john5746

Looks like more than Spain should be thanked I too am hoping that this will give even more momentum towards stem cell research and application.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/transplant-using-trachea-grown-from-patients-own-stem-cells-a-world-first-20081119-6bli.html Thank You Spain

Ever hear of the pet rock or the Ford Pinto? Unions, like most organizations were formed out of a need. Workers needed to stand together to keep from being treated like paid slaves. Many of the needs they were formed to meet have been resolved and now many unions have just become like greedy corporations, except they add no value to products.

Ah, you beat me to it. I was going to start a similar thread, but was going to restrict only to a man and woman. Why can't a Father/Daughter be married if they are not going to have sex, ie. just partnership. Of course, if they live together and say the daughter has kids, I think they might be better off if the Father files as head of household - but other legal situations, such as rights to kids might be an issue.

And that would make you blind?

Yeah, the title is misleading, but still very interesting. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7726118.stm

The Banks don't want to foreclose - they make much more money if people keep paying the mortgage, even at lowered rates. They will foreclose and try to sell a reduced price asset in an already reduced market. Many of the people losing their homes will just lose the interest they paid - basically rent and a hit to their credit rating. The Banks are the big losers, while the people who can afford to take a risk and buy these cheap houses win. Wealth redistribution.

Clinton and the Republican congress had us on a decent track, but he got a BJ and the values crowd just couldn't take it. The internet bubble did burst and we did have 9/11, but if we didn't go into Iraq, I think we might have paid more attention to domestic issues.

< rant I tell you, I was absolutely depressed today to read about how GM pays people to do nothing, 8 hours a day for years! I just can't believe we have to bail idiotic systems like this. Wouldn't it just be better to let them fail and help start a new car company - making mostly electric and hybrid cars WITHOUT unions? I really want to buy an american car, but damn no wonder we aren't competitive. /rant>

I still think that confidence that the government was going to do something helped keep the market from tanking. It is still headed in that direction, so time will tell if this bailout will be effective. It appears mistakes have been made and plans have changed, but it ain't over yet.

Wrong. Homosexual sex can't make babies, but a homosexual marriage can create a family - raise children. True, but many babies have been raised without breast feeding. It isn't illegal to not breast feed. Yes, I would prefer a national law, but we can't wait for Alabama to come around in the year 3000. Society does decide what is immoral and illegal, I agree. But homosexuality is not illegal, so I fail to see why homosexual marriage should be considered illegal. We should have reasons for making decisions, not just because.....

I think it reveals that the minority cultures may not have reflected on themselves as much as the majority. Some attitude adjustment is needed, but if the younger crowd is indeed more tolerant, then it just may happen naturally with the passing of the baton.

Yeah, I can speak from experience that voting in a battleground state this year was much more exciting and rewarding than voting in a decided state like I had previously. Until the electoral system is fixed, I guess we should follow the "path is the goal" mantra and realize that voting in and of itself is the point, not just the potential outcome. As we saw this year, states can become new battleground arenas. So, even if your vote is going to be in the losing column, at least it gets the percentage closer to even, so that grassroots organizations have a better foundation for next time.

Oh, the irony!!

If marriage is good for society, then how can having more marriage between consenting adults not be a good thing? More couples to adopt children seems like a better society to me. It also continues the trend of more tolerance and less bigotry in society. I won't argue this point, I'm sure you will get an earful on this forum. But, specific religions are clearly a choice(maybe ground into you as a child, but still a choice). So, if the people in Utah decide that only Mormons can marry, then that means the rest should be OK with that, since they too can marry a Mormon or become a Mormon themselves? Mormons tend to have more kids than regular christians, so maybe that would that be better for society?

You make a great point, especially in light of Prop 8 passing. I guess it depends on what skills the leader needs to get the job done. Like it or not, marketing is one of the chief skills required, IMO. The president has to persuade the people, the legislature, the press and even other countries that his is the right course. Getting the people behind your back is key to success. Being elected by the people is the opening act of the play. It engages the audience - well at least half of it. So we may get someone who has less experience, less adept at churning out policies, etc. But, we may trade that for someone with more charisma and persuasive abilities. Is the best leader the one who draws the plans to take the hill or is it the one who decides from several plans and inspires the men to follow?

Marriage, or civil unions is one of the chief foundations of a society. I think many of the problems we have in America, especially minorities is due to the breakdown of the family unit. In the aggregate, the chief outcome of marriage is successful offspring and content couples. While homosexual coupling does not in itself create offspring, they can adopt or in the case of lesbians be inseminated. Marriage is more than rights, it is also responsibility. You become responsible for your partner and any offspring from the union. In regards to incest and other possibilities, they should be argued on their own merits. Interracial marriage isn't a justification for homosexual marriage, etc. There are good REASONS not to have incest, beastiality or pedophilia, so they can be argued without regards to homosexual couplings. I agree that marriage is a mix of church and state, so that they should be seperated. Civil unions should be governed by the state and marriage managed as an add-on option for the religious. Then, people could make all kinds of crazy rules for marriages and have no effect on civil rights.

The high schools in my area already require 50 hours of service for graduation, but that's over 4 years. Overall, not a bad idea.

I think it would be nice to consider a diversity of ideas, to realize that there may be more than one answer to certain problems, especially considering the large, diverse country we live in. Hmmm... maybe below is a start. http://www.change.org/

The commander in chief is the most powerful person in the country, he has the largest effect on all of the people. His customer is the American people, not a select few. Selecting reps can fall victim to redistricting to game the system or corruption of this select few. Having an all or nothing system in each state eliminates the intended votes of millions who are stuck "blue" or "red" states. Who selects the electoral rep? I find the public, including myself, to be more informed about presidential candidates than local candidates.

I think we should either have a straight up popular vote or have the electoral votes of each state determined by %, not winner take all. It made the democratic primaries better, gave more voice to minorities, IMO. Information is much easier to obtain by the common man than it was back then and the common man is better educated. Sure, we have stupid people that believe stupid things and vote based on biased information - but I see no evidence that selecting a few people to deliberate will bring a better result. I think it would be just as biased and more susceptible to corruption.

Culture shock. I think many people out there have this feeling that all those zombie replicas of themselves are being replaced by blacks, hispanics, atheists, gays, i.e. "them". Not just whites, because I think Prop 8 was supported by a larger % of blacks and hispanics than whites.

Lots of truth in that statement. Cultural issues tend to give emotional appeal to either side. Racism is a deep wound in the American psyche that just got a little better though. We have a tough road ahead and Obama has been given a big mess to deal with. He has already set the sights lower, setting the stage for more realistic expectations.

What? I thought Obama would have 8 years, not just 4. Do we HAVE to do an election in 4 years?

YES! Dole was beaten. Thank...umm...the people.