He had another sports rule. Derivatives of ping pong could not be sports.

Tennis: Ping pong played while standing on the table

Volleyball: Raquetless team ping pong played with an inflated ball and a raised net while standing on the table

A marketing success story that sells a doll that sells a restaurant (including hair styling appointments for dolls) that sells books that sell movies is not selling imagination. It's selling kids their next product. These dolls are beautifully designed and made with thought and care but, these days, a doll company with a growth strategy can't stay a doll company for long. Yes, these products are higher quality and a little less mind-numbing than [fill in the blank with the Dora or Elmo product of your choice] but we need to keep our eyes wide open and make sure our kids know what's going on here. When a kid must have whatever American Girl thinks of next, they are being set up for a life of pursuing whatever Disney, whatever Apple, whatever Prada, the marketing executives figure out how to push next. Imagination is transplanted from the kids to the MBAs who want the kids to actually imagine as little as possible.

...the "surge in income" that is associated with getting elected to the Senate. There is too much money in politics. So many of our country's problems are a result of the money factor or are being ignored because there's no money in solving them. The politicians have all the voters fooled, pulling the wool over our eyes with hot button (but relatively minor) issues like marriage, abortion, gun control while they collect our taxes to fund their big money games in Washington.

...they're only polls. I agree that Liasson is contradicting the polls in her comments about "the American people." However, relying on polls exclusively can be harmful. After all polls of "the American people" is part of what got us into Iraq in the first place.

I have a feeling (certainly not scientific) that if you sat down with a sampling of "the American people" and had a real conversation about the pros and cons of withdrawal and the role that the "facts on the ground" should have in the timing, you'd probably come up with something different than the results of a few multiple choice questions asked over the phone during dinner time.

...I have been more and more disappointed with each endorsement (he's better than these people), each vote (e.g., Farm Bill, FISA) and each political move (e.g., making nice with Clinton rather than holding her accountable for much of the bitterness of the campaign).

That said, I believe that the Democratic Party's primary system is to be blamed for many of his worst decisions over the past months and I'm worried that it will be to blame for decisions in the future. The process of courting the superdelegates necessarily resulted in countless deals and favors that we will never fully identify. I'm afraid that the dark legacy of the primary season will continue to bubble to the surface through similar seemingly inexplicable "calculations" by Obama and his campaign. I hope that Obama will be our president but I am also worried that he will be a president with more political debts (mostly to the Democratic superdelegates) than any president in history. This will hurt the country and limit Obama's ability to be the leader I truly expected him to be.

...what is so centrist about voting for FISA? I have a hard time picturing a room filled with random Americans other than Congress, Bush and Telecom executives supporting the FISA bill. This is not a bill a centrist would love. This is a bill that a politician indebted to other politicians and telecoms would support.

...that doesn't mean we know (or will ever know) what it is. The fact that scientific and medical opinions are constantly being reviewed and modified is evidence of this. Continued research is important and whatever we learn from it should be implemented in a reasonable way.

As a parent, there is nothing more annoying having to listen to other parents carry on in person or in blogs in terms of absolutes. Fellow posters, please don't tell me you know for sure what the right answers are because even those with full access to and full understanding of the latest research may be wrong.

Well, there actually is one thing that's more annoying and it's hearing these same statements made by celebrities. Please, stick to topics like acting, diets and fashion. You are not authorities on medicine, politics or science.

...is that there's no option to "run out the clock" when you have a lead. You've got to get your opponent to make 27 outs. The losing team always has their remaining outs to play with. These opportunities cannot be taken away and represent a threat until all 27 outs have been made. The winning team should do nothing other than take this threat seriously and continue to try to score runs.

In recognition of any of the myriad Chinese policies, ranging from violations of human rights to support for regimes that do the same or worse, no advertiser (especially no politician) should want to be associated with these Olympic Games. Have we become too deaf to China's abuses or too dependent on their future growth and success to take any steps to address their policies?

Remember, it was only a few years ago that many major advertisers pulled support for The Masters golf tournament because the host club, Augusta National, did not permit women to join. How the interests of a handful of incredibly rich women who might want to join a stuffy exclusive golf club outweigh the millions who suffer at the hand of the Chinese government is beyond me.

Wake up Obama! Wake up Coke! Wake up MdDonald's! Distance yourselves from these games as much as possible.