No! Do or do not! There IS no try!

And please don't bring up the tea-baggers... that is not a party, it's a lap-dog of the Republican party that's just a little too wacky to gain support from intelligent human beings.

I think you've got that back to front. The Republicans have become the Tea Party's lap dog. Just ask Dick Lugar.

Incorrect. The GOP (or whoever) can block anything with just 41 votes. A bill requires 60 votes to be considered for debate. If every last Democrat votes in favor of considering it, that only accounts for 50/51 votes. They need some Republicans to join them to reach 60.

You're not understanding the Senate's rules. In order to bring it up for debate and vote, they needed 60 votes in favor, and they only got 52. A simple majority is insufficient, and that's what they got.

I grew up in Illinois, and we commonly called it "pop". Moved to the Boston area for school, and I could never bring myself to call it "tonic", so I compromised and called it "soda". "Pop" just got me laughed at, but "soda" was acceptable, even if it drew funny looks from some.

There are plenty of mornings that I skip breakfast (I try not to, but sometimes it just doesn't work out), but I still drink a big mug of coffee.

Two words: Kate Winslet.

Because, jokes aside, the lot of losers we have now can't even manage to quit the bipartisan bickering long enough to pay to keep the goddamned lights on. We've gone how long without a proper budget? We have long term appropriations expiring left and right because of their incompetence, and we came so close to actually defaulting on the good name of US Debt, the most trustworthy financial instrument the world has ever seen, that we had our rating downgraded.

Right. And what faction is it that's throwing sand in the gears and opposing everything that involves spending money (other than on military, of course!)? The "clueless idealist" Tea Baggers! They're not clueless, they're downright insane.

Because not everything counts as "better than nothing". I would go so far as to say that not only should we toss the current lot, we should toss them "with prejudice" and ban both the Democratic and Republican parties from even fielding a candidate in a national election for the next 50 years.

A nice thought, but it won't ever happen. The foxes are in charge of the henhouse.

Yeah, but the guy still has to stick his meat in a different hole for that to happen. Still, it's not bad foreplay.

Heh.... Yeah, I can see where that's achievable! :D

Yes, I'm sorry to have to tell you....

The Cake is a Lie.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Oh, and another thing - what does America even have to do with this? The incident happened in the UK.

Um, what??? I mean, I don't agree with barring a father from being alone with his own daughter unless there's a lot of evidence of wrongdoing on his part, but how the hell do you turn that into genocide?!?

Do you even know what genocide means?

No. At least, one is not legally required to obtain a high school diploma. I believe most states permit people to drop out of high school at the age of 16, though there may be parental permission required to so so, etc. And, of course, most jobs require a minimum of a high school diploma. But as far as the law is concerned, it's not mandatory.