I've tried to discuss airline security with coworkers and friends, and I'm always immediately drowned out by the 'better safe than sorry' crowd. What amazes me is that some of them are otherwise well acquainted with common sense and logic.

The liquid ban is the last straw for me. The only thing that will get me on a plane now is the death of a close family member.

Ok, this is exactly the sort of thing I would write, if I was about to become a mother. But I figured out that I'm not ready to have offspring.

At 3am when my cat wakes me up by sticking his whiskers in my ear, I'll think of you in your self-imposed hell. Then I'll roll over and go back to sleep.

Both aircraft were effectively brand new.

What're the odds that one of the planes had an instrument malfunction? How many redundant systems report the altitude -- particulary on the Legacy, which I assume was both smaller and had logged fewer miles?

If it was misreporting its altitude, that would have botched the TCAS system, and caused the pilots to assume that they were flying at the altitude specified by traffic control.

Why not US adoption? Because of the strings involved.

It may happen in only a handful of cases, but the idea that a bio parent can successfully reclaim their child *years* after the placement is pretty frightening.

Leo, it seems that abortionfacts.com is owned by Heritage House '76, Inc., a company that sells fetus-themed tchotchkes to the anti-choice community.

Could you provide a medical or government source for your "80% of [3rd trimester aborted] babies are normal" figure? Preferably something that notes the percentage of women whose lives were at risk, as well.

There are a lot of former abortion providers that have switched sides, I wonder why?

That's easy. Eventually the death threats and harassment gets to be too much, and they give up. The doctors who manage to stick it out are remarkably brave people.

I wonder -- is the new style more than the old hairdresser can handle, or was he just unable to grasp what his friend was asking for the day she decided she wanted a change?

Give him a chance to maintain the new 'do. If he can do it, fantastic. Problem solved. Have a one night stand (with an appropriate excuse) whenever it's time for a radical change, then go home to him for the day to day upkeep.

If he can't handle it, then she needs to 'fess up and change to the new hairdresser. As nicely as possible, of course.

None of the prospective parents did anything wrong, until Hayes decided he needed to intrude on the lives of complete strangers.

The excuse that the child has a right to know his bio parent and his medical history is just that, an excuse. If he's that worried for the child, he can have a sanitized version of his medical records transferred to the Does.

I hope Hayes collects the check from the clinic and gets some counseling.

I also hope that the Does sought out an abortion on their own, and that the affidavit re being forced to take the morning after pill was a lie to assuage their own guilt. If not, that Doctor needs to lose his medical license.

The letter writer's first and last problem is that s/he has divided the workplace into "me" and "them". S/he needs to try relating to hir coworkers as individuals.

Or, if that's beyond hir, just relate to them by the one thing they've all got in common -- the workplace.

Diamonds are gorgeous. I love the way they sparkle when the light hits them. And I love to wear the antique diamond cocktail ring my mother bought me at a charity auction.

But my aquamarine engagement ring means more to me. And to my frequent amusement, people admiring usually assume it's a blue diamond.

We pay the second mortgage, which is an interest-only variable loan at present.

I haven't noticed anyone else bring this up.

Is LW's mother planning to work until she's 100? If she can't afford to pay the 20% loan it's going to take her the full thirty years to pay off the 80% portion of the mortgage, at which time the full 20% debt will remain.

And that's assuming that LW (or LW's siblings) can continue to afford whatever the variable rate happens to be in the future.

While LW has a right to be upset about the tithing -- as long as she's supporting her mother, her mother has a obligation toward her in the way she spends her money -- it's besides the point.

Set up an appointment for mom with a financial advisor. Have the advisor explain to her that she cannot afford to keep her current house.

When she's in a house she can afford, she'll be able to tithe without living off the charity of her children. For at least a few years.

Cecil, you have a point. But before we can force women to live with the consequences of having sex, we'll have to deal with a few pesky problems:

* Rape. (Including incest, date rape and rape within a marriage.)

* Males who won't step up with child support.

* Contraception that breaks.

* Insurance companies that will cover Viagra, but not the pill.

* A cultural bias against a married woman putting a child up for adoption.

* A cultural bias against any woman putting a child up for adoption.

* Doctors who refuse to tie any woman's tubes until she's had at least two children.

If your step-daughter is even half as intelligent as you say, she's humoring you.

Or, if you want to be cynical, she's scamming you to stay on the Santa gravy train.

But as an only child who did the same thing until I was well into my teens: the first one is my story, and I'm sticking to it.