ash has no inkling what, specifically, was stated in the letter to which she responds. The substance of it can be easily surmised.

January 28, 1993

In response to CI Greenwood: is, as you state, “homosexual behavior is a matter of choice,” then all homosexuals must be masochists. For who but a glutton for punishment would “choose” such a lifestyle in this society. With people like you around. Are you kidding?

A nearby community woman was in a stand-off with police. It was a huge local story. Naturally, when the dust settled, she threatened to write a book detailing her harrowing adventures. To ash’s knowledge, she never did.

Tentatively announced a few months ago and now all but confirmed: Shirley Allen is an author. Of course, someone else will do the actual writing, including editing, cohesive formatting, correcting grammar, and negotiating with the publisher. Let her share of the proceeds be just enough to pay off her outstanding legal/medical expenses.

ash begins a section called Older Letters. When available, she has provided the dates they were written.

TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY   6 9 99

The other day I buy a salad and fries at a fast food restaurant. Simple transaction. But the young man punches in the wrong sized fries and has to consult two coworkers to make the correction. What flavor salad dressing? I get home and there’s no salad dressing. My fault for not inspecting the bag before I left the premises.

ash couldn’t resist rebutting a segment on the legal program Abrams Report advancing the notion that the daughter of murder victim Denise Brown and the infamous OJ Simpson was overreacting to some minor domestic incident when she called the authorities.  ash immediately recognized that the poor child must be living in a perpetual state of rage provoked by the slightest disturbance since the tension between her and her father is always and irrevocably really about the ultimate unresolved issue.

ash approvingly refers to her former fellow liberal letter writer. Alliteration at no extra charge.

Diane Greenholdt asks a salient question: why would a newspaper publish a journalist who, concurrent with numerous political and social events worth exploring, chooses to devote two consecutive columns to her personal legal trivialities?  In the midst of serious ethical concerns confronting at least two of her fellow conservatives – Tom DeLay and John Bolton – does it not seem particularly curious that she would decline to defend them in favor of focusing on her own, far less pressing matters?

If you fail to glean what Mr. Will must have said, exactly, so does ash. It’s simply too long gone.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s fury, ruling-class authoritarian George Will certainly has kicked into high gear of blame-the-victims mode.

What you believe affects your behavior

I see that you and Chris Britt joined forces with a double dose of Darwin's theory of evolution in the Oct. 20 paper.

After reading Diane Greenholdt’s letters on Sunday and Monday, I felt a response was warranted.