NBC barely showed the pole vault competition at all, which was a bummer, since the final in Athens was one of the greatest track and field showdowns I've ever seen.

As we did with the Torino Winter Games, we've mostly watched CBC's coverage.

If an alien plopped down in front of a set tuned to NBC for these Summer Olympics, he/she/it would have to assume that the only sports contested were beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, diving and, now, track and field.

I believe during the last economic downturn new TV purchases went up as well. The idea is that people cut back on vacations, movies, entertainment, etc. and stay home- with their brand new flat screen TV. -- Nicolemc99

The difference then, though, is that most American households we're holding around $5,000.00 in credit card debt and gas was a lot cheaper.

While nothing gets the American economy out of a recession more quickly than consumer spending, the U.S. economy could really use some retrenchment and parsimony for a few quarters. Oh, that and returning the tax bracket back to where they were in January of 2000 would really help.

Why do people feel a need to do shit like this? Yes. I know: Because someone is dumb enough to pay for it.

The only antidote I can think of for this is to rent The Fly II. While it didn't make Baked Potatoes, it has got to be one of the all time worst sequels made. So bad that it's LOL funny.

The root of Fannie and Freddie's troubles rests in their inability to handle the immense havoc wrought on the the U.S. mortgage market by the housing bust.

The root of F&F's problems is that they bought and helped package loans that they knew were non-conforming and hoped, like the rest of the "We never foresaw this level of default" liars that the market would continue to rise to offset the deficiencies in the millions of loans for which they were holding the paper or offering guarantees.

Forget Meg Ryan. What the Hell Happened to Annette Bening?

The header pic makes Annette look like her face got stretched over a barrel of Botox. I hope that's just an unflattering job in the makeup trailer. She was hot in American Beauty. I hope she didn't ruin what God gave her. -- tedol

I'd forgotten that Ryan got a really bad nose job. But what did Benning, who I thought was aging quite well, do to herself?

Ahmadinejad is an asshole. He isn't stateman-like in the least. He conforms, even at the UN, to everyone's worst caricature of a Muslim extremist.

The last thing I want is a Israel-Iran war. However, if someone could just off Ahmadinejad, I think even a lot Iranians would be happy with that. Just as Bush doesn't help our position in the world, Ahmadinejad does nothing but undercut Iran's position outside of the Middle East.

Fuck that. This is an FBI matter because it is mail fraud.

to -- postnoodz If you still have that submit it to an Obama office. -- peeps1

Is that the euphemistic name given these days to racists?

This was cold comfort to Bowen, who uses her Facebook account mostly for professional networking.

What the hell kind of "professional" would use Facebook for work? And if she did, why would she have her page set up so that anyone other than herself would have complete control of the page?

Moron.

. . . but NGOs are only effective when there is a degree of stability and relative security. This hasn't been the case in about 90% of Africa for a couple decades now.

It's really time the U.S. government learn to stay out of places like this and let the NGOs do their job -- libertyson

. . . McCain's full medical profile.

Let's all start digging up shit about John McCain's family ... or better yet, Cindy McCain's family. How would being the heir of a fortune partly based on criminal behavior affect her husband's presidency? Inquiring minds want to know! Or, you know, not. -- bearpaw1

WND is about as fringe as it gets. I'm not too worried about this as its appeal extends only to the 20% or so who would still vote for McCain if he grew horns, a tail and a forked tongue.

These are desperate measures by people so far removed from the seats of power that it really doesn't matter. Useful idiots yes but, again, reaching only the like-minded.

Johnston on how the McCain campaign is treating him, after its initial advice that he avoid the media: “They’re not telling me anything right now. It’s pretty chill.”

What a dumb question. He's not a part of the campaign. However, he should feel free to stick his foot in his mouth in public as often as he wants. I'd love to hear more from the self-proclaimed "fucking redneck."

The world has roared with laughter at Bush, has routinely voted him the most dangerous man on the planet — and, in some cases, has actually recoiled from him as though from hot flame. Remember the look on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s face when Bush snuck up behind her at the dinner table and massaged her shoulders? Can you imagine, for one moment, what she would make of a Palin presidency?

Regardless of her name, she'd still be full of shit.

I have a theory about Camille Paglia. I think people take her seriously because her name is "Camille Paglia", as opposed to, say, "Fern Terwilliger". When you have the feeling that something she has written is, shall we say, a bit off, do what I do - apply the Terwilliger test. "How," I ask myself, "would I feel about this if the author were named 'Fern Terwilliger'?"-- jgbay

. . . but I am forced to use LAX every once in a while. Now there's an airport that ought to be replaced!