Dear John C. Wright
I don’t think anybody should murder you. I just thought I’d open with that, since it seems like what passes as courtesy in your depraved sickness of a worldview.
Also, my name is Philip Sandifer, with an I, and not an O, which I can’t imagine you don’t know, despite the fact that spell it as Sandofer literally every time you write it on Vox Day’s comments thread. You might like to know that my full name is Charles Philip Sandifer, and that my actual schoolyard bullies called me Charles. You know, just in case you want to up your game.
Anyway, I just wanted to respond to a couple of things you've said on Vox Day’s comment thread, like where you say of me:
As I suspected, he is not a real pagan, not old-school, but one of these modern post-Nietzsche types...
Lifestyle
Dear Monica,
I read your article today as published in the Sunday Telegraph ("Bad to the Bone", August25, 2013) and all I can say is … Wow! I see by your website that you are a writer and social commentator so I guess I can excuse the obvious fact that investigative journalism is not your strong point.
Until I read your article, I had not actually heard of the TV show “Breaking Bad” … Thinking it must be an accurate portrayal of parenting I did a quick Google search and I realised that you are taking your parenting lessons from a fictional American creation. Yes, the show has some definite lessons it attempts to portray such as actions have consequences and the intricate importance of family (thank you Wikipedia – Such a reliable source of information don’t you think?) however over...
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Dear Catherine,
Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought I would write a letter opposing a PFLAG mother intending to testify at a legislative hearing, but today I find I must.
Catherine, You have been mislead by the very people whom you have trusted with your daughters very future, Equality Maryland.
The message you are prepared to deliver to the House committee in support of HB235 could ensure insure your very own child never has the legal right to use any of the places listed here:
20-301. 2010 Maryland Code,
STATE GOVERNMENT
TITLE 20 - HUMAN RELATIONS,
Subtitle 3 - Discrimination in Places of Public Accommodation.
In this subtitle, "place of public accommodation" means:
(1) an inn, hotel, motel, or other establishment that provides lodging to transient guests...
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Dear Mom,
Culling out a single food memory from my childhood would be impossible as there are so very many, so here is my open thank you letter to you.
Thank you for our family field trips to farm stands on the east end of Long Island. At the time, I had no idea how important it was for me to see real food in its natural state.
Thank you for being a gracious and creative hostess. I couldn’t possibly remember all of your parties, but some of my best memories are of making and serving dinner by candlelight for a Colonial Williamsburg dinner, clambakes, and cocktail hours that lasted several hours on our boat. But of course, I’d be remiss in not recalling your very popular, annual survival party – an outdoor event on New Year’s Day. Yes, you served too much food and people drank too...
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To Whom It May Concern,
I have been asked a lot in the past few years: so are you thinking of having kids? When are you gonna start your family? Don’t you know you’d be a good mother?
I’ve gone on a journey with my responses, from annoyance to compassion to clarity.
Annoyed at all the assumptions embedded in such a question about who I am and the life I want. This particularly annoyed me during the years where I was having dreams of being barren and wrestling with what that meant. It felt so personal, like some trying to throw themselves against the door of my heart and peek inside.
Compassion for myself and those who ask, because we have such longing for life…what is more basic as a sign of being alive than procreation? I contain the capacity for a miracle or 8 – why wouldn’t...
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Dear Miles and Asher,
I need you to know something. I need you to know that I just can’t talk to you about this game. I don’t understand Minecraft at all and I have no desire to try. Sure, I want to be interested in what you’re saying to me, but I just can’t. Because you say things like, I built a chair! I saw a chicken! I got an egg, ha ha ha!!! And my eyes get that unfocused look because I’m staring past you and my brain has shut down. I can’t help it. I’m only human.
That’s why I say "Uh-huh" with no feeling, over and over. I’m not listening at all. You probably can tell, because you’re smart. Whether or not you love this game, please know I still think you’re very smart. Lots of smart people do things that make no sense and then talk incessantly about those things.
That said...
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Dear Gina,
I was interested to learn of your latest book The Contented Mother’s Guide (via this Daily Mail article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110738/Don-t-say-sex-ready-childcare-guru-Gina-Ford-tells-new-mothers.html). I haven’t read your book yet so am only commenting on what appears to be the press releases sent out by your publishers and the resulting interpretations of the media, but I do plan to read it in full as soon as possible as I like to keep in touch with what is happening in the world of popular parenting literature.
For now though, what I have read – what I believe may be comments from mothers in your book rather than yourself – has left that same sinking feeling in my heart that I was left with when I read your Contented Little Baby Book almost 10 years...
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Dear Mom,
I write to you tonight to acknowledge the profound influence that you have had on my life. Mere words cannot convey my deep love for you, and yet, it is worth a try.
There are four major areas in my life where you have perhaps made the greatest impact; however, being my mom, you have indeed touched and influenced, in some way, every aspect of my life.
First and foremost, from the very beginning you taught me tolerance of others. I cannot remember a time when I did not think of my actions and words in regard to other people. This compassion was instilled in me by you at a very early age. I was a witness to this loving kindness and patience with others' foibles in most all of your interactions.
From you, not only was I able to hear a sermon, but I was able to SEE a...
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Dear Young Canadian Film Makers at TIFF,
I’m going to lay it all out on the table for you. Are you ready? Here it is: If you pretend to care, maybe we’ll pretend to care.
Before you say “but we’re filmmakers, not actors”, let me remind you that as soon as your film was chosen to debut at this prestigious film festival, you were on. Do you think George Clooney wants to trudge all the way up to Toronto to shill his latest flick? Sure he does, because he knows that he’ll get the glam squad at his feet and the attention of the oh-so-important media. Is it fun? Not always. Is it tiring? Yes. But you’ll see nary a photo of him looking glum or bored – he knows the drill; he knows what it takes to sell a movie.
To quote the musical geniuses Kander...
2,232
Dear Ridley Scott,
I have just returned from seeing your latest film, Prometheus, and I would like my money back, please.
It cost me AU$21, and I would like that money returned to me in dollar bills, by yourself personally, after you have flown to my country. It's Winter here, so I apologise for the cold, but you created that awful, mind numbing mess of a film, and you owe me.
The problems of your film are many: your characterization is flawed, your science is bad, your internal plot mechanics make no sense, and there is absolutely no sense of pace or tension within the film at all. In truth – and I won't lie here – your film is completely and utterly unredeemable from start to finish, and anyone who tells you otherwise has had their brain removed, placed into a jar, and set on...
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