Frances Kissling is willing to look the problem squarely in the face and make a hard choice. Of course, most of the Salon readership would rather indulge themselves in magical thinking and pretend that a fetus at 7 months isn't human or viable or anything like them--of course, everyone commenting here was once a 7 month old fetus.

Why can't mothers who are 7 months pregnant just wait 2 more months, deliver the baby to adoptive parents and go on about their merry way? Babies who are deformed, defective and likely to die at birth are excluded.

"I think that a lot more doctors would provide abortions if they could do so without fearing for their lives or the lives of their families - don't you?"

Actually, no. I think most Dr.s think Dr. Tiller was an extreme case of a man who turned off his emotions to perform late term abortions at $6000 each. Even people who knew him well described him as cold.

Like so many people, the LW has no actual goal, he just wants to be in film. Does he want to direct, produce, be a cinematographer, a grip, a gaffer? Does he want to do development?

You have to jump in. Shoot stuff,edit stuff, put it up on YouTube and do some more. (It's the 21st century version of putting on a show in a barn.) No one is going to tap with a magic wand. Economic turnaround isn't going to bring work back from Canada.

And the movie business is a business of who you know. Moody loners with poor social skills get nowhere. Be social, mingle, be nice. Everyone is a genius. Everyone is creative and talented, even the Teamster driver you think is a slob. James Cameron was a Teamster driver.

LA is not New Orleans. If you say you're a director, you better have a reel. If you say you're a writer, be prepared to pull 1/2 a dozen scripts out of your ass.

(And Cary--no successful director fills out applications for fellowships.)

Forget Cary. Go read Joseph Mitchell.

A minor needs to have a guardian, who will oversee the estate of the minor. The property can be held in trust for the minor. California and some other states have the Jackie Coogan law, which regulates monies earned by a minor.

Emancipated minors--depends on the state. Have to be 18 in Florida, can be under 18 in Arizona. Can do it at 16 in Vermont.

And Cary--just say no to letters you don't understand.

Cary needs to brush up on the sad histories of child actors/stars from Jackie Coogan to Shirley Temple to Jena Malone to Michael Jackson. Adults can't be trusted, or at least the ones who are related to the kid.

The authors are the people who got all distressed about Pluto being reclassified. For every creationist, there's someone who's into astrology, homeopathy, Reiki, healing touch, and food combining. Weird science is alive and well on both sides of the political spectrum.

When people reject genetically engineered foods and don't want to spend tax money on space exploration, because there are so many deserving poor people here on earth, you know dumb science is alive and well.

"he's 22 to my 28"

Just change your phone number, the locks, and buy a dog. What were you thinking?

I've had two kids--one "naturally" who weighed over 9 lbs, and one by C-section. I'll take the natural, non-medicated version any day of the week over abdominal surgery. Yes, it hurts. I had back labor. But it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, and the adrenaline rush afterward is amazing (Dooce just blogged about that).

I don't know or particularly care what other women do, but I do think that if you never challenge yourself, you never know what you're capable of doing. I'm in favor of women experiencing childbirth without so much medical interference.

How is this news? There have been many books on the subject.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/may/01/news.features11

http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2005/08/18/berlin/index.html?pn=1

@marc22309 It's not the money shot, it's Golden Hour.

While the LW wants to think that she's the first person to have these feelings, I think everyone does. Cary likes letters that let him wax eloquent, and Salon indulges him.

"real-life Technicolor."

It's tape, not film. Technicolor is a film process. But how can we expect Amy Benfer to bother with minor details when her own semi-compelling story is at stake. I'm so tired of her routine. Did no one else in the universe, or at least known to Salon's editors, get knocked up at 16?

Eric Frimpong is the victim of a woman who lied about rape. Read the ESPN story to see why more innocent men are convicted at the basis of specious testimony. Salon's never mentioned this story, oddly enough.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4300383

"He left his native Ghana in 2005 to play soccer for UC Santa Barbara; a year later he became a campus hero while leading the Gauchos to their first-ever national championship. If the immigrant experience can have a sound, Frimpong's sound was a raucous stadium. But in 2007, just weeks after being selected by the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS draft, he was accused of raping another student on the beach near his house. Now he's a convicted felon."