Letters to the Editor
knyazhna
Published Letters: 4
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To Niall Lynch: Dean Reed's popularity
[Read the article: I was a Commie rock star from Colorado]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, he's no Johnny Cash, but he was popular in the 60s. I still remember the vinyl called something like Songs of Comintern that had various songs by what was called foreign Communists. One was Reed's song "Elizabeth" (another by Victor Jara). If I had to compare him to any American singer (in terms of popularity & probably appeal), it would be Ricky Nelson. And oh yeah, I didn't "visit" Soviet Union: I lived there.
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Re: Deception
[Read the article: I found my dad's gay porn]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"but do not come here and try to justify a man pulling the wool over his wife's eyes. honestly, would YOU want to be married to someone incapable of sexual attraction to you?"
What does "incapable" mean? If he does not show the attraction to his wife, I think she already knows that. If he does, but in his "truest of hearts" (or whatever) he really is not, why in the WORLD should it matter?? Whoever said that truth is more important than peace? In fact, plenty of people said otherwise. All marriage involves some "deception" to a degree.
"Of course, you're not fat, honey"
"No, that nosepicking habit does not turn me off"
"I believe in you, you can do it"
Plenty of times you have doubts, dislikes, desires that you keep from your spouse, and you're ENTIRELY correct to do so. Truth is often not the best thing in the relationships (and what IS truth?). And before you say that it always comes out, a) it's not true for all things you keep secret, and b) often it's better to get the truth out later, in better-suited circumstances (e.g., don't tell your wife she's fat while you're having sex, but maybe it's better when you're out in the park holding her hand).
As someone mentioned, it's not a child's job to make sure his parents are "honest with each other". He's either too young to understand it, or just too removed (as he should be) from the relationship to meddle in it. IF the father is gay (and it's a big if; please point me to statistics that say that most non-outed men who like gay porn are likely to be gay), it's really up to him to decide if/when he wants be out.
Not that it's necessarily a bad advice to LW to talk to his dad about sexuality, culture, etc IN GENERAL, without mentioning the "stash". Should not be too hard, considering all the debates about gay issues that are going on the society right now, LW can just point to a newspaper article and invite a discussion.
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Ridiculous - government-driven family management
[Read the article: A case for parental notification]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Quotes from other posters:
"Most reasonable people think children should tell their parents about important things like pregnancy"
"Bottom line, the state can't mandate family communication"
Exactly. There are many things I'd like my children to be honest with me about: sex, drugs, friends, bad grades, a fight, day in school, etc. How about we legislate that? Did a teenager buy a condom at a pharmacy? Must tell the parent. Did a teenager check out Anarchist Cookbook from the library? Must tell the parent. Did you spot a teenager at a late night party? Do the parents know? Must tell them. Etc.
Now, in terms of legislating honesty IN the government... that's a more promising avenue for activism.
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Legislating good and bad
[Read the article: Spanking mad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People, people! Again arguing about the WRONG thing. It doesn't matter whether you or I think that spanking is good or bad, it's about whether it should be made into a law. Not every single thing that is bad should be illegal. Could we please outlaw people not cleaning up after themselves in the movie theater? Or, ew, not wiping down the toilet seat in the public bathroom? Or, hey, this one is even actually dangerous: how about making it illegal for people to sneeze/cough without closing their mouths? Or: if you drive your car without having gotten 8 hours of sleep, you go to jail for negligence. Geesh.
Oh, and by the way, I "spank" my children all the time. I spank my 3-week old baby when I carry him on my shoulder, swaddled, and shooshing him: it calms him down. And I spank my 18-mos-old repeatedly when we play run-and-catch, and he squeals in joy. For what is spanking? Applying a degree of force with your hand to a child's bottom. I don't mean to minimize, of course, painful experiences of others, but what if you saw me do it in supermarket or something and called social services? This is insane.