jadote

Even Tom DeLay (House Majority Leader R-Texas) opposes a constitutional amendment on gay marriage. I think such an amendment would devalue the constitution, and would believe so regardless of my opinion on gay marriages.

Sayonara, YT, and mrL_Jakiri, what are some of the lies/half truths that they told you? It's not that I don't believe you, because I do, I was just wondering if the teachers do the same/similar things in my school.

The article

crack

Yes, that was another criticism that i forgot. I think the US NCLB test is all in the areas of math, reading, and science. That leaves out huge areas for possible talents. Then again, almost all standardized tests are like that in the US. --A good criticism on the US education system-(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001853018_marshak08.html)

Point taken, I somehow forgot to remember Saudi Arabia while writing my last post. Mighty similar situation (except they haven't admitted to terrorist links) where US welcomed back an oil-rich nation with a few humans' rights issues.

Well, some people have a problem with the enforced standardized testing. They don't believe it's an accurate meaurement. Others have problems with the Adequate Yearly Progress, when the school gets punished if it doesn't improve scores year after year. If you have a bunch of special education students move into your district, this can put your district in an extremely rough situation (which happened in my district). Also, almost all of the teachers at my school are against the bill, which may or may not mean anything.

I think the international community should be skeptical. Gaddafi is still a dictator, and there is no free press in his country. He also sponsored the IRA and PLO. Since Libya is an Islamic country with lots of oil, I doubt the US for one would welcome them back. I have no idea about the European community.

For those outside the US, the complete bill and a short summary. a breakdown of the sanctions.

Bringing up homosexual pedophiles is irrelevant since every sexuality has its pedophiles.

Are you trying to say that only homosexuals molest children?

Demosthenes what you said in your post is not true. The only Northerners who were "against slavery, all the way" were the Abolitionists. Most had no opinion, but some Northerners actually feared abolition, because it would have been bad for business. When Abraham Lincoln took office, he had no intention of outlawing slavery in the states that it already existed. I agree that slavery, segregation, and racism were sad chapters in our history but to say that the whole of the North was against slavery all the way is incorrect.

Who does everyone think will win the Democratic nomination for president? Why?

The NY Times is reporting on a few cases of gay animals including two male penguins, Ray and Silo, who have incubated and raised another penguin together. click here

A Canadian magazine is publishing a poll that shows only 15% of Canadians would definitely vote for Bush. Other numbers on Bush were similiarily low. David Frum, (the Bush speech-writer who coined 'Axis of Evil') claims that Canadians are seeing Bush through the 'distorted lens' from which the public sees him. Seems to me that the US is the one viewing Bush through a distorted lens, and that the Canadian neighbors see things clearly. <link>

Bush's official response to the Massachusetts ruling: "Today's ruling of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is deeply troubling. Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. If activist judges insist on re-defining marriage by court order, the only alternative will be the constitutional process. We must do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage. "

I've seen that there are two answers for that. I heard that engineers would answer the amount would get so small we couldn't measure it anymore, and physicists would answer the amount would continue to halve until only a few atoms remained which would randomly disperse. In other words, yeah, you're right.

I don't know of any theory, but a graphing amount of material as a function of time would yield an exponential (decay) function. As time increases, the amount would get closer and closer to zero but never reach it. http://library.tedankara.k12.tr/chemistry/vol1/nucchem/trans91.htm

As a little update to this thread, the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared today that gays are entitled to the same marriage rights as heterosexuals. Also, in Ohio, a bill is being sent to the governor's desk that would ban same-sex marriages. The governor is expected to sign it and it passed the house 77-22 in favor. It would also ban benefits to non-married partners of government employees. If the bill passes, Ohio would be the 38th state with a same-sex marriage ban. It seems this issue is far from resolution.

No complaints here, and no need to apologize. It seems that everyone has said what they thought about the original topic.

Newbie, you copied an entire paragraph (122 words) from that encarta encyclopedia, and all you did was add a 'however'. You neglected to add quotations around the excerpt, and passed it off as your own words. That is plagiarism.

It would be interesting to really know if Bush has the faith that he professes, and truly believes he is an agent of God. The only alternative is that he uses his religion as a ploy to garner more votes. I can't decide what would be worse for the US, but I would guess the first, since politicians are continually utilizing the second strategy (though not always in religion)

But the answer to the dangers of anal sex should not be a ban on it. If what you say is true, wouldn't education on this subject be a better solution? However, this would never happen because (at least in the US) anti-gays are not looking out for the safety and wellbeing of homosexuals. Besides, as Sayo mentioned, its not just homosexuals who partake in anal sex. Once again the topic has strayed. I should have asked, "To those against the gay lifestyle, what is your reasoning and what is your solution?"

This thread has strayed a bit from the topic I intended, I was looking more for you personal opinions on gay marriage. However, since those that do not view gays as perverse are probably against it, and those who do not probably have no problem with gay unions, this is basically a debate on the acceptance of the gay lifestyle. For those who are opposed to the gay lifestyle, are anti-sodomy laws the way to go?

Anyone watching a speech by President Bush will notice the conspicuous references he makes to his religion and his God. He had ended his speeches with “God Bless America”, and he has often declared himself a ‘born again Christian’. He even told Palestinians that God told him to ‘attack’ Al-Qaida and to attack Iraq. And, Bush has consulted his faith in determining some of his principles such as Gay Rights or stem cell research. Yet in other areas, GW’s faith has seemed to have entirely left him. After the attacks of 9/11, Bush did not ‘Turn the other Cheek’ as commanded by his Lord. He took vengeance for himself, also a no-no with his savior. Bush’s speeches that supported the war against terror and Iraq and Afghanistan were filled with the hate he undoubtedly felt. Yet a principle of Christianity is ‘love thy enemy’ How can Bush, or for that matter, any politician, utilize this selective religion in forming his policies?