Letters to the Editor
RachelC
Published Letters: 31 Editor's Choice: 13
-
Men can stop rape too.
[Read the article: At home with David Brooks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have 2 thoughts. Back when I was in college, I wrote a column for a campus newspaper on Take Back the Night. I titled the piece, "men can stop rape too". Meaning, they can stop raping women, simple as that, and I still believe that the way to end rape, is for men to stop doing it. A simple solution, right? Likewise, this notion that feminism failed because men didn't buy into it isn't only the fault of women, it's the fault of men too. Both sexes make a society. Men can stop leaving the chores and housekeeping and child rearing to women, if they choose, or if they are given incentives to do so.
The personal is very political. However the only way to get gender issues on the table is to carefully integrate them into all the "red meat" issues men in power (and women who hold power) care about: economics, international trade agreements, health care (kind of), tax law, social security.
Time to get to work.
-
What are you doing still using tampons and pads? use a keeper!
[Read the article: What else we're reading]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have been using the keeper for years now and I honestly don't understand why there isn't more discussion about it. it costs 40 bucks, lasts for 10 years plus, is made of biodegradable rubber, and works like a dream. I travel all the time and it's a no hassle solution. Would you believe, a woman I know went to live in India for a year, and she packed a year's worth of organic cotton tampons in her bag? Yikes. Down with overpriced tampons and pads. Seriously, get a keeper.
-
why do Americans hate regulations?
[Read the article: Amaranth's Enron connection]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whoever would'a thought? And so I have to ask a logical follow up: what is the relationship between these speculators - who are largely the energy companies themselves - and their multi-million dollar efforts to foist off-shore LNG facilities up and down the US coastlines? And who in Congress is in bed with them? (NB the republican-driven committee a few summers ago, chaired by Hastert, claiming that LNG was the only option for the future, and that federal law can supercede local and state laws/regulations, because of the energy 'crisis'?
The economic analyses behind the 'energy crisis' was largely due to supply shortages, and high oil prices, hence LNG as a substitute. Funny, how natural gas and crude prices correlate positively - so what kind of substitute is that?
How can we convince americans that 'regulation' is not a dirty word?
-
Hail...
[Read the article: The biggest game. Ever]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's amazing how a little post like that can bring me right back the glory days of being able to walk to Zingerman's, and marshmallow fights that seemed like a good idea until it got stuck in your hair. And going out to Lake Michigan, sucking in a big gulp of air, and thinking "nope. can't live here. no salt water."
When I was there, the hockey coach (can't remember his name beyond 'Red') kept getting arrested for pissing in public. but we didn't really care, because our hockey team totally kicked it old school. Go Blue!
-
Jack Dawson...
[Read the article: Why don't more women watch porn?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wes, your comment about there not being any Jack Dawsons out there really cracked me up, after catching snippets of Titanic over the weekend. No, there most certainly are no humans like him - frozen humans would float, not sink. heh heh.
-
um...
[Read the article: New Flight 77 video released]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]can't they FOIA some better video? Like, some that actually shows a plane? sheesh.
-
my mom told me when i was about 22...
[Read the article: West Bank or U.S.? Boyfriend or job? Seeking two-state solution]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]to not even think about getting married until I was at least 28. Of course, we're all on our own paths, but I wholeheartedly agree with mom's advice, because I think everyone who has the ability and opportunity to explore the world (however defined) and figure out their place and passions in it, should do so in their 20s. To do that well, one needs to not be bound by anything, particularly not a life partner.
I really appreciate the LW's concerns, as I'm in a similar situation, although I'm 32 and married 3.5 years. My husband is professionally bound to NYC, but there are no jobs in my field in NYC (funny, eh? but true), so I've had to create opportunities for myself, which means traveling overseas all the time. so, he has his life, i have mine, and then we have ours.
And in the 6 years we've been together, we've had to learn to 'let it go' and try to start from a position of possibility rather than constraint in order for our relationship to work. e.g., last year when I got a contract requiring 10 weeks out of the country and out of touch (sporadic internet/phone), the dialogue began with, hmmm... how could we make this work? rather than 'no there's no way'... and we worked out a compromise that was acceptable for our relationship and for my career.
I find that adopting challenges from the perspective of possibility makes life far more interesting, which is something you might wish to consider. Or, to find out for yourself, in the years until you turn 28...
Good luck with everything!
-
what about the life cycle implications?
[Read the article: Plastic fantastic beer bottles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I love the prospects of nano-tech for, say, water purification, wastewater treatment, fixing brownfields, and the like.
But increasing the supply of plastic beer bottles needs to be thought through a bit better. Forget about the taste. Think about the environmental impacts of a plastic bottle's life cycle: First, there's the use of petrochemicals to make said plastic. Add the transportation costs (more fossil fuels, co2, etc.). Then start adding the cost to either a) recycle (if the plastic they're using can be) or b) sit in landfills, for a future of leakage, and air, soil, and water contamination. Don't forget marine litter (impacts marine life), and relationships with endocrine disrupters...
There are 'plastic' bottles made from biodegradeable corn which, when composted, decompose completely in 10 days (used by a few boutique bottled water companies), so who knows, maybe there's hope yet for reducing the impact of petrochemically-derived plastics on the environment, but in the meantime, so long as businesses don't pay for their environmental externalities, silly ideas like plastic beer bottles to reduce costs will continue to show up on the store shelves.