The letters section for this article very clearly demonstrates the effect that the decline in science education has had on the populace. There are people who think if there is snow in "their" back yard, well, clearly there is no global warming. Because their back yard is a perfect model to explain everything about the WHOLE WORLD! I wonder if the decline and fall in science education has been deliberate? It sure is easier to lie to people without the background or critical faculties to divorce their politics or emotions from the subject, and look at it dispassionately.

Apparently the scientific community does not yet know why black women are more likely to get fibroids. I don't think this fact is the author's fault. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to focus on "why", when the "why" isn't known? I'm not sure they know why anyone gets them, much less why one group gets more of them. It's unfortunate that the author doesn't know the answer, either? Hmm.

And once again, YES!

Thanks so much!

Maybe you should write a letter like Meangirl's, above, where she is looking for someone to take care of her (or, more liekly, to defraud). That one hasn't been deleted!

It is "obsolete", you know. Try it in your spell checker.

Now get that smug nasty mug off the front page. Please?

Merriam Webster online wants the terrorists to win, too.

Main Entry:

di·vi·sive Listen to the pronunciation of divisive Listen to the pronunciation of divisive

Pronunciation:

də-ˈvī-siv also -ˈvi- or -ziv

Function:

adjective

Date:

1642

Viola! Instant candidate for an all-expense paid trip to Hotel Gitmo!

I like violas. Lovely sound, a little deeper than a violin. And violas, the small pansies, are really pretty and hardy too. Can hardly wait to plant some in a container.

I understand how you feel, LW, though I never had it to the same degree. Sometimes I feel like an alien, still. How does everyone know what to do or say? Through my working life I have developed a routine. I greet everyone in the morning, and often ask a question related to the last conversation we had (I'm really good at remembering those!). I take care to ask about what I have observed about what's important to someone. When I come to them with a question or request, I soften my often too-blunt request with some small talk first.

None of this comes naturally to me. I would prefer to talk to about work, go straight to your desk and say, "Here is the spreadsheet you sent me, it isn't correctly linked, would you please fix that."

Instead I say, "how are you this morning? Phone been ringing off the hook? Always that way this time of the day isn't it? Are those flowers from your garden? Great! Now, it looks like you're having some trouble with the linking in this spreadsheet. Can I help you with it? Is it the absolute references that are throwing you? Oh, you just didn't notice, and you'll fix it right away? Great! Well, have a good morning."

And I work in HR. I began copying the behavior of a naturally warm connector person, because she was able to get a lot of things accomplished because of her warmer interpersonal relationships.

Now it's almost second nature, though I still have a little bit of an internal checklist of behaviors. I'll bet there are still some people that might think I'm a little colder or more reserved, but at least I'm within one standard deviation of the median, I think.

So, as many other have said, observe and copy. I hate talking on the phone-I put on my grownup voice, like I'm playing a part, and make my phone calls all in one bunch, because I just dread them.

Give it a try! It's good for your careet.

is all to resistibly cute, I think. She just does that ugly scrunch-faced thing, instead of act. Ick.

The size of New Jersey? That is, indeed, a trivial amount, especially if it were in the highway median or elsewhere on the highway right-of-way.

Have you BEEN to the west or the southwest? There's a lot of empty ground out here.

WTF Timbuktom? You think despised middle America doesn't know about BEANS? Where the hell do you think they grow them? You could be all coastal cool about your arugula and sushi and crap, but seriously, beans? You need to get out more. And I mean, into the country you apparently despise, like Colorado, where we grow and eat lots of beans, without even feeling superior about it!

Sayrock, about the length of time it takes to cook beans--if it is the electricity you are really concerned about, then two words: Pressure Cooker.

You know better than that. This quarter's gonna be "revised" sometime after the election and conveniently show that there was no growth after all.

Oh! That's great! Grandpa Simpson. I am definitely going to be using that.

With impunity? No. Their delegates are not seated. That's their punishment. So there's "punity".

I was sure you weigh in with an eyeroller, but that was actually funny!

Indict, Convict, Imprison.

Clear enough for you?