My guess is that the writer is obsessed by celebrity gossip because she is not a nascent poet, but rather a nascent novelist, and would like to be reading and telling stories rather than finding meaning in things. So, take an hour off from the internet search each day and write a novel about a young woman who can't stop thinking about celebrities even though she lives in Fargo, North Dakota...

What I found interesting about this fraud was the picture (I think in the Times) of his parents in the audience on Oprah. Did they know many of his "adventures" were made up? If so, why did they keep their mouths shut? Money? Very naughty, those parents.

Sorry Rebecca, but nothing this woman says is interesting. She just says it in that old, aggressive, Jerry Falwell, liberal-eating mode. Most of her answers here are too booorrrring to read. So let her book die the death it deserves and is so clearly destined for, and get on to something future-oriented. I graduated from high school in 1967, too (we're 56 or 57). She's in in-your-face, interrupting sort of troll I knew a lot of back then. Let her drag her knuckles back to her cave. Also, because you yourself are young, DON'T BELIEVE A WORD SHE SAYS!

You really don't understand much about dogs until you have read this book: Dogs : A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution by Raymond and Lorna Coppinger. Dogs and wolves are not the same, and dogs have evolved away from wolves for specific biological reasons. They are scavengers, not hunters. To try and make them eat like wolves is silly, short-sighted, and a typical human narcissistic mis-apprehension.

If I were this girl's father, I would have used this opportunity to slip the kid a little cash and then forgotten about it. If I were this kid, I would think twice about joining a family that seems to ungenerous and picky about money. I don't agree with Cary's advice. I think the owner of the house was being hospitable and that his hospitality should have been accepted. He probably was aware of a little embarrassing problem with the maids, and eased his conscience in this way. Now they've put the kid on the spot. They don't seem very likable.

I have read almost all of the Icelandic Sagas, and the main thrust of most of them is that Talionic justice doesn't work--because the families involved don't value their members in the same way, so the temptation is always to expand the battle until the whole district is involved, at which point, someone brokers a deal, and the feud is ended. The Icelanders were independent from their founding until (I believe) about the middle of the fourteenth century, when they decided that they could not handle their own internal dissensions and approached the Norwegian King and asked him to take over.. It is precisely this sort of justice that the law has evolved to replace, and none too soon. This a fun argument for Miller, but please....

The joy of it, the guilty pleasure, is that every time Bush exerts himself in public trying to shore up his support, more people are put off and dismayed. Think of those poor white house schmucks. They can't do anything with him, and they can't do anything without him. This maybe be the apocalypse, but that part is pretty funny.

I don't think these people are asking themselves the right questions. Do they have younger brothers and sisters? Have they ever babysat or been around children for an extended period of time? Do they know or like any children? I don't see any evidence in the piece that either one is basing his or her decision on actual experience as a caretaker. If not, why not? Children are everywhere. Have they just been avoiding them?

I have three kids and two step-kids. Overall, I've enjoyed the experience. But when the kids were small, I knew I had good daycare (because of where I lived) and housing was also inexpensive. I could work and live and have daycare in a reasonably-sized area. When I talk to other mothers and fathers who had to struggle to find good daycare, or couldn't afford a house, or had to drive and drive to get anywhere, I see that it's been a tremendous commitment and struggle for them. This couple doesn't seem to have a practical grasp of their situation.

Another point--a couple of years ago I was sitting at a dinner with people of all ages--maybe sixteen people between the ages of 25 and 60, men and women. Every single one of them could not stand his or her mother! I've since seen that in other situations. So those who have kids should be aware--the kids are not going to thank you--they might be glad to be themselves and be alive, but they aren't going to appreciate you for being you.

The corporations will turn them into second-class workers. There don't seem to be any transitional provisions, either. It's certainly worth fighting, but what is really worth fighting is the way that Villepin didn't allow any national discussion on the provision. Kind of like those missing WMD and "the unitary executive". Who do these corporate shills think they are? The French students look at GB and the US and think--we don't want that. And they should. We don't want it, either.

Remember Katrina? Remember Homeland Security? Hey, folks, wake up! this is another example of the rightwing determination to stamp out government, especially competent government, whenever it pops up its ugly head! Thank you Grover Norquist, the baby is almost drowned. Just got a couple more years to strangle it good, and then we will live in pure free market anarchy!