[Debbie L.]

It's not me, and I've wondered that, too, Brenda. And I've said here before that I do appreciate those who post under a real name. It just seems more authentic to me, to put your name behind your words. And if I'm replying to "fluffybunny", it feels different to me than if I'm talking to Brenda.

Something has changed - not sure if it's my computer or the HER2 system but if I've shut down my computer, when I come back here it doesn't remember me like it used to and I have to log in.

And just now, while composing this note (logged in), it told me when I hit "submit", that I'd been logged out for taking too long (not those words - but something like that), and even though it still said at the top of the page that it was me, Debbie L., I had to log in again. That's never happened to me before, either.

If I try to post without logging in, it asks me to enter the series of numbers/letters (and they can be HARD to read) and at that point it's obvious that I'm not logged in, if I didn't notice it before. And it's really more cumbersome to stay unregistered than it is to just go ahead and log in (once I prompt it with the first letter, my computer remembers my log-in info and plunks it into place).

Plus, the person posting as unregistered is not signing their name, so clearly they are going for anonymity.

I can somewhat understand why they'd do that, on the USPSTF threads. I was reluctant to post an opposing opinion myself, when the tide was flowing so heatedly all in one direction on that. And I rarely shy from debate (smiling). It didn't seem like people wanted to hear from "the other side".

I just googled around a bit for "unbiased news" reporting. Maybe it doesn't exist. Some people think PBS is unbiased, others do not. For print media, there were no consistent favorites and most said that they read several newspapers, to try and get a feel for both sides. Repeatedly, FOX news was named as worst in terms of being overly biased and also in quality of reporting - too much sensationalism and hyperbole.

I think that in terms of medical reporting, the NYT does have some excellent people. I like Gina Kolata and have read several of her interesting books, which do not seem to me to have any political leanings. "ReThinking Thin" was fascinating, as was the one about exercise whose title has slipped my mind right now. She takes nothing for granted, does her research, asks the hard questions, and is not afraid to point out that there are things that we just do not know (although "we", our society, does not like to admit that we don't know things).

Debbie Laxague