Your article reminded me of the summer of 1976 when I was in Belgium and my hosts actually had a remote control for their television! Of course, I couldn't figure out what was so difficult about getting off the couch, going over to the TV, and changing the channel. Remote controls were for garage door openers because, afterall, it saved you from having to get out in the rain to open the door.

It's amazing how Americans think that every technological innovation started with us, when more often than not, other countries and cultures adopted the technology long before we did. Maybe if Americans got off of their couches and traveled more to other countries, they'd see this.

Today, I talk to my Belgian friend via Skype on my home computer. He, of course, talks to me via Skype from his cell phone as he sits outdoors by the Belgian coast. I wonder when I'll be able to do that with my cell phone?

As we watch this little rich girl have to deal with the reality that the world and all the people in it just aren't her toys to push around on her own checker board, I think of all of the less well-off people who suffer far more mental stress in jail, but would never have a prayer of convincing people that they are worthy of immediate release like she. Give me a break--if mental breakdown is a reason worthy of immediate release (with a follow-up, apparently therapeutic party thereafter), then we should just open the doors of the L.A. County jails and let out all of the other people who haven't had all of the advantages and freedom that poor old Paris has flaunted ad nauseum.

Another point to keep in mind is that a lot of "sex offenders" are really not a threat to children on MySpace. For instance, until recent years, most states had (and some still have) anti-sodomy laws that were enforced almost exclusively against gay men and often in cases of purely consensual sex. Convictions mean that these men are now "sex offenders," though they rarely pose a threat to children. Keep in mind too that once convicted, it's a lifetime scarlet "A."

The "stranger sex pervert" boogeyman is big in our society, though statistics show that sexual abuse of children is more likely to come from a relative than from a stranger. Parents should be more alert to the relatives around a child than some stranger on MySpace.

Thank you for a much needed, clear explanation of what's going on and how we got to this point. With the hours of financial mumbo-jumbo on cable, how sad that we intelligent readers need to have this explained to us.

One thing that I have wondered, however: How much of this could have been averted if some of the protections that were put in place as a result of the crash of 1929 hadn't been removed in the last few years because, well, that just couldn't happen again? I've watched incredulously as banks have entered into the stock business (again!)and other financial walls have come down.

The fact that this right-wing nut had sex in a bathroom with another man does not make him "gay." Perhaps he is "homosexual" or "bisexual." His history indicates that he enjoys sex with other men, but his politics indicates an arrested development in humanity. If he were to come to grips with his sexual desires and the sensibilities and changes that huge realization entails, he may become "gay." As long as he thinks that who he has sex with is all there is to being "gay," this long-out-of-the-closet gay man is not going to call him "gay."

While it normally doesn't really matter to me who has sex with whom, it's the fact that these self-righteous hypocrits fight against the rights of others and profess a "wholesomeness" that is pure facade that makes them fair game for pilloring when they don't bother to uphold their own narrow values. What's disturbing is that Vitter isn't being held to similar standards as the hypocritical Republicans are holding Craig.

Call me hopelessly naive, but if the Democrats are really serious about restoring the King's, er, I mean the President's powers to something more in keeping with the Constitution, how about if one of the candidates--say, perhaps, Senator Clinton--proposed to offer to work with Congress on concrete steps to cut back on Presidential powers? Wouldn't that be refreshing to hear? Even some conservative might consider it smaller government.

I don't understand why someone who doesn't even like this musical would review the film on it. Is the holiday season not enough torture for you?

Sweeney Todd is one of the most relevant, interesting, and satisfying musicals ever written. I'm trying to keep an open mind going in to seeing it on Sunday afternoon, though knowing that the top, crucial roles went to the director's live-in girlfriend and the godfather of their child doesn't bode well. Both are very talented in many ways, but, c'mon, Tim, here's the opportunity to really do something outstanding.

So refreshing, if frightening nonetheless, to see someone telling it like it is. I don't have a house with equity to dip into because I chose a public interest career and can only afford to rent an apartment. However, my credit cards are paid off monthly, my car is paid off. I may save the money for that retirement that just isn't quite there or I may decide to replace my iPAQ that I've loved. Maybe I already spent it on my new iPod iTouch?