Letters to the Editor
Miette
Published Letters: 30 Editor's Choice: 6
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Gen X, Vets, Bikes, and Honor
[Read the article: Playing soldier]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hey, man, don't try to stand for me. You might be embarrassed by your elders, but some of us aren't. Who made you the arbiter of cool? What's wrong with a ponytail and a harley? Sheesh. It's like you're 12 and horrified at anyone who doesn't have a stack of Garbage Pail Kids.
I'm not a big fan of knee-jerk patriotism, and the patriot riders share some threads of americanism with other groups that make me pretty uncomfortable. Bull-headed dedication to unbending principle and symbolism, independence and isolationism, anti-intellectualism, among other things.
But a lot of them are vets. And they're a self-organized unpaid bodyguard/honor guard for the soldiers who didn't get the chance to come back as vets, wear embarrassing leathers, grow uncool ponytails, and ride bikes. Our military can't be moved to always protect and honor its own dead; good thing big scary guys on bikes are around to pick up the slack.
There's a company in Maine that donates wreaths to Arlington Cemetery every year. They send them down in a big truck. Last year I passed bikers on the highway riding escort on the truck, escorted in turn by a couple of state cops. Honor, respect.
Silly, kneejerk patriotism? Maybe. But this country absolutely screws its soldiers, over and over and over. Some people can think about that in quiet rooms with long-dead paintings; others need the roar of the engine and the glare of a big, tattooed man to remind them.
The membership is locally organized and welcomes people of all political persuasions; I'm not surprised that some of them were thrilled to meet Bush. You can find someone in every walk of life who'd love to shake his hand and invite him into their club. Shall we dismiss all writers because some of them fawn over the president?
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Life Coaching
[Read the article: I need more ideas! Where do they come from?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wait, what's this about free life coaching?
Anybody have more information?
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@malusinka
[Read the article: Make it stop: Abstinence-only education]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wait, so you don't want them taught to be ashamed, but you don't want them taught that sex feels good? What exactly should a teacher say when a kid asks about oral sex?
and yeah, "Some people like it" is a fine response to all the random kinky questions, and it won't make your kid an orally fixated submissive leather furry foot fetishist. It's just the truth, and it's pretty much the whole truth about why people do various nonprocreative sexy things.
It's not very hard to say "people do it because they like it" while also saying "and young people should wait to have sex until they're ready" or other "not now" messages.
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@damnthatxanadu
[Read the article: Men, talk among yourselves]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I often talk about different things with different people. With some people, I'll talk relationships. With other people, I'll talk mythology. With other people, I'll talk the technical details of subway systems. These people will all be different genders.
A group of people will find the things it has in common and will talk about that. If you've got a problem with what your group talks about, find another group. The problem's not that your group is women, the problem is the specific women in your group.
I don't feel limited when I'm with a group of women and we talk boys and shoes -- and mind you, some of that talk can be pretty intricate, feminist, practical, and important -- because it's a conversation I sometimes want to have. If it was all I ever talked about with anyone, that would suck, but it's not. It might be all I ever talk about with Jane because it's the only thing I have in common with Jane, though. There's people I only talk computers with because it's all we have in common, but we can still have a rollicking good time arguing about whether macs suck and if LaTeX is a crime against nature or a gift from the good lord on high.
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@silenced
[Read the article: See? See why I get hysterical?!?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Who's the author on that asperger's book? Amazon has a whole bunch of guides, complete and otherwise, on the subject.
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Signs
[Read the article: Parade shames Gloucester Girls]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the most telling sign was the big one that said "Christine its a joke".
Misogynists love to use that line to get out of whatever criticism anyone's making of them. Obviously, Christine is pissed about this parade, and some dickhead thinks she doesn't have the right to be. It's just a joke, you see? Can't you take a joke? Jeez, what's your problem, lady?
Defensive much, asshole? If you ever find yourself saying that about something (It's just a joke! What's your problem anyway?), ten to one you're completely wrong and everyone around you knows it, and is laughing at you.
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Thanks for the heads-up.
[Read the article: The right to bear a prepaid cellphone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hadn't heard about this.
I've long been annoyed at the cellular market. I've been upset for years that you have to have a credit check to get a good cell phone/plan price and that you get locked into plans for years. Cell phones are, or should be, more like a utility like your home phone or internet. You used to have to sign up for a year of internet, but that market changed. I've been hoping the cell market would too.
I think you should be able to get an anonymous number. I don't think I'd be as averse to "You have to give your phone company a name" than I would be to "You have to give the state your name", and I understand that anonymous cell phones are used by criminals. But so were pay phones.