How do you remember which things to not mention, which things are 'none of their business'? You're in a 'serious, long-term relationship' with someone and you have a whole minefield of things mapped out in your head, people and experiences to not mention or discuss even though they helped shape who you are today? How does that work? Building all those walls in my head would hurt my brain, not to mention hurting my relationship. It doesn't seem conducive to mental health, to me.

"This point and many similar posts seem to be rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding about the way men think."

WTF are you talking about, Amerigo? I'M a man, and that's how I think!

I have no interest in either lying to my girlfriend or decieving her by leaving out key parts of my personal narrative, and I expect the same from her.

True, I'm now the one and what came before doesn't matter... but your post indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of what I thought I clearly stated. I'll try again: Decieving or committing lies of omission in a relationship amounts to bad faith, plus keeping track of the lies is too much work. Doing so is not mentally healthy.

"The way men think....." My arse.

Growing food and eating it is inherently more efficient (by a factor of something like 10) than growing food, feeding it to an animal, then eating the animal. Given the pace of human population growth, we're going to need that efficiency very soon. Given the pace of global warming, I think we need it 10 years ago.

Eating SOME meat as a protien supplement, from chickens that live on your farm or whatever, is quite a different thing than eating LOTS of meat from an animal raised in a miserable unhealthy factory farm. Track down the Harper's article on pig farming and you'll never eat pork again.

I can understand the temptation to compare factory farming at its worst to the holocaust, because the animals are basically tortured horribly every minute of their lives. But the holocaust was something we humans did to members of our own species out of pure hate, whereas factory farming is something we do to species we've always thought of as food. The problem is that we have no consideration for the fact that they're God's creatures too, the entire process is driven by greed, gluttony, stupidity and ignorance. So the holocaust was far worse because it was pure hate, right? I'd agree. So why do I have this feeling that the "greed, gluttony, stupidity and ignorance" factor is going to be what actually kills us off?

I've heard that vegetarians taste and smell better, that sounds sexy to me. On the other hand, I recall story about Australian soldiers in Vietnam having to change their diet to one with much less mutton because the VC could smell them coming.....

PETA are extremists, so of course they should be ignored...... right?

Would it be too much to say that the concept is just plain stupid? I dunno. I find the concept alien, but I don't have to deal with such a thing.

It seems that the GOP attitude towards gays runs the gamut from barely tolerating them to hating them but claiming not to, to barely veiled disgust, to outright hatred. And those in the 'tolerate' category would apparently still trade you to the nearest SS officer in exchange for their vote. True there ARE a few deluded rich fools who buy the crap about 'fiscal conservatism', but c'mon, Santa is just a myth and Elvis really IS dead.

Trudeau makes an interesting related point in today's Doonesbury - "Who else but the GOP reaches out to closeted gays? If you're gay, but ashamed of it, the Republican party is your ONLY home!"

I suppose this article could just be a form of irony utterly alien to me, but stupid seems more likely.

pretty much sums up my opinion of Faludi over the years. 'Nuff said.

How about just a review of Springsteen, and leave Faludi out of it entirely; rather than devoting 75% of the article to her soon-to-be-remaindered book?

How DO you find the time to write to Salon between your sub-minimum wage job picking strawberries, your sub-minimum wage job making t-shirts and your sub-minimum wage job cleaning toilets?

You, Sir, are one VERY productive American!

You can take my plate now, I'm done.

"Life will kill you" "The health risks of, well, living." ???

Can Salon please hire someone with a brain to write their taglines? If I may state the obvious - the book would appear to be about how the desire to sell product outweighs common sense and reasonable doubt about whether said product is reasonably safe.

The author of "The Secret History of the War on Cancer" discusses the health risks of CRAP LIKE NUTRASWEET, not "living". "Life" and "Living" do not require things like Nutrasweet!

Morons.

but I'm glad I don't know you, O Cheater!

From one point of view, I'd say you have a major personality disorder. Look up the cluster B personality disorders and see if anything fits....

From another point of view, I'd say you have no soul. Or a tiny, shrivelled one. Ever wonder what that empty feeling is about? That would be the reason.

Get a therapist, get a divorce, and avoid further long term relationships unless you are certain that the other person also has no soul. It is possible that your husband qualifies, in which case you need not divorce, but under no circumstances should you reproduce. I do not wish to ever have to meet your spawn.