"A massive cultural shift" is almost understating it. When I took a year off from my job to be the primary caregiver of our two children (one in Kindergarten, one a toddler), I was almost always the only man at school functions, picking up my child from school, taking my son to Gymboree, the only man at the park, and on and on.

Further, my wife--a strong, professional, skilled, and respected person in our field--was frequently overlooked for raises and awards, while I was not. In meetings, women are called on and listened to less than men. Even worse, when the engineering teams are made up of men from cultures where the woman's roles are still less equal than in the United States, those men tend to be even more reactionary in their treatment of female team members.

Finally, when it comes to maternity leave, it is verboten to speak aloud something many people have observed: woman who go on maternity leave often either don't come back, or come back for a short period and then leave again. Managers cannot acknowledge this without being accused of sexism, but until we deal with the base causes--people would much prefer to raise their kids themselves, rather than turn them over to professional care-givers--we're never going to fix it. And if you don't think managers take that into account when hiring young married women, you're deluding yourself.

Naw; Don is going to grab Peggy and Joan and form his own agency. If there's one person who knows how to slip his bonds and beat a new path, it's Don. Maybe he'll take Sal with him, and let Sal be as queeny as he likes. (The ability of the Sterling-Cooper folks to not notice Sal's gayness continues to amaze me.)

Dowd must just be thrilled no end that the Clintons are back in a position of prominence. She so loves feminizing/emasculating Democratic men, it must have been slim pickings for her for the last while. ("Obambi" didn't take her far.) Now she can indulge her bizarre Clinton hate and obsession over their marriage to her heart's content.

What a maroon.

Don't these people have any conscious at all? Like the woman in Minnesota claiming that she was just an ordinary mom, Kostric was flat-out lying. Have they no shame?

One wonders what their parents think of them, honestly.

In all honesty, Joan, I think it would take something a lot stronger than beer. The diplomatic thing to say would be, "Straight tequila shooters, at least." The less diplomatic thing would be "pain medication, washed down by tequila shooters" or "Lithium, washed down by tequila shooters."

I was in the same space about a week ago, Thomas: http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=281294 (if I may self-aggrandize).

"People believe" that there are death panels, eh Mr. Steele?

Forgive me, but who gives a rip?

There are people who believe that dinosaurs and cave men lived together, that the Earth is flat, that the Sun goes around the Earth, that the Shoah never happened, and all kinds of other outlandish things. So what? What someone believes is their own lookout.

But if what they believe is factually wrong, and they are trying to influence public policy for everyone because of it, they should be denounced as the charlatans and liars they are, and treated with the same contempt as Flat Earthers and Lyndon LaRouche followers.

Wow; I wonder who helped her convert her stream-of-consciousness babbling into coherent--if factually inaccurate--sentences?

I wonder, in all seriousness Susan, if you would have written this article in the same way, and with the same level of sympathy for Ms. Schuler, had she been a man instead. Perhaps it was growing up during the hottest of the MADD period, but I'm pretty used to reading and hearing about folks going for the throat in a male drunk-driving scenario.

So that's the question: with the sexes reversed, how would this article have been written?

"Alba" is also the Scottish-Gaelic name for Scotland (hence "perfidious Albion"). However, time spent on the google has yet to reveal the 70s diet drink to which you refer. Got a link?

And I agree with squarezero; it's not a bad name at all. There's way worse names they could have chosen, believe me. And I've heard 'em.

Thanks! I don't remember it--I was more of an Ovaltine-and-fluffernutter kind of kid--but it looks familiar. Time for you to write a Wikipedia page on it!

But it's hard, honestly.

What could be cooler than to do a film about Woodstock? It’s got the greatest music, the best stories, and fascinating characters, and always an unexpected turn of events.

Aren't there some more contemporary events that could use a documentary? As Ms. Linge says, "Miles of ink have been spilled in the years since then." Not to mention plenty of films, TV specials, and Lord knows what else. When does examination and celebration tip over into self-indulgence? Seems we reached that point with Woodstock long ago. (The 25th anniversary, say.)

An uncharitable view would be that Ms. Kopple, having not gone to Woodstock, wants to recreate it for herself. But seriously, is there anything more to be gleaned from the event? In some ways, it reminds me of how Red Sox fans felt about Carlton Fisk's Game 6 home run prior to 2004. And being a Sox fan myself, I have to say: that got pretty tedious after a while.