Hmmmm let me see…..$10,000 give or take in office visits to my doctors for the last 30 years vs. 2 seconds of a blog exchange with a dear friend named Frannie I have never met. Which one did I learn more from? FRANNIE!

You are a Godsend. You have indeed given me a lot of information to now turn around and research. Far more than any physician I have ever seen. The only thing I am told by my doctors throughout the years is because every female has died directly or indirectly because of breast cancer in my family, it is imperative I be checked every year.

I have had the misdiagnosis 3 times in 10 years from basic mammograms, and thank God they were nothing. I am one of those women that would never handle and adjust to getting breast cancer, because I unfortunately tie my femininity and (to a big part sadly) my sexuality, to my breasts. I’m breast and legs and in my mind without those two attributes I wouldn’t feel feminine. And not all women are like that, I know women who have battled breast cancer and they spoke of it as something that needed to be taken out of their bodies to live (a healthy attitude) the fact that they were losing a breast was way down on the pecking order of concern.

I really mean it, thank you for taking the time to post the information. I’m big on being proactive, and with this information I can do just that.

Bless you Frannie for encapsulating my thoughts and sentiments so perfectly. Exactly.

And all of what you have just said is how I am sure most Americans (open minded and understanding Americans) felt the night he won and again during the inauguration. Swept up in emotions of THIS IS BIG! This is something that few in our nation even the world, thought would happen in our lifetime, and yet it did.

And through it all he and Michelle keep a smile on their faces when in public, carry on with their daily life’s responsibilities as if nothing is bothering them. However I know (for obvious reasons) some nights while lying in bed and winding down after a long day they discuss all the death threats and hate acts perpetrated against them. Of course they do.

Thank you so much for posting such a thoughtful statement about people I guess I see differently than others on this thread and Mr. Wow. People who made a sacrifice that no others in our history made, by sheer fact they are unlike any others who occupied the White House. Why is this fact lost on others Frannie? Why do only you and me get it?

I guess I take into consideration the huge personal sacrifice he and his family have made to attempt to bring about change for our country. It may not be the change others on this thread want to see, they would have preferred the change Palin and McCain would have brought. But in the end my prayer is it will be a change for the better.

As I just heard him say in an interview, his goal is to leave a clean slate for the next administration. That is a lofty goal, but one every preceding president should have made for his replacement.The fact that he even said that speaks to his character and that he sees his role differently than many others who occupied hos office.

You constantly open mouth - insert foot. Don’t you ever get sick of the taste of your own foot?

"His lips are a different color all together…"

Name one Black person (bi-racial) whose lips ARE the same color as the rest of their face. Lord you can be so obtuse.

Well it’s unfortunate that you regret taking the time to vote for Obama. I’m sure you would prefer McCain and Palin in office right now so they could deal with all that Obama, Clinton and the rest of his administration is attempting to deal with. I’m sure in your mind they would do a much better job. Then when Palin and McCain appear weekly on various magazine covers you won’t have to roll your eyes. Instead you could react as I do when I see Obama or his wife on a magazine cover, you would be filled with pride. 

As for the vitriol surrounding Obama, this is America. Did you really believe we would elect our first president of color and there not be backlash? He has received 400+ and counting death threats and he has only been in office for a year.  And the data is overwhelming that they are race related. What does that tell you? Should he hide from sight? Should he not be as visible for fear of nut jobs? If he did then the Fox News crowd and people such as yourself would complain that he was pulling a Bush and not being visible enough. Where is Obama? would echo across the news outlets.

You’re absolutely right, you have a right to be prickly, if that’s what works for you go right ahead. I can relate because I was the same way for 8 years under the Bush administration. I understand more than anyone what it is like to be disappointed in one’s president….been there done that. Welcome to my world.

Oh I see. So your argument last week about Michelle being a cover-girl as inappropriate was because of our current bismal and depressing state of affairs. You spoke of how that smacked of being wrong because she was all smiles and sunshine. Now you’re complaining about Barack Obama being on a cover, your president, with a big smile. When in my opinion it does nothing more than remind us (American Citizens) that we have a positive leader.

Yet as you said you would have preferred to see Hillary Clinton on the cover? So it is okay if someone from his administration is seen on a cover with smiles and exuberance, but not Barack or Michelle? That makes absolutely no sense.

