Lifestyle

Dear Mr Hague, The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is a non-government organisation based in London, which seeks to address issues of human rights abuses around the world. Part of this work involves applying pressure on various government agencies, particularly within the UK, to seek redress on these matters. We were invited to the launch of the Foreign...
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Dear Kelly Ripa, I spent the majority of my sleepless night thinking about what to say to help you understand why your pregnancy joke on April fool’s day was really no joke at all. It was a long night. Let me explain why. One year ago yesterday, April 1, 2014-my son was born silently into this world. He was an innocent victim of a tragic, senseless umbilical cord accident in utero at 28 weeks gestation. It took me several years, tests, procedures and specialists to conceive my perfect boy and in an instant, he was gone. He is joined by three other of my babies or “pregnancies” that ended far too soon. Both my husband and I suffer from issues that make conception and carrying to term an enormous challenge. Pregnancy is no joke, not in our home. Not on any day of the year. It may...
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Dear Onkar and Yaron, I want to thank you again for the student scholarship you gave me to attend this summer's Second Renaissance/Lyceum Conference; I hope your investment in me will prove fruitful. I appreciated your cordial response when I told you that I was interning at The Objectivist Center (TOC) this summer, but I was saddened when I received your ultimatum, which stated, "Until and unless you decide to cut off association with [David Kelley's] group, we cannot admit you into other classes in the OAC." I have spent the last two months considering the issue carefully. I read and re-read the articles you, Onkar, suggested reading: Leonard Peikoff's Fact and Value, Peter Schwartz's On Moral Sanctions and Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty, Bennett Karp's Reintroducing...
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Dear Rep. Noem: I have repeatedly requested a response to my questions on these trade agreements: 1) We now import about 60% of the lamb and mutton that we consume in this nation. My understanding is that we also have net imports of almost 12% of the beef we consume. Will these trade agreements improve this situation? 2) If we were feeding that many more sheep and cattle in America, wouldn’t we feed up enough grain that we wouldn’t have to seek export markets for that? 3) Wouldn’t the added jobs here in America create an economic improvement overall or are the donations you receive from the corporate entities more valuable to you than the general welfare of the people here in South Dakota? I look at the WTO and their attack on COOL, then I ask is more trade and imports of...
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Dear Todd: My wife and I are both big fans of your The Olives Table cookbook, your television shows, and your Olives restaurant in Las Vegas. We most recently had a chance to enjoy the wonderful pizzas at your Figs location in Boston’s Beacon Hill. I am a fanatical pizza lover and even make pizzas in a wood-burning oven in my backyard. My other passion is my professional life, as a practitioner of a quality and process improvement methodology called “Lean” based on the Toyota Production System (applying this “manufacturing system” with success in hospitals, go figure). Last Saturday, we had a chance to sit at the bar right next to where the pizzas were being made. What we saw, other than looking and tasting delicious, was a glaring process improvement opportunity that would...
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Dear Todd: My wife and I are both big fans of your The Olives Table cookbook, your television shows, and your Olives restaurant in Las Vegas. We most recently had a chance to enjoy the wonderful pizzas at your Figs location in Boston’s Beacon Hill. I am a fanatical pizza lover and even make pizzas in a wood-burning oven in my backyard. My other passion is my professional life, as a practitioner of a quality and process improvement methodology called “Lean” based on the Toyota Production System (applying this “manufacturing system” with success in hospitals, go figure). Last Saturday, we had a chance to sit at the bar right next to where the pizzas were being made. What we saw, other than looking and tasting delicious, was a glaring process improvement opportunity that would...
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Dear Alan Davey, We are writing on behalf of the membership organisations, Theatre for Young Audiences UK (TYA UK) a member of Global Association ASSITEJ and Action for Children’s Arts (ACA), who between them represent more than 400 independent artists and organisations committed to the arts for children and young people. We are writing to raise our collective concerns about the positioning of the arts for young people in the recent This England report. As an artistic community dedicated to developing the arts for, by and with children and young people, we welcome the centrality of Goal 5 in the Arts Council’s 10 year Strategic Framework. We share your belief that every child and young person should have the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts. We also share your...
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Dear Alan, I am writing concerning Jazz Services and the future development of jazz in England. The decision by the Arts Council not to fund Jazz Services has caused widespread concern among musicians and audiences. Over 5,000 people have signed a petition set up independently by vocalist Emily Saunders. Most have added comments, speaking eloquently about the impact on the jazz scene. Pianist Kit Downes spoke for many when he blogged on LondonJazz News, “What’s happened now leaves the musicians with less power to do it themselves – something which is integral to both the history and survival of the music. To those that say it is wrong to rely so heavily on one organisation for this kind of help, I would say it is because they are the only ones that offer it.” [LINK]...
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Dear Dr. Ron Paul, We would like to preface this letter by pointing out it is written with the utmost respect and appreciation for all you have done to contribute to the freedom philosophy and human liberty. However, as principled supporters of liberty, we find your appearance at the International Students For Liberty Conference troubling for a few reasons. Most of which relate to your past and current associations with certain individuals and organizations that we find un-libertarian. We believe many of the people you have aligned yourself with and continue to align yourself with are libertarians only in name and their true ideology is one more akin to a bigoted and authoritarian paleo-conservatism. Your appearance at Mises Circle in Houston, Texas just a few weeks ago is a prime...
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Dear AB, I trust this letter finds you recovering from what must have been an extremely emotional time in your life. I know I write on behalf of many thousands of people around the world who watched the semi-final against New Zealand, and who share a small part of your pain. Let me assure you that sitting watching the game from a distance, and having been in that cauldron situation myself, I fully comprehend the deep down, inner-burning hurt feeling you are experiencing. I understand the anguish having not reached your final goal, but sometimes in life it isn’t all about the final win. Someone once said, “When the great scorer comes to judge, he judges not on how many runs you made but how you played the game.” We all know that winning a World Cup event is something extremely...
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