If you buy enough stuff online (assumming Microsoft's method of disbursing payment to us consumers) this is more incentive than using Google, unless you own stock.

Interesting market mechanism...the Internet is still forcing the private sector to make constant adjustments.

Mrs. Walsh,

If someone repeatedly makes comments that are based in and appeal to the lowest common denominator and then "misspeaks" on an occassion where they actually have benign intentions people are not going to buy it.

Additionally, your premise about Obama being teflon is also poorly substantiated, particularly in light of the exclusion of the Jeremiah Wright seal clubbing he received at the hands of the media.

I don't think you can compare Clinton's dirty dancing campaigning with the higher standard Obama has stood by.

Paul O'Neill who served the Bush Administration as Secretary of the Treasury was dismissed and subsequently wrote a book that was critical of Bush and his criminal co-conspirators. Specifically, he stated that the Administration was going out of its way to find a reason to invade Iraq, all of this being pre-9/11 of course.

The Administration's, as well as the right's response was exactly the same as in this instance...deny, criticize and attack the individual's character and credibility. I really wish it was harder for these scoundrels to do so, particularly because character is something the entire Administration lacks.

It's amazing how Bush's jerks rarely veer away from the playbook and even more amazing how the media and the public suck it up hook, line and sinker pretty much every time.

I'm nearly finished with former CIA Agent Michael Scheuer's book Marching Toward Hell. In this book he proposes drilling to assist us in getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Are we preserving a few types of sea flora and fauna over the hundreds and thousands of US citizens we're losing to war in the Middle East?

Of course it's not that simplistic but neither is the supposition drilling is all bad. I was firmly opposed to it before, however it seems more prudent to me that we do drill to become stronger economically and less dependent on oil from the Middle East. If we reduce our dependence it takes the Middle East's proverbial gun away from our country's head that could bring our economy and our occupying military to a grinding halt.

In conjunction with drilling, establish taxes (I said, I meant it and I don't regret it) to fund research of viable alternative renewable sources of energy (probably not ethanol).

Our elected leaders need to take responsibility for the future now and stop floating assinine quick fixes like suspending the gas tax. Such pandering is only a temporary panacea and doesn't fix our problems as individuals or collectively as a country.

If she's contemplating sex with someone other than the person she's in a committed relationship with, it's over barring an unlikely change of heart. I don't believe waiting is the answer. Rather than a grand romantic gesture, most women coming from the place this one is in would likely interpret willingess to wait as additional weakness in a relationship where the man has already been rendered virtually powerless.

The only thing that resolves heart break to any degree is time, not being the last resort a woman can keep on the shelf in case the new sex doesn't work out.

This article is fodder for a philosophy or theology class and constitutes a waste of space on Salon. While my personal feeling is that science should not be treated as religion, I also feel Salon should not be treated as a forum to defend one's reputation after being slammed (and from what the article tells...slammed rather appropriately) by a critic.

This reeks of the old academe contest of ideas captured by the notion of "I'm more correct than you are." This is what happens when highly intelligent people take themselves to seriously.

The reason "polls" and "pundits" are repeating the race is close like gibbering gibbons is that the media and its consumers have the attention span of a grade school child with ADD (no offense to children with ADD...however, I care not if the media or adults are offended).

This race will be a walk in the park for Obama, any Republican voter roll conspiracies or fatal gaffes along the Edwardsian spectrum not withstanding.

The people I talk to from various walks of life, with one exception (my 66-year-old Republican father) are all voting for Obama. The only real race, at least here in California where race issues won't have a significant impact subtle or overt, was between Clinton and Obama. The flurry of reports and cries of alarm like, "OMG Obama's not running away with the election!" is merely the media trying to fill the vacuum left by Clinton finally acknowledging defeat. The pressure dropped and the media and partisan pollsters are trying to pump it back up for their own purposes...continued employment and political gain.

For a little perspective we should consider that the national conventions have not yet occurred. Relax people. One last thing...any poll conducted by Carville should be regarded with a cement block sized grain of salt.

"I live with fear as any parent does. I know people who've gone through catastrophes -- schizophrenia, the suicide of a child -- the skin shrivels at the words, and so the life of a parent is one of constant wordless prayer. Today, my child scored 96 on spelling. A good day."

That paragraph from the above article exemplifies Keillor's writing, which often, as in this instance, brings me joy. His description and admiration for Updike, who I've just started reading (Rabbit, Run) at the recommendation of a native Pennsylvanian, is great in this article as well.