It's not that the subject matters that writers like Pollitt and Merkin write about is offensive. It's the narcissism these writers display, assuming that somehow every humiliation, spanking or sexual proclivity is a universal truth that everyone needs to know about. While some of that might be interesting, I can't help but wonder if some of what they say might be a way of proclaiming to other women, "You might have a more satifying emotional or sexual life, but I'm the one who gets paid to write about my own life." Feminism is about sisterhood. Somehow that doesn't seem very sisterly.

People who think that the health insurance crisis doesn't concern them is kidding themselves. People who don't have health insurance can have a communicable disease such as TB, and not having the money to treat it, can end up spreading it to anyone they have even casual contact with. That can lead to an epidemic that will affect everyone, even those that are insured. Also, if a person gets into an accident or gets a serious illness, he or she might not be able to work, thus losing health insurance when it's most needed. And although people must take preventative measures to keep themselves healthy, they can still come down with catastrophic diseases. Unless something is done to provide some sort of universal healthcare to every citizen, adult and child, I fear the consequences will be dire.

Just because you've had a hurricane named after you, doesn't make you an expert on global warming. "Hurricane Camille" says that those of us that fear the consequences of what global warming "pity" nature instead of being in awe of it.It is precisely because I am in awe of nature and what it can do that I fear global warming. The prospect of higher sea levels that could wipe out lower Manhattan and put low lying countries such Bangladesh almost totally under water fill me with awe at nature's potential power as does the thought of killer category 4 and 5 hurricanes happening every year instead of every twenty years. If I pity anything it's not nature, but the people and animals that will suffer as a result. I wonder how much Ms Paglia is actually awed by nature, as two paragraphs later in her diatribe she is complaining about Ellen Degeneres and Rosie O'Donnell. The future of our planet has no more weight for her than the career of a morning talk show host. In her mind, I guess they're equal and that's all that matters.

As I rapidly approached my 50th birthday, I felt so old, and dreaded reaching that milestone. Then I was diagnosed with breast cancer and stopped worrying about my age altogether. That's not to say that I don't sometimes wonder who the grey-haired woman staring back at me from the mirror is. But when I think about how lucky I am to still be here, cancer free, seven years later, it helps put things in perspective.

My old friend was not so lucky. She was a real knock-out throughout her 30s and 30s. It often seemed like every guy in the rural area we lived in was interested in her. When she was in her early40s, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and fought it for 10 years. In that time, she struggled with painful treatment, hair loss, etc, but whenever I heard from her, she'd write about the joys of just being alive and the power of friendship and sisterhood. When she died this last summer, I mourned the lost of this friend, who to me seemed as beautiful as ever.

It's hard to believe that this never-ending campaign has been going on for over a year and we still have almost a year to go before the next election. Through all that time, we've mainly only heard about Clinton, Obama and Edwards and if no one else was running in the Democratic party. Now after one small state has cast its votes, and especially after New Hampshire's primary this week, it's as if not only do the other candidates not matter, but the rest of the voters in the country don't matter either.

I don't particularly like Hillary Clinton, but I'm not sure Obama, with all his "charm" is the most viable candidate. But my opinions aside, I want the opportunity to vote for the Democratic candidate most likely to win in the next election. I'm tired of the media's obsession with the "top" candidates and even more fed-up with the entire system. We need a national primary day, when every state votes on the same day, so a handful of small states don't have so much power to decide the result. Maybe this would also help third party candidates. Who knows? We need to also abolish the electoral college and also do away with the potentially rigged voting machines Make every vote count in every election. Only then can we will truly say that we are a democracy.

It's disheartening that by the time I'm able to vote in the Democratic primary next month, the candidate I might have chosen to vote for won't even be in the race. The entire primary process makes no sense. Although at one time there were at least 10 Democratic candidates, now one interminably long year later and with the votes in from only four states, we're essentially down to only two candidates. Right from the start, however, the media coverage has been mainly on Obama and Clinton, or Clinton and Obama. It's bad enough that the media has so much power to influence our choice. At least the primaries should all be held on the same day so everyone, no matter, where they live, would have a equal chance to decide on the outcome and not merely have to pick from whoever's left standing. Don't we deserve something better?