Letters to the Editor
Laura Maschal
Published Letters: 25 Editor's Choice: 2
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Kids have their place, and my cup of tea isn't one of them
[Read the article: Should cafes be kid-free?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe this is too obvious of a comment, but there are places that can be and should be kid-friendly -- Pizza Hut, your local Mexican joint, most chain restaurants -- and just about all restaurants are probably kid-friendly before, say, 8pm.
But coffee houses, wine bars, expensive tapas or sushi restaurants, and just about everywhere after 8pm? Aren't really kid places. I appreciate that parents need caffeine fixes too, and an in-and-out with a screaming child in tow is fairly understandable, but relaxing in the local coffee shop while a 2-yr old upends tables and strews sugar everywhere is asking too much of us non-parents.
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Also in DC
[Read the article: A little antiabortion propaganda for your commute]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]These charming ads were also in the DC Metro system a few months ago. Interestingly enough, we just ignored them. Leave it up to San Franciscans to be a bit more creative in their response!
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Fuck the 'Pottery Barn' rule
[Read the article: What ever happened to the "Pottery Barn" rule?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No, seriously, fuck that, what happened to basic human dignity? "Intra-Muslim slaughter ... okay, sure; Christians not in the Middle East, maybe we'll care"???
Am I the only one utterly disgusted by this?
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Having babies just isn't hot
[Read the article: Breast-feeding: Bad for marriages?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No, what's REALLY creepy about this article is this quote:
"That is just too erotic a part of a wife's anatomy for it to become a mere birth canal."
Rabbi is, of course, referring to the hoo-hoo (in anatomically correct terms).
I think the Broadsheet post simply does not do enough to point out that it isn't just the rabbi's arguments that smack of "retrograde sexism," it's his very way of relating to women. Women are a jumble of body parts assembled to handle the task of pleasing a man. Even sex is a second consideration.
I hate to break it to you, rabbi, but that part of a woman's anatomy IS, first and foremost, a "mere birth canal." "Exciting spot for husbands" is at best its second job description, and if we're going by frequency of usage alone, we might best term it as a "menstrual exit ramp."
I suggest the rabbi quit peeing. What woman would want to get up close and personal with a "mere urine deploy chute"?
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Is cross-racial adoption always Whitey Co-opting People of Color?
[Read the article: A motherless child ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Someone else already said just about the same thing, but hey -- if I want to adopt, and here in the US most kids up for adoption are nonwhite (and most are KIDS, not infants, which is a whole other obstacle to finding these kids loving homes), and I'm white ... I can't help? What would be so horrible about providing a loving home for a child in need?
In this case, there is something even more calculated than per the "enlightened" celebrity norm about this adoption -- the child arriving in the arms of an assistant is quite an image. But why focus on the belief that Madonna perpetuates racism in her choice? I'm more concerned that she perpetuates the idea of easy fixes -- send a few bucks to a charity, some celebrity adopts a kid, and boom! Malawi's fine!
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Surely you're kidding.
[Read the article: A case for parental notification]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I guess I'm a social conservative: I just don't think teenagers should be making decisions like this on their own, or that the government has the right to interfere with how families run themselves."
So to ensure that the government doesn't interfere with families ... you want the government to mandate that the government force family members to communicate in a different kind of way?
And while we're at it, no kidding we hope every minor who has an abortion has a "trusted family member or guardian" with her. Unfortunately, ensuring that minors in less than trusting, less than loving, or less than safe families have to tell their parents about this decision -- which could expose them to all kinds of things, including physical violence -- doesn't create trust. If a teenage girl isn't telling her parents that she has to have an abortion, forcing her to tell them is unlikely to engender trust.
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Pasta?
[Read the article: Do kids make you fat?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What the hell is wrong with plain pasta? I don't suppose it offers all the fun vitamins that pasta with a fresh marinara does, but semolina is a whole grain and carbs are not evil.
Just a question. :)
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Hooray for McClatchy!
[Read the article: Thank you, Howard Kurtz]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Since Joan didn't link to it, here's how to get to the in-depth reporting of the McClatchy Washington Bureau:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/
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Um ... critical thinking?
[Read the article: A shot for your spot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For a far more intelligent take on this completely insane development in the world of needless plastic surgery, check out Feministing:
http://feministing.com/archives/007029.html
C'mon, Salon, it's like you're not even trying to think when you post ...
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Um, are you insane?
[Read the article: Goodbye to Audiofile]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry to be rude here, but seriously. Jettisoning the Fix made sense -- if I want to read gossip, I have a billion other places to do it, and enjoy it. But Audiofile brought a unique sensibility to covering music, and was a perfect fit for Salon. I confess I far preferred Thomas Bartlett's posts to David Marchese's posts, no question, but the downloads were always interesting and never predictable.
Now, of course the folks so fast to post are those who love Audiofile. But seriously, 30 posts already and it's a Friday afternoon when you publish the article?
C'mon, Joan. As someone noted about the trouble with online radio, and the need for good sources of interesting music online, this is just a bad business decision.
Also: PLEASE ditch Video Dog or just make it more interesting. As it is now, it's completely awful. I only go to Alternet for selections of interesting video online. That's the one you should ditch (or somehow fix).