T Pol's Comments (705)

“According to the article, the son did ask to have the women separated, but his mother did not want to be the one to leave the room. Apparently, she had been there longer, her husband having preceded the current roommate.

Dealing with an institution on behalf of a love one is damn hard, so don't be so hard on the family.”

“Very, very nice. Does my Texas-born heart good!”

“You sound nothing like a Palin supporter, ;-), who would not be able to appreciate the class and intelligence of Elizabeth Warren.”

“Yes. I think very young children are already enlightened. I think it's something we have, then lose as we are exposed to things that sap who we are.”

“Nice article, by the way.

Being comfortable in your own skin, even if there are things about yourself that you are trying to improve (which is also good), and being self-aware are my idea of "enlightenment."”

“Re: the "angry G-d" of the Old Testament and the "loving G-d" of the New Testament...

I'm sorry, but the G-d I worship has always been loving.

I'm sorry for your biased interpretation.”

“Wow, dude. You have some real issues. Will it help if I invite you to pull up a chair, pop a brewsky and let's talk about "The Godfather of Green Bay"?

What do you mean you have "to sit through" all this stuff you hate? You seem like an insidey-jokey mavericky type who can change a channel.

I'm not even commenting on the video...haven't even watched it. Just observing your really hostile reaction to...entertainment?”

“I think they mean for the PGA golf circuit. I doubt his absence dropped viewings of the Simpsons.”

“The fact that the robber was armed with a baseball bat instead of a gun makes it believable that the robber did indeed write and send the money.

The cynic in me wanted to say to he just stole the money and sent the note, but that makes no sense. A real thug wouldn't bother.

So I went back to my bat vs. gun theory. Where I am, police are trying to blame the economy, but these are thugs with guns, so I highly doubt they are feeding a family. More like a gang or a drug habit.”

“This is an interesting post and a complex situation.”

“Thank you. I do not understand why this is so overlooked. I've been aware of the starch-based diet of the poor since I was a kid in the '60s. What costs less, a bunch of processed starch or fresh vegetables?”

“Welcome to the insurance lobby. Sorry, I'm not buying it. When they started talking about "slow-moving" cancers, my radar went up.

How many cancer announce to the victim whether they are slow- or fast-moving prior to full detection and diagnosis?

The argument "few lives are saved" burns me up. Okay, so if your life got saved in your 40s, that makes you less worthy than if you are in your 50s?

Then there's the "risks of unnecessary surgeries." Hello, the answer to that is to change the protocols for verification of diagnosis, which will reduce unnecessary surgeries.

To those saying prostate cancer screening is getting targeted, too, my comment is, do not "improve" the situation for prostate screenings by making them worse for breast screenings.

As for no conspiracy against women, please. Heart disease is the number 1 killer of women, yet the studies on women are still woefully lagging behind those of men, and studies on women heart patients in hospitals have shown they get less care than male heart patients.”

“Thank you. Finally, someone standing up for what HuffPo SHOULD be touting.”

“For all the blasting of senseless consumerism that HuffPo does, it features a website touting the top 101 sites for more of the same. Nothing jumped out that was "green" oriented...not even solar gadgets. No regional up and comer, mostly big box.

The more things change, the more they stay the same old same old.”

“They can take the medal, but they canNOT take away the recognition. Shirin Ebadi is an amazing woman, a true representative of her state and her religion. I pray for her safety and that of her husband.

I believe I heard her interviewed once and thought, "My G-d, what a courageous person she is. I hope she isn't killed."

Her courage is one of the things to be thankful for.

Rather than petty sniping about our own situations here, please focus on supporting good people triumphing. It is people like her that stand up for the good in the world and against the evil, destructive and oppressive. Find a way to help, whether through a donation to an international cause or supporting the Muslims like her who truly follow their religion by promoting peace and freedom.”

“Headlines used to be used to report the news quickly. This one was used to provoke a reading of the article. Unfortunately, many will not read beyond the headline.

To those trying to make something political out of this and blame Obama, may G-d forgive your twisted souls. Even as you lip-sync your patriotism of "supporting the troops," you ignore the troops' reality for your political agendas.

A large segment of our homeless population are veterans. Where I am, they held a special program to reach out to veterans because they found that many, many veterans were not aware or were not availing themselves of programs designed to help them.

