The Need For a Democratic Solution for Health Care

With the passage of the last several months, it has become crystal clear that Congressional Republicans will stand together in their sole capacity as a status quo supporting party, and will vote together as a block against health care reform. For the Republicans, their only agenda item will be to frame President Obama's primary domestic issue as a threat to the nation. An example of this party-wide intent has been sounded by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina:: "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."

With such hyperbole in Washington having been established as a part of the capital's political landscape, "Senate Democrats are preparing to push through health care reforms using parliamentary procedures that will allow a simple majority to prevail in their chamber, as it does in the House, instead of the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster that Senate Republicans are sure to mount," according to a New York Times Editorial. In other words: "If the Democrats want to enact health care reform this year, they appear to have little choice but to adopt a high-risk, go-it-alone, majority-rules strategy."

Now is clearly the time for the Democrats to use their Congressional majorities and ignore the Republican whining and push ahead by taking advantage of their superior numbers and passing the legislation themselves.

The New York Times Editorial succinctly argues: "Delay would be foolish politically. The Democrats have substantial majorities in the House and the Senate this year. Next year, as the midterm elections approach, it will be even harder for legislators to take controversial stands. After the elections, if history is any guide, the Democratic majorities could be smaller."

President Obama's attempts to make health care reform  a task shared through realistic solutions provided by both parties were level minded and fair. But without the Republicans willing to give an inch toward compromise; bipartisanism was doomed to failure from the very beginning and it is time for President Obama and Congressional Democrats to move on and legislate.

The Times Editorial suggests: "The Democrats are thus well advised to start preparing to use an arcane parliamentary tactic known as "budget reconciliation" that would let them sidestep a Republican filibuster and approve reform proposals by a simple majority.

The Democrats decision to take the reconciliation approach is full of risk. The Times explains: "Reconciliation bills are primarily intended to deal with budget items that affect the deficit, not with substantive legislation like health care reform. Senators could challenge as "extraneous" any provisions that do not change spending or revenues over the next five years, or would have a budget impact that is "merely incidental" to some broader policy purpose, or would increase the deficit in Year 6 and beyond." The most significant question to be answered is "how much of the proposed health care reforms could plausibly fit into a reconciliation bill? The answer," the Times explains; "seems to be: quite a lot, though nobody knows for sure".

The Times cites: "Knowledgeable analysts from both parties (who) believe that these important elements of reform will probably pass muster because of their budgetary impact: expansion of Medicaid for the poor; subsidies to help low-income people buy insurance; new taxes to pay for the trillion-dollar program; Medicare cuts to help finance the program; mandates on individuals to buy insurance and on employers to offer coverage; and tax credits to help small businesses provide insurance."

The Times proposes: "Even the public plan so reviled by Republicans could probably qualify, especially if it is given greater power than currently planned to dictate the prices it will pay to hospitals, doctors, drug companies and other providers, thus saving the government lots of money in subsidies."

The Times correctly points out that: "Greater uncertainty surrounds two other critical elements: new rules requiring insurance companies to accept all applicants and charge them the same premiums without regard to medical condition, and the creation of new exchanges in which people forced to buy their own insurance could find cheaper policies than are currently available."

The Times elaborates: "Republicans claim that they want to make medical insurance and care cheaper and give ordinary Americans more choices. But given their drive to kill health reform at any cost, they might well argue that these are programmatic changes whose budgetary impact is “merely incidental.” Democrats would very likely counter that they are so intertwined with other reforms that they are “a necessary term or condition” for other provisions that do affect spending or revenues, which could allow them to be kept in the bill."

The Times continues: "Nobody knows how the Senate parliamentarian, an obscure official who advises the presiding officer, would rule on any of these complicated issues. But if he were to take a narrow view and eliminate important features, it could leave the reform package riddled with holes — perhaps providing subsidies to buy insurance on exchanges that do not exist, for example. Thus there are plans afoot to use a second bill to pass whatever reforms will not fit under the rubric of reconciliation, but those would be subject to filibuster and would have to depend on their general popularity (insurance reforms are enormously popular) to win 60 votes for passage."

The Times argues that: "Another hurdle is that the reconciliation legislation covers only the next five years, while the Democratic plans are devised to be deficit-neutral over 10 years. The practical effect is that the Democrats will almost surely need to find added revenues or budget cuts within the first five years."

The Times points out: "Another Senate rule, which applies whether reconciliation is used or not, requires that the reforms enacted now not cause an increase in the deficit for decades to come, a difficult but probably not impossible hurdle to surmount."

