Dear LW,

One symptom of depression is a lack of motivation, even to do things you do well and enjoy.

Depression meds are being given out like candy these days. If you ask for them, your GP will likely write the prescription immediately. So, if you suspect that you are depressed, perhaps a visit to a psychologist first is a good idea.

Of course its impossible to know if you have depression based on your letter. So, feel free to ignore this letter. However, its something to consider.

-Mike

Perhaps Hillary is telling the truth. Perhaps she didn't vote for the war to save her skin. Perhaps she voted for it because she believed the administration about the WMDs. Perhaps she's changed her mind because there were not WMD's found and the occupation has been handled so badly.

If this were true, Hillary would be in the same camp as the majority of Americans. The country originally supported the decision to go to war. Only recently has that changed. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to criticise her now.

Remember, it’s the majority of Americans that will elect either her or one of her competitors, not left wing opinion columnists.

What would happen if she did a flip-flop now? She would be cannon fodder for the right wing who would declare her a political opportunist and unpatriotic. Now, she can at least claim to have supported Bush and the war until it because clear that she was lied to and that he was unprepared to avoid a long, difficult occupation. Every time her competitor brings up her change of heart, she can point out why she changed her mind. In doing so, she'll be echoing the feelings of the majority of America's voters back to them.

LW,

Reading this letter makes me (a 37-year old male) glad that I am happily married and not dating. I can't imagine how hard it would be to date you only to find out that I'm not funny enough or (funny in the right way). Sheesh.

Take Cary's advice. Better yet, try therapy for a little self-awareness.

-Mike

There are three articles in as many days on this movie posted on Salon.com. Did Salon.com receive any compensation from the distributors or producers of this movie? Yes or no?

Mr. Smith,

Given that you haven't been employed by an airline in years, let me explain a few things about air travel today.

Over the past 5 years, airlines have been stuffing more and more people onto planes. Seats have been moved closer together. No leg and elbow room for 3-6 hours at a time is unpleasant. Travelers resent this.

Food has been removed from most flights, even if the flight occurs during a normal meal period. You'd think that $200 to $700 a ticket would get you a sandwich when your flight runs from 10 am to 2 pm local time, but it usually doesn't.

People who work for the airlines are frequently rude or at least indifferent. Delays often go unexplained for hours. Reasonable questions are met with eye rolling and snide comments. When answers are given, they often turn out to be wrong. The least demonstration of dissatisfaction on an airplane (no matter how polite) will get you warning from a stewardess or steward about calling security. The message from airline personnel to passengers is clear: "shut-up and sit down."

Flights don't leave and arrive on time often enough. Perhaps a 70% on-time arrival rate sounds great to you. It doesn't to most travelers. When you are late for a meeting, funeral, wedding, a ticketed show, etc these delays can be terribly upsetting. Keep in mind that most of us only get a few weeks of vacation a year. Those of us who travel for business depend on on-time flights to keep our jobs.

Luggage is delayed and lost. When it does, you can be inconvenienced for days with no compensation. Also, good luck getting it back at all. A few years ago, an airline sent my bags to the wrong city. I filled out the paperwork and they promised to deliver the bag to where I was staying (“later that day”). Three days and many phone calls later, I drove back to the airport to find my bags sitting in the baggage claim, unsupervised (no one was in the baggage claim office). I picked them up and left, telling no one. No one ever called to see if the bags had been picked up.

Despite all of this, airlines get billions in government help.

All of the resentment and anger you got in response to your column was earned by the airlines and you stepped into the crosshairs. People don’t want any more excuses and explanations. They want better service. Delays due to weather are inevitable. However, when they do happen, passengers want airlines to do a better job of dealing with the situation. If the airlines don’t make changes themselves, then a legislated “passenger bill of rights” is what they deserve.

P.S. According to Payscale.com, airline pilots do make 6 figures. See: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Commercial_Pilot/Salary. Also, many pilots are also collecting retirement from the military, where they received free training at our expense.

It's not always about payola. However, its sometimes about payola. These things do occur. (If you don't think so, you are the dumbass.) I'm not even suggesting that it rises to the level of payola (secret and illegal payments to FCC regulated media to actively promote a product without disclosure).

However, many print magazines and TV news programs have been approaching an ethical line on this issue. I'm just curious whether or not Salon.com has joined the club.

Its hard to imagine that "Black Snake Moan" is such a wonderful movie that it warrants as much or more coverage than national affairs.

In any case, I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I just asked a question. I hope the answer is no.