And acknowledging that it was far too credulous of the accusations, and that's being generous.

With regards to the rape actually happening - physical evidence and medical reports indicate that it did not. Supposedly a extended vagina and anal rape involving multiple men took place in the five minutes the accuser was out of Roberts sight. Yet the medical report showed no bruising, tearing or semen, apart from the accuser's boyfriend's semen.

First, the players were definitely guilty; now, they have been tried by the court of CBS and are definitely innocent!

I believe in most judicial systems people are innocent until proven guilty. I know that the USA is trying to roll back this trivial concept but it hasn't happen yet.

Hypatia, I believe that most of the guys charged were working class boys on Athletic scholarships - people just assumed they were rich and priviliged, it fit the sterotype better.

My mistake re the working class/preppyness, I was just passing on second hand knowledge which is why I said "I Believe" rather than "I know". Obviously I should have checked it myself.

But I still think their backgrounds, as hers, are irrelevant.

is this the wrong time to say that maybe being brought up by a stay-at-home mom isn't all it's cracked up to be?

Ummm, I dunno, relevance?

And has been rightly pilloried in the press here. Also Muslim leaders here have condemned his comments and he has apologised profusely claiming he was mistranslated and quoted out of context (doubt that myself).

I don't see him as a indictment of Moslem's - as stated earlier every movement has it nuts.

What I find interesting was we have heard similar statements (women invite rape etc) from radio shock jocks with no where near the level of criticism of them, They have hundreds of thousands of listeners yet no one is calling for the likes of Alan Jones to be stripped of their citizenship.

And I am a nut.

Cheers.

A reasoned, *pragmatic* suggestion for resolving Israel/Palestine that doesn't apportion blame and has something for all parties.

Cue the Liknud/APAIC/Neocon chickenhawks with their hysterical playing of the anti-Semite card in 4 3 2 1 ....

The more you (and others) do, the more tired and pathetic it appears.

Best tagline of the year :)

That was an A Grade rant, can I have some more please sir.

Like a *few* of the other letter writers I appreciated the honest look at reconciling ideals/pragmatism/ethics/personal. Its not a perfect world and the more people who acknowledged their past baggage the better it would be. I admire DD's bravery in her critical assessments of her own issues and the shortcomings of the various brands of feminism.

What many seem to be missing is that it is for love of her children that she reassess herself and her ideals.

Hah ! she's far better known as the CEO who destroyed a great company (HP). One of the cautionary fuckups of the past decade.

Carly can rest assured it not her looks she's been judged by - its her record.

Mikey Weinstein just rocks, so refreshing to see someone *not* being all mealy mouthed and conciliatory about a big red ticket issue.

"We are going to leave sucking chest wounds on these people that are trying to destroy our Constitution

Ought to be the rallying cry of every American who is distraught about where their country is headed.

I'm guessing you support the "She was asking for it" defence as well. By your reasoning the duke accuser has no case because she choose to go to a drunken strip party where rape could occur.

Dump the ungrateful spawn and drop in on us in Brisbane (Australia). Your Lab is welcome, it can join the menagerie of dogs and cats here :) We'll swap presents, food and alcohol over a Barbecue.

Failing that, happy Christmas anyway.

But now its becoming a tradition, "A Christmas Carol" for Salon readers. Roll on dudes.

As hard as it is to plow through and derive meaning from Cary's windy prose, it appears that he's saying it's her fault, that she should have made it clear she was unavailable.

Bullshit - its the husbands fault for being a philandering asshole.

I usually can, its my curse.

But that one phrase in Tideswimmer's letter - "Call me Fish Meal" - that wins it for me, priceless.

Those generals provide what sound like good plans for withdrawing the troops and salvaging something from the Iraq mess.

Remember this the next time some republican whines about the lack of alternative plans.

As terrible and dreadful as this is, its not "news for women" - this is general news that should be on Salon's for page for everyone. There is nothing women specific about it.

Computer languages are not comparable to Human languages, they are not intended for the same sorts of problems/solutions. In general, human languages are for communication in all its ambiguity and complexity. Computer languages are instructions with no ambiguity.

This needs to be repeated again and again - the neocons are working against America's short and long term interests.

But can we put one tired old fox news meme to rest?

its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is an ignorant and bigoted blowhard who questions the Holocaust

Ahmadinejad has not questioned the holocaust happened, he questions its use as propaganda - essentially the mythication of it. This misconception of his words has arisen from consistent mistranslation of his speeches by western media.