In 1968 the Democratic party took a stand against racist politics. It cost them dearly, and they could no longer count on carrying the South, unless their candidate was a southerner himself. Now it's the Republican party that has to take a stand against extremism. For many liberals the word "Republican" has become synonymous with Fascist. I was raised by Republicans myself and believe me, there are many, perhaps a majority who do not like the religious right or the way the Bushies cater to them. Even though I think Giuliani's middle east policies would lead us to a world wide disaster, I do wish he would stand up to these people and take a stand for moderate thinking Republicans.

Perhaps Rowling is afraid that the Potter universe indeed will continue, especially with the Internet where legal action against someone writing the further adventures of Harry Potter would be nearly impossible. Perhaps she wants to answer some of the unanswered questions, and clear up what was only hinted, so that no one else comes along and does it for her.

Just like men, there are heterosexual women who prefer to dress in an androgynous way, maybe even to the point of being mistaken for the other sex. Maybe that's what's going on here, the LW prefers to dress more like a man and society assumes that makes her a lesbian. I work with women who are in the construction trades and some of them can be very "butch" but are mostly heterosexuals.

I cant completely explain the study you write of because I don't have all the facts, however, I don't think you can draw any conclusions about this issue using subjects from the Unite States. In this country, generally speaking, people of one race do not mix with those of another, especially when it comes to raising children. What we experience in childhood has a subconcious effect on our adult lives, in many ways beyond this. Even the most liberal parents cannot shield a child from the racism in our society. What is hard wired in the brain is to trust people who resemble people we have trusted as children (parents etc.) Whether race, or more accurately, color is a factor that is stressed in our society will effect how important that will be in prejudging people.

I don't mean to get angry at this particular article, but this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I am sick and tired of reading articles in Salon about journalists. Journalists are not politicians, or artists or other news makers. Journalists are supposed to report and editorialise on the news, they are not the news itself. This whole incestuous obsession with other journalists is really annoying.

I'm glad scientists have figured out how something happens on a physiological level. But this is like finding out how we breathe. Anyone with half a brain knows that we can experience emotions when we see others experiencing them. I mean isn't this what theatre, cinema and TV are about? And why does this study only talk about feeling someone's pain, we also experience anger, joy, frustration, sexual arousal and many other feelings when we see other people experiencing them.

I don't want anyone to vote for Mitt Romney, but not because he is a Mormon. It's interesting that many religions which have really small differences feud the loudest with each other. I'd bet these conservative evangelicals would have less problem with a Jewish president than a Mormon president.

that George Will is honest about the Republican strategy. Maybe that's why he is so often the token conservative on liberal talk shows. If anybody still cannot see that the Repulicans are itching to run against Hillary, they have not been paying attention. Another weakenss of Hillary is Bill Clinton's presidency. She gets a lot of support because people want to see a redux of the Clinton administration but many Americans, even Democrats have issues with some things he did (NAFTA comes to mind). She could be backed into a corner where she has to either support an unpopular thing he did, or publicly diagree with him.

There are a lot of women and men out there who are supporting Hillary above the others bacause they want to see a woman become president. Unless you think the American presidency is not on a par with being head of state or head of government of another country, it has already been done many times. There have been very powerful female leaders of India, Israel, the UK and others not to mention powerful queens of the past like Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great. And if we think women would be more more gentle, compassionate leaders, I don't think Hillary is the best choice compared to the men in the race.

If good marketing could not sell an inferior product, then how the hell did George W. Bush become president?

First let's make the distinction between sex and love, there is no doubt as they become more sophisticated that people will have sex, even prefer sex with robots. But love them in the full sense as you can love a human being, having a long lasting intimate relationship? All I can say is robots would have to be incredibly sophisticated to totally appear human once you get beyond infatuation and into a love relationship. The question arises, would be want to make a robot that is indistinguishable from an actual person?

Intelligence community? It's not like they predicted Bin Laden would strike the US in 2001. Oh... wait a minute.... ummm nevermind!

tilda wrote:

> Yo! "Till" is a verb (till the ground) or a noun (put the money in the till). It is not a preopostion. That word is "until," or its abreviation "'til."

> God save the English language.

I would refer you to any decent dictionary, where you would find out till is a synonym (not an abbreviation) for until and has been around in the English language for nearly a thousand years. Till later!