I like Pual Krugman at the Federal Trade Commission better, but yeah, he would be great at the treasury as well, but I kind have my heart set on Joseph E. Stiglitz, Robert Reich, Jack A. Markell, or Alex Sink. Especially Joseph E. Stiglitz, though he might be a bit old at 65, and may be at odds with the Clintons.

I like Senator Biden at DOD, or better yet at Vice President. But the man I want at VP is Jim Webb (but he is probably also at odds with the Clintons) regardless of who gets the Democratic nomination.

Richard Holbrooke is the man I want at the Department of State, since I see Iraq in need of being partitioning like Bosnia was/is, but I agree with you, Biden would do well heading the DOS.

I always thought of Elton Motello as more like new wave (like the Talking Heads), but I guess new wave is punk. Actually my girlfriend at the time was called fetgirl, which was given to her by people who liked the song "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" (but we broke up a long time ago, and "Jet boy, Jet Girl" was our song, but not by choice, though I do like the song).

What are you guys all thanking Berk for?

It was Opus that kissed that American Hero, not Berkeley Breathed.

What difference doesn't flesh and blood make? Even if he's only color and ink, Opus is as real as any of us.

1. Never played with dolls as a kids, blocks and legos were my favorite toys.

2. Never, that warped "value" was never ingrained into me by my parents or teachers (might in large part be due to the fact that I grew up in Northern California).

3. I roommated with a male friend for almost a year in a 2 bedroom apartment. To the best of my knowledge no one thought we were gay because we lived together, but certain fashion statement I presented did cause some people to question my sexuality.

4. I don't like porn mags, because I find the articles and advertisements rather disturbing (though I love hearing about what Larry Flynt does in the news), so I have never bought a porn mag, but I do collect erotic picture books.

5. I skipped prom night, because my 24 year old girlfriend at the time and I had other plans. But, yes, I do love to dress up for parties (formal dinners, weddings, clubs, and etc), and I prize all of my suits.

6. Only on rare occasions when it suited the party environment, and though playing the transvestite (a man dressed in drag that still pursues women) can be a lot of fun, dresses are just plain annoying (but skirts and kilts are a lot of fun).

The bonus question; as a man I have noticed that both men and women, as groups, seem to be equally homophobic, but I have noticed that both men and women seem to be more homophobic towards gay men than they are towards lesbians. Gay men, for reasons based on ignorance, are more feared than lesbians are. in general though, men are more likely to be antagonistic towards gay people than women are, and I attribute that towards a desire on the part of men to prove that they are not gay. Macho means behaving violently towards gays to assert that you are heterosexual.

To Leftychris

I have never in my life registered Democrat, but in 2004 Wes Clark was my man, because he said the one thing I wanted to hear from a Democrat; "If I was President, I would have gotten Osama Bin-ladin by now." Assuming that a Democrat wins in 2008, Wes Clark will most likely be the next SOD. But yeah, since Jim Webb and Senate Clinton are not close, I think she will choose Wes Clark as her running mate if she wins the nomination.

I think the issue isn't so much about confidence, but rather about women's heightened fear of screwing up. Men are far less concerned about the consequences of their personal screw-ups than women are. I know that's a generalization, but look at the key word "might." "Might" denotes less accountability than the more assertive words yes or no / is or isn't.

Why is it that women are more afraid of being stuck with the accountability in the event of a screw-up? I believe it is because the stigmas surrounding their gender makes them feel less secure in the working and social environments. Also in general I think women are greatly (perhaps overly) concerned about their reputations and what people will think of them, where as men don't see their reputations and the opinions that other people might have of them as difficult obstacles to get past.

I am sure that if the study had focused on the confidence level of men and women on issues that they know a lot about, then both sexes would have scored equally as high.

You could say men are less afraid of the unknown than women are, but I don't see that as a reflection on level of confidence. Women just feel that the unknown could really hurt them.

"So, if software for the untrainable is for women, then I infer that men, like dogs and seals, are trainable."

Oh we're trainable, it just takes a very strict assertive woman to train us. But we tend to lose a lot of our charms once we become trained.