woodgie07

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the legal divorce of a heterosexual man and a heterosexual woman that have children together is more harmful to the family unit than homosexuality. Is divorce a form of this "sexual perversion" of which you speak? We should have to abolish divorce if we have to abolish gay marriage. We have to protect the children, right?

WOW, really? Really? Wow... By my argument, we should focus on things that are actually hurting society first, then we can move on to whatever we like. But you're right, Americans falling behind in competitiveness on the global scale isn't important, just as the economy, social programs, and government corruption are not. What's really hurting us is gay marriage. It so deeply wounds America; I don't even know where to begin. Seriously, I have no idea where to begin because I can't think of how it's hurting anyone. Someone, please, ANYONE, give me legitimate reasons other than "the bible says it's bad" as to how gay marriage is hurting society.

It seems like everyone was waiting for someone to fire their manager so that they could follow suit. First Willie Randolph was let go, then John McLaren and John Gibbons were fired pretty soon afterwards. Maybe Eric Wedge and Jim Leyland will be next...? I'm not a fan of Cito Gaston, mostly because his club beat my beloved Braves in '92. I agree that something needs to be done with the 'Jays though. They were my preseason pick to win the AL Wild Card. That's a real good ballclub in Toronto. They shouldn't be in the cellar. On the bright side, if they continue to underperform, maybe Mr. Riccardi will decide to trade Roy Halladay to the Braves :D ...if the Braves can pick it up and be serious contenders come July, that is.

That made absolutely no sense, nor was it relevant. I'm guessing that you know my argument makes sense, yet you refuse to admit it since your faith won't allow it, and you resort to the troll-like behavior. Bravo, sir.

Big WHO CARES. First people didn't like that they weren't allowed to own slaves, then they didn't like that women had rights, then they didn't like that minorities had rights, now they don't like that gays can marry. It'll blow over. Personally, I think we have much, MUCH larger issues than gay marriage. Public education, anyone?

My first car was a 2003 Honda Element that my parents used for a few years before handing her over to me on my 16th birthday. I loved that car. So many great memories... My parents didn't like the fact that the doors leaked when it rained. Sometimes you would get soaked when you were driving, sometimes it'd just be a little drizzle. In any case, my parents deemed her unsafe, and I ended up trading her last July 17th for an '07 Acura TSX. What a machine! I still miss that Element though...

I'm going to go with either the Blue Album by Weezer or Nirvana's Unplugged in New York.

First of all, Austin is a wonderful city. Now, back on topic. I don't understand why people are so afraid of their children being taught by gay teachers. So what if they are gay? As long as they don't harm students, I see no problem. This extreme homophobia is bordering on ridiculous.

I am Smoaky.com's biggest Braves fan. While I would love for the Braves to take back what is rightfully theirs, I'm afraid it will not happen if we keep up this abysmal play on the road. For some reason, our bats peace out away from Turner Field, and that is a huge problem. Having already lost the series to Milwaukee, the rest of the current road trip will, in my opinion, give us a good indication of how the Braves will fare this season. I say that knowing full well that Smoltzy, Gonzo, and Soriano are out. The thing is, our bullpen has been surprisingly great in their absence. The Braves will hands-down have the greatest bullpen in the Majors when those three come back. However, without an offensive presence on the road, that won't mean a thing in the long run.

AL East: Boston Red Sox AL Central: Chicago White Sox AL West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Wild Card: Toronto Blue Jays NL East: Atlanta Braves NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks Wild Card: New York Mets AL Division Series: Boston over Chicago, Toronto over Los Angeles of Anaheim AL Championship Series: Boston vs. Toronto AL Champion: Boston Red Sox NL Division Series: Arizona over New York Mets, Atlanta over St. Louis NL Championship Series: Atlanta vs. Arizona NL Champion: Atlanta Braves World Series: Atlanta vs. Boston 2008 World Series Champion: Atlanta Braves AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees AL Cy Young: Fausto Carmona, Cleveland AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay NL MVP: Chipper Jones, Atlanta NL Cy Young: Dan Haren, Arizona NL Rookie of the Year: Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta

:o Fight Club is my favorite movie! I guess we are all entitled to our opinions, but I suggest you rewatch it. It's really quite a brilliant piece of cinematography. As for horrible movies, I'm going to have to go with just about any horror movie ever, anything with Jimmy Fallon, and V for Vendetta.

It seems like the big issue of this week has been this summer's upcoming Beijing Olympics. Protests have broken out in Tibet and around the globe due to concerns over China's human rights record and its lack of involvement in settling the crisis in Sudan. The question is, should President Bush boycott the Opening Ceremony? I've heard this sentiment tossed around the past few days. Hill dog was the first candidate to publicly come out and say that President Bush should boycott the Opening Ceremony, followed by Obama. McCain took a more careful approach by saying President Bush should "monitor the situation and keep his options open." I think this brings up an interesting crossroads. On the one hand, if President Bush were to boycott the Beijing Opening Ceremony, it would send a strong message to China about the how the US feels. However, China could retaliate by temporarily ending their purchase of US Government bonds, which of course would hurt the US financially. On the other hand, if the US were to attend the Beijing Opening Ceremony, it would send mixed messages about its stance on human rights; the last thing the US needs is another reason for the world to be upset with them. Of course, all of this is speculative. I think McCain brings up an interesting point. Should we wait and see what happens? Personally, I don't see much changing in the three or four months leading up to the Olympics, mostly because it's an unreasonbly short time for a nation to change its record on something as huge as human rights. Having said that, it isn't impossible, and China may very well feel the pressure and decide that it's time to change. If President Bush were to boycott the Opening Ceremony, he wouldn't be alone. Angela Merkel and Gordon Brown of Germany and Great Britain, respectively, have already announced that they will not be attending the Opening Ceremony. Any thoughts? Let's try to keep this civil and non-partisan, please.

Punk cop. If I were the kid, I would have just run away. There's nothing the cop could've done.

I didn't mean increasing federal spending. I understand that I didn't word that in the best way, and I apologize. What I mean is that the federal government could say to the states, "Allot more money for teachers' salaries or we'll cut your funding in (insert program)."

The state and local governments have shown reluctance in increasing teachers' wages, but I think that the federal government could certainly get them to change. For instance, the drinking age is a state mandated law. Knowing this, the federal government told states that they could only provide them with funding for new highways if the states' laws met certain conditions, i.e. if their drinking age was 21. Why can't something similar be done for increasing teachers' salaries? Just a thought, though I'm sure one of you will now tell me that this plan will destroy America and to keep my liberal, freedom-hating, communist beliefs to myself.