I was just griping about that "score first" stat to some friends the other day. If a game ends at 1-0, well, duh, of course the team who scored first won. They're the ONLY team to have scored.

Given that soccer/futbol games often end 1-0, wouldn't it be more interesting to remove all of the 1-0 games and then present the stat? It *might* be interesting to know how often teams win after scoring first, then getting scored on, and then breaking the tie for 2-1, or more. Though my suspicion is that it isn't quite the blow-you-away stat those interns are looking for...which make the whole thing a waste of time anyway. I'm with you King, I hate stupid stats...

So wait a minute, if the US Army thinks these guys are important enough to send eight THOUSAND troops looking for them, and they've conducted AIRSTRIKES as part of the hunt, HOW is this NOT news? If the Army thinks it's a story, then the media is justly on top of it.

Um...Lands' End has been doing the "Kindest Cut" suit for an awful long time time. I think I was in high school (~10 yrs ago) when I noticed them in the catalogue. How is this news? Or is it news just because it was in the news?

if you're so desparate for capital that you're willing to sell your body (you mentioned having to have sex with your future "husband"), why not look into egg donation?

Anita Hill didn't open a conversation about sexual harrassment in this country?? Now, maybe I'm a little young to remember it perfectly, but I'd never heard of sexual harrassment before her, and afterwards people and businesses all over started taking sexual harrassment seriously. Policies were implemented and it became a valid complaint for women (and men) suffering from certain kinds of workplace abuse.

Nuanced or not (no need for the snarkiness in your post), it was important. South Africa could certainly benefit from such a moment. Especially since it sounds like they're so far behind the America of the early 90's when it comes to women's rights.

Johnny Damon had to *cut* his hair when he moved to the Yankees, after his long locks were one of the defining features of the Red Sox World Series win. In fact, I think *all* of the Yankees have to cute their hair *and* shave. It's in their contracts too.

So it's not just women and gays who being told how to look in appearance-based and high-profile jobs.

Sigh. I'll throw my 2 cents on the pile.

I was home-schooled. I'm 28. I'm a "card-carrying" liberal. And I'm terribly disturbed that the right is co-opting "home-schooling" as a code for ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christians. People home-school for a variety of reasons; saying one was "home-schooled" does not serve as an accurate shorthand for what a person's background and beliefs are.

Joe, please don't use the term as if it applies only to people of Ben Domenech's ilk. Please don't let the right take this phrase away from us too.

Um, yeah, I'm going to have to agree here. We shouldn't assume she was harrassed because one is presumed innocent until proven guilty here in this country...

I'm all for taking him down if he's guilty, but she has to prove it first.

There is no way on god's green earth that the woman should apologize for being pregnant, and there is no reason that she shouldn't leave to raise her child.

It doesn't sound like she has a contract (which might change things) - she's employed at-will, and therefore under no obligation to stay with an employer if her situation has changed. How many companies can you think of that would guarantee 2 years of employment and keep to it if there was an unfortunate change in the market? I'm sure many of you Salon readers have lived through the layoffs of 2001-2002. If it became inconvenient for this woman's boss to keep her as an employee, she'd be gone in a second. Companies don't bend over backwards for their employees anymore, so there's no reason employees should do the same.

Say you're sorry you have to leave early, but leave.

I thought Stephanie Zacharek's review of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was lovely - I understood her feelings of nostalgia and sudden awarness of adulthood perfectly. I could almost imagine the characters going through these emotions and I look forward to seeing it onscreen.

As for Name Not Given's complaint, I found Zacharaek's description of Hermione's dress apt and appropriate. It is terribly easy to dress someone just entering adolescence, as Hermione is, either much too young or much too old for their age. Dress them too young and they look like, well, a performer in a recital, dress them too old and they really do look dumb and/or unsettlingly slutty.

But people who have never tried to dress a 14-year-old for a black tie occasion might not appreciate this tight-rope walk, so I thought Zacharak illustration of why the dress is "a triumph" at all was helpful. Name Not Given must be either deeply attached to the dance recital circuit and its attendant costumes, or just looking for a reason to pick on Salon today (I find many letter writers to be often the latter).