Letters to the Editor
elgoth
Published Letters: 29 Editor's Choice: 2
-
Corporate strip club culture
[Read the article: Breaking the mirrored ceiling]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This doesn't surprise me. When I was working in England as a marketing manager, vendors would invite their customers to events -- like a day of golf at a male only golf club. All my male employees were invited, but I couldn't go. I'm afraid I was not terribly polite about it.
-
Google for my husband
[Read the article: What I found when I Googled for you]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My husband is a historian interested in perfectly arcane events in Middle Eastern acient history. Think Sumarian. He also has adult ADD and googling drives him crazy. I am sure he would pay a fee, maybe up to $1.50, for a google search. I am even sure he would open an annual account of some kind.
-
Truth teller
[Read the article: A truth teller who deserves justice]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]One of the most influential persons in my life was a Marine Corp colonel who, during the Vietnam era, was assigned as an aid to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In performing his duties he noticed an irregularity. He "blew the whistle." The resulting tempest was reported in the national press. The situation was cleaned up. However, he was never promoted again and forced into retirement.
What was remarkable about this man was his total lack of bitterness. He made a new life for himself and considered the loss of his career as the price to be paid for doing the right thing. His motto was, "If you throw yourself on the railroad tracks, be prepared to be run over."
-
Yes to KStone
[Read the article: My last word (for now) on sexism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"All of you suck...
Not really but gawd such craziness between two groups of obnoxious hardcore supporters shouting charges back and forth feels interminable at times."
I didn't support either of these candidates. The dynastic thing bothers me about Hillary. I don't like Obama's healthcare plan and the ads he ran in N. California were inexcusable - for all of you who think Clinton has run a dirty campaign. As a disinterested observer, I have to say, that I think the Obama supporters are by far the most vitriolic.
Get over it. The main issue is to make sure that our troups are not in Iraq 100 years from now; that we start down the road to a decent healthcare system; and we start dealing with the economic mess left by the Bush administration.
-
Dad went to war
[Read the article: Once upon a time, Dad went to war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]At some point, every parent has to explain something to a child that they (the parent) feels conflicted about or doesn't like. I had to explain to my children why their father went away for almost a year because he was an alcoholic, in treatment and then in transitional recovery housing.
My children are now adults, we are a close family and neither of them drink. Did I want them to learn about alcoholism when they were 3 and 5? Of course not. Were there any books out there? NO.
I told them the truth and I didn't sweeten it very much. But I also didn't add in the gory details. And I didn't dwell on it. Children pick up what they are ready to hear. Focus on the fact that Dad loves them. Dad will be coming home. And tell them the truth about life. Sometimes in life people have to do things that they don't like to do. They are already learning that when they have to pick up their rooms. Dad is picking up a very big room.
I think the most brillant thing you did was helping them live one day at a time. That is the Alcoholic Anonymous motto and it really works.
Also, for you, a really good book about a family with a father going away to war is The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy.
-
We can't do anything
[Read the article: What will they really do about Iraq?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What happens in Iraq is up to the people of Iraq. We can not solve their problems. The big worry is genocide. We are not the people to prevent that. The best thing that can happen is to have US troops out completely and a peacekeeping force in to prevent genocide. We would have a moral obligation to pay for that. We should turn all of our bases and most of our embassy over to either the government or the UN.
The second issue is that Iraq comes so heavily under the domination of Iran that it unbalances the entire Middle East. Again, we can't do anything about that. It is up to their Arab neighbors but we have a moral responsibility to provide resources.
We need to resolve the Israel/ Palestinian issue. This is the most productive thing we can do and we are still the only power that can do that. That would require that the next administration take a more even-handed approach and do things like lean on Israel to do something about the settlements.
Finally, there is the issue of terrorism in the Middle East and the security of Western Europe, Africa and the United States. That may best be a Naito concern.
But whatever else happens, we need to get over the idea that we, the United States, can "solve" the Iraq issue by ourselves. We can't.
-
Plastic surgery and children
[Read the article: My beautiful mommy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was born with ptosis of the left eyelid. That means that the muscle which lifts the eyelid didn't work properly. Sometimes it would get so bad that I would lose up to 60% of my vision in that eye. Periodically I have had "plastic surgery" to lift the lid. I needed to have it done when my daughter was about five. Before the surgery she was distraught. She didn't want Mommy to look different! I explained that I had to have it done, that I couldn't see and that I really wouldn't look that different. Explanations did not matter. After it was done, she really didn't notice it. But I have always remember the level of anxiety it caused to have her think that her Mommy would look different.