If you haven't picked up a romance novel in awhile, hie thee to the bookstore or Amazon.com. Romance is the predominant fiction sold in America today, and any woman - straight or gay - can find stories tame or graphic enough for their tastes.

I'm partial to paranormal erotica - it allows me to use my imagination a bit. Any fantasy you might have can be vicariously experienced through erotica. Want to exchange blood with a vampire? A man who's also a werewolf? A leopard? Have a hankering to experience some light BD/SM? Two men at a time, or perhaps triplets? Add a woman to the mix? Get "kidnapped" by a space marauder who takes you to the future?

Erotica engages my imagination better than visual media (porn). It's more of a turn-on for me.

FYI, I'd also take the nice looking guy with the 5" dick.

..I'm 5'4" and 105 lbs.

An issue that alarajrogers brought up that I believe is key to this discussion is the issue of physical safety. Most women who reach adulthood and sexual maturity are aware that the majority of men they encounter outweigh them and are certainly stronger. Women, especially small women, live lives of risk management to a degree that I don't think most men have ever pondered.

One of the reasons I find porn unarousing is that I simply can't put myself in the actress's place - perhaps out of sheer self-preservation. Even if the "action" appears to be consensual, I can't turn off the part of my brain that questions the cirumstances which led the actress to appear in the movie. That, and the fact that some of the sex acts appear to be downright dangerous, and painful for the female involved.

I was struck by how many standing ovations there were during the show, accompanied by polite clapping. No real spontaneous emotion or energy at all. It was as exciting as a State of the Union speech. I was waiting for the Red Hot Chili Peppers to tear it up a bit at the end of the show, but damn, what a poor song choice, very mellow. They should have gone with "Dani California" even though it is not their current single.

I was disappointed to see that The Police used a backing track for harmonies. There were numerous occasions where drummer Stewart Copeland wasn't singing, but as if by magic, three-part harmony could be heard.

The best thing about that performance was Sting's biceps.

Paula states that she has never been drunk or abused recreational drugs - but note that she - quite carefully? - doesn't mention prescription meds.

Ultimately, this is not about damage to one woman's career. Because of Libby's actions, anyone who worked with, met with, or received correspondence from Valerie Plame while she worked at the CIA is at risk, whether they were covert or not. Everyone Plame had contact with during the course of her job, every program she worked, is now potentially compromised. The damage to our national security could be incalculable.

Was it worth it, Dick?

"I drew a line in my mind..." Isn't that conveeeeeenient.

Come on over to Right Wing Moral Cripples, Newt.

The fact that the LW wrote to Cary at all suggests to me that he/she is at least mildly uncomfortable with accepting this money the law states he/she is entitled to.

Listen to your conscience. For your own piece of mind, I recommend accepting this money but donating it to a worthy cause, with a nice written acknowledgement to the grandmother's family stating what you did with the money in Grandma's memory. Endow a scholarship for a financially needy college student, anonymously pay for someone's medical bills, install a playground at a public park... the list is endless.

Set your mind at ease. Don't tether yourself in such a potentially toxic way to this family you're no longer a part of.

And THAT'S all it apparently takes to report something as "news" these days.

Watching the cable news outlets salivate during their so-called "coverage" of the Edwards decision this morning was just nauseating. Salon, I expect more from you.

As others have stated, hitting the delete key deletes your PERSONAL copy of the email - but not the backup. The emails in question aren't "lost" - they're out there in a server farm somewhere, just waiting to be harvested.

White House staff - ya might want to use the time it takes Waxman to prepare his subpoenas to Read the F*cking Manual. Or learn to spin more convincingly.

Leahy and Waxman need to tell the White House that this isn't a frickin' plea bargain.

Mr. Rove? Mr. Bush? Your salaries are paid by our tax dollars. You work for us, and you owe the American people some long-overdue answers.

The Administration is delusional if they think sacrificing Gonzales is going to end this. A couple of questions I'd like answered:

- yes, all US Attorneys serve at the President's pleasure. We get that. So what did THESE EIGHT do to earn the President's DISpleasure?

- you apparently have a poor handle on management and leadership of this organization. So, who IS in charge? Who's making the decisions, who is providing day-to-day guidance?

- just how long has Karl Rove been moonlighting as a sysadmin?

Having the LEGAL right to freedom of speech does not mean that exercising that freedom of speech won't have repercussions. Imus, through his speech, became a liability to his employer. So they canned his ass.

Freedom of speech does not equal freedom from consequences.

We're so overloaded with minutae masquerading as news that important stories don't have staying power - they get their five minutes of focus, then ...scroll down... on to the next story - "Larry Birkhead and Dannielynn's plane has landed!" and "Live! It's a tanker fire!"

The MSM has a short attention span. And we're swallowing up what they're serving with a big ol' spoon.