Every few years it seems that one of these self-help fads materializes. On one hand I think that if people get something out of it and it makes them happy, well bully for them. On the other hand, if it encourages people to shut off their critical thinking, then society is the poorer for it. If the people behind it were doing it out of goodness and not the almighty dollar I might be less squicked out by it all.

Changed MINDS can change a planet. You don't think so? Remember when we all thought sushi was gross? One by one people changed their minds about raw fish and then fortunes were made, businesses were built, and health outcomes were improved. It’s worked out great, for everyone except the fish of course.

Good grief. Dude needs to put down The Secret and do a little research.

This seems like one of those notoriously upper-middle class white folks concerns. It would be interesting to know the economic breakdown of the people who are flocking to buy the books and attend the seminars.

"The Secret" is not some simple self-help its about the Law of Attraction. That is not about simple creating a goal and working your butt off. It's about aligning your "vibration" and the universe manifests your desire. If the universe doesn't manifest your desire, you had some sort of vibrational "block." Other claims in the new age world are this kind of information comes from other galaxies or entities that "channel" through humans.

There seems to be a huge misconception about The Secret and it's teachings here. Yes you do ask for what you want, but then 90% of the time what you will get is inspiration or ideas on how to attain that, or meeting someone to help you attain it. ACTION IS USUALLY REQUIRED to receive the desired result. Now I say 90%, sometimes things just come to you with no action. I have had this happen to me many times in my life, where money or something i need or want just drops into my lap.

Wait, so which one is right? Seriously, this sounds so much like $cientology it's humorous.

In the end, there are few people in this world who have been successful who have not applied a version of the concepts in "The Secret" -- talk to any CEO, any entertainer, any athlete, and they will tell you that the first element in their rise to success was believing that they would succeed and not dwelling on all the things that might go wrong.

Oh please. This is so facile. How many CEOs and entertainers have you talked to? Many people have doubts and fears and succeed through hard work and often times, good luck. I know "luck" is a bad word to the Secretrons, but many famous and successful people mention that luck played a role in their success.

And, negative thoughts do not cause negative things to happen to people. Good grief. That's called magical thinking.

>Just look at what I left, and look at who is attacking me today. Let's face it: Those on the left who now attack me would be defending me if I had espoused liberal causes and spoken out against the Iraq war before I was outed as a pseudo celebrity.

Oy vey. And, if that were the case, those attacking your background once they dug it out would be the freepers and your "friends" on the right. Come on man, snap out of it!

The administration was seriously considering firing ALL the US Attorneys?

Hate to break it to you, but it happened in 1993 during Clinton's first term.

What is so egregious about the current situation how Rove & Co. went about it with the lying and covering up.

The photo of the PCD is so cheestastic that I was in tears from laughing. Heather, I don't know how you sit through all these crap shows. Good god.

"Apparently the acidity of properly-made Caesar dressing retards bacterial growth IF it's kept at room temperature or above - refrigerate it, and it can kill you!"

Do you have a reference to back that up? If you have unused homemade caesar dressing, I can't believe that it's not safer to keep it in the fridge. Freshly made caesar dressing at room temp for a few hours wouldn't be a problem, but long term?

Overall, this was a silly article. I really wish the food articles at Salon had more substance or were at least witty.

I don't live on or near Cape Cod, so I don't have any sort of bias on the issue. However, the author certainly seems to have one. Thanks to Farnham Woods and Roz Diamond for presenting some perspective that was completely missing from the article. Salon, you're no better than Faux News when you post articles so one sided.

Don't take anything that Julie Powell says to heart, Dude. I wouldn't trust her opinion on anything. The strip is fun and quirky. I like it. And, get the Nueske's!

Hilarious. Olive oil isn't "real" or for "real people"? I saw your letter in the other thread, too. You seem to have this notion that if someone eats anything other than Kraft mac & cheese they're a rich, yuppie food snob. Some people love food. Most of them aren't rich. Some of them love to write about it. If the thought of someone writing joyfully about the food they like and how much that food costs infuriates you so much, then stop reading it. It's just like "I Like To Watch". You have a bug up your ass about Havrilesky, but you just can't keep yourself from wanking about her week after week.