I wish I could be catholic again because it was nice belonging to something but when my mother was divorced, the Catholic Daughters of America told me I couldn’t come to their Christmas party because my mother and I were bad. (I was eight years old). I tried to be several other religions, was married in a church, my first child’s funeral was officiated by the church, the three other children’s baptisms were in the church (just in case) but I have come to believe in nothing but the goodness of the heart and mind. The bible is another work of fiction. I raised the children to do the right thing, to never hurt another and if they wanted to belong to something they were free to go to any building they wished on Sunday. Now grwn, none of them are church goers and they believe in themselves and the goodness of those they love. The church is not where it’s at.

I think McClellan and Powell were victims of intimidation. We don’t know what pressure the men were under to smile and make nice. Even if it was an ulterior motive to time the book to damage the republican campaign, who cares? It’s out. Not that we haven’t known in our hearts all we suspected was true. We all know Gore won in 2000 and Kerry won in 2004. Bush doesn’t belong in the White House, he belongs in a road house with his Peterbilt parked outside. He probably couldn’t even do that job well. It will all come out some day, but by then maybe the Patriot Act will be gone and we can pick up our phones and speak freely again, and display dissenting bumper stickers and we’ll know our votes will really count. If this book and others that hopefully will come do anything at all to let in the light, in the words of History’s Murderous Menace, “Bring It On!”

Frank, you are correct. Maybe I’ll just stick my columns on youtube. I could read them while a video plays a tribute to Erma Bombeck, may she cavort in heaven for eternity. I also like to read Jonathan Kellerman, Steven White, James Patterson, and any autopsy procedural anybody writes. There, I admitted it. Oh yeah, Frank McCourt. May he live forever with or without quote marks.

The 2007 Writer’s Market because I’m trying to find a publisher for my collection of humor columns. I figure that witht he death of newspapers I’ll be out of a job soon. I think being a columnist is like being a shepherd with not much call for it anymore. About reading, my favorite thing is to go into a used book store and just buy whatever catches my interest, pile them by my bed and sift through them. Our three year old grandson lives with us so there’s not much chance to book drift away. But I have noticed he picks them up and tries to read them himself. I must say that my favorite at the moment is The Cat in the Hat because that’s the one he wants to read to go to sleep. I love it when he sleeps, he’s like a baby cobra.

Jane, thank you for a smile in a difficult day! Last week I wrote an interview with Mother Nature (Mo) for my humor column. It’s at www.terrivinck.com if you want to see it. Thanks again for your talent! Love to see more. Terri

Well, I don’t like any of them. Barack is too slick to be believed, Hillary is just a liar. She says she has eight years of experience in the White House. Really? Was she in the “war room”? Was she elected to do anything at all besides keep the other side of the bed flat when Bill was out late? Please don’t make me think she has presidential experience although she does have the fibbing thing down. She was a glorified housekeeper. And McCain? What kind of man comes home to a woman who waited for him all those years, who was in a serious accident and needed him when he has an affair with a rich bitch and dumps his invalid wife. This is presidential material? I’m going to write in somebody for president and exercise my vote to refuse to vote for these creatures they want to force down our throats.

Watching the Pope’s televised visit today, I could not help wondering why he cannot see that use of birth control and prophylactics would be a huge step toward saving our earth from the devastating climate changes we are experiencing. Less people, less consumption, less trash. Smaller families, healthier children, more educated citizens, more disposable income. What a difference it would make in our ailing ecosystem. What a huge leap for struggling economnies. More resources with less demands. I would hope that somewhere in those marbled halls at the Vatican (if they are actually marbled) the possibility of global change is whispered. If only these spiritual leaders had the love of humanity they profess, one word, one small edict could change our planet. Allow birth control for the poor and desperate through the blessings of the church.

That is such an ambiguous question. How many counted one at a time? Does “Slept with” mean copulation? How about a frightening thunder storm, when the children all pile in for safety, or the power outage in winter when all huddle together for warmth? Clarification is needed to answer correctly. And would that have been before or after the eleven Harvey Wallbangers at the sailors shore leave party?

Hillary Clinton has lied to us over the years on many occasions and while my heart is joyful because we have at last the opportunity for a female candidate, there is a bitter taste to the celebratory sip because you have to ask, “Why Hillary? Surely there are others. Why drag all that Bill baggage back with her, tracking all that muddy tawdry womanizing while she turns her back and manages the country with a wink wink and a nudge the way they did before. There is some serious damage to be repaired here. We could have done better than Hillary. Barack Obama is the obvious able candidate. I can’t imagine David Letterman airing daily Obama slip-ups the way he does with Bush. For some reason, God help me here, I trust that when Obama says he will do something, he really will. If he can, if the powers behind the Presidency will let him. I don’t think Hillary can break those strings. I think Obama will refuse to wear them.

It is unnecessary to criticize a man who has been struck down so sorely by the loss of his child. If it gives him comfort, it is his money. It matters not what others think. It is his expression. Let him be.

Indifference to our planet’s health, child abuse as everything from striking or shouting at a child to corporate indifference such as selling lead paint toys, cruelty to animals in laboratories, shelters, or fighting pits, the indifference to the elderly and the entertainers who mock them, the usury of payday loan traps and the greed of mortgage companies with phony inflated appraisals and incredibly increasing mortgage rates the buyers can’t maintain with inflated food and gas prices and constant job losses. The ungodly sin of causing 4000 deaths and probably tenfold Iraqi dead in an unnecessary action only started to make Bush 41 proud of his little guy. The worst sin was the neglect of the victims of Katrina and coming on three years later, no recovery in sight. Another sin, the slur against the constitutional rights of the people of this country. The right to due process, the right to privacy, it’s all gone as well as the sactity of one citizen one vote. We need a hero. I don’t see any coming. Somebody do something fast

Thank you, Frank. You must live in warmer climes.

Frank, I wear socks to bed because my feet get so cold they wake my husband. It’s for his protection. I wear jammies because our grandson lives with us and I don’t want to warp the child with visions of gramma in the raw. My wobbling twins alone would put his little eye out. And special note to Dr. K, after you’ve run out to replenish your KY supply, please tell us what it is you wear, dear. If you want to dish with the girls, I believe you’re expected to serve now and then.

I want to comment to Helen Mirren how much I enjoyed that exquisite bit of business in The Queen when she removed her glasses and cleaned them on the edge of her sweater. It was such an ordinary womanly gesture that layers of royal armor fell from her to reveal the reality of the human being she was portraying. How wonderful it was to watch. Thank you.

Congratulations Lori! Getting a job is extremely difficult these days! Any work is honest and pure and if you can bring a smile and light to someone’s day just by serving them that is a value only you can give in your special way. I have had many jobs in my life and it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do your best. I know this sounds so Pollyannaish, but it is true.