It's inevitable that Blockbuster will go under. I and millions of Americans like me realized that once we saw the rise of Netflix.

Netflix is pretty awesome, actually. I can watch many movies online for free and within a day-maybe two- I can get a new DVD in the mail. Plus, I can find all of the obscure/indie/foreign films I never was able to find in a brick and mortar store. Plus, no late fees. It was a brilliant business idea, in my opinion.

I imagine that it's also greener in the long run, as mailing single DVDs to people's homes doesn't require the energy, resources and physical footprint that gigantic brick and mortar video stores require.

With the explosion of the internet and related technologies, nearly anything you have an interest in watching can be found somewhere on line.

And, Mike, I feel you on late fees. I got sent to collections once over a bad horror movie I'd forgotten about. Sheesh.

Over Bush's constant, enormous fuck-ups.

He's got- an economy in meltdown, jobs to save, banks to save, industries to fix and new industries to create, two ongoing wars, having to re-focus international relations against the harmful rhetoric of the past eight years...

And with all of that Fox News is most worried about his not having gone to church yet?

Don't people like this realize that caring more about window dressing is what got us into the calamities we're knee deep in at the moment?

He's a cold blooded, heartless, sociopathic monster who would've given Himmler a run for his money back in the day.

I've read his 9/11 essay in full and it is so poorly written it reads like the writing of a smug and sullen ninth grader.

Churchill is a poor, poor academic who was playing a role and living a lie. He should be dismissed, not given back pay, and have all of his papers expunged from his field. Not because of his statements about 9/11, but because he is a shoddy and unethical academic.

I'm glad your bigoted, hate-filled divisive battles have been lost.

And just for the record, pal, the "evil" you were "awash in" - that was all on your side.

Have fun whiling away retirement in richly deserved obscurity.

All of this right wing hand wringing and pants pissing over Obama's protocol in greeting heads of state.

How much more obvious could the right be in showing how out of touch they are? Obama is trying to fix an enormous and difficult collection of problems and all Republicans can do is whine and cry about handshakes.

Obama is fixing these problems and the Republicans offer no solutions-as usual- but would rather play petty over insignificant things. How can they expect to be considered a viable political party when this is all they have to offer, time after time?

I can completely understand the desire to be impulsive with a nothing to lose attitude once the bottom drops out. Believe me, I got laid off three weeks ago and there are days when I feel more like watching movies than hunting jobs.

But it's exactly this mentality that got us into this mess. We all believed (especially those of us in our 20's and 30's - and I include myself here) that prosperity was just around the bend, so who cares if we blew $100 on a nice dinner, or put a trip on plastic?

Maybe it's having to live paycheck to paycheck and nickel and dime my way through the past ten years of my life, with college and a big move across country to pirsue my career, that has left me a bit gun shy when it comes to impulse. Yes, it feels good. And who in their right mind wouldn't want to be on the beach right now?

But that's the problem, we can't all go to the beach this week. Most have to work and the rest of us have to find it. I honestly think this is a watershed moment for our generation- are we capable of getting it together and swallowing the bitter pill for a better tomorrow? Or are we just going to let it ride, in the hopes the lotto jackpot happens in six months?

The one good aspect of this economy is that it has forced people to re-focus themselves upon what is truly meaningful in life, regardless of the financial rewards involved.

But, Europe, Mexico, Bahamas...really? Haven't you all heard of a day trip?

Sure...sure

Tell you what, you stop blaming us gays for mass murders, and I'll stop blaming fundamentalist whackjobs for things like employment discrimination against gays, the increase in hate crimes, Matthew Shepard's murder, your attempts to form a Christo-Fascist theocracy in the United States, attempting to legitimize bigotry in the governing actions of our country, and...

Wait, I actually have evidence to back up my claims. Nevermind.

"It only matters when it goes oh-so-wrong -- in divorce court. That's the only place where the "legality" of your marriage ever will come into play. "

Wrong.

What about hospital visitation rights? What about the right of the surviving partner to the estate? What about common assets? What about property rights? What about tax breaks? What about health insurance of one partner covering the other?

This and the other hundreds of rights automatically granted to ANY heterosexual couple the moment they are married. The same bundle of rights and legal privileges that are omitted and denied under civil unions.

There's a lot more to it than just divorce.