I voted against him in the election, worked as hard as I could to keep him and his downtown crowd out of the seat. I failed here, but at least the rest of you CA residents have been spared momentarily.

I live in California, one of three states which does not require insurers to provide pre-natal and maternity coverage to people on (expensive) individual plans... like me.

We found out my wife is pregnant and then we found out that if we want an abortion, fine, they'll pay for that. But we have zero coverage for going ahead and having the baby and we just got a bill in the mail for the first ultrasound... $3,200!

Having this baby is going to bankrupt us. What a world.

That disturbs me.

I'll give you something authentic: I can't pay my doctor bills. How's that grab ya?

How on earth can anyone claim to have real problems when they can afford to buy $200 flower pots?

Maybe socialism IS the right thing after all. Take away all their disposable money and these folks could lead "authentic" lives of their own, and I could pay my doctor bills. It's a win-win situation.

I need it so bad I can't even say anything funny right now. I buy individual insurance for my family since I'm self-employed and you would not believe how much this is costing us. The insurance company refuses to cover almost everything. We have a constant stream of bills from doctors, dentists, etc. and we're always on the phone fighting with the insurance company saying they should pay for what our policy says. It's crazy. It's making me crazy. And it's making us broke.

...if their top level strategy is to simply believe that the size of their installed base will never erode and that these poor locked-in folks will keep floating Microsoft's misadventures forever.

Is it just me or does Microsoft rise and fall with Republican power?

Someday. And I'm sure it won't exactly be pleasant.

but I COULD, because I knew how to read before I entered 1st grade.

I'm doing all I can to figure out some kind of co-op for my kids with some other parents so we can do something like what the O'Hehir's do but with more kids and more parents.

Probably up until they go into 1st grade, then they can duke it out with the bullies and the melting pot, but at least they'll be further along in terms of the alphabet and karate by then.

and right up front I'm perplexed by the UI metaphor and messaging -- the loading screen says "The HBO Story Cube shows four sides of a story simultaneously," but:

1. it only shows two sides simultaneously (or one by itself, the other sides can be seen sequentially but never at the same time)

2. A cube has 6 sides (so where are the other 2 sides?)

I just felt like jerking my knee!

I don't ever pile on to these message fights, but notimpressed has it right.

Maybe historians need to look at old-timey racists with a eye towards balancing their deeds with what was normal for their time... but I'm not a historian I'm a living breathing guy with a young kid, and I owe it to him to stand up and call bullshit wherever I see it.

History surrounds us and tends to gather a patina of hazy greatness. But if the fight for human rights isn't over then how can you tell your kid that both sides are somehow valid? I think it's worthwhile to remember that life is hard and people are complicated. Individuals like Sophie Tucker can contain good and bad -- and the good doesn't forgive the bad. Just like the camera angles end editing in "Birth of a Nation" come nowhere close to redeeming it.

The only thing that matters about the past is that we use it to make good decisions now, because the world is far from perfect. Sure I'm a liberal, I see history as an unfinished story of human progress. But just show my kid some old-fashioned racists and tell him they're fine and you'll see how peaceful and tolerant I am.

I've loved Lisa since we worked together at a stupid job many years ago. She's quite smart and funny and friendly even to men like me. She's far from being a bitch, that's for sure.

I'm looking forward to reading this book, and I don't read much...

And incidentally, the article author's last name is perfect for a feminist food writer: "Friedman."

I'll see you when your troubles are like mine

I'll see you when you haven't got a dime

Until then I'm afraid it's a bit hard for me to sympathize with you. You say your girlfriend doesn't know the value of a dollar; I say you yourself will only know when you try to put together a meal with one.

Maybe rich people need their own private, expensive internet where they can lay their troubles out and boo hoo to each other. I know that life isn't easy for anyone and I try not to judge a man until I've walked a mile in his shoes, but I tell you it's very hard for me to accept the self-important angsty moaning of people with retirement accounts and the ability to pay for medical treatments.

LW, buck up buttercup. I'm sure everything will work out fine for you and your future family... until the day when hordes of dispossessed uninsurables roam the country and you're forced to live in a walled city.