I have no problem with atheists stating their belief, but there is a clear bias in favor of this subject on Salon. A large number of articles on this site (even a sports story once, for crying out loud) offer the throwaway comment, "I don't believe in God, but . . . ." But what? And what does this have to do with the NBA? Or the movie of the week?

I like the writing here, but you have to do better. Stop spouting crap like: Here are the two smartest people on earth, and HURRAY, they are ATHEESTS! How much plainer can you be? Its stuff like this that makes me think of going over to the Republicans, racism, plutocracy, Iraq-baiting and all. At least they don't constantly make digs at the one thought I hold more dear than any other.

I want balance. I swear there are some smart Christians out there. What do we have to do, demand affirmative action?

Most Americans, especially those with even a mild lean to the political left, think to themselves, "Health insurance for everyone? Sounds like a good idea, let's do it!" What they don't realize is that health care is a one trillion dollar business. Tens of thousands of companies depend on health care dollars for their paychecks, and they will not take to reorganizing the entire system very easily.

Every pharmacy, physical therapist, optometrist, chiropractor, doctor, nurse, and medical administrator makes money on the system AS IS. When real, substantial health care reform comes along, these people will come out of the woodwork, millions of them, some furious, some concerned, some downright scared. And they will put up millions and millions in campaign contributions to keep things the way they are.

The inertia in this system is far beyond what most people think it is. This is stage one of a prolonged and serious conflict.

Those of us who favor health care reform need to get over the idea that the movie "Sicko" is going to convert enough people to bring change. We have to realize that SCHIPS is only the beginning, and we had better take the attitude that the sooner we start the conflict the sooner we will get it over with.

The Democrats need a smackdown. And if they lose, they need to set up another, and another, and another. The Republicans may barely have a pulse, but those afraid of change in health care are much more numerous and moneyed that you might think.

As long as the big money programs continued to go undefeated or 10-1, the BCS was fine, because it was a fixed system in which big schools created bowls with big payoffs and then rewarded themselves with the money. Now we are seeing the possibility that teams like Florida, talented as they are, will often finish 9-2 or 8-3. Hawaii could go undefeated and walk away with $25 million in BCS cash.

The big boys won't let this go on. They won't let teams they used as patsies all these years have a share of the big bucks.

That's why we know the BCS is rigged. As long as the big schools get all the money, the BCS is great. The minute the Tulanes and Boise States and Hawaiis start horning in, the system will be scuttled. Soon we will see a playoff system in which a 8-3 Ohio State gets in in front of a 11-0 Ball State. That's how money works.

Rowling didn't reveal Dumbledore's sexual identity in the novels because keeping it in question furthered her artistic purpose. The ambiguity left something for the reader to chew on and made the books better.

This is an editorial decision. What she is doing now is leaking out the material she considered putting in but decided detracted from the book. It is a cheat to leak the information out later. She is having it both ways, leaving open Dumbledore's sexuality within the text because it made the novels better, then adding it in later because her fan's curiosity made it possible to have a "do over."

This has the same cheesiness as DVDs that include scenes cut from the original. If the scenes are good enough, put them in the movie! Otherwise leave them out. It is not my job as a reader/viewer to have multiple outcomes in mind and then pick the one that makes the work the best. That is the author's job.

The principal challenge of writing is knowing what to cut. Rowling is exercising the privilege of cutting something and then putting it back -- sort of -- and this is not a proper way to write.

The Gulf Coast was hamstrung in its Katrina response because so many of its National Guardsmen were in Iraq. This was one of those fine details that was lost when the White House started pointing fingers at local governments.

It was only a matter of time before liberals realized that a weakened National Guard would hurt the disaster reponse in California. So the Right issued this preemptive strike, accusing Democrats of treason before anyone saw the National Guard problem, which is 100% the fault of Republicans.

Fighting this is simply a matter of not letting this little fact slide.