I think you sound like Liz Peek on this one Mr. Wow. You are allowing some angst you have against Barack Obama and his family to affect how you view them. You may have voted for him (because let’s face it, you really didn’t have a choice :-)  but you are clearly one of those people who is annoyed by him for reasons you may not want to be candid about. I say that because most people who are proud, happy and pleased to have a president in power that they respect and admire, think it is great to see him on covers of magazines and papers. They want to hear that he is circling the globe repairing the damage done over the last 8 years.

They want to know that he has a finger here and a finger there on various domestic issues. But for you, you always seem prickly on the subject of Obama. I can practically hear your eyes rolling every-time his name is mentioned. 

Don’t be a Liz Peek Mr. Wow. 

I hear you Frannie, but every woman on my mother’s side of the family got it, dating back decades. Not to mention she died from it. So we must be one of those unlucky and rare families where there really is a genetic link.

It just kills me that scientist have not developed a definitive method of diagnosing it.

Sure there will be those among us who are unhinged who will attempt to overlay deep and profound meaning to the movie 2012, but thankfully they are in the minority. Most of us sane folks realize it is just that….a movie. A plot, script, dialog and actors, all put together on film for our entertainment. 

I hear the special effects are out of this world, so I can’t wait to see it.  I do find it odd that everyone is speaking of 2012 as if it will be a defining moment in our history. Almost every subject these days begins and ends with the mention of the year 2012. Is this all a coincidence? I guess we’ll find out. 

As for your comments on Sarah……Liz you are always spot on!

I agree with my fellow bloggers, Sorkin is a hottie. He has the brains and good looks….the perfect package. To bad he’s not 30 years older, I’d feel like a pervert lusting after him now. :-)

His book and interpretation of the melt down is dead on. I agree 98% of what he has written. There is blame to go around all over the place in terms of what and who caused this financial debacle. And I personally think it is very important to know who the players were so that they are not allowed to repeat it.

We are in really dire straits right now, but oh my, it could have been so much worse. What I really like about Andrew is he speaks clearly -simply. I understand economics when I read his writings or hear his interviews. He makes it clear. To many who say they are a financial analyst (such as one associated with this site) are partisan and speak from their side of the court. Andrew speaks about the issue at hand and what is happening.

He brings to the subject of finances what my favorite reporter Tim Russert brought to political reporting….just the facts. How refreshing.

There are some people in life who everyone gravitates toward. There is no explanation as to why this happens, it just does. I am one of those people. If I am standing in line at the movies, I will be talked to. In the grocery store, at the art museum, walking down the street….I will be talked to. And in my long and blessed life I have also had MANY people approach me about religion. Some in person, via mail and on the internet.

Years ago I met online a wonderful but clearly lonely and disturbed man from California. He would speak often of a group he belonged to that had figured it all out. That understood the true meaning of life and why we were on this planet. Like you Karen, he spoke constantly of "the vessel" to define the body.

He was a 37 year old male who was a virgin, had never been kissed. Through a year of email exchanges and some phone conversations I learned that he was a conflicted soul sexually. He would say that sex was insignificant and that it abused the "vessel"  What this man needed was to be loved. What he needed was someone to listen to him and validate his feelings. And as much as I tried to do that from a far, it was not enough. 

This man belonged to the Heaven’s Gate cult and ultimately committed suicide along with countless others because some person convinced him his body was nothing more than a vessel. That his soul was what really mattered and it would transcend and rise above.

When I read your article I immediately thought of him. Others may find deep insight and appeal in what you have to say, I do not. My body is my body, not a vessel. Women AND men are like diamonds, because men too are multi-faceted. The Bible does indeed speak of women in many instances as being subservient. But as is the case for the Bible it contradicts itself in other passages because it instructs men to honor us and cherish us.

Do I think the Kabbalah is a version of the Heaven’s Gate cult?  Yes, to some extent I do.  But then again the world is filled with people hungry for knowledge and acceptance when it comes to spirituality. Eager to belong. And many people look for this in all the wrong places. Yet, who am I to say what is best for anyone. I knew the man I was communicating with from Heaven’s Gate was caught up in something he should not have been. He felt about his group the same as you do about your group. And yet he is gone. Gone because his group convinced him of a belief that could not he shaken by some little ol’ Black woman from Wisconsin.

I always say, those who don’t stand for something - will fall for anything. I thank God I have strong values, morals and a sense of myself. I would never fall for something as misguided as the Kabbalah.

It must be nice to be wealthy. Thank you for sharing with us your opulent existence Mary. I’m sure if most people had the wealth you have to maintain a yacht such as the Strangelove, they too could experience the bliss that comes from a fully staffed floating mansion.

You are blessed.