The Times concludes: "Clearly the reconciliation approach is a risky and less desirable way to enact comprehensive health care reforms. The only worse approach would be to retreat to modest gestures in an effort to win Republican acquiescence. It is barely possible that the Senate Finance Committee might pull off a miracle and devise a comprehensive solution that could win broad support, or get one or more Republicans to vote to break a filibuster. If not, the Democrats need to push for as much reform as possible through majority vote."

After Nearly Four Decade Absence: Post Apollo Moon Missions Begin in Earnest

Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) PART1

Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) PART2

 

Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) PART3

Alexis Madrigal writes: "Scientists in the post-Apollo era have been quietly revealing the secrets of our satellite and laying the groundwork for a new wave of moon missions. Their efforts have turned up tantalizing evidence that water ice exists on the moon, which would make the long-held dream of sending manned missions to other planets just a little bit easier.

"The NASA mission is only the third American trip to the moon since those famed Apollo missions of the late '60s and early '70s.

"The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will be live-streaming a flyby as it swings into position in orbit, where it will await instructions to plunge into a dark crater on the moon’s surface. That will throw up a plume of debris that LCROSS’ counterpart, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, will fly through, allowing it to determine whether water ice exists below the surface of the moon.

Northrop Grumman video about a NASA moon mission.

"If water ice is indeed confirmed," a NASA official explained, "it would be a major victory for post-Apollo lunar science, which has suffered from a lack of public interest since the end of manned missions.

"In general, the exploration of the moon has been driven by the manned program," said Steven Dick, NASA chief historian. "Before the Apollo program, you had the Ranger, the Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter missions, the unmanned missions. Those were all driven so that people could land there."

Now, as NASA builds the capability to go back to the moon," Madrigal writes, "unmanned missions like LCROSS are again making their way to our satellite. As they generate a new wave of interest, the importance of the missions between Apollo and the new wave could increase.

Immediately in the wake of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the other shoe dropped on the program's funding. With the United States mired in Vietnam and burdened by a list of other expenditures, Dick said that the will to put money into lunar exploration fell away. Americans set their sights on domestic issues close to home as well as on farther-flung targets in space.

"The general consensus was 'We beat the Russians, and that's what we set out to do,'" he said.

The U.S. spent an estimated $25 billion in 1969 money on the Apollo program. That would be at least $115 billion in 2008 money and as much as $362 billion, depending on the method of calculation. (NASA's 2009 budget came in at $18.1 billion.)

The last three Apollo missions were canceled and for 22 years, no spacecraft visited the moon. Why bother? It was lifeless. It seemed impossible that water could survive. We could do a lot of lunar observations from Earth. Really, it became one of the least interesting objects in the solar system, despite its proximity.

Then, in 1994, a Department of Defense funded projected nicknamed Clementine

 launched for the moon.

A low-budget affair planned as a technology demonstration, “it did not have science as a primary objective,” a National Research Council report noted. Nonetheless, the mission raised an intriguing possibility: ice on the moon.

This wasn't entirely shocking, but it was exciting. It had been suggested as far back as 1961 that water ice might exist on the moon in areas that are never exposed to sunlight. Water left over from the moon's infancy or deposited there by meteorites or comets could have just stuck around in the craters at temperatures that never rise above minus-280 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, there was some experimental evidence to suggest that there was water ice on the moon.

Though more recent observations called the original finding into question, the little mission sparked renewed interest in the moon. NASA worked up its first lunar mission in a quarter century, the Lunar Prospector, to investigate the possibility of ice, among other lunar mysteries.

The Prospector's neutron flux data returned evidence of large amounts of hydrogen, "probably" in the form "abundant water ice" To confirm the observation, at the end of the Prospector's useful life, the team attempted to crash the craft into a crater and send up a plume of debris with some water ice in it.

Unfortunately, no water ice was detected in the plume, but there were a variety of reasons that could have happened. The high-risk experiment didn’t rule out the presence of ice on the moon.

And there the science sat until President Bush started to ramp up manned solar system exploration through the Constellation Program, Madrigal writes. As with the Apollo program, robotic missions are preceding the possible return of humans to the moon in the Constellation program.

"The idea now is to go back with the unmanned missions as reconnaissance to go back to the moon with manned missions," Dick said.

Humans would need water to explore the solar system," Madrigal continues, "so the possible ice on the moon suddenly became a whole lot more interesting.

 "LCROSS will release its Centaur rocket on October 9, 2009," Hadley Leggett writes, "sending the projectile hurtling at the south pole of the moon at 1.55 miles per second, about twice the speed of a bullet.

 Scientists hope the impact will send up a huge plume of moon debris, possibly containing ice, vapor or traces of hydrated materials that prove the existence of water on the moon.

 "Four minutes later, the rest of the spacecraft will follow the rocket's path through the cloud of lunar dust, analyzing its contents and transmitting data back to Earth before the entire spacecraft crashes into the moon's surface. NASA says the impact will generate a cloud of dust so big that we may be able to see it from Earth using an amateur telescope.

