I would hope (note i say hope, not believe) that evangelicals and others opposed to Gay Marriage get reminded of what a big issue this was for Republicans in the last couple elections cycles, but how they have done nothing about it once in office. I've heard that evangelicals have lost a good bit of their faith in the GOP for this reason - every election they side up with them on their issues, after every election they are forgotten.

I would hope (note i say hope, not believe) that evangelicals and others opposed to Gay Marriage get reminded of what a big issue this was for Republicans in the last couple elections cycles, but how they have done nothing about it once in office. I've heard that evangelicals have lost a good bit of their faith in the GOP for this reason - every election they side up with them on their issues, after every election they are forgotten.

At least I believe that most people are far more worried about pressing problems like inflation, gas prices, 2 wars with no end in sight, and everything else that needs to be addressed. Whether two men or two women want to shack up -- does that really influence the lives of most Americans?

While I agree with your comments on the subject, I don't think it will be easy for Obama to disentangle from the gay marriage issue. Even though he is pretty close to the middle of the road, it's not easy to communicate that when the other side is constantly wedging it into any social discussion. The GOP machine is going to use it to whip up evangelical support and try to erode Democrat progress in the South. Any time Obama appears to be making progress in Republican territory, this is an issue that they can lean on to solidify their base -- including minority groups like blacks and Hispanics.

The timing of this issue could not be worse, and frankly the GOP would be fools not to turn it into another Wright-style distraction from core issues.

WRT to gay rights, Obama has already said he supports "civil unions," not gay marriage. There is no way in hell he is going to let his campaign be painted into to a corner by the right-wingers on gay rights--no way.

Well, you can ask your doctor about it on your next physical, but it makes a huge difference in your overall health. You'll increase your risk for heart problems for one, and no, exercise alone isn't going to keep that from happening...it is a balance of exercise and eating healthy.

I'm not one to count calories but I have very high cholesterol (not because of what I eat) so I am somewhat forced to eat pretty healthy almost all the time. I do occasionally get a burger and fries, but it may only be three or four days out of the month that I eat fast food like that. The saturated fats (and especially trans fats) are dangerous to your body in high quantities (trans fats in pretty much any quantity) and unfortunately most food in America that is bought prepared behind a counter contains a good bit of it.

i don't usually pay attention to my calorie or fat intake. as long as i exercise and stay in shape, what difference does it make?

Let's not forget that the previous go-round with gay marriage started in Massachusetts in May '04, and was a key talking point for the GOP campaign, both officially and in the media. Here we are exactly 4 years later, not much has been said on the issue in the interim, and now the debate is being resurrected again just as it appears we have set our Presidential match-up.

You better believe that this turn of events will favor McCain. He might not personally get too involved with it, but the attack dogs will be out in full force.

Yes sweeping generalizations are part and parcel of my social commentary......keeps people awake....sometimes!

My point is that I find it bizarre that so many people would assume those old geezers in the Vatican have some sort of special insight that the rest of us don't have. Usually people who claim that god speaks to them are mentally ill. Why are those priests not seen as whackos too?

And I'll reiterate, what those preachers in Rome think about aliens is about as profound as what I think about about aliens. i.e. not profound at all. Those priests have no more special insight than anyone else. That's why I could care less what they say.

I have heard Edwards possibly for Attorney General if Obama gets elected. That would be interesting.

And well, here comes the gay rights issue to the front lines of the political war. It was probably going to come by about August or September anyway, but thank California for giving us a few extra months of insanity. And I'm betting now that gay marriage will be voted down by the CA people in November.

Yes sweeping generalizations are part and parcel of my social commentary. .....keeps people awake....sometimes!

My point is that I find it bizarre that so many people would assume those old geezers in the Vatican have some sort of special insight that the rest of us don't have. Usually people who claim that god speaks to them are mentally ill. Why are those priests not seen as whackos too?

And I'll reiterate, what those preachers in Rome think about aliens is about as profound as what I think about about aliens. i.e. not profound at all. Those priests have no more special insight than anyone else. That's why I could care less what they say.

