Letters to the Editor
namegoeshere
Published Letters: 64 Editor's Choice: 3
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He needs a will and living trust first.
[Read the article: I'm ashamed to be ashamed of my father]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He could die at anytime. He obviously loves the LW, so the LW should use that as leverage for getting the legal issues taken care of first. While the roof is being put on, he could keel over and LW be left in the exact mess that he's trying to resolve. If his father has been living in a health hazard for years, he also needs a living trust, because he could end up a vegetable. Does he want to foist decisions about his care on to the LW? Or does he want to make them for himself? Contact the VA - they may give him access to cheap legal services, and if he's already involved with them, maybe there's someone that he already trusts to give him sound advice. The estate planning will encompass a lot of the issues that the LW wants to resolve. Start with the will... and maybe the cats, as AKA Smith says.
Here's a good place to get started:
http://nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/FD1795A9-8049-422C-9087838F86A2BC2B/309/
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Stephanie Zacharek can answer this post for me.
[Read the article: Abortion, shmashmortion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2007/06/01/knocked_up/index.html:
"It's clear that Apatow doesn't intend "Knocked Up" as a right-to-life tract, and I hope it won't be celebrated -- or decried -- as such. The movie is simply delicate-handed enough to know that neither it nor the Supreme Court can dictate what a woman's choice should be. And it's intuitive enough to know that such a complicated choice can't be easily explained -- at least in terms that will satisfy anyone's politics. At one point Alison and Debbie's well-intentioned mother (played by Joanna Kerns) reminds Alison how a friend of the family became pregnant out of wedlock, had an abortion and then later went on to have "a real baby" -- a pointed reminder that even when we're faced with the most intensely personal of decisions, there's always going to be someone arrogant enough to think he or she knows what's best for us."
Also, wouldn't keeping abortion discussions to a minimum be a sort of writerly decision? Why dwell on this plot point if you've already got an idea of where your movie's going? If the movie was supposed to be about abortion, it would be about abortion. This movie's supposed to be about a pregnancy.
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Picking a nit with AfterThat
[Read the article: Whole lotta love]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hi AfterThat,
While I won't dispute that polyamory might seem alien and impossible for you, I do have a bone to pick with one part of your response to this article:
But then I think about my kids, and the effects of constantly shifting romantic attachments on their lives...
My desire and excitement for my spouse waxes and wanes (but it does wax sometimes!) but none of that matters too much because my commitment to my children is absolute, and I don't think I or most people are very likely to be able to live out a life of total commitment to a litter of children in a polyamorist community.
First, not all polyamorists have "constantly shifting romantic attachments"; many poly practitioners stay together for many years. I'd wager that a vast majority of those who are serious about poly stay together longer than Brit & K-Fed did. But mostly what I get from this statement that you believe that if a person has multiple romantic entaglements, they love their children less. Do you live a life of "total commitment" to your children? Do you have outside interests or hobbies that you participate in? Golf? Poker? Antique cars? Anything? Do these interests make you love your children less because you spend time doing them? Some people focus their energies on interpersonal relationships rather than hobbies or activities. They find cultivating relationships to be fulfilling. Isn't the best parent someone who's happy and secure in themself and can instill that type of self-assurance in their child? The children don't have to be made aware of any sexual element in the relationship - are they aware that Mommy and Daddy are boinking?
Perhaps if the legal system would allow more people than just a couple to adopt and legally bind themselves to the children in question, this kind of point would be rendered moot. But until that day, "Think of the children!" kneejerk reactions don't hold a lot of weight. Besides, how many people live "in a polyamorist community" with "a litter of children" anyway? My significant other is still in contact with the ex-stepfather & -step-grandfather that raised him, though they were never legally bound. Does that mean they're not allowed to call their ex-stepfather "Dad"? How are polyamorists who end up ex de-legitimized any more than an ex-stepwhatever?
(Though, for the record, I think it's a terrible decision for the couple in the article to have their children call the third in their relationship "Mommy Susan" when she has no legal commitment to the children - "Auntie" would suffice - but it's their decision, not mine.)
Whew. Didn't mean to rant at you. Just kinda got going there...
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I love you, Marissa Vandersee.
[Read the article: "I'm not an overhyped luxury handbag"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A magic marker will find itself adorning a shopping tote with "I Am Not A Stupid Twat" post haste.
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Haven't we been reading the WaPo profile of Darth Vader?
[Read the article: Cheney blinks?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/chapter_1/
Oh, I'm sorry, he's going by "Cheney" now.
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Dearest Glenn:
[Read the article: A Tragic Legacy released today]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Please appear on The Daily Show as soon as humanly possible. You're way better than Bruce Willis. Really.
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Dear Mr. Keillor:
[Read the article: The library fix]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There's some rose coloring on your glasses.
Here, AlterNet can help with that:
http://www.alternet.org/story/50023/
Respectfully yours,
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Catcalls
[Read the article: Single women eat babies!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Amen to the catcall article! Hilarious examples!
"You had me at 'Damn, yo' booty fine'," has got to be one of the best things I've ever read ever.
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People more deserving of a pardon than Libby.
[Read the article: Hard guy Giuliani goes soft on Libby]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From the Cato Institute (it's a little old, but the spirit is there):
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5217
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If Matthews isn't paying attention, it doesn't exist.
[Read the article: The disappearing protests]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Similarly, if he thinks something (anything!) is true, it is.
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So where's the link?
[Read the article: Pseudopsychology Today]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Or was the link to Echidne's rigorous analysis at the end of the post supposed to suffice?