The way he automatically decides that because the fictional woman had sex outside marriage, she's "promiscuous." Yep, that's a reasonable assumption. Perhaps he should look up the word before he throws it around... even if Ms. Weber *is* a figment of his fevered, hateful imagination. She is, after all, the woman of *his* dreams. The woman who justifies the sick, twisted, judgmental, irrational, bitter hatred of anyone who doesn't live the way *he* thinks they should.

One can only delight in the mental image of him hungrily searching the internets for vindication of the insane rage that appears to consume him, and then the orgasmic satisfaction he must have felt upon finding this... uh, 7-year-old piece of satirical fiction. EUREKA!

Heh.

But why are we assuming the LW is a woman?

Also, how old is a first-year teacher, normally? I'm not being facetious... I'm honestly asking. Are we talking about a 22-year-old here?

I can't help but find myself on the side of the folks who feel the former student (emphasis on "former") is an adult, and the student-teacher relationship had been terminated before the next step was taken. Put these two facts together, and there really isn't a whole lot "wrong" here.

That said, there would still be damage done to the teacher's reputation if the relationship were to continue, or even be revealed. So even though the teacher did nothing *wrong,* he/she did something *ill-advised* and has made the correct decision to end it. Sometimes we do things that are not necessarily wrong, but are still not very smart, for various reasons. I think this is one of those things.

Besides Buck O'Neil? Unquestionably Bert Blyleven. I've yet to hear any reasonable explanation (not that there is one) for why this man's career is not enshrined.

I just want to make sure that your response to "Laura in NY" isn't referring to my letter. I was confused for a minute there! I was like "But I never said that..."

The infamous "Kaycee Nicole" hoax, wherein a crazy but inventive woman pretended to be a dying teenager and similarly duped many trusting people. She had an online diary, and a bunch of intrepid internet amateur detectives worked to expose the hoax when the fake teenager "died."

I've always wondered why no one ever did a movie about "Kaycee Nicole," not even Lifetime.

Greg Maddux is GOD. And I can't wait to be there when he takes his rightful place alongside the other all-time greats of the game in Cooperstown. Mad Dog friggin' RULES.

(And this from a lifelong Mets fan... go figure.)

I'm certainly not saying he deserved to die. NOBODY deserves what happened to him. But I was watching some of his shows the other night, and shows of this other guy just like him, and I was thinking some of the same things as Ms. Greer said. The way they would chase and grab innocent animals really shocked and offended me. The animals were completely terrified when they were chased and then grabbed around the neck and held up to the camera to be examined and whatever. It was cruel and disrespectful, and I found it difficult to watch for too long.

I agree with what she says in relation to the animals, but not that the mourners are "idiots," because surprising or not, it was a terrible way to go. And truthfully, nowhere does she say he *deserved* it, just that it wasn't *surprising* he died that way. Something tells me he would agree with that ... and he himself did say that Australians are embarrassed by him. I saw him say it. But obviously he wouldn't agree that he was an animal-torturer.

Why are so many of us arguing over how long to nurse a baby? This is not a nursing issue. To "nurse" a baby is to provide its nutrition and sustenance at the breast. Allowing a 4-year-old child to suckle for "comfort" long after your milk is gone is no longer considered "nursing."

This is the (extreme) equivalent of a child sucking its thumb, which also needs to be dealt with before kindergarten. But seriously, the author of this piece is no more "nursing" her child at this point than she would be nursing her husband if he did the same thing. No milk=not nursing=STOP. (The child, not the husband...)

There are certain things that 9 out of 10 people would agree need to be stopped well before a child (not including "special needs" children, of course) reaches school age--thumbsucking, diaper-wearing, using a high-chair, talking baby-talk, using a bottle or binky, eating baby-food, relying on a woobie etc.--and at the top of that list, I'm afraid, is sucking on mommy's nipples. It's really long past time to let go of this particular habit.

Every time I read about Bill Clinton or see him on TV I'm sorely reminded that intelligence and real leadership are missing from the current president. I remember seeing BC on C-SPAN Books talking about his autobiography and thinking "I miss that guy and I miss someone with a brain and some depth as President".--anon

My thoughts EXACTLY. Every time I watch him intelligently and knowledgably engage in discussion about everything under the sun, I can't help but imagine GWB attempting to participate in the same conversation. And the resulting mental image is chilling. And embarrassing. And depressing.