Cary: Funny, I read that letter thoroughly and saw nothing about writing a screenplay. Don't assume that because you're writing, that everyone else wants to do that. How do you know the LW isn't interested in directing, producing, or the more technical side of filmmaking?

LW: I'm sorry you had that experience, but I thought it was pretty well known that the film world is full of spoiled brats looking to unload their frustrations on the help. Like you, I thought it would be great to work in the entertainment industry. But unlike you, I knew about the crazy streak, so after a few months I threw my hands in the air and said to hell with it. Life's too short to drink bad wine, as the poet said, and there's plenty of work around that not only pays better than that industry (it's AMAZING how friggin' cheap they are, even the really big studios) but doesn't involve getting screamed at or getting things thrown at you. Cary's right in that regard: forget Hollywood and go find something you really like to do. Believe it or not, Tinseltown is not the only place they're making movies anymore!

Yeah. Yeah.

A lot of people here apparently didn't get this story, but I did. Yeah.

*sigh*

...you expected something different?

Really, anyone who's shocked at that button just hasn't been paying attention the last 30 years.

1) Online pharmacies that are directly accessibly by doctors and clinics. Prescriptions could be sent in on the spot, the patient could pay right there with a credit or debit card, and the medicine can be sent directly to the patient's home, thus negating the necessity of a humiliating, possibly futile search for a pharmacist willing to do the job he trained for.

2) More feminists entering the medical field, including pharmacy. I can't tell you how frustrated I get seeing young feminists wasting their time on academic and/or other careers that take away from the nuts and bolts work that MUST be done. The yahoos want to flood the market? Then how about more feminist FIGHT BACK by entering the market themselves?

Seems to me one of the most frustrating, ineffectual aspects of "third-wave feminism" is the refusal to get one's hands dirty digging in the trenches. It's bizarre that pro-choice people spend their time wringing their hands about how awful this is. You want to stop this nonsense? Then put your damn money where your mouth is, study pharmacy, get licensed and open a shop in one of those areas that are so bereft of needed services! What answer could be simpler, for gods' sakes??

1) It gives many users a pleasant and/or intense experience which can be helpful psychologically and can also make one happier without indulging in the consumer-driven market mentality.

2) It's isn't lethal or addictive.

These two aspects are enough to get the partnership of corporate drug-pushers and societal busybodies up in arms. It happens every time a new substance comes along that has this potential. The only intoxicants allowed in this country are those that are addictive and/or lethal. That way the PTB can both provide them and rail against them, thus trapping the users in a vicious cycle.

The fact that there are a few bad incidents in some way connected with SD use is just icing on the cake, as they can be pointed to as "evidence" of its supposed evil horrors. (As opposed to the hundreds of thousands of deaths through nicotine and alcohol yearly, which are simply counted as collateral damage.)

while the U.S. is pumping to its heart continent on its outer continental shelf

Don't you mean "to its heart's content" there? You might want to fix that. And take a moment to proofread next time.

But then, it's sad when women submit themselves to the knife, too. I can see wanted a repair after, say, a burn accident or to correct a bad birth defect like a cleft palate or split lip, but plastic surgery for the sake of vanity...I've never understood it. Especially in men.

My prime example: I remember when the film Devil's Advocate came out, and after a few minutes of watching Al Pacino do his great bombastic thing, I came to the shocking realization that he'd had plastic surgery. It was horribly obvious, as his skin was now smoothed out - except for that around his eyes, which was just as wrinkled as before the surgery. All I could think was, Oh Al, in god's name, WHY? He'd been aging so beautifully up to then, with such character being written into his face, and for me that aging had been a mark of his very NY-actor integrity. As fun as that film is, I still wince the first time he comes onscreen. *sigh*

I'd take a careful look at who conducted that study, as well as who funded it. Also, I'd read it carefully to see what they say about the health risks associated with all the milk, cream, sugar, flavorings, and other extras associated with "coffee" these days. Personally, I don't know a single person who takes coffee black anymore, so I'd cast a rather jaundiced eye on this new knowledge.

PS. I don't drink the stuff at all, and never have. Last thing I need is a lifelong addiction, thanks.

Today, Barack Obama has revealed himself to be just another typical politician who will do and say whatever is most expedient for Barack Obama.

To hear that coming from a McCain staffer...well, as Captain Buck Murdoch would say, "I guess irony can be pretty ironic."