Why is it that when something is "hard", we insist on dumbing it down instead of working harder to understand it? And why do we resent to people who do get it?

Rue McClanahan was also the star of the Driver's Safety video produced for my Driver's Ed class. Considering that it was produced by a state senator for one of his mid-sized town's driving schools, I can't imagine that she was paid well, if anything.

@kityglitr: I just think that over the years, Idol has embraced and promoted the "underdog" effect. Crystal was pretty much a judge's favorite: see also Tamyra, Melinda Doolittle, the Irish girl from last season...

American Idol has never been about finding the best singer, it's about finding the singer with good enough chops and presentable enough looks to be packaged into a pop idol that would have some modicum of financial success. Granted, this has backfired as the public caught on.

women should sacrifice career goals for the health of their relationships

She has been one of the "front runners" all season. For that reason alone, it's likely that she will not win. (And judging by the careers of the "winners" versus the "losers", there's not much more cache in winning.)

@Irin: I am speaking more from my own experience as a woman writer. True, you can't expect every human being to be a norm-shattering juggernaut, but I find the choice of quotes in this piece interesting. There have been many women writers on comedy shows who do not share these experiences. Generally, when you…

So the consensus is "Sci-Fi is hard, boys are loud and rude and girls are supportive and polite, want to watch The Bachelor with me?"

You know what takes strength?

@TheFormerJuneBronson: The hierarchy does cripple us. But what people forget is that Catholics have no damn control over that hierarchy.

I think there is a certain "cache" in Hollywood to playing an opposite, or an impersonation.

@TheFormerJuneBronson: Well, this country doesn't exactly have a tradition of Catholic love, if you know what I mean.

@tiredfairy: Sorry for the extreme lateness of my reply (hooray for work!).

I would be lying if I said I was a different person now. I am the same person. I would do it all again.

I remember working as a page and believe me, if you want to see democracy "inaction", look no further than the senate floor. At any given moment, I could count maybe five people actually listening to what was going on. Most others were on their phones, constantly stepping in and out to speak with lobbyists, or dinking…

To be fair to Louis Vuitton, one of the reasons they can no longer emphasize craftsmanship on their monogram bags may have something to do about them being manufactured in China on an assembly line, sent back to France, and having the hardware "significantly altered" so that they can sew in the "Made in France" label.

Jujubee calls it like it is:

But what if it's not a fetus?

Having read the study in its entirety earlier this year, I can say the authors actually did a pretty thorough job of investigation here. This is one of the only studies that controlled for age, occupational choice and level of educational attainment in what they referred to as "an attitudinal analysis of gender and…

@aisuru113: Don't worry. They contrived a not so clever plot device to possibly bring him back. Also, Nemesis was so bad that I just pretend it never happened.