But dammit I will not give up my $14.95/month World of Warcraft payment.

Obama is the only prominent politician, candidate or otherwise, who is publicly pushing for diplomacy with Iran. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who Bush was talking about when comparing diplomacy with Iran to appeasement. If you can't put two and two together to get four, CNN is reporting that White House staffers have said privately that this statement was aimed squarely at Obama.

Again, he didn't say "Obama", Obama said he was talking about him. They jumped on this to make political points and I believe it will back fire. Show me where Bush called Obama a sympathizer.

Fake outrage? So if you were compared to Nazi sympathizers you wouldn't be upset?

hillary is now saying it would be a terrible mistake for her supporters to vote for mccain should obama be the nominee. it sounds like she's beginning to realize that she's probably not getting the nomination and she needs to start making amends for the good of the democratic party.

The comment was all over the news before Obama said anything about it. Thankfully one of the news commentators held a Bush supporter to task this afternoon by asking him exactly what did chamberline do in 1938. He couldn't answer the question. lol

This is nothing more than fake outrage by the Obama campaign. If you ask me, Obama protests too much. I think he did more to hurt his campaign than to help it, as he was the one to link his name to the statement. If I were him and was asked, I would say "I don't know who he was talking about, but it couldn't be me because I have never expoused those views." Instead, a comment that would have gone unnoticed is now the headline.

I hope the Cavs can even it up in game 6, and then beat Boston in Boston for game 7. It will be tough, but if they can play like they did in Game 3, they can beat Boston in Boston. Go Cavs, Rise Up.

.... Instead, a comment that would have gone unnoticed is now the headline.

As an Ohio State fan that has attended several Buckeye-Gopher games in the Metro Dome, I think this is huge huge improvement. I think w/ it only being about 50,000 seats, and being ON CAMPUS, which I cannot stress enough how helpful that will be, will keep it mostly full for a few years. Of course, they will have to improve the product on the field, but I have a feeling this new facility and the other stuff going w/ it, will help them recruit better. It's also great that it will be close to their Lightrail. I think it looks good. It will be like their old Memorial Stadium that they had on campus many eons ago, back when they were one of the National Powers. Of course, I'm not sure if their team will ever get there but w/ their very energetic coach, and this new facility, I guess anything is possible. I wish them luck.

My question is whether any actual experts (not us) have made recent predictions on the future of oil prices, barring some event that would drive prices up. Will oil prices ever go back down to below $3 or are we looking at $3.50-$4.00 or more prices for good?

Booty Bay, Darnassus, Orgimmar, Ratchet, Stormwind, Thunder Bluff, and the rest (well except for maybe Area 52) are all built with sustainability in mind. "ishnu--alah"

two clicks up, one click down, two clicks up...

Obama did say that John Edwards was on his short list for vice president.

Meanwhile, in his effort's to show what a great nation we are, President Bush became the first sitting president, or any president, to criticize a presidential candidate while on foreign soil. He spoke at the Israeli Knesset (their congress) today and compared Obama's willingness to open diplomatic discussions with Iran as being equivalent to appeasement of the Nazi's during the period leading up to WWII. Aside from the complete inaccuracy of a statement, he dredged up this subject during Israel's 60th anniversary of independence. It was an amazing piece of bad taste.

So in one speech he compared the Iranians to the Nazi's, dampened the Israeli Independence celebrations, and did nothing but increase tensions in an area that does not need more war. Never mind that Bush claimed the high road in saying he would not even get involved in the Presidential campaign. It's clear to me that Bush doesn't have the academic background to even know what happened during WWII, so I wonder about the motives of the people yanking his chain.

.....
My question is whether any actual experts (not us) have made recent predictions on the future of oil prices, barring some event that would drive prices up. Will oil prices ever go back down to below $3 or are we looking at $3.50-$4.00 or more prices for good?

Not surprised this happened, the IRS screwed up and 15,000 stimulus checks were sent to the wrong people according to ABC News.

