Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 234 Editor's Choice: 42
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Maybe it also could be...
[Read the article: Hooray, Celexa took my sex drive away!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]since we are making up the wife's part of the story:
She could have had a tough pregnancy and her hormones never got back to normal, or they shifted permanently due to the pregnancy. He doesn't sound like he's interested in her health. She may still have medical problems that involve pain. Every woman is different.
and since we don't know much about their backgrounds or ages:
Marriage is just something you do after high school in many cultural and class groups. Even if either of them went to college, they could have married too early, when all kids madly go at it recreationally. Women change hormone levels over time, with some women being most sexual in their 30's.
And I can just imagine this guy's "request for sex" from her, by the respect he shows in his letter. He obviously thinks that sex is due to him on his terms by law; she's not much more than a paid servant in his regard. Maybe he should go ahead and divorce her anyway so she can get someone who actually thinks of her as more than a hole; she deserves much more than that.
I'm amazed that no one, including Cary, called him on his stereotypical rant that diminished both husband and wife and brings out the gender war in Salon letter writers.
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Taking the Bait
[Read the article: 'Tooning out humanity]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Most of Salon's articles have a worldly view: the Danish author with the political rundown of the Danish right, "All Cartoon Politics are Local" and this article, from an Egyptian journalist, on the way the cartoons were great opportunities for Muslim politicians to make hay with their unhappy constituents. My conclusion is that this situation is practically Wag the Dog, mid-east style. It's a Spectacle!
The odd discontinuity is in the letter-writers. Many Salon letter-writers are really sure that the Muslims have a smack-down coming and there is a religious war brewing (from '--' who feels so subversive that he/she can't even risk being 'Anonymous'). Other than law-enforcement issues in Europe, the repercussions seem to be localized, so why are the letters so reactive? Yes, there was violence and destruction of property, but mostly in the countries where big violent mobs are normal and good for the mullahs. There is some powerful subconscious mojo going around and the explicit knee-jerk reactions in the letters makes the implicit racism in the cartoons look quaint.
You all are taking the bait that the manipulators on both sides of the fence are throwing out there. Making it about "freedom of speech" or "religious offense" is just doublespeak to incite a retaliation that makes the government look good. Bush is particularly adept at justifying invasion as God-driven liberation, and pointing out Evil Empires left and right. The fact that the opposing governments use hate-mongering and profiling as a political tool shouldn't be too surprising. And after Bush has insulted and invaded the Muslims time and again, is it any wonder the ordinary people are starting to take the bait. Now he's going to try to subvert the Palestinian elections - wouldn't you be pissed?
My request is to reject the bait and stop profiling, generalizing and smearing. The world is not us versus them, as our current political and religious leaders are brainwashing us to believe. The more you fear, the more they win, and then that religious war you are afraid of is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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What would Tom Hayden do?
[Read the article: The losing generation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am reminded of the 60's when a massive public service ad campaign convinced high schoolers that college would help them get better jobs. We believed, but there were no jobs when we got out either. My college-hippie friends went back into law school, hoping to change the world for the better; instead, they became corporate lawyers, making money for the rich. Somehow, even in the idealistic 70's, the lure of money trumped the common good. Yes, our generation is to blame.
Now that there are no good jobs to be had, besides service industry hourly gigs, a college education will quickly become unnecessary for anyone but the very wealthy. The rest of us will be living in a virtual America, turning the cogs that make the consumerism machine run, enriching the top 1%. Isn't that what the Bushies had in mind anyway?
I would suggest that anyone who is young and feeling the lack of income, look to public office for a part-time job opportunity. You get the job by applying to your neighbors, there's not that much competition and it has decent job security (apparently you can steal and lie and still stay in office!). There's certainly career advancement. English majors are welcome! Obviously, law school hasn't done much to improve the quality of our elected representatives.
Seriously though, we would all benefit from an influx of young candidates with nothing to lose but a dead-end future. Starting with the local school board and progressing to the US Congress, you can change the direction this economy is headed. Hopefully, you can succeed where we failed.
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WHO the World actually Works for
[Read the article: Offshoring: Not so bad after all]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]" India benefits from generating new revenue and creating high-value jobs; the U.S. benefits from having U.S.-based corporations achieve better financial performance as a result of the cost savings associated with offshoring some jobs and investing increased profits in growing business opportunities that create new jobs."
This sounds so rosy, but in fact, the only US citizens benfiting from the above situation are VP and executive officers of these off-shoring corporations. More million-plus digs and Hummers for them, but not much in the way of more jobs for the rest of us.
Who do these executives think they are selling their goods to, anyway? If the wages in this country continue to drop, we can't afford our own products. Stop whining about the trade deficit if you can't provide a decent wage to your own countrymen!