Letters to the Editor
Anonymust
Published Letters: 1982 Editor's Choice: 74
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PHC ala Guy Noir
[Read the article: Cinema to savor]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am a PHC fan and semi-regular listener, and I still really enjoyed the film, though I wouldn't have recommended it to anyone was not already a fan. To me, there was something very intriguing about Kevin Kline's character, Guy Noir, breaking through that barrier and becoming a "real" character working as security on the show-- behind the scenes, rather than as his usual character in a play within the show. Perhaps that's why the film show seemed like something of a noir version of the radio show.
A film version of the actual radio show-- all polished and professional-- would not have been much more than a televised version of one, which has already been done. Instead, someone-- Keillor or Altman?-- decided to go in another direction. And that direction seemed both likely and unlikely, likely because eventually it all does have to end (and greed as a cause is as likely as anything else), but unlikely because it's hard to imagine Keillor letting it devolve like that without just ending it himself.
Rightly or wrongly, I did attribute some of the "malaise" to intense political fatigue after 6 years of GOP-induced surreality. And, perhaps it's my own age, but I was all too aware (even at the time) of its being about the mortality of the show and the people who make it all up for us every week. That last scene with Virginia Madsen as the Angel of Death going into the diner where the show's one-time regulars were having a meal together was a bit spooky.
(Disclosure: The news is filled with way too many stories for my own comfort of people dying who have less than a decade on me.)
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The point of the essay
[Read the article: To grandmother Pelosi's house we go]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...wasn't really that parents automatically are better people than non-parents but simply that a woman's (or a man's) experience in raising children to be adults provides metaphors that are just as valid in the workplace as the sports metaphors that already abound in our culture and work life. That's all.
Perhaps more important, though, was Dickerson's point that Pelosi's life suggests a woman really can have it all-- a fulfilling career and a rewarding family life-- maybe just not all at the same time. The more I read about Pelosi, the more inspired I am by her example.
And what I appreciate most about Dickerson's writing is that she always gives us something to think about, and usually sparks a discussion.
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Food for Thought?
[Read the article: The minimum wage went up, so the owner cut my hours!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To the LW:
Maybe you could keep your current job, but get another one to make up for the lost hours.
Granted, you would then have two part-time jobs, but they would each be paying you more than you were making before. And even though a fast-food job in itself does not necessarily enhance your career option, working with people you like is good for your current quality of life.
Perhaps you could work the "lost" hours at the bookstore, and thereby feed both body and soul, for I absolutely agree with everything Cary wrote about what would be right about working in a book store. A short while ago, I actually had a one-day-a-week part-time job in a used book store, in addition to my regular weekday job. I loved it. It didn't pay very much in comparison, but the other benefits were incalculable.
(Fwiw, I was in favor of this minimum wage increase. I just didn't think it was enough.)
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Let's not forget Cortisol...
[Read the article: The anxiety of appetite]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...the stress hormone that causes weight gain. Surely it must play a role in obesity, especially among those with limited resources and too many responsibilities (children, jobs, etc.)
Another thing that strikes me is how so much of the supposedly "new" information really isn't, e.g., that trans-fats are bad for us. Adele Davis wrote about their ill effects many decades ago, but it has taken until now for there to be a public health campaign against them.
I don't recall whether Davis also wrote about the effects of high fructose corn syrup, but I suspect it didn't really became such a major player in our food industry until a bit later. Frankly, just comparing the graphs of the increased use of HFCS in our food industry over time and the increasing rates of obesity should be enough to inspire a heated campaign against this sweetener.
Granted, in a better world it would not be necessary to legislate against certain food additives or sweeteners, especially since we live in a country that is is devoted to personal choice. Unfortunately, the insidious invasion of ingredients like HFCS and trans-fats into our food chain have effectively diminished meaningful choice for many people, especially those with limited resources.
Just as OSHA reforms were intended to ensure fairness and safety in the worklife, we really do need legislation to ensure a similar fairness in an even more basic area of life: what we have available to eat. After all, food corporations will (almost) always choose the most profitable means (for themselves and their shareholders), even at the expense of their customers' health, which is why HFCS is so pervasive in our food supply and simple cane sugar is usually only in more expensive products.
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More agreement...
[Read the article: Income inequality up, minimum wage down]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...first, with the first two commenters, and also with this:
"the idea that a bump upwards in wages for the bottom rung of workers in this country should be paired with a tax hike on the top 1 percent"
In addition, the minimum wage increase is still too small. It should be $10 per hour, which works out to about $20,000 per year. Should anyone with a family be working for anything less than that? I mean in this country...