Dear Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana,
As a gay parent to a wonderfully delightful 14-month-old daughter, I wanted to personally address your recent comments.
I’d like to state that I agree with you both that everyone has a right to their opinion and the expression of it. Even when those opinions are dangerous and detrimental to others, like yours are, you do have the right to your views.
However, I also must point out that when someone does express their beliefs – especially individuals in the public eye with a broad reach like yourselves – they need to also therefore be prepared to allow and accept feedback and rebuttals. Open conversation and disagreement is the stuff of a democratic society.
Based on your recent behavior and defensive statements toward Sir Elton John’s...
Lifestyle
Dear Home Buyers,
Seven years ago, I was you. My fiancé and I scoured real estate websites and searched for a place to start our lives together. We found this house. We transformed it; we made it ours. My family’s foundation is here. These walls witnessed my transition from single woman to wife, and eventually to a mother. This house tells our story, and it’s something I’d like you to know.
Whether you think the décor is lovely or plan to change it immediately, you should know that the whole aesthetic was a compromise. My taste is admittedly boring. My husband’s love of all things bright saved you. Without him, you would be buying a house decorated in 50 Shades of Beige.
There’s the living room, where I labored with my firstborn. During contractions, I’d wrap my arms around my...
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Dear Teacher:
I think it's time I told you why I have been acting out at school and crying sometimes. I think you know that something is wrong, because you keep asking me, "What's the matter?" The reason I haven't told you before is that I can't talk to you in the hallway with all the other kids staring at me — and until now, I didn't feel like I could talk to anybody about it.
I'm worried about my schoolwork. I keep getting in trouble for not doing my homework, and not listening in class. Sometimes I am so scared that I just get mad at everybody. I don't mean to yell. I just feel like everyone is picking on me at home and at aschool.
You see, my dad has a drinking problem. It's called "alcoholism." It means that he can't control his drinking. He comes home some nights really...
2,460
Dear Rehka,
Thanks for expressing your and the extreme Left’s view in your open letter to Dick and Betty Odgaard of The Gortz Haus. Not surprisingly, we see the world and, specifically, the unfortunate circumstances surrounding The Gortz Haus in Grimes very differently.
Late last year, you recommended that we seek civil discussion with those whom we disagree. Let’s discuss.
Dick and Betty Odgaard, owners of the Gortz Haus, are like many Iowans who own a small business. They follow their passion, while utilizing their talents and gifts, offering distinct services and goods to the broader community. The days begin early and many end late. While Iowa is blessed with many large businesses, we should never forget that it is small business owners like the Odgaards who are the main...
2,592
Dear Nepali Family,
It is on days like these, when the clouds of uncertainty and despair hover over the fragile human hearts; when humanity sheds tears of deaths and distress; when survivors question their very own survival over the loss of their loved ones, that it is important to put the crisis in perspective, look back at history, take solace in what has remained, and come together as one Nepali family to craft a new course of action for the beautiful country and its diligent people.
On April 25, 2015, god may have died, but that is irrelevant since he has died so many times before, and every single time he has died, you have picked yourself up, one another alongside, and moved on. This is your story: the story of bravery in defeats, humility in triumphs. When the clouds of Sati...
2,775
Dear Dr. Hon,
I am Agatha, a C1 student, and my purpose in writing this open letter to you today is to express my sincere concerns about the MSF “It’s Uncomplicated” workshop all C1 students had to attend on Friday, the 3rd of October.
I attended the workshop with my class in the AVT. Before it started, I flipped through the booklet provided by Focus on the Family (FotF). While sexuality education rarely manages to teach me something that I have not already learnt through past sessions or mainstream media, this booklet was different. From merely glancing through this booklet, I learned a simple yet important lesson: that bigotry is very much alive and it was naïve of me to think I could be safe from it even in school.
While I do have many concerns with regards to this workshop and its...
2,549
Dear world leaders,
We represent the youth climate movement in more than 100 countries, including 19 of the G20 economies. Together we represent the next generation, and we demand our right to a safe climate future.
We are compelled to write this letter because we believe that the coal lobby, led by Peabody Energy (the largest coal company in the world), is trying to unduly influence the outcome of the G20 Summit. Their agenda represents a threat to young people and future generations, and we urge you to listen to our message over that of vested interests.
They claim that their industry will benefit the world’s poor. But we know that the rapid expansion of the industry will cost those living under the poverty line their health and clean air - and they are also the most vulnerable...
2,557
Dear Bed,
It’s been a long time since we’ve been alone together.
83 months, 24 days, and 8 hours exactly … but who’s counting, right? [nervous laughter]
My mother claims that there was a time in my life when I used to hate you. Apparently I never napped, which is ironic in the most painful of ways, since karma is not kind. I used to run away from you, rolling under coffee tables for my nightly beauty sleep, where I would be retrieved in the morning. How could I have done that to you? I don’t blame you for turning from me, I guess.
Maybe it all comes down to that first unfortunate meeting between us, maybe that’s why things have gone so awry. For that, I apologize. But can’t we let bygones be bygones and find a way to come together again?
Because really, Bed, I miss you....
3,036
Dear Media,
Have we not learnt enough from the royal prank call?
I understand that you are constantly challenged to create different angles for big stories because every single outlet is covering the same story as you. You’re always under pressure to create a unique headline and stand out. I know how you feel, I have been in that position. I sat there and agreed to prank call a hospital to create a “unique angle” a harmless and stupid idea that sadly ended in tragedy, as we felt obliged to cover the pregnancy and to do it differently.
So, after seeing the consequences of our mistake, why are you still looking for different angles? Why? Why isn’t congratulations enough? If I was in radio still, I know that I would be sitting down in a meeting room this week with a team of people...
2,648
Dear Game Developers,
I applaud the developers who have so mindfully moved screenshot directories and other per-user game data to a more easily accessible place, My Documents. My Documents, what should be the center of all a Windows user’s document storage, is a wonderful place to put this information. Instead of having to dig through C:\Program Files and find your publisher’s directory, or the game name, or your company’s named directory to backup saved game, configurations, and screenshots, those precious things are saved in a location that is easily backed-up and requires little effort to do so.
However, what disgusts me about this practice is that the directories run rampant. I have a lot of games, and so do many, many other gamers. In my My Documents directory, I have folders...
2,166