"Have you seen the lives these people live?"

That's just jealous crap talking. They live perfectly fine lives--for them.

Your life is your life. Don't even try to compare it to anyone else's life--even Cary's.

Who cares if you're not short-listed for the Nobel, the Pulitzer, the Brooker? You have a specific purpose here. Figure it out and get on with it.

Do what needs to be done.

"so I gave up my spot in the class after we had been dating for a few months"

Mistake #1.

He probably feels vaguely guilty and responsible about this, and wants the LW to go to the US, as he has enough on his plate, thanks. The LW isn't likely to give up moaning about the icky job, and won't be of much real help, so why hang around?

Once he buries mom, he might want to start up again. Time will tell. If not, at least the LW's got a grad degree.

Stormreject--

Read more carefully--the LW isn't in the US, unless there's a state that takes Euros.

The child wasn't giving to some old man or woman, but rather was being hit up by an able bodied young scam artist, in new Nikes. Teaching a kid to protect himself or herself doesn't mean squelching compassionate impulses, but rather being able to avoid being a target or a mark. This street guy wasn't asking the LW but was targeting a child. He's not falling through any cracks in the welfare system.

"I also recently found out that a part-time co-worker (that I got a job for) is being paid more than me! I was furious and when I approached my boss she basically told me her hands were tied."

The LW's boss knows she's hated. Here's what's not relevant:

That the LW got a part-timer a job. So? There's no finders' fee.

Going to the boss to complain about another's salary is bush-league. The other person might be a better negotiator. Or easier to work with.

Despite the LW's wonderful resume, few job offers have materialized. That's a red flag right there.

The LW has never had a good boss, and has never been a good employee. I wonder if she's on the actual mortgage?

"I suggest television documentaries for broadcast in Pakistan to show them how Americans live, work, and strive to protect themselves, and present us as human beings not unlike any other."

Of the "eat your spinach" school of diplomacy. The childlike faith expressed here is breathtaking.

We haven't been attacked since 9/11. Must be due to all those PBS docs.

Radicals don't care that we live, work and strive like everyone else.

"If she put half the energy into educating herself that she put into fucking and getting preggers, she'd be a PhD by now "

Such erudite, classy readers. Great work, Joan.

How is the brother's financial situation any business of the LW's? Is the LW hoping to inherit or touch his brother for a loan?

Why does Cary think this is a reasonable inquiry? The brother's money is his, to with as he chooses. Maybe the LW needs to get a better job.

Considering that Mooney, broke, single and pregnant, moved back in with mom and dad, only to repay them by writing:

"But it also means raising my son in an environment where stiff upper lips are mandatory, where his illegitimate arrival was first greeted with shock and shame, where emotions are swallowed and then fester. Though my family has plenty of positive traits that I hope he'll inherit — the loving of reading, for one — when it comes down to it, I don't want to raise my son the way my parents raised me."

it's not the lack of toys her son will question, but rather her lack of good judgment and gratitude.

How many more pieces can she get out of her kid, her parents, and her own befuddlement?

Edward O'Grady

Waverly Brown

Peter Paige

Has Ayers ever done anything for the children of these men?

I'm sure Cary's sister feels much better after reading his response.

The LW wants things her way, and will probably make her husband's life a living hell if she doesn't get what she wants. She doesn't want to take care of her MIL and probably will not take Cary's advice, as she doesn't care how the MIL gets the care she needs.

Ask yourself what our President-elect would do.

Cary omits the obvious: maybe the guy's hung like a horse. Maybe they have crazy fun together, when he's not high and she's talking baby talk.

The LW needs to stop pretending that friendship is the guiding principal here and get a life. And myob.

My parents were heavy smokers. Two packs of Luckies a day. My dad died of lung cancer, 15 years ago in his 60s. My mom is well, hearty and quit a couple of years back. She just turned 80. I don't have allergies, lung disease or any interest in smoking.

He needs to quit, the kids need a dad. Make him get the patch, enroll in behaviour mod, and smoke outside.

And get over yourself.

Swedish TV has two national news reports daily. Two.

The make up artist is a member of IATSE. Her day rate is around $550, as set by the union.

Does anyone think the Obama family isn't getting the same thing? How naive Salon is.

Anyone having a different opinion than seasoned political commentator and journalist Kate Harding is obviously too stupid to vote. She's just brilliant, remember?

The letter writer's brother might have Asperger's, but he can also be an unfeeling, rude, boorish jerk. (You know, a Democrat who teaches at a public university.) And of course, he married someone with chronic fatigue. That or she developed it as a defense mechanism.

She should be thrilled that the brother and wifie haven't reproduced. He's not necessarily a good person with a good heart, and while it's sad that he's divorced himself from his parents, she can't force him to be civil.