Letters to the Editor
jebldmm
Published Letters: 933 Editor's Choice: 164
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If she's 82, she's scared
[Read the article: My mother's sister is a psychopath!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]She's scared of losing her independence and being alone. Her sister is providing an out for her - in exchange for money and her bed, she get's somebody to be there if she falls down and can't get up. Yeah, I know that's a joke based on a commercial, but it's also reality.
Take your mother out to lunch with all of the family you can get together (except the sister). Talk to her. Ask her why she is letting her sister sleep in her bed while she takes the couch. Ask her why she has to borrow money if her finances are fine. Ask her what you can do to help her continue to live independently. Tell her that you're concerned that she is finding it necessary to borrow money, and that you don't want her to lose her independence. Tell her you don't mind giving her money, but you're worried about her. Offer to take her in if she needs to not be alone. You said that she's always been there, but your relationship wasn't perfect... Now is the time to decide how much you're willing to put on the line for her. Would you take her in? Visit her every day? Provide financial assistance?
If she has the right answers and seems to really be making intelligent decisions based on solid reasoning, then leave her be. It's her life to destroy. I doubt she will, though. Normal, reasoning people don't borrow money to support others when they won't borrow for themselves. Normal people don't sleep on the couch while a younger person takes their bed. If she doesn't have the right answers... do the things that others here have suggested. She'll never forgive you for taking her independence away, but it's your responsibility to protect her the same way she protected you when you were a child. Unfortunately, she isn't going to grow up and eventually forgive you. But the right thing is the right thing, and it isn't always the easy thing. You can't let her become impoverished due to the machinations of her sister (unless you are willing and able to pick up the pieces). Tell her you love her, and do everything you can to let her keep her pride and her independence - but protect her if she isn't able to protect herself.
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What the heck?
[Read the article: Don't run, Al. Don't!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The confident Republican foregrounding of military and security issues is going to present a very high hurdle to the Democratic nominee. Democrats are already acquiring a dismaying reputation for underestimating the threat of global terrorism."
What planet are you living on? It must be some alternate reality where Republicans didn't allow 9/11 to happen and didn't start an unnecessary war which they proceeded to fight with an astonishing level of incompetence. For that matter, when did Republicans start competently handling national security? More than 5 years after 9/11, we don't have adequate protections at ports and our southern border is totally unprotected. I'm not worried about Mexican workers, but if they can cross in an out, then terrorists would not have much of a challenge.
Anybody who believes that the Republicans have protected our nation since 9/11 is a fool. Paglia is no fool, so I have to wonder where the above quoted sentence comes from.
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At least they're consistent
[Read the article: Uruguayan woman faces jail for abortion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the many things that annoy me about anti-choice people is that they keep asking for punishment of people who perform abortions but never for women who seek them out. They don't want the focus to be on the woman. It's easier to get people to oppose abortion if they put the focus on the fetus, especially if they blur the line between a 12 week fetus and a fully developed baby.
They pretend that women are helpless victims, forced by unscrupulous for-profit abortion centers (as if there is that much profit in abortions) and irresponsible men to have abortions. Instead of recognizing women as responsible human beings making a choice about their body, they portray us as helpless victims who must be protected by the government from making a "mistake" that will harm us.
Don't get me wrong - I don't want women to be punished for having abortions in Uruguay. I want abortions to be legal everywhere. But it's pretty clear that having women in jail for having an abortion is forcing the people of Uruguay to deal with issues about women's rights and morality. If abortion is murder, then the person seeking an abortion should be jailed. If the person seeking the abortion is not guilty of soliciting murder, then abortion is clearly not murder.
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I thought you meant Fox News
[Read the article: She may not have gravitas ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The scary thing is that it didn't seem like that much of a stretch to have a "busty bikini model" delivering news for them on a national level.
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I'm a big Apple fan...
[Read the article: The time for iPhone is 6 p.m.]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...and I don't even care about this. I'm sure that the iPhone will be very popular. Apple has a knack for creating great new products. I'm equally sure that the iPhone generation II will be even better. I'm waiting for the paperback.
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In defense of the forgetful
[Read the article: "Is our children learning?"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am horrible with names, and not good when put on the spot by a pollster or anybody else. If somebody on the phone asked me to name the Chief Justice, I would probably not be able to do so. If there was a list of names presented to me, I could pick the name from the list, and I could tell you about his politics and the history of how he was chosen, but I probably wouldn't be able to come up with a name quickly. Yes, the level of ignorance in our society is high. But we have to be careful how we interpret wrong answers to polling questions.