The presidential policy is insensitive to the families of those who have lost loved ones to suicide in times of war. The letters can be different from those lost otherwise in combat, but can still recognize the service of those lost to suicide. Heroes have been known to kill themselves, unable to cope with having been the one to survive. Does suicide undo the valor of signing up, of serving until death?

I think not!”

“You made my night. I hate to shop. And I am concerned about us having built a huge portion of our economy on the consumerist consumption of junk. Checked out Heifer Int'l. Great thing.

We better figure out how to have a strong economy on something other than consuming junk, or our present situation will only get worse. "Go out and shop" is not the answer.”

“If thermography is as cost effective as mammograms, fine. I had a thermography after the mammogram found something. Fibrocystic, thank heavens.

However, thank you, Dr. Pavlov. I still say, "Follow the money." Maybe the previous recs were based on money/lobbyist influences.

Regardless, women have good reason to be suspicious about what's going on right now. You don't pound your chest and say, "Do this to live," then turn around and say, "Forget that," and expect to retain any trust without presenting the issues first and well.”

“Perhaps one needs to consider the demographics of HuffPo's readership.

Sadly, most minorities are not plugged in here. Perhaps more sadly for us and HuffPo than for the minorities. Behind these screens, I'll bet most of the faces are white, with a few dots of color (certainly more than you'll find FOXing it.

We still have a long way to go, but also due to economic realities. If you are struggling to feed a family, are you going to spend a bunch of time on blogs like this? Really?”

“Thanks -- I'm obviously more than a little torqued over this issue.”

“P.S. -- I can remember fighting for mammograms to be included in insurance coverage. I can remember when they were not covered. I can remember when many insurance companies did not include birth control pills in prescription coverage.

So forgive me if I'm skeptical and a bit outraged that this may become an excuse for insurance companies to start excluding women's health coverages again.

This diminishes the public trust in government as well. Banks dictate policy in this country. Pharmaceutical and insurance lobbyists dictate policy.

When the public can feel that health care advice is not provided with someone else's price tag attached to it (rather than what our own is), the discussion will advance by leaps and bounds.

Until then, people will continue to feel betrayed by those paid with our tax dollars to deliver unbiased information upon which we can make reasonable decisions.”

“Conflicting beliefs indeed.

The fact that this article was headlined with "The Secret History" speaks volumes.

I've had times when I had to question and push for answers with doctors, including those giving conflicting direction with the same family member patient.

The outcome of this discussion is ultimately, "So now what are we to believe? Why should we believe the next health campaign telling us what we should be doing?"

Our health is in our own hands ultimately, which is why patients should challenge doctors' advice when the patient's own intuition kicks in. But who can blame those having political outrage along with other forms of outrage when a change in direction is handled the way it has been, which is poorly.”

“The one thing that is tough for us is concern over letting our kids, now 7 and 9, go back and forth to school or bus, around the neighborhood, etc., given crime in our area.

But I agree about all the other Uber-perfection parenting going on. I participated in a heck of a lot of extra-curricular school activities, and my parents supported me, but I did it is because I loved them, not because the folks pushed.

Mine are choosy about what they will and won't do -- and that's okay, too. I'll push a little if I think it's because they don't want to miss TV or computer time or if they are saying no because of an unhealthy avoidance. But we've found our balance -- their balance -- and they are happy as well as smart, well-read, social, etc.

I see the over-parenting in today's college students. Many colleges coddle them through every step of every life process -- signing an off-campus lease, writing apology notes for setting fire to the neighborhood while drunk, etc. When I was in school, it was "here's your schedule, show up, pay up or flunk out." And they were done.

Self-sufficiency is not made from an overly structured life, but from having the freedom to explore and make one's own choices.”

“Amen.”

“If this is true, then the entire medical and scientific community needs to have their asses kicked for promoting the hell out of something for years, then one day saying, oh, we're wrong and here's a few articles to show the studies we never told you we were doing.

For many of us lumpy-breasted souls, finding our troublesome lumps among the normal lumps is going to be tough. As one breast cancer survivor said, the mammogram didn't show it up, but she knew something was wrong. After enough protesting and begging, she got her CAT scan, which saved her life.

Whatever the course of action best advised, the positioning of this discussion comes at a time and in a way that undermines the trust of people in the medical and scientific professions. Everyone thought they were doing what they were supposed to, based on the "experts," and now those "experts" are screaming like it is the patient's fault for doing what their doctors, the Surgeon Generals, the CDC, the Cancer Society, et al told them to do.

Debunking the science without remembering the importance of a bedside manner has shaken the public trust.”