"This isn't the first time we've crashed rockets into extraterrestrial bodies to find out what's inside. In 2005, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft sent a probe crashing into Comet Tempel 1 to study the contents of the comet's interior. A European probe called SMART-1 crashed into the moon in 2006, and Japanese scientists crashed their Kayuga probe into the moon this June. So far, none of the missions have discovered the water LCROSS is looking for."

"This mission is the culmination of a dedicated team that had a great idea," said Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager at Ames Research Center in a release. "And now we'll engage people around the world in looking at the moon and thinking about our next steps there."

LCROSS Mission Summary

Eulogy for a Lion: Remarks by President Barack Obama on the Late Senator Edward Kennedy

 

 (President Barack Obama attends the funeral mass for Senator Edward Kennedy at the Basilica of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009.
Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

The President's full remarks at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Roxbury, Massachusetts:
 

"THE PRESIDENT:  Your Eminence, Vicki, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

     "Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy.  The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the United States Senate -- a man who graces nearly 1,000 laws, and who penned more than 300 laws himself.

     "But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held:  Father.  Brother.  Husband.  Grandfather.  Uncle Teddy, or as he was often known to his younger nieces and nephews, "The Grand Fromage," or "The Big Cheese."  I, like so many others in the city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all, as a friend.

     "Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch; the restless dreamer who became its rock.  He was the sunny, joyful child who bore the brunt of his brothers' teasing, but learned quickly how to brush it off.  When they tossed him off a boat because he didn't know what a jib was, six-year-old Teddy got back in and learned to sail.  When a photographer asked the newly elected Bobby to step back at a press conference because he was casting a shadow on his younger brother, Teddy quipped, "It'll be the same in Washington."

     "That spirit of resilience and good humor would see Teddy through more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know.  He lost two siblings by the age of 16.  He saw two more taken violently from a country that loved them.  He said goodbye to his beloved sister, Eunice, in the final days of his life.  He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible.

     "It's a string of events that would have broken a lesser man.  And it would have been easy for Ted to let himself become bitter and hardened; to surrender to self-pity and regret; to retreat from public life and live out his years in peaceful quiet.  No one would have blamed him for that.

     "But that was not Ted Kennedy.  As he told us, "…[I]ndividual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in -- and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves."  Indeed, Ted was the "Happy Warrior" that the poet Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote:

     "As tempted more; more able to endure,
     As more exposed to suffering and distress;
     Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.

     "Through his own suffering, Ted Kennedy became more alive to the plight and the suffering of others -- the sick child who could not see a doctor; the young soldier denied her rights because of what she looks like or who she loves or where she comes from.  The landmark laws that he championed -- the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, immigration reform, children's health insurance, the Family and Medical Leave Act -- all have a running thread.  Ted Kennedy's life work was not to champion the causes of those with wealth or power or special connections.  It was to give a voice to those who were not heard; to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity; to make real the dream of our founding.  He was given the gift of time that his brothers were not, and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.

     "We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers' rights or civil rights.  And yet, as has been noted, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did.  While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that's not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw Ted Kennedy.  He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and platform and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect -- a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots.

     "And that's how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time.  He did it by hewing to principle, yes, but also by seeking compromise and common cause -- not through deal-making and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor.  There was the time he courted Orrin Hatch for support of the Children's Health Insurance Program by having his chief of staff serenade the senator with a song Orrin had written himself; the time he delivered shamrock cookies on a china plate to sweeten up a crusty Republican colleague; the famous story of how he won the support of a Texas committee chairman on an immigration bill.  Teddy walked into a meeting with a plain manila envelope, and showed only the chairman that it was filled with the Texan's favorite cigars.  When the negotiations were going well, he would inch the envelope closer to the chairman.  (Laughter.)  When they weren't, he'd pull it back.  (Laughter.)  Before long, the deal was done.  (Laughter.)

     "It was only a few years ago, on St. Patrick's Day, when Teddy buttonholed me on the floor of the Senate for my support of a certain piece of legislation that was coming up for vote.  I gave my pledge, but I expressed skepticism that it would pass.  But when the roll call was over, the bill garnered the votes that it needed, and then some.  I looked at Teddy with astonishment and asked how had he done it.  He just patted me on the back and said, "Luck of the Irish."  (Laughter.)

     "Of course, luck had little to do with Ted Kennedy's legislative success; he knew that.  A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time.  Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, "What did Webster do?"  (Laughter.)

