Letters to the Editor
Mizmoon
Published Letters: 146 Editor's Choice: 15
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Not Old
[Read the article: Her sexy T-shirt says "Kitty Not Happy" -- is that OK at work?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm pretty far from old and I think the slogan is inappropriate for the workplace. There are few standards anymore. I'm female and I've been offended by a coworker who wore skirts so short you could often see her underpants. I felt I couldn't say anything because of the same reactions here - I knew no one would agree with me so I was stuck. In a way people who are so overtly sexual and tasteless at work get to make me uncomfortable and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not a prude I just don't want to know anything about the "kitties" or underpants of my co-workers, thank you very much. I don't even want to allude to them, really. And I promise I will not attempt to regale anyone with status reports on the state of my kitty either.
This isn't about professional vs casual attire either, I think. It's about "appropriate" vs "too sexual for the workplace".
You guys would care alot if I were the only Hindu who was offended and felt powerless in the workplace bceause of a religious double entendre t-shirt, but because I'm more conservative on this sexual matter than most of you are I just get insulted about my feelings. I think I'm entitled to them, and so is this guy.
Of course the slapping line is sickening. I'm going to pretend he didn't say that. And her line about not speaking French was actually cute, inappropriate t-short or not. Oh and I too think the letter is fake.
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LOL
[Read the article: Bad news dad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I just love these crazy letters from parents. My son is 18 and about to head off to college, so I've been dealing with these humorless loons for nearly two decades.
"Your son is on the monkey bars BY HIMSELF ..." they say knowingly.
Oh. My. God. Not the monkey bars!
Sheesh.
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Before the haters get here ...
[Read the article: Hillary's hard-won experience]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Lots of us out here support you 100% Senator Clinton! I would love to see you become president.
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Sentator Clinton
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton always comes prepared]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Calling the Senator "Hillary" is not so bad. It's when the rightwingers intentionally call her "Mrs. Clinton" that makes me roll my eyes. It's just plain rude.
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Cats
[Read the article: How do I get rid of mice? Plus: Testimonials needed!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A cat only knows how to kill a mouse if it has been taught how to do so by another cat, in my experience. A cat who has not seen other cats kill mice with just toy with it. In other words, don't just grab any old kitty and expect him to know how to mouse. It appears to be a learned art.
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Deborah Tannen Kicks Ass
[Read the article: Unstable starlets and little-girl voices]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We read her in college, way back in the olden days around 1993. Tannen calls women raising their voices at the end of a sentence "uptalk". I have known about it for years, I do what I can to prevent myself from doing it, but I go back to it whenever I'm not paying attention.
Like the other poster, I think it goes back to my childhood. While I was not physically abused as she was, I was verbally terrorized. My uptalk is a plea not to shred me and my every action and verbalization like my mother and step father did ... please don't disregard me and my needs. I am old enough to know that uptalk actually causes the opposite result of what I want, but it's still a hard habit to break.
Her book "You Just Don't Understand" is very interesting and well worth reading for both men and women. I highly recommend it.
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Some facts
[Read the article: The body electric]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The reason there are no more huge instutions is because no matter how altruistic the people are who start them, they turn into dumping grounds. Pilgrim State Hospital in New York was built with the best of intentions by people who wanted to see the mentally ill get the best care in the world. It turned into a hellhole for lack of funding and due to severe overpopulation. If you think that wouldn't happen again, you're crazy :)
ECT doesn't cause huge visible seizures anymore because the people are drugged nowdays. That reaction still happens, but you can't see it.
In the past ECT was used in very weird ways. One case I know of it was used to try to get the patient to "confess" about what was the real cause of her mental illness. They'd shock her and then while she was dazed ask, "Do you love your mother? Do you want to have sex with your father? Do you love your husband?"
Also the defintion of mental illness changes. It was once considered a mental illness when a slave wanted to run away. Women who didn't like being mothers and wives were obviously insane. Gay men were loons that needed serious help. In the Soviet Union not supporting the Communist Party would also earn you a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a nice trip to the ECT ward.
The other part is how the Italian inventors first used ECT. They kept attaching the electrodes to animal's mouths and anuses, and often the animal would die of electrocution. Finally they attached it on either side of the head and it "worked" in that it didn't kill the subject. There's something about that that really bothers me.
All that said, I feel for your situation with your son. I can't imagine how you must feel. I pray that he will age out of his illness. A surprising number of people do.
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Actually
[Read the article: Yeah, but who among us wouldn't love to have a beer with George W. Bush?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bushie strikes me as the kind of guy who would be very uncomfortable hanging around with a regular Joe. If you said anything to contradict him or disagreed with him, he'd get that pissy "I'm the King so STFU" look on his face, say something cutting, and walk away.
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Not nice
[Read the article: Do you have to be gay to tell another guy his eyes are pretty?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]By using the word "pretty" to describe you, he's feminizing you. And not in a good way.
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Awesome
[Read the article: Wedding trashers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What wonderful fun! The pics are so interesting ... full of such rebellious joy and sass. Admit it ... some of these images are downright disturbing. They make me smile darkly ... I love art.