1. Enough already with the overwhelming responses to every article about overweight and obesity. Glenn Greenwald interviews Helen Thomas about irresponsible media and no one can life a finger to their keyboard. But articles about heavy man and women are work-stopping, finger-pointing excuses to vent your spleen.

2. If a loving, stable individual can provide a good, safe, loving home for a child, what the f**k is the problem?

3. My cholesterol is 125. My BP is 105/68. My A1C is 3. I bicycle 7 to 10 miles three times per week, crank on the elliptical at the gym five times a week, lift weights, and work with a personal trainer. My diet is primarily vegetarian with an emphasis on complex cruciferous veggies and soy-based proteins, all in moderation.

AND GUESS WHAT? I'm OBESE! Yes, that's right...I weigh.....280 pounds. At 5'11" my BMI says I'm going to be dead soon. Someone better shoot me to now to protect society.

ENOUGH ALREADY. You CAN be overweight and fit. I'm healthier than many of my skinny friends who don't even KNOW what their cholesterol is and who red meat every damn day.

As the wife of a Mac consultant (and the, uh, "mom" of a brand new iPhone) I'm a regular Machinist reader. I think Farhad has a right to post information if he wants to do so—and no, no legal implication exists. We're all adults here and can either go check it out or not. It's called "free will".

However, as far as the content of Manjoo's blog, I'd have preferred to hear more Machinist-y kind of stuff, such as Manjoo's take on the nuts and bolts of the Mystery Poster's tech choices—his/her camera, Bitorrent's evolution, and so forth.

And yes, I downloaded the second half. I read only the epilogue. Why? I love storytelling, but I hate mystery.

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!! A nice, chunky Machinst blog tracing the intersection of public ownership of artwork and DRM. Thanks for the thoughtful response to yesterday's howlers.

Thank you, Gary, for singing our praises while (delicately) mentioning our faults. I've been editing for over 20 years and the public perception of The Editor has not changed that dramatically. We are frustrated writers who don't understand the "art" of the true creative. We are glamourous guys/gals about town who flit about from one book promotion party to the next. We are grammar Nazis dedicated to humiliating everyone by dredging up elementray school sentence diagrams.

So thank you for explaining that we're really hardworking, behind-the-scenes clean-up crews who care deeply—very deeply—about our writers and our language. And thank you for mentioning that we care, most deeply of all, about our readers.

This was a fun piece, and to quote John Cusack in Say Anything, "YOU MUST CHILL", fellow Salon readers. Relax. It's the holidays.

But, I do wonder, what with New York magazine's recent piece, is December National Bra Month?

To witness the impact of what Hedges' describes, stop by your local VA hospital. You will see the human cost of war (past and present) full-on: depression, homelessness, substance abuse, psychosis, suicide, and more.

And that's just the men and women who are getting care. What about veterans for whom it's too late to be saved, or the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan who have no hope for care of any kind?

I love that the New Scientist commentary states something along the lines of..."it thought to be an explosive event, yet (they) learned that it took about 15 minutes to occur."

Really? Apparently, the author never had mittleschmirz. Now I know why it exists!

First off, I think Amy's article was thoughtful in defense of the benefits of "it takes a village". That sentiment is definitely what the Gloucester 17 were thinking.

Second, it's very important that everyone understand the real issue here: Why Gloucester? Why them? The Boston Globe's Ellen Goodman did a great job of summarizing that concern here:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/06/27/the_real_mommy_pact_outrage/

Finally, you have to understand Gloucester. It's an island, even though it's only 45 miles away from Boston. It is socially isolated, heavily Catholic, and there is not much in the way of opportunity for anyone who isn't willing to look beyond the dead-end fishing jobs, heroin running, domestic abuse, and elitist wealthy summer residents.

There are pluses and minuses on both sides. The plus is described by Benfer. The minuses will be experienced by the Gloucester girls as they grow up and learn.

If Salon is interested in hiring a Boston-based Copy Chief, please give me a call. This piece has numerous typos, and yet calls into question the abominable standards of British book editing? Yikes.

I spent $450 on a dress at the Alfred Angelo outlet store. Walked in, picked it off the rack (in my size, no less), paid for it and left.

I lost no weight.

I looked great because I was happy and relaxed, not stressed and starving.

I ate ribs, pulled pork, champagne, and cupcakes.

And I had a BLAST at my wedding.

Being neither rich from a trust fund, nor young, and not jealous about how Broadsheeters spend their day, I will merely post more on dancing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evCOdcJl2PE

It's Jack Mackenroth from last season's Project Runway doing his turn as Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, with sewing standing in for welding. Enjoy!

As of 5PM EST our boy is out of the Green Monster and into Dodger Stadium.

Red Sox Nation will miss "Manny being Manny" because we need that weird quirkiness on the team. It gave RSN something to talk about, what with all that Series winning and stuff. God knows, a good New Englander has got to have something to complain about.

Good luck LA. We might have beat you twice.....