salon.com's Gordy Slack asks Thompson:

"So you want to change the definition of science to include the supernatural?"

"Yes," he says, "we need a total paradigm shift in science."

Ai-yi-yi.

Yes, by all means! Let's bring back the good old days of alchemy and astrology and reading a person's fortune in the entrails of a chicken. And let's not forget the "science" of healing people through prayer and laying-on hands. Or drilling holes in the heads of people who have convulsions in order to let the demons out. Antibiotics?!? Who needs 'em!

Oh... and as for my proof that there is no "intelligent designer"? I'd say the existence of a mind like Richard Thompson's is all the evidence I need.

I love salon.com -- really I do -- but this is just lame.

First of all... "cheeky"?? Please. I'm embarrassed that you even used the word.

Second, a "women's blog" is unnecessary. It's silly. It's divisive. It's even kind of offensive.

What..? are we supposed to only discuss stuff like hair styles and makeup here? Do we go over to the MEN'S blogs when we want to discuss serious issues like politics? The whole idea of "women's issues" is sort of ridiculous. There are human issues -- some of which affect women more than men. We don't need a special place to discuss these issues, though. Quite the contrary.

I'm sorry folks, but this is a dumb idea.

Yet, I am intrigued enough that I just might try it.

"...the definition of treatable depression was watered down -- renamed as social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and, my personal favorite, generalized anxiety disorder..."

Um, no.

Depression has not been "renamed". Depression has always been a distinct psychiatric diagnosis -- separate and different from the anxiety disorders.

Factual errors aside, I'm not at all clear on why Salon bothered to publish this piece. All of this is REALLY old news. I'm not seeing a single issue here that hasn't been discussed ad nauseum for at least the past 25 years. (Has the author even heard of Thomas Szasz? It would seem not.)

My recommendation is that this young lady spend some quality time with a dildo before trying sex with a man -- just to be sure that whole "hymen issue" is out of the way. Also, it wouldn't hurt to read some normal porn (nothing too freaky at this point, to avoid confusion) so she'll have an idea of who does what to whom. Then, once she's got the basics down, it'll be time to do it with another person. And no need to explain that this is her first -- her partner likely won't know the difference.

Cary's response is all very interesting, but here's a reply that might be more useful.

The letter-writer is concerned that "people that I don't even know think I'm some crazy person." If you don't know them, then they don't really know you, either. If these strangers have formed an opinion of you -- a person they don't know -- based only on the stories told by your ex-roommate, what difference could that possibly make to you? None whatsoever.

If some day you happen to meet one of these people and they happen to mention the stories told by the roommate, you can have a good laugh with them over how silly the whole situation was.

In the meanwhile, forget it.

"Is it just me or is Keillor a sanctimonious assclown?"

It's just you.

I grew up in rural Minnesota in a house situated next to a big marshy sort of lake. My brother and I had a tradition of hiking out onto the ice in the middle of the lake late on Christmas Eve every year. It was so beautiful out there. Quiet -- and if the sky was clear you could see so many stars!

There was about a half mile of thickly-growing cattails before you even reached the area where the open ice was, so getting out to the middle of the lake was a trek.

When you make that kind of trip out onto the ice in the dark and cold, you feel like a survivor when you get back home. After an hour or so, we'd head back through the cattails, back up the snowy hill, and into the house. Once our boots and snowy mittens were off, we'd warm up in front of the fireplace with mugs of hot chocolate.

It was the best thing.

There's not really a problem between grown-up men and women, dear letter-writer. There's only a problem between men and women who've based their concept of how men and women should behave on what they've seen on television or read on Broadsheet. As you are beginning to realize, most of that is complete bullshit. You are getting older and wiser now and that's why you've begun to recognize the bullshit for what it is. Your age cohorts are just a bit behind you in all of this. Most likely, many of them will in the next few years also begin dropping the nonsense-behaviors they've modeled on television characters. You just need to be patient and stop worrying. Until then, you might consider dating older women for a while -- those who have moved beyond "the angry stupid years".