AHEM. "Mean girl"? If that isn't sexism, Traister, then I don't know what is. You had better watch your own mouth before you jump on Nancy Pelosi for simply stating the obvious. She refuses to be drawn in emotionally, so you attack her not for sexism or for Hillary-hating, but really you're attacking her for not getting emotionally involved. In fact, you're attacking her for NOT jumping on the "I'm a victim of sexism" bandwagon. She says she's been the subject of sexist jabs, but effectively that she's not letting it take her down. I'm getting really tired of hearing about Hillary being taken down by sexism. She ruined her own campaign without the help of sexists. Face it. She messed up, just like any dude.

The problem with religion is that it's used as a way to control people. At its best, it teaches people how to live with other people before they can think for themselves. At its medium worst, it's a system of peer pressure and arbitrary rules and rituals. At it's total worst, it's a reason for one group of people to hate and condemn to hell another group of people.

There is no reason for God to get along with religious groups.

I believe in God, but I do not believe in religion. I found that the ten commandments come down to one rule: don't steal. Don't steal a life, don't steal property, don't steal the truth from a discourse, don't steal love.... it's very simple, and makes perfect sense. If you think about why it's not good to steal anything (you mess up the world, you ruin human relationships), you feel inspired to be "good" by not breaking those rules. You feel responsible and benevolent, rather than like a kid blindly obeying rules in order not to be pubished. And above all, you no longer need the first rule about the "jealous God," which is the first step towards insanity. A "jealous God"??? Are you kidding me? As a woman, those words ring too threateningly close to what women have to deal with in abusive relationships with human men. I have no place in my life for a jealous Anything.

God is good, but religion is NOT good.

when are they gonna invent a laptop that is energized like those watches that are energized by movement? or anything but those battery packs? surely that's where the next technological breakthrough is needed -- we can make computers as tiny as we want now.

At the end of four years at Parson's/The New School, I was missing two credits in one department (humanities, or something), and had four extra credits in another. My director would not move the credits over, citing his lack of sympathy for me (he had constantly mixed me up with another student who looked a lot like me, and who, admittedly was no less insolent than me: but the accumulated effect made for a doubly insolent amalgamated personality).

By luck, my parents were on vacation during the graduation ceremony. So when they came back, I told them I'd graduated. In fact, I even attended the ceremony in the end, having negociated with my director to allow me to be in the graduation (wearing cap and gown), in exchange for the promise that I'd buy myself a two credit summer course over the summer.

However, when I went to the bursar that summer to enrool in a two credit course, I found that the summer choice was so stupid and expensive (courses like "Spaghetti"), and so expensive (double the price for credit), that I decided to live with the lie.

I had no qualms about it, because the way I saw it, I was not at fault. Nevertheless, five years later when I visited the New School and asked if they could use a couple of my French credits (I'd enrolled in a university in France for free and again had credits to spare), the records office people were dumbfounded that I had not been allowed to graduate, and graduated me on the spot.

Now here's where the story gets to be like this one. My diploma arrived in the mail at my parents' house, five years late! They were surprised. At first I made up another lie and told them I'd lost my diploma and needed it for the French university, to prove I'd graduated from Parson's. They insisted on pointing out that the date was wrong (The records department had offered to put the lied-about date on it, but apparently forgot!) So I broke down and I told them what had happened. They were shocked at my lies. "What else are you hiding from us," they asked, accusingly.

Well, that was the next-to-last-straw (last straw came later). It suddenly occurred to me that I had lied in order to please THEM, to keep THEM happy. My happiness and self-esteem had nothing to do with my graduated or not-graduated status. To hell with them! I told them to get over it, that I lied to keep them out of my hair, and I'd do it again, seeing as they were so hysterical over a harmless lie, and not as concerned with my personal well-being, not "on my side," to have been told the truth in the first place. And on top of everything, I'd wanted to go to Stonybrook and study literature, not some "commercial art" at Parson's, like they made me do.

So there. Your parents have failed you, if you're unable to be truthful with them. They should be your support and your refuge in hard times. Not judges to be feared.

You tell them that and stand by your words, and you'll feel better for the rest of your life. I know I have!