Letters to the Editor
jebldmm
Published Letters: 933 Editor's Choice: 164
-
At some point you have to grow
[Read the article: I bought a house and now I'm crying every day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, the responsibility of owning a house is a challenge. So is having a child, or being married, or holding down a steady job. But as we grow we accept new challenges. That's just part of life. It's sometimes frightening, sometimes overwhelming, and often very frustrating, but those negative emotions are the price we pay for knowing that we are "expanding our comfort zones". Before you let your fear overwhelm you, revisit the reasons you bought this house. Make a list of the positives and negatives. If you really feel that it was a foolish decision, then back out while you can. The responsibilities are not going to get lighter. But if you feel that your reasons were rational, then try to live up to the responsibilities you have invited into your life.
And remember - a house is an investment, but not the way that most people think of it. Houses don't always increase dramatically in value, and the cost of maintaining a home can eat into your "profits". But a home is an investment in the future. My husband watched his parents struggle in their old age because they were retired and on a fixed income and their rent kept going up. In "X" years, your home will be paid off, and you will either be able to cash in the value and move someplace or live there until you die. No rising rent, no depleted savings. A solid future.
-
Did they multi-task protests in the 60's?
[Read the article: Protesting the war -- not just for giant puppets anymore!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm way too young to have been a part of any civil rights protests in the MLK era. Can somebody tell me if they did the same bait/switch thing back then? Was it considered acceptable to invite tens of thousands of people to a march in honor of American Civil Rights, then have speakers opposing Chinese human rights violations and the U.S. policy in wherever we were abusing peopple at that time? I like to think that the issue of Civil Rights was important enough that the organizers chose to only have speakers on the actual topic at hand. If I'm right, then I wonder why opposing the war in Iraq isn't a big enough subject that they can actually limit themselves to speakers on that topic.
-
I'm betting Instapundit will win
[Read the article: War Room is a "Bloggies" finalist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not because they are the best blog, but because there are 3 solidly liberal blogs, 1 conservative, and 1 that nobody seems to be able to figure out (at least I can't figure out what the whole point of Wonkette is). The three liberal blogs will split the liberal vote, leaving Instapundit with a clear lead. Perhaps this would be a good time to use instant runoff voting?
-
Business as War
[Read the article: The pit bull of public relations reveals all]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Isn't the "War" meme getting a bit tired. We have the War On Drugs, War on Poverty, War on Terrorism, War on Crime, War on Christmas... when does it end? The Republicans run their campaings as if they were waging a war on the Democrats. Now businesses are supposed to run their PR offices as if anybody who doesn't like them is "the enemy". War used to be something to be dreaded, something terrible. Now war and things warlike (torpedo's, battles,defeat) seem to be nothing more than metaphors. By trying to make war on everything, we've made war metaphors meaningless. If you treat every threat like the ultimate threat, then how do you communicate when there is a real "ultimate" threat?
-
I kind of prefer men
[Read the article: Discrimination against male gynecologists?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I guess I'm used to being touched by men, so it seems marginally less strange to me to have a man's hands on me. I won't say no if I get assigned to a woman, though, and I couldn't care less if my regular physician is a man or a woman, although I have to admit that I prefer someone with a little experience (midway between Marcus Welby and a kid fresh out of med school).
As for it being discriminatory... I suppose it is, really. I have a hard time believing that there is a substantive difference between a compassionate male obgyn and a female obgyn. It might be easier for a women to understand cramps, but if we used the criteria of "you have to have been there to treat it", then we would probably lose a lot of good brain surgeons. If we make a choice based exclusively on gender, then that is discrimination.
-
I think you're thinking too hard
[Read the article: The danger of Bush's anti-Iran fatwa]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're trying to find rational reasons for Bush's hostility toward Iran. Maybe there aren't any rational reasons. Maybe Bush wants to attack Iran because it's part of the "Axis of Evil" and he wants to "Democratize" it. Maybe the Republicans simply want to start another war before the next election because they think it will help them win the election. Maybe Bush wants to be able to blame Iran for the problems we are having in Iraq in order to distract people from his adminstration's gross incompetence. All of this talk about Iraq War strategy and Iranian influence are interesting, but I'm not sure that they apply to an administration that makes all of it's decisions based on what is best for the Republican party.
Or it may be even simpler. I was trying to explain to my husband why we can't invouire a new declaration of war from Congress. I suppose that if Iran were involving itself in this war, Bush wouldn't need a new resolution to invade, would he? Please tell me I'm wrong. I want to be wrong.