I feel that Edwards for VP is a remote possibility at best.....running twice in a row for VP seems uncouth to me. John Edwards would seem to have too much class to accept an offer like that anyway.

Richardson would be a great possibility in my humble opinion.

I know what causes the rise in the price of oil.

My question is whether any actual experts (not us) have made recent predictions on the future of oil prices, barring some event that would drive prices up. Will oil prices ever go back down to below $3 or are we looking at $3.50-$4.00 or more prices for good?

Its a really odd coinicdence in the timing of the conference. Obviously what was talked about in the NASA conference had nothing to do with the Vatican saying its ok to believe in UFOs. Its the timing of the conference and the fact that NASA blew it out of proportion as if they were about to announce something far greater. Alot of people were making that conncetion on blogs and other forums.

The problem is that a single sausage biscuit from Bojangles costs you 23 grams of fat (7g of that is saturated mind you) and a ton of sodium. Keep in mind that this is roughly 35% of the recommended daily consumption of fats (saturated and non) and sodium.

Yes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day but that only rings true if you have something such as whole grains or fruits. I hate that fast food joints like Hardees and McDonald's have put so much of their marketing efforts into driving the idea that any breakfast is a good breakfast in America.

both Boston and Los Angeles have some good hard fought gritty wins last night. Now one of these two teams needs to get a win on the road.

Based on the California Supreme Court's decision overturning a ban on gay marriage in that state, one might expect gay rights to become a front-line issue again in this election.

The Juice is good, but they lost their RB Rashard Mendenhall to the draft early. PSU looked pretty vanilla last year and lost their defensive leader in Dan O'Conner. It just looks like OSU as a clear leader in the conference with several teams vying for the second spot, be that PSU, ILL, WISCY or maybe even a resurgent Iowa?

Based on the California Supreme Court's decision overturning a ban on gay marriage in that state, one might expect gay rights to become a front-line issue again in this election.

I agree, I wonder if they will be able to keep it filled up?

And I'll reiterate, what those preachers in Rome think about aliens is about as profound as what I think about about aliens. i.e. not profound at all. Those priests have no more special insight than anyone else. That's why I could care less what they say.

Are you one of the people that think Bush was right to compare Obama to Nazi appeasers?

But dammit I will not give up my $14.95/month World of Warcraft payment.

..... Bush made the point that some say if we just break the ties to Israel, our problems in the Middle East would go away. Some in this country and around the world believe this is what should happen, but I can't see any U.S. president breaking from our alliance.

And I'll reiterate, what those preachers in Rome think about aliens is about as profound as what I think about about aliens. i.e. not profound at all. Those priests have no more special insight than anyone else. That's why I could care less what they say.

We also used to travel quite a bit, now it is just long weekends with a long trip once a year.

That's a pretty sweeping generalization. The Vatican has some powerful sway with millions around the world. When they make a statement like this, you can bet it wasn't just on a whim.

Who cares what a bunch of corrupt old preachers in the Vatican think in the first place????? LOL

Lance

^ It will allow McCain to take the high ground and look good for doing so, which would normally seem like a preconcieved strategy, but you never know when it coems to Bush as he seems to be perpetually "winging it".

So the timing of three completely unrelated announcements by NASA about a new star, environmental change, and a tv station means there is a conspiracy?

I know what causes the rise in the price of oil.

My question is whether any actual experts (not us) have made recent predictions on the future of oil prices, barring some event that would drive prices up. Will oil prices ever go back down to below $3 or are we looking at $3.50-$4.00 or more prices for good?

it's a combination of all the factors that have been mentioned here. the weak dollar, the increase demand for oil, the perceived shortage, the unrest in the middle east, and just plain old speculation on the part of the investors (much like the rise and fall of stock prices can have little to do with the success of a company) are all part of the rise and fall.

And today NASA has called a press conference for a major announcement. Im sure it has nothing to do with UFOs but the timing of all these announcements may not be a coincidence and may have been orchestrated.

Usually a sausage biscuit from Bojangle's. Those things are great.