His "Leave it to Beaver" gender brainwashing would be toxic for kids who have normal gender identities, let alone those who don't. My heart went out to the poor kids in the article who have suffered through this "therapy."

I know a little boy who likes to play with girl toys and dress up in skirts, and this has certainly been the source of consternation in his parents. But they are adopting a wait-and-see attitude and certainly aren't forcing him to submit to any sort of cult-like gender programming.

I enjoyed this article as an entertaining, offbeat take on the candidates. Offering a variety of articles makes Salon.com a more interesting site.

Palin's a better shot.

If the Republicans whip enough of their followers into a frenzy of hatred for Obama, it will be hard for him to accomplish anything. It worked pretty well to hobble Clinton, after all, so they're trying it again.

Many of these people DO have real grievances against a system that's treated them badly. However, others are indulging in exactly the sort of faux-victim identity politics that they so despise in others. But regardless of whether their problems are legitimate or imaginary, the Republicans are cynically stoking their anger in order to influence both the election and the nation's political process afterwards.

Of course, the collateral damage to innocent people -- not to mention the toxic effect that this will have on our democracy -- bothers them not a whit. And if someone goes after Obama, they'll wash their hands of the problem and claim it was just an isolated crazy person.

Yours is UFOs. Don't worry about believing in weird stuff. In the grand scheme of things, believing in UFOs is pretty innocuous. Have fun with it, keep it in perspective with the rest of your life, and everything will be fine.

Just thought I'd mention some alternatives for "period control" besides oral contraceptives and the Nuvo Rong. Depo-provera shots and the Mirena IUD will virtually eliminate your periods. Both have some side effects, though, and you'll have to see your doctor to get them. As always, YMMV.

It's a dystopian SF novel in which America has become a pseudo-Christian theocracy that enslaves women. The story's told from the point of view of Offred, one of the handmaids of the title, who is raped repeatedly by her owners to forcibly impregnate her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handmaid%27s_Tale

It's also been made into a movie, but the book is better.

I've known a number of women like the strong Italian ladies that Paglia's letter writers have mentioned, and they would eat Palin for lunch and spit out the bones. Her "aw shucks pioneer marm" schtick is exactly that. It's an act that's becoming more and more transparent. She can't even speak in her folksy "Northern Exposure" accent consistently -- now ya hear her droppin' her Gs, God love ya, and now you don't. Frankly, I think she's all antler and no moose.

The real question is not whether Palin will transform feminism. It's whether she's qualified by judgement, temperment, experience and policies to be vice president. And I have yet to see any evidence that's convinced me that she is, in any way, shape or form.

She certainly appeals to people on an emotional level and can whip a bunch of authoritarian followers into a frenzy, but she can't -- or won't! -- articulate her policies, she seems clueless about things she might be expected to be knowledgeable about (such as the world oil market), she rejects objective science, and she lacks intellectual curiosity.

Her leadership style seems to boil down to an endless and tiresome game of "Queen Bee and Wannabes." Those who disagree with her are enemies; she cannot brook dissent and filled her city and state governments with a batch of unqualified flunkies. Above all, the Queen Bee's power and popularity must be preserved. This is hardly an image that will transform feminism. It's a level of dysfunction more appropriate to a badly-run hockey parents association, with Palin as president of the backstabbing, ego-driven mess.

Also, for being some kind of heroic transformative mother figure, Palin strikes me as the kind of mother who eats her young. She's already tossed her daughter Bristol under the campaign bus and seems poised to do the same thing with little Trig, while Track's been conveniently shipped off to Iraq where he can't embarrass her any more and she can use him to shut down hecklers by hiding behind his service record. Mother of the year, she isn't. And if this is the kind of motherhood that Paglia things should be a model for women everywhere, we're looking at dysfunction as far as the eye can see.

We're in the midst of an economic meltdown after a long period of declining prosperity for ordinary people. A huge number of Americans are seething with anger and resentment. Like cynical politicians before him, McCain is trying to ride their anger to electoral victory. His problem is that anxiety about the economy is currently working in Obama's favor. But this may not last. Remember how the post-WW1 economic crash led to the rise of fascism? McCain's playing with fire by pandering to fear, prejudice and anger. Even if he loses the election, these resentments and hatreds aren't going to go away.

My yard has tons of white clover. In the summer, it's humming with all sorts of bees. Plus, my neighbor discovered a wild hive high in the hollow branch of her old oak tree. If she ever has to take the tree down, her tree guy promised to find a safe home for it. He's worried about the bees, too.