"We Catholics can always tell when the person analyzing various methods of natural family-planning is (a) not Catholic."

May I preemptively say, Cram it, clown. I barely learned about sex, or contraception, or the rythym method from the church or Sunday school. My mom told me about the rythym method. And my question still stands; if sex only for pleasure is wrong, and keeping the sperm and the egg seperate is wrong, how is the rythym method, or any other method where you connive to keep the sperm and the egg seperate OK?

At this point, every Democrat and left-leaning person has to decide if they are going to be more or less like the right. The right wing sees conspiracy in everything; this may seem like hyperbole untill you watch Fox news or listen to Rush Limbaugh. The liberals are stealing and destroying Christmas, the homosexuals are secretly recruiting in high schools, and the media is hiding the good news from Iraq. From the way they talk, you'd think they didn't have control of the executive branch, the House of Representative, and the Senate. The conspiracy mentality is the mentality of people who perceive themselves as powerless, and see themselves at the mercy of a host of invisible, implacable foes. It also comforts people who don't want to face unpleasant facts; the idea that the Republicans stole the election is much more palatable to democrats then the fact that Bush won. Of course, the worst thing about a conspiracy mentality is that it prevents a person from engaging reality in an effective way. All the effort spent on proving the "theft" of Ohio's electoral votes might have been better applied towards improving the democrats chances in the next election.

Let's try to be the "reality based" party.

I understand the frustration that Ms. Havrilesky is experiencing. I would direct more of my ire at the decision to split up the season, then what's going on in the show. As she writes, the last episode would be "...a great mid-season scene, signifying the calm before the eventual storm.". This is what it is. Personally, I feel like cutting Chase and co. a lot of slack, considering they have created one of the best television shows ever. My favorite part about the show is how it simulates real life, and in real life, people don't get whacked that often.

As far as splitting up the season, I think that's the big mistake. It's like splitting up "Kill Bill" - totally unnessecary.

Whoever runs against Sen. David Vitter needs an ad that is a montage of the destruction wrought by Katrina and his quote in bold type at the end.

Your response illustrates my point perfectly. It contains all the smarmy, know-it-all, hubris, and all the simplistic, grade-school thinking that enables any doomsday philosophy. Above all, there is the devotion to a world of extremes. Either we live like we live now (with reasonably abundant fossil fuels), or we live in a post technological wasteland. People don't slowly starve; the minute they miss a meal they are to weak to do anything (it's surprising the human race has lasted this long, no?). And, of course, either you subscribe to this nonsense, or you're not taking the "the notion of resource depletion seriously.".

Of the two of us, I'm not the one who should be reading my history. You should look back to any time where resources were scarce. I mentioned the Medieval period, and it's a perfect example. Why do you think, Anonandon, that the farms of the day were worked by peasants who served a lord? The lord's military power protected the peasants from the people who would take the food they produced. Those castles that overlooked the farmlands and the towns were not there to look pretty; they were military installations that protected a valuable resource.

Of course, you probably knew that, seeing as you know everything worthwhile to know about the past, present, and future (unlike like us e-mail shuffling, X-Box playing, scoffers). So here are a few questions:

It sounds like you're going "to live off the land". Are you going to restrict yourself to an existence of hunting and gathering? Or are you going to farm? If you're going to farm, how do you plan to keep the three or four acres you work hidden from the the starving people desparately searching for food?

Just in case people don't drop dead after a few days without a McDonalds, how do you plan to stop the people who will try to take the food you have? How do you plan to stop a concerted, armed attack by two or more people (last time I checked, firearms don't run on gas)? Do you have any friends who can help you (keeping in mind that more people on your farm means more land to protect)? Do you think you could shoot a family to death for stealing your food? If not, how will you stop people from just sneaking in and taking your food? Do you plan on sleeping?

Finally, what's with the schadenfraude (if not outright gleeful anticipation) about the literally billions of people who will starve to death if the oil crash happens like you say it's going to happen? If there was a way to prevent mass starvation, maybe by conserving and supporting viable alternatives to fossil fuels, wouldn't it be your moral responsibility as a human being to do so? What if the Greenhouse Effect outruns the depletion of fossil fuels? There are so many problems with the way we live, but there are also many possible solutions, if we're willing to work for them; why is it that the only thing you can come up with is "I'll get some land, and watch people starve. And I'll laugh."

What kind of person thinks that's an honorable way to live?