Ach, but that's not what we're really talking about here, is it? It was if a community run by religion is inherently harmful to women, no? Certainly individual churches and non-profits do good work and help women. However, once a church is in charge I believe that things go very badly for women, certainly in all…

That looks like a secular empire, not a theocracy though. Am I missing something?

I'm trying to come up with a situation in which a theocracy has ever been good for women. I agree that secular institutions can be quite bad for women, but I also cannot think of a situation in which religion holds dominion where women were not objectively worse off than their secular neighbors. Do you know of one?…

How many people knew those were See's Candies as soon as you saw the picture? Ah ... the bliss of the Cafe Au Lait truffle .... mmmmmmm.

And that is why I swallow. I didn't really know what I'd do when my first boyfriend came while I was going down, but once my mouth was full of it I wanted it out of my mouth as quickly as possible. Swallowing was the most efficient. It wasn't until much later that I learned there was a "thing" about spit/swallow.

Heh. My husband thought a picture of my mom snuggling with my bio-dad was me and an ex-boyfriend. Awkwaaaard!

My step-dad raised me from 4 on, so he's totally my real father. But he was (passed away last year) 5'4" and slender and I'm 5'9" with lots o' junk in da trunk, so it was always hilarious to watch people try and figure out our relationship. He was my pocket-sized dad!

They'll be ok, just give them lots of love and treats. Because it's a short time your kitty will bounce right back. You aren't a monster, honest.

Introducing cats is tricky business. I've had the most success with keeping the new kitty in a different room for a week before introducing them. On day one they just smell eachother under the door. Day two, switch they're litter boxes. Day four, switch again. Day six, last switch. Day seven, open the door and pray.

Thank you for taking the time to expand on your thoughts. Because I live in such a fiercely liberal area I just don't meet folks with your perspective. I've always wanted to better understand why people oppose a socialized state. What is it that bothers you?

I get what you're saying, I really do. My question is, and this is really the foundation of why I've come to believe that "Republicans are bad people" is that if maintaining this extremely nasty countenance is off putting to the reasonable Republicans, why do they still vote for people who espouse racist, sexist,…

I don't think that's really the same thing ... Conceptually I really agree. People shouldn't be viewed as monolithic 'you are X because you are Y'. But ... I feel like the Republican party has just gone too far and to be willing to associate with them is to say that you are alright with their mean-spirited, obviously…

In principle I agree with you, but the current Republican party has just gone way too far. They just aren't a party with a moderate wing (at least that has a voice) any longer and to be a Republican is now the same as being racist, misogynistic, and deeply classist. It's gotten to the point that if I find out someone…

My spouse just said "if all the gays folks and their allies moved away, their economy would crumble."

My husband was totally 'not my type' when I met him. I had a silly list in my head of things I didn't want and he was just about all of them. I'd liked tall, slender, clean-shaven blonds. My husband is shorter than me, husky with the cutest pot belly in the world, brown hair, and has a beard. Now I'm drawn to short,…

There was an article on Salon yesterday where a woman said she was owning her fat and not going to take this fat shaming crap any longer. The comments were horrifying. I had to wade through the first two pages of comments before I found one that wasn't just plain nasty.

Being a woman (or human) is hard enough, can we not hate on her for something she herself did not do? Please?

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. She sounds like my mother's mother. A kind of crazy you just can't put into words. She would say vile, vicious things to keep my mom dependent on her (not unlike accusing a beloved uncle to keep you from forging outside relationships). She was an awful human being.

Good for you! Take good care of yourself and be proud. It's a hard first step, but you made it and that's what matters.

I sometimes think we need a new set of words (for addict), because there really is a vast difference between someone who has selected an unhealthy coping mechanism and someone who will break into their mom's house and steal her heirloom jewelry in order to get high.