LW---Go sit you down at a computer an point your browser to http://lynneforrest.com/html/the_faces_of_victim.html

You might find some answers to your question of why you help your brother repeatedly, when you actually know better. My understanding of this process was helped greatly by this web site (combined with work with a therapist).

Good luck and best wishes.

I can't say that I was impressed by this story. It left me wondering what kind of journalist writes a story about a non-story. But after spending that much time chasing around and being (perhaps rightfully) paranoid, you gotta produce something. And what better place to shop it----an online mag which eats stories. And what better time to post it than Saturday when the only people reading Salon are the ones in places where it is raining or who don't have a life.

But, give the guy credit. He wrote it, shopped it, and got published. There's a guy in Chicago who produces a weekly radio program which runs this kind of stuff all the time. Maybe Nick can rework the story and get it on the air----make a few more bucks and justify his grant.

I haven't decided which candidate to give my paltry financial support to, but I do think that I will refer to "Senator Clinton" in the future. She is a member of the Senate, after all.

Taking both Cary's comments at the head of the collumn, the LW, Cary's advice, and as many of the comments as I could stomach, I make this observation: I can listen to a fundamentalist, a harshly judgemental person, an athiest, a serial sex addict, a swinger or just about anybody else and say, that's OK for you, and thanks for your views. LW wanted an independent look at her behavior, and she got it in spades. Interesting that there were only 7 red-star letter out of 180 (when I read). LW and Cary seemed to push a lot of hot buttons. Good on ya!

It doesn't matter whether the movie is based on fact or is a ruse, scam, fabrication, documentary or performance art. It is a movie. Does it speak to you? Does it help you think about your situation, your life---hopes expectations---fantasies? Seems to me that all movies, wheather documentaries or fictional are scams. History books are scams. The Bible is a scam. The question is, is the movie, book, story useful to you. If not, then pitch it in the fire and find something that is useful and read, view, or listen to.

Lordy, lordy. Of course someone (like me) is going to mention "The Flying Spaghetti Monster", although I wouldn't describe myself as "some in-your-face neo-atheist". More like a progressive Christian, I think.

But it seems to me that the comparison is apt, in that the Flying Spaghetti Monster was a made-up phenom and so was Jesus. The gospels are testaments to what various early churches and early Christian communities believed about Jesus. And perhaps Jesus was a tad more historical than the legendary Flying Spaghetti Monster, he was no less invented (and improved on by Apostle Paul and the writer of the Gospel of John). (See Marcus Borg and Bishop Spong).

However, I do believe that the “message” of Jesus gives me (and others, I presume) more to think about than does the fabled exploits of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I tend to take a Thomas Jefferson approach to reading the Bible, and was encouraged and inspired by the writings of Gandhi who said, “Jesus expressed, as no other could, the spirit and will of God. It is in this sense that I see him and recognize him as the Son of God. And because the life of Jesus has the significance and the transcendence to which I have alluded, I believe that he belongs not solely to Christianity, but to the entire world, to all races and people.” (October 1941)

Yeah, I like the music and the people, and I think weaselish thoughts all the time, but am lucky enough to get to listen to a minister that makes sense and brings her message home to living in this world.

So I guess I'll keep going.

How strange ---- those who arrogantly call Cary or the LW arrogant --- because they "have to" or because they must. Very curious.

Geesch----

Don't you folks read Cary Tennis, too? Camille Paglia is entertainment, not information. And she is entertaining, wheather you like her or not.

Relax. Enjoy.

Wazza matter with all you folks bitching about Cary answering letters from writers? You want Cary to give advice to women asking about hysterectomies or something that he knows absolutely nothing about? He's a writer for christsake! I appreciate that he can bring his own unique insights to folks' problems and more insights to writers than any other groups.

When Cary answers letters from writers, he's just tending to his knitting. And you always have the option of skipping that day and going to the archives and reading your favorite column from the past.

Cheers.

Sibelius.

the rest I don't care