I think Cary's advice is right-the LW needs to get away and do some very serious thinking about what she wants for herself.

The yarmulke issue is a red herring of sorts, but it indicates some real conflict between the LW and her husband-and it won't get better even if they become parents, it will only get worse, and I think the LW subconsciously knows it, which is why she wrote.

To have a child by any means is an act of faith. Her faith is solid, her husband's non-existent. To bring a child into a marriage with such conflict is asking for eternal emotional hell and I think the letter writer is trying to establish what she should do to end it before if they do have a child.

I think she is angry at him for a lot of things and the yarmulke is just the focus of her anger right now.

A vacation alone would probably be the best thing she can do for herself.

In my own life, I've noticed several things that happen to people who lose "everything" while enjoying the good life.

First-they have a bad financial problem, whatever; a financial crisis of some magnitude of sorts that undoes 6 months worth of work.

If they're homeowners, they start falling behind on their payments.

If they have credit cards, they stop paying even the minimum amount on that card. Too bad if you're locked into a higher rate once you start doing that.

They start not paying the bills for the truck, car or second car.

Then the spiral really goes out of control.

By the time all is said and done, the people who were living quite well 2 years ago are broke, unemployed and homeless, with no credit, nothing left but an empty shell called "once upon a time".

It used to be you could wipe out all your debt with bankruptcy-no more. The banks and credit card companies have made sure their bills are not discharged in bankruptcy.

It just takes one slip on the banana peel to break your back-how many people are not looking where they're going? Do they really feel that secure in their jobs or positions? I wouldn't, and I would definitely be paying off everything in sight if I had anything to pay on.

Needless to say, I don't have a credit card, either; don't believe in them and won't have one, either-that means I live on cash, not hopes.

Here comes the true disaster-millions of people are depending on their credit cards to bail them out. Once that's gone, there goes the farm, house and good life they are accustomed to.

As I've asked before in another letter, is there anyone besides those cronies that the president knows who is not a total toady and boot licker?

To replace Gonzales it would probably be best if they look outside Washington into the field of qualified federal judges or attorneys who have some glimmer of knowledge of Federal law.

There are several requirements for this position:

1. A complete understanding of the United States Constitution.

2. Experience in corporate management.

3. Fundamental working knowledge of the Department of Justice.

4. Honesty

5. People skills

6. Independence

7. Integrity

8. Experience in Federal court

9. Familiarity with legal procedures

10. Respect for the rule of law as it pertains to the United States.

11. Non-affiliation with any member of the White House

From what I have heard about Chertoff, he might fulfill some of these requirements, but I have my doubts about 4, 6, and 11.

If he is nominated for this position, I hope Congress grills him to a hot flame before they confirm him. We deserve better than the incompetent fools that the WH has chosen to give us.

Ah, we won't get to see Bat Boy anymore? Oh, lord, stop the presses!

The rag was quite amusing-even more so than it's competitors, because at least it showed some imagination at creative fiction.

I don't know who read it, but I bet they were part of the Bush cadre; sounds about like their mindset. I still can't believe that anyone actually believed half of it..but I'm sure there were some.

Back to the trashy celeb shit.

Ya know, Garrison, you can't trust nobody nowadays..watch out for the boogie man under your bed. He's watching your every move.

As for me, I'm gonna wrap my house in tin foil to stop them bad guys from finding out that I have a mind.

Seriously, though, a lot of our laws are to prevent premeditating a crime-and it doesn't stop many people, even now. Remember, the guys in 9/11 weren't exactly playing by the rules, either; nor were they citizens.

What Cheney doesn't realize that not everyone is a Republican, or a law abiding Christian. Some of us are "heathen revolutionaries intent on destroying the country". So get rid of that damned Constitution and that solves the problem of us "independent thinkers."

Throw us all in prison, and then they'll have to come up with new ways to pay for new prisons!

Ah, to hell with them. We'll outlast the jackboots-it will take time, but it will end eventually.

I just hope I'm alive when it happens.

I'm not saying that everyone prosecuted by the Feds (as opposed to the locals) is innocent as a lamb.

What's wrong with the picture is the fact that they held him for how many years without charges, then got told to charge him or let him go, and then charged him with the vaguest notion of "conspiracy to commit" charges that you can come up with.

Something is very wrong when you can't prosecute someone on solid evidence and what you do have is manufactured for the occasion.

They did that in this case after they had kept him in solitary confinement without access to the court system for at least 4 years. That's what an American citizen rates in our beloved "Justice for All" system.

I question the entire system. I have reason to, and I will stand behind the statements I made.