact is, a crazy person can walk into any building, anywhere, with a gun and kill large numbers of people, and there's no way to prevent it from happening within the scope of current law.
The only frame of reference in which this type of violence can be completely prevented is from the future where you know exactly what happened and what could have prevented it, but it is obviously interesting to think about how these types of crimes could be reduced in the future. More guns? Less guns? More intrusiveness into the personal lives of students?
There are no easy answers to preventing tragedies like this one.
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The Lord of the Rings Game Descriminates Against Another Minority
[Read the article: Why can't gay dwarves get married in Middle-earth?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The other minority: Mac Users :-) There's only a Windows version, which means me and my brethren are also shut out of this game entirely!
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gossip
[Read the article: From tennis pro to working at home]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are you suggesting they quit to avoid the gossip? Oh, they will never be subject to that pesky gossip again as a stay at home mom!
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And The Major Carrier That Does A Better Job Is ...
[Read the article: If you care about your rights, don't buy an iPhone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree, people should be able to take their phones to whatever carrier they want. What the author failed to mention, though, is currently all carriers in the US lock in their customers that way. Take a phone you got from Verizon to an Alltel store and see how accommodating they are!
So, what we have is a situation where Apple has a revolutionary piece of hardware running on the same business model as all of the other carriers. Is it Apple's fault they didn't revolutionize the entire US cell phone industry at the same time?