Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 149 Editor's Choice: 9
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Why do you want to analyze his behavior?
[Read the article: My husband constantly upstages me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'll analyze it for you: his behavior sucks. He is a bad husband. He does things that would be unacceptable in a vague acquaintance, let alone the person to whom you swore vows.
And you'd quit your job if he got hired there? What's that saying about you? Again, I'll answer: It's saying that your only response when he does something detestable is to run away. Run away in a figurative sense, of course; it's obvious you haven't built up the courage to leave the relationship. And this is to say nothing of the fact that you feel you would HAVE to quit if your husband got hired at your job. If that's how much you can't stand being around your husband, well, to most people the rest of the sentence would be obvious.
So, like I started out saying, you don't need other people to analyze his behavior. You need for him to STOP FUCKING DOING IT. Please tell him that.
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Wait a minute, what are they saying?
[Read the article: Can't "lesbians" belong to us all?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are they saying that the Isle of Lesbos is not, in fact, a haven of sun-drenched girl-on-girl action?
I have nothing left to believe in.
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Fair is fair...
[Read the article: Your fetus has fingernails ... and we're going to show them to you]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If this law is allowed to stand, then every single person who votes for the death penalty should have to witness all state executions in person.
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Really sad.
[Read the article: Clinton responds to gas tax attacks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If this is the best idea Clinton and McCain can come up with to abate the horrendous gas prices we're facing, then we really are fucked and they might as well move on to more solvable problems. Like Obama has.
Cutting gas prices by 18 cents a gallon (only part of which, if any, would make it to the consumer) is about as useful as issuing $25 rebate checks. It's a cost without a benefit. Political posturing for the sake of political posturing.
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OK, so...
[Read the article: Hey Hollywood, where my girls at?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You dismiss "Sex and the City" and "Mamma Mia" right off the bat. Two big, big movies with mostly-female casts. Why? They're not thoughtful and intellectual enough? What about "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"?
Meanwhile, "Iron Man," "Indiana Jones" and "The Hulk" are all deep philosophical meditations, or something? Of course they're not. The best we can hope for from Hollywood is big, fun, not-altogether-stupid movies. Seems like we have a decent supply of those for both men and women.
If you want to talk about why there aren't more intelligent movies coming out of this town, that's a completely separate conversation, and one I think would bring speakers from both genders.
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She's 26, not 16.
[Read the article: Our friend got drunk and went to a hotel room with a bunch of Marines]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry to say, but she's an adult, her problems are her own, and at least for now, it sounds like she doesn't want help with them.
The decision you need to make now is not how you will help her. It's how you're going to protect yourself from her. Right now, her actions haven't affected you negatively, except insofar as they've been (rightly) troubling you. Eventually that won't be the case. I think Cary hit the "Marine gang rape" panic button way too quickly, but let's say that is what happened. What if you had been there to help her? Could you have stopped it? Would you and your other friend take on a whole room of Marines? Not likely. Hell, I'm a reasonably big and tough man, and I'd be scared of that situation. More likely, your own life would have been affected -- either by what you witnessed, or, heaven forbid, what was done to you. It sounds horrible, but like it or not, this is the world Jan is playing in. She'll come out of it when she's ready (and that may be never), but until then, you need to decide if it's worth following her in on the unlikely chance that she'll take your hand and follow you out.
Lisa is another issue. Since she's also your friend, her behavior towards Jan is also going to affect you more and more as Jan's behavior becomes riskier. If she can't let go of Jan, she very well could end up being sucked into whatever criminal and legal problems result from her friend's activities. And Lisa may lean on you for help with that -- for emotional support, financial help, whatever the case may be. You need to think about this and decide how much to insulate yourself. You're not being a bad person by doing it; you're just protecting the person who matters most: You.
All this really sucks, I know. Unfortunately, it's also the reality of growing up. You can't always stay friends with everyone, for a variety of reasons. This is one of them.
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The net result of all this...
[Read the article: Teen Alex Phillips puts girlfriend's nude shots on MySpace: Child porn?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...is that the concept of child porn -- one of the most abhorrent, damaging, disgusting vices in the world -- is getting diluted by all these ludicrous new cases.
Today, we're looking at marginal jackasses being branded as child pornographers.
Tomorrow, it will be truly despicable offenders who get off easy because child porn ain't that big a deal anymore.
Legislation needs to catch up here. There's a reason that we don't simply have a law against "murder"; we have laws against various degrees of murder, and then we have laws against various degrees of manslaughter. If it were all the same crime, then you'd get the same sentence for accidentally hitting a pedestrian with your car as you would for intentionally slashing someone's throat with a dagger.