Stephanie Zacharek's review of Walk the Line was enjoyable and useful, but I had to guffaw out loud at the line, "Phoenix forces us to confront the notion that unhealthy, unbalanced people can sometimes make incredible art."

The canons of Rock'n'Roll and great art are strewn with the corpses of Unhealthy, Unbalanced People - Elvis, John Lennon, Jackson Pollack, Janis Joplin, Sid Vicious, Ian Curtis, just to mention some of the dead ones... Mark E Smith is still alive and kicking. Especially with Rock'n'Roll (of which Johnny Cash was one of the greats, in spirit if not always in form), it's not that the best performers have something Extra, it's that certain something Lacking that sets them apart...

Yes, it's a gloomy day - even more so for the issues of presidential authority and corporate accountability - but I don't think it's the end of the world as we know it. I'm a female academic, self-identified feminist - christ, I even directed a Women's Studies program for several years. But I'm also a person who feels extremely uncomfortable with third trimester abortion, except in cases where the life of the mother is at stake (and *that* protection should be iron-clad). And I happen to agree with Howard Dean that the Democrats have been hamstrung by the All-or-Nothing rhetoric of the abortion debate. We have allowed a strange principle (in this case, rejection of any controls on abortion) to allow us to be cast as *inhumane*

Under this Court, third trimester abortion is eventually going to be history - would that be so horrible? Does that mean then that we are on a one-way trip down the proverbial slippery slope that leads to the outlawing of *all* abortion? No more contraception?! Something tells me not. In Germany and most other countries in western Europe (which I study for a living), there is no "abortion on demand", but first & second trimester, as well as birth control, are solidly secure for those who need them.

Something tells me that when the law *really* starts to change, and people see it with their own eyes, the massive, nauseating complacency that Americans have allowed to settle over themselves may be shaken off. The aflluent Republican women I see around me - who drive Volvos and can't seem to live without their morning cappucino - may think twice about their votes for the GOP.

Finally, consider that the radical right may at last get what it's always wanted. And the rationale for voting for the Republicans will completely dry up, as actually doing something concrete on abortion is the last thing Bush & Co. really have in mind.

I too went to the IUD after my son was born and we decided unequivocally that we did not want any more children. I am now 40 and have had the device for over 2 years - I could not have made a better choice. You don't have to think about it, and you don't have to worry. I have the Paraguard, which uses no hormones. The only downside is that my periods got heavier in the few months after it was first installed; they have since stabilized. No cramps, no side effects. My insurance didn't cover the device, which cost about $250. But when you factor out the cost of the Pill over time, this is a good deal.

The one thing to consider is whether you might want to become pregnant in the near future - if you do, the cost and discomfort of the installation procedure should make you think twice. For those who definitely know that they do not, but don't want to take the leap into sterilization (like me!), the new IUDs are in my view a great option.

I remember hearing about this massacre on NPR a while back, and sure enough, a web search shows they did a lengthy report on it in late March. Not that it went anywhere...

Hear hear for the good words about Friends With Money, a totally underrated film and one of the best takes on gender and class in contemporary America I've ever seen. My feminist academic friends hated Aniston's character ("why doesn't she get off her ass and *do* something?"), while my bohemian slacker friends totally identified with her and thought Joan Cusack was the evil one (and I have to agree on some level - giving 2 million dollars to your daughter's already obscenely wealthy private school??). I think of Francis McDormand every time some inconsiderate a-hole cuts me off on the road, and Catherine Keener as I watch a friend dissolve into whiny, narcissistic alcoholism (ok, her character's not an alcoholic, but she sure nailed the insecure narcissism part). This movie has become a litmus test for me in seeing how people think - and don't think - about their material comforts, their relationship to the wider world, how to raise kids, their stance on recreational pot use, etc. Americans hate movies about characters they can't wholeheartedly like, which surely explains why this film didn't do so well...

And the praise for Jack Black's "Encarnacion" is totally spot on!

While it's understandable to be leery of Polner's proposal for ads featuring aggrieved 9/11 survivors, it should be noted that the 9/11 families have been politicized for quite a while and can articulate their own interests just fine. They have remained in the spotlight of the New York metro area media since 2001 and they are generally quite an articulate bunch with a legitimate set of grievances. It would not be shameful or disgusting for the Democrats to give them the national platform they deserve. Indeed, they'd be doing the rest of the country a service by torpedoing the myth of Giuliani's competence.