After reading her thought-provoking essay with pleasure, I am amazed by the vitriol being directed at Burleigh by so many readers. I will admit that she may have overreached in concluding that she and her husband were also targets of the silent hostility directed at the lone Vietnam vet who spoke out at the assembly, but that is the only place in the essay where her perceptions appeared to be biased or unreliable. After all, she was manifestly able to see through the not-so-subtle conservative ideological indoctrination at the Narrowsburg school to recognize the real good it did her son, both in his reading skills and in his innocent patriotism. As for the much-repeated criticism that it was wrong of her to try to discuss the war with her son, it sounded to me like the explanation she gave him was completely age-appropriate. It was simple and concrete, and - unlike what he was learning in school - it also had the considerable virtue of being true.

Cary hit the nail on the head...

After a liberal upbringing that sounds not wholly dissimilar to the writer's, I got engaged at 21 and married at just-barely-23. I lived with internal feminist guilt about it for the first three or four years before I finally accepted that, yes, I had made exactly the right choice for me. Seven years on and recently saying goodbye to our twenties (I know that's not a lot yet, but I can't help my age), my husband is my best friend, and neither of us feels like we missed out on anything except a lot of horrid bad-date stories.

The contemporary ideology that says we all need to spend several years after college on our own to be happy, self-actualized adults is just that - an ideology, a statement of values disguised as a statement about human nature. If you don't want the solo path, and you've found the right partner, then go for it! (But do live with the guy for at least a few months before the wedding to make sure you're really compatible.) Just find some friends who aren't so judgmental.

I'm with Ms. Traister 100% on this one. Growing up with a semi-anorexic, semi-bulimic mother who for years weighed everything she ate and wrote her weight every morning on the calendar, I resolved back in high school never to diet.

Being an American woman with an emotionally healthy attitude towards food and the body is, sadly, still a radically feminist act.

Bring on that goose fat!

Even if the kid is really talking, who cares? It's not any more difficult to memorize pictures of the presidents than all the Disney princesses, Sesame Street characters, etc that toddlers can usually identify.

My thoughts exactly on the generally crummy Super Bowl ads. But, Kaufman, how on earth did you escape the blitzkrieg of "Carol of the Bells"-takeoff Garmin commericals over the holidays? You lucky person you.

They wanted publicity. They got publicity. Mission Accomplished.

But it does seem like a perfect opportunity for all those actresses and models who claim they're just naturally slim to put their mouth where their money is.

Eh... I had a Hello Kitty steering wheel cover at one point, and the world didn't implode.

Thank you, Garrison. Thank you.

I definitely had play make-up in elementary school in the 80s. Some of it was Hello Kitty brand. I also remember quite clearly that we were not allowed to wear it to school (except on Halloween, natch), or anywhere in public for that matter. For me this one goes under the category of "kids want to play at everything they see grownups doing." No big deal unless the parents start sending them out looking like little JonBenets.

Thank you thank you thank you for the Immanuel Kant joke.

This cartoon is just muddled. If it's not principally meant to be science-bashing, why begin by saying that "Finally, the scientists could experiment freely with humans"? That "finally" (plus the happy smile on the brain-poking scientist's face, and "preyed" in the third panel) clearly assumes that scientists would be eager to try out every sick experiment one could think of, if only the rest of society would stop minding. If it's about obedience to authority, why not base the cartoon on the real-life Milgram or Zimbardo experiments instead of imagining fictional, sociopathically cruel scientists? If we're supposed to think about Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib or CIA black sites or some other real-world issue, shouldn't there at least be a teeny hint in that direction?

If the news report on KQED this morning was correct, it's not quite true that nothing will change for adult drivers - a separate bill that goes into effect at the same time will require drivers over 18 to use only hands-free devices.

I remember using Nair in 6th grade. It was a compromise with my parents - I wanted leg hair removal and they didn't think I was quite old enough to shave. I can't get too worked up over the thought that they've figured out how to not make it smell so bad you have to take three showers in a row afterwards.

Rarely have I read anything in Salon that was so far off the mark.

Here's what's really bugging the author: completing a marathon no longer makes you part of the running elite. People don't regard you as a different and superior species just because you have the t-shirt. The snob appeal is gone. Get over it.

As for the ludicrous implication that the slower runners aren't putting their full effort into the race: I once heard Bingham at a lecture, recounting a post-marathon dinner he had had with one of The Elite Kenyans. He told it like this:

"He asked me what my time was. I said, 'five and a half hours.' He looked at me and said, 'My God! How can you run for so long?'"