conservatives want--to amass goods, to never be told what to do, to never look within or go back on something they once thought was true. They want to kill things and destroy things and walk away from it, laughing, because killing and destroying momentarily replaces their normal sense of emptiness with a feeling of power. Conservatives at this point in history don't even know how much wildlife humans have destroyed in their rampage around North America and around the globe--buffalo, passenger pigeons, cod. Once upon a time, North American was teeming with animals, and then Europeans came with their guns, and improved their guns, and for people like Sarah Palin, it was an orgy of killing. But I am ceasing to care. Everytime conservatives open their mouths and pronounce their selfish "principles", I think, so, get rid of the human race, who cares? The planet will be better off. So Climate change deniers, go for it--you and your offspring will suffer and die, and so what? You will have brought it on yourselves.

hopes for the collapse of the US and the coming of socialism will cheer Palin on and even vote for her. After all, it takes a just a few years under a very misguided tyrant to usher in an era of chastened common sense. Too bad people have to suffer and die to get there.

and so is the aftermath. The idea that through all the centuries and all the wars, returning soldiers have been taken care of is a fiction. The military does not care what happens to you after you are useless to them, and neither does the ruling class. You were cannon fodder, and if you escaped death, too bad. The military promise to reward your service is call "bait and switch". It's just more cruel in the military than it is at Walmart. I continue to be amazed that the military can pull off this scam generation after generation. Guess what, if you don't like it, start a revolution.

we're talking about literary fiction. There was never much of market for that. There's a big market for Twilight. Agatha Christie is the best selling writer of all time (I believe maybe including the Bible). Readers of fiction are in a buyers' market. I think we should enjoy it while we can.

My experience is that girls are easier to raise--they practically do it themselves. So when that boy comes along, he can be a head-scratching mystery--why in fact does he not teach himself to tie his shoes, brush his teeth, coordinate his clothes,take a shower, do his homework, arrive on time? If you haven't had girls, you don't expect that he will, but if you have had girls, you are a little spoiled. At the same time, as a mother, I have to say, that boy is affectionate, accepting, and good to his mom.

boys have older sisters. It really does make for an easier and more congenial homelife.

Another author (Yagoda) flogging his own form (non-fiction) for profit, and denigrating other forms. The sure sign that a particular form is on its way out is a book that declares that form to be the new gold standard. The only growth industry in publishing at the moment is not adult memoirs, it is fiction for girls. So Yagoda is not predicting the future, he's describing something already past. All fictional forms come and go, and at this point in the history of the world, there are so many books, new and reprinted, that it's entirely pointless to make generalizations about them (including LM's generalization that most are just OK--maybe you will eventually become a better and more generous reader, Laura--your capacity for getting pleasure or not is your problem, and has vert little to do with the book you are reading). The great thing about fiction is that it just keeps going, Ben Yagoda's advertisements for himself notwithstanding.

Mary gave birth to that Baby sometime in the spring. Actually "Christmas" as we know it comes from Charles Dickens "A CHristmas Carol." Before that book was big, celebrating Christmas was not a done thing. And those Calvinists that founded our country detested the celebration of CHristmas as a form of idolatry, which is still is--worship of the almighty Dollar.

If you want to see a really interesting apocalypse movie made on a tiny budget, try "The Day the Earth Caught Fire." (1962) I think it's worthy of comparison to 2012.

years ago who was really unattractive physically, but he dated more girls than anyone, and also got married. What he did was accept his unattractiveness, and he compensated for it by asking EVERY GIRL he met out on a date. Some of them went and some of those stuck around and became friends. He eventually got married and had two kids, and is now rather attractive (gray hair, beard, mustache help). The lesson here is that if you are going to get married, you have to WANT to get married and you have to understand that there may be sacrifices (self-esteem, for example). There are always sacrifices of some sort. If your two friends come to you and ask, be honest, at least generally, about the idea of sacrifices and what would they sacrifice? If they don't ask, don't offer. But I bet they will ask, eventually. I also like the internet dating idea.

about the rise of evangelism in the military, and the view of many soldiers that the US army is an arm of the religious right. If thast is true, then no doubt Hasan's anxieties were exacerbated by the religious fervor of many of his fellow soldiers. If the soldiers and the brass are using the army to advance a Christian agenda, then these sort of things are going to happen.

people, and then torment them and make them torment others, some of them will turn on their own.

I'm telling you, leave the kid alone, and let him find his way. He will be fine. Or fine enough.