Every presidential election there's talk about the youth turning out in record numbers and changing things. Every presidential election they don't.

Leo, you're dead on and I think there's a good reason for that. In the Democratic party, at least, every year there's a candidate that the "youth movement" gets behind and every year the party establishment does their best to get rid of that guy and promote the stiff they think should be the nominee. Think Howard Dean and John Kerry (and to some extent Bill Bradley and Al Gore in 2000). The Powers That Be wanted Kerry up there, who cares if Howard Dean was the one getting Democrats of all ages excited about the election? Dean wasn't supported by his party throughout the primaries and was allowed to crash and burn. So we ended up with Kerry - who inspired passion in few, and was just more of the same DC status quo to the young people getting involved for the first time.

The same thing will happen this year if Hillary Clinton is the nominee. She is more of the same, and considering she's running on a co-president ticket with an ex-president, we know that things aren't going to get too shaken up even if she is female. But if Obama is the nominee, there is an opportunity that the youth vote will not get discouraged, will truly be excited by the options and actually vote.

(spell check is really going to have to start recognizing Obama as a word!)

we're bombarded enough by constant advertising, so why should children become the canvas for any ad

That's a fine stand to take if you also never let your child wear a t-shirt with a cartoon or tv character, or a product on it. And even if you do, advertising your political beliefs is a lot different than advertising corporate america's latest pathetic attempt at branding.

While I don't want to force my politics on my kids, I think it's far better to educate them about the political process from birth than to raise apathetic non-voters. If that takes a t-shirt, big deal. My kids have held campaign signs and marched in peace rallies. Obviously, I'm not pretending that they came to these political positions on their own. But children should be raised with awareness of what is going on in their worlds. Then they'll be better able to make their own educated decisions when they are adults.

Obviously Mexico doesn't have the same laws as the U.S., but doesn't anyone find it wrong that a child would face mandatory incarceration for 6 years (or any period of time) without ever having committed a crime?

This sounds like a situation two 18 year olds who just started dating would have. I find it hard to believe that two adults who have been together long enough to be married, have kids, divorce, and later get back together are playing such petty jealousy games and then having drawn-out fights over it. It sounds like the LW doesn't know this man very well which is pretty sad at this point in their relationship.

I guess I have no advice or wisdom to offer other than maybe the LW should assess why she's in this relationship again. And ask herself if she hasn't gained enough wisdom over the years to know when to get out of a bad situation.

What's DTMFA?

No, there's nothing wrong with losing weight and being healthy. But that's not the message here, is it? The prevalent message on tv, due to all the makeover shows like this one, is that you're not good enough the way you are and you could be a lot better with enough intervention.

Now, I have no idea how overweight the "bulging bride" in question is, but if she hasn't seen fit to lose the weight by 6 weeks before the wedding, maybe it's not that important to her. Maybe her bridesmaids should get over it. Maybe not being a perfect size 6 on your wedding day won't ruin your life. Maybe squeezing into a sausage casing of a dress just isn't for you. Isn't that ok? How about finding a dress that flatters you and just enjoying yourself?

The other message here is that your wedding day must be some super-human non-reality based event. So obviously, being an imperfect specimen won't do. And if you're not living up to the idealized Bride's magainze dream (which apparently is a strapless dress that is flattering on very few real women), you aren't worthy of getting married.

Lestat, I'm sure you're right about the choices available. When I was getting married way back when it was all giant poofy skirts and even bigger poofy sleeves. It was an effort to find something that didn't look like an exploded meringue. But as soon as I ditched the traditional bridal shops and the bridal mags, I did and at a fraction of the price (and it was still a bridal gown).

But that's why the bridal industry and shows like this offend - they feed into this cookie-cutter notion of what a woman should look like. Unfortunately, too many women don't think for themselves and are sucked in by it all.

LW, keep in mind that right now large breasts are a fad. Yes, they are. Probably motivated by how easy it is to get plastic surgery. But don't all fads die at some point?

I agree there will always be men who like large breasts, just like there will always be those who don't care, but keep in mind that we are in a media-driven frenzy to worship the large breast and it just might not be that way in 5 or 10 years.