From the situation described in the letter, the majority of the health issues of both mother and sister appear to be rooted in their mental state. There is no way that the writer (and his wife) can be expected to be responsible for that minefield of life.

My reaction to his letter (before reading Mr. Tennis's utopian response) was that his primary concern should be his own family. By being successful and happy and constructive in his life, he will be able to provide mother and sister financial support in the future. The boundary issues that were discussed in the article will be much easier to maintain with distance and the externally imposed structure of careers and family commitments-and without the boundaries the writer and his family will become part of the toxic family drama without end.

It is okay to be happy and love your work, your wife, your child and your life. All the caring in the world cannot make another person happy-that their own job.

The film is full of atmosphere.

The acting is top-notch.

I disagree w/ ms. Zacharek that Casey Affleck has no presence-his character plays the ambivalence of being an 'insider' in this community, but with values and ideas that may conflict with it.

As a young director Ben Affleck did a nice job with some weightly issues.

In the theatre where I saw the film, not a sound could be heard during the entire film. To get and hold the attention of an audience, a filmmaker is doing something right!

See the movie for yourself-more smart movies need to be made and supported.

Quality is another part of the discussion of the effect of animal products on humans and the planet.

Routinely mixing antibiotics into feedlot chicken and beef diets has produced antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that can (and do) make people sick, but for which there is no effective antibiotic treatments.

Also, poultry processing includes high levels of fecal contamination, which can stay in the meat, and are then consumed by people.

The quality of our diets affects our health, and with the cost of health care in this country rising along with increases in chronic illnesses,diabetes and obesity, greenhouse gas emissions aren't the only negative consequences of consuming a diet high in commercially produced meat.

I went costume shopping w/ my 21yo daughter, and we found a really, really narrow selection of costumes for girls/women.

The choice seemed to be French maids, naughty nurses,sexy schoolgirls,and an assortment of military/police uniforms that used Nazi s/m as the inspiration.

For the guys-ghouls, clowns, monsters of all sorts. Not one ball-baring, genital-hugging getup in the bunch.

I found the display disturbing and misogynistic.

So Cary, in your defense of this costume trend, are you saying that inside every women is a repressed porno alter ego?

Or is that all the girls can find, and like most of us will bend to the marketplace-a marketplace that seems run by dirty old men like you.

Honesty, and the courage to articulate it, has become such a foreign concept in a culture that is polled and polished and honed to believe the lie that Kucinich seems, well, a little odd.

Supporting his improbable, maybe even unelectable, candidacy in the next presidential election may be our last chance to keep this country from its final descent into full-fledged fascism.

the number of soldiers who have given life and limb in the service to the country in Iraq and Afghanistan

My thoughts are w/ this player's family and friends who have suffered a genuine loss, but a "fan's loss".....

How many families of soldiers are grieving in silence, how many are suffering incredible loss on this day, without an outpouring of sympathy and support like I see in the print and electronic media? Just in the month of November in Iraq: 35 dead and 66 reported wounded.

These are our men and women-we all should be so overcome w/ grief that there aren't enough counselors to go around.

The withdrawn child from the home invasion, the scene where Michael's mother bails him out and says that Michael is keeping Bug from her, the scene that takes place on Michael's corner where really young children are already being victimized all, I think, foreshadow an event where Michael will take the final step from being one of those victimized children to being the next Marlo.

We have been watching him slowly change from the beginning of last season. We know he lives in a world where the arc of power is steep and the decline precipitous.I would not surprise me if the denouement of the "street" storyline is'nt between Marlo and Omar, but between Marlo and Michael.

Marlo has indeed unleashed the hounds of hell by drawing Omar back, but Omar said that he'll go after Marlo's people-won't go at him directly,and we've seen that children get caught in the crossfire.

I'm beginning to think that the contrast being drawn between the surreal orchestrations of McNulty and Freamon and the heads down "real police" work of Bunk/Keema is to set up the finale where Bunk brings Marlow down. (or maybe the unlawful wire tap will trump the real evidence and Marlow will slip away). There is a collision of values heating up.

Bunk's on his way w/ the one murder that didn't fit the rest of the abandoned house murders...