     "But though it is Teddy's historic body of achievements that we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss.  It was the friend and the colleague who was always the first to pick up the phone and say, "I'm sorry for your loss," or "I hope you feel better," or "What can I do to help?"  It was the boss so adored by his staff that over 500, spanning five decades, showed up for his 75th birthday party.  It was the man who sent birthday wishes and thank-you notes and even his own paintings to so many who never imagined that a U.S. senator of such stature would take the time to think about somebody like them.  I have one of those paintings in my private study off the Oval Office -- a Cape Cod seascape that was a gift to a freshman legislator who had just arrived in Washington and happened to admire it when Ted Kennedy welcomed him into his office.  That, by the way, is my second gift from Teddy and Vicki after our dog Bo.  And it seems like everyone has one of those stories -- the ones that often start with "You wouldn't believe who called me today."

     "Ted Kennedy was the father who looked not only after his own three children, but John's and Bobby's as well.  He took them camping and taught them to sail.  He laughed and danced with them at birthdays and weddings; cried and mourned with them through hardship and tragedy; and passed on that same sense of service and selflessness that his parents had instilled in him.  Shortly after Ted walked Caroline down the aisle and gave her away at the altar, he received a note from Jackie that read, "On you the carefree youngest brother fell a burden a hero would have begged to been spared.  We are all going to make it because you were always there with your love."

     "Not only did the Kennedy family make it because of Ted's love -- he made it because of theirs, especially because the love and the life he found in Vicki.  After so much loss and so much sorrow, it could not have been easy for Ted to risk his heart again.  And that he did is a testament to how deeply he loved this remarkable woman from Louisiana.  And she didn't just love him back.  As Ted would often acknowledge, Vicki saved him.  She gave him strength and purpose; joy and friendship; and stood by him always, especially in those last, hardest days.

     "We cannot know for certain how long we have here.  We cannot foresee the trials or misfortunes that will test us along the way.  We cannot know what God's plan is for us.

     "What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and with love, and with joy.  We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves.  We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures.  And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of others.

     "This is how Ted Kennedy lived.  This is his legacy.  He once said, as has already been mentioned, of his brother Bobby that he need not be idealized or enlarged in death because what he was in life -- and I imagine he would say the same about himself.  The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy's shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became.  We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office.  We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy -- not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country that he loved.

     "In the days after September 11th, Teddy made it a point to personally call each one of the 177 families of this state who lost a loved one in the attack.  But he didn't stop there.  He kept calling and checking up on them.  He fought through red tape to get them assistance and grief counseling.  He invited them sailing, played with their children, and would write each family a letter whenever the anniversary of that terrible day came along.  To one widow, he wrote the following:

     "As you know so well, the passage of time never really heals the tragic memory of such a great loss, but we carry on, because we have to, because our loved ones would want us to, and because there is still light to guide us in the world from the love they gave us."

     "We carry on.

     "Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those that he has loved and lost.  At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good that he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image -- the image of a man on a boat, white mane tousled, smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for whatever storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon.  May God bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace."  (Applause.)

Remembering Senator Edward M. Kennedy Slide show: 

 
 

President Barack Obama and Senator Ted Kennedy participate in a national service event at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., where H.R. 1388, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act was signed April 21, 2009. The legislation tripled the size of AmeriCorps and provides new service opportunities for millions of Americans at all stages of their lives.

  Sen. Ted Kennedy and his wife Vicki wave to the audience during "Some Enchanted Evening: A Musical Birthday Salute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., March 8, 2009. 

  

President Barack Obama meets with former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Ted Kennedy and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office April 21, 2009. 

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy enter the East Room of the White House to attend the second session of a Health Care Summit with members of Congress March 5, 2009.

 

Sen. Ted Kennedy, along with White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, left, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), second from right, and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) listen during a Health Care Summit second session in the East Room of the White House March 5, 2009. Sen. Kennedy's son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), is seated in second row at left.

President Barack Obama listens as Sen. Ted Kennedy addresses a Health Care Summit second session with members of Congress in the East Room of the White House March 5, 2009. 

President Barack Obama talks alone with Sen. Edward Kennedy in the Green Room of the White House March 5, 2009. 

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy participate in a national service event at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., April 21, 2009.

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Medal of Freedom to Kara Kennedy, accepting the award on behalf of her father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House August 12, 2009. The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor.

  

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy walk down the South Lawn sidewalk at the White House April 21, 2009. 

Pictures and Text Courtesy of The White House

08/29/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29TH, 2009 AT 12:13 AM
Weekly Address: Lessons and Renewal Out of the Gulf Coast
Posted by Jesse Lee
"The President discusses the steps being taken to finish the job of recovery from Hurricane Katrina as the fourth anniversary approaches. He points to local citizens working hard alongside responsible government to make real progress in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and pledges that the lessons of Katrina will not be forgotten."
read the transcