If PBS didn't can Melanie Martinez, the wingnuts would have used her as the figurehead for their next "Axe PBS" campaign. Sadly, instead of standing by their host, PBS figured it was better to toss her overboard.

To quote another old bromide, when you lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

It's no coincidence that in this age of war, corruption, scandal, folly, and deliberate indifference, the pitiful stories of these women get national 24-7 exposure on our media conglomerates. Keep the American public distracted by tragic tales of beautiful dead young white women, and it won't have time to think about what the government and large corporations are doing to our once-proud country (not to mention the rest of the world).

I think there's a lot of pressure on female professional athletes to act feminine, lest they be tarred with the dreaded scarlet letter "L" and thus turn off potential sponsors and fans. Their athleticism makes them somehow suspect as women; hence the emphasis on their appearance, behavior, and clothes, and the accompanying prejudice against lesbianism. It's as if we need to stuff women athletes into pretty pink boxes for public consumption.

Natalie Gulbis is working both angles of femininity here. She's already nailed "female athlete as sex symbol" (territory staked out by the likes of Anna Kournikova) with her calendar, and now she's going for "female athlete as domestic goddess" with the kitchen photos. (It also seems to me that she's trying make herself less threatening to men by acting like a tart and less threatening to women by acting like Suzy Homemaker.) I wonder how much of this is a genuine expression of her personality and how much is a calculated attempt to market herself? Probably a bit of both!

I'm sure that Republicans will open up their checkbooks to him, if only to siphon votes away from Lamont. After all, Santorum's allies are doing the same for a Green Party senate candidate in Pennsylvania to siphon votes from Casey.

Since boys "naturally" are more interested in science and computers than girls, their schools will get upgraded laboratories and hardware. Since boys "naturally" are better at math than girls, their schools will get better math and science teachers and offer more advanced courses in calculus, physics, linear algebra and the like. And since boys "naturally" are more active and athletic than girls, their schools will get new gyms, weight rooms and other athletic facilities. But at least girls schools will get decent English teachers since girls are "naturally" more interested in literature than boys. (And guess whose school will get the long sought-after sewing lab?)

Yes, I'm exaggerating a bit for the sake of argument. But before you say I'm completely off base, take a look at the Catholic high schools in your area. Where I live, the all-boys and co-ed schools have better facilities and better academic reputations than the all-girls schools. In competition for scarce resources, girls inevitably will get the short end of the stick.

I come from a large, close-knit family and live in the same city as my parents. Though we're not as close as the LW's in-laws, sometimes they drive my husband bananas in the same way. His family can be pretty demanding, too, but since they live further away, it's not something we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Some advice:

1. Talk to your girlfriend honestly about this issue and tell her that her family's behavior is starting to drive you nuts. Be positive, not accusing. She may not realize just how crazy they make you.

2. Set boundaries NOW. Otherwise, they will continue to trample all over you. This will be an on-going process that will require negotiation. But it is essential to your continued happiness as a couple. You need to create a space in this family where you can both thrive.

3. Be prepared for backsliding. Your partner may still do things with her family that make you crazy. You need to communicate this to her. It will be an ongoing process.

4. Make your needs known to your girlfriends' family. They may be more considerate than you expect.

5. You have to give a little to get a little. You will have to be flexible, too. Try to find a compromise that you both can live with.

Getting married didn't really affect my friendships, but having kids did. Some friends discovered that they didn't really like being around children and kind of faded away. Sometimes we both had families but our kids didn't get along or we disagreed profoundly on parenting issues, making it hard to sustain the friendship. But the biggest change was in availability -- time that we used to spend with our friends we now spend with the kids.

On the other hand, I have made new friends through my children. And some of my older friendships have survived the change in status from single to married-with-kids, and even became closer.

Having kids isn't necessarily the death of friendship, but it definitely shakes things up.

This sounds like the scene from "So Proudly We Hail" (a 1943 movie about Army nurses on Bataan) where Veronica Lake suicide bombs a bunch of Japanese soldiers with a grenade concealed in her bra.