I am happy ESPN has showed the WHOLE tournament LIVE and mostly in HD! To complain about a power failure that effected just about everyone in the world seems misplaced to me. Anyone who has been watching the tournament knows they are just watching the video feed in Bristol. I would guess these matches are being shown in almost every country in the world. There's no way there's enough room or likely transmission facilities for every one of those countries to send their broadcast teams to the stadia. Certainly no one outside of the 16 countries in the tournament would have been allowed in the stadium.

As others have mentioned this is fairly normal operating procedure. ESPN does the same thing with the European Champions League matches other than the final. Depending on the league in question the "big two" of futbol in America (FSC and Gol) either use the in-country production/announcers sent out to everyone (Spain (sometimes), EPL (always), Bundesliga (sometimes), Italy (sometimes), etc) or have a couple of guys in a studio in LA (FSC) or Miami (Gol) doing the same thing ESPN does. So, basically US soccer fans are used to this way of doing things. It is not ideal, but it is a million billion times better than not getting to see the games at all.

I sent Obama several hundred $$$ during the primary campaign. But he's not getting another cent from me unless he radically changes his tune. He's still a better choice than McCain, but frankly he seems to be doing his best to make that not the case. I will vote for him and hope against hope that once he's elected he will get his act together.

whatever happened to his trial? why is he not in jail yet?

all of you caffeine addicts should just try and get more sleep instead of keeping yourself awake with stimulants.

As far as I can tell they glutted the market with their stores. 600 stores is what, 1/10 of a percent of all their locations?

Economic times are hard. So people cut out some overpriced luxuries, like hyper-expensive coffee. Seems awfully sensible to me.

As a Virginian I am happy Webb is out of the running. Webb is a loose cannon who is not a very dynamic campaigner. His stances on issues have really not been especially Democratic or progressive. I think he would have been a terrible choice for VP.

I kind of like the idea of Edwards as AG better.

My guess is that Obama will pick some one with a lower profile.

Has a more inept campaign for president ever existed? If Obama doesn't beat this guy in a landslide it will definitely be time to disband the party.

I agree. He can protect his cronies from US prosecution, but they could still get hauled off to Den Haag.

Can Bush pardon himself? Or could he be charged and tried?

I am not surprised Webb voted for this disaster. The reason why the "net-roots" love him (and proposed him for VP!)is all about biography and perceived personality not about his actual votes or positions. I have been mightily disappointed in him.

But Obama is disappointing in a whole other universe. To the ones noted above I would add his idiotic statements after the recent Supreme Ct decisions. He sided with the right wing morons like Scalia and Thomas on those issues. So I am not as sure as I once was that his appointments there will be any more palatable than McCain's would be.

I will vote for the less of evils. But he will certainly not get another dime from me.

obviously the greatest worry with all of those newly minted middle classers is their need for more and more resources. For a planet already straining to a certain extent that doesn't bode well. If all of those developing countries would invest in sustainable or renewable energy instead of just burning hydrocarbons like the rest of us do there might be some hope. But when you have that billion Indians all looking to drive regular old gasoline powered cars with government subsidized gas that is going to be a big problem. The Chinese are already killing their country by polluting it to make cheap stuff for the rest of us as well as themselves.

In places where they are starting from zero or near zero there is a real opportunity to go in a different direction. A country like Thailand for example uses LPG for taxis and lots of fleet vehicles. And as they have built their infrastructure over the last few decades they have put enough fueling stations in place to make that possible.

I heart KIVA too. I joined shortly after the giant server failure in the aftermath of the first Frontline broadcast that featured them. I guess that was Halloween 2006. I think I have made 13 or 14 loans so far with about $300. They keep rolling over. I have not had any defaults yet. Most of mine have been in Latin America. But the current ones in payback right now are spread out all over. Cambodia, Pakistan, South Pacific, Central Asia, Latin America... I think it's a brilliant concept. I suppose growing so big so fast was going to have some problems associated with it.

McCain's whole campaign is acting on desperation these days. The ad saying that Obama is the whole reason for high gas prices was the first step. Then yesterday's web ad claiming the media is too nice to Obama was next. Now this. And it's only July.

Romney could be the best present Obama ever got. Anyone worried about old man McCain kicking the bucket in office would be confronted with the fact of Smarmy, Flip-floppy, Mormon Mitt Romney as President. That should just about sew it up for Obama. As much as the crazy bigots out there hate Obama at least he doesn't belong to what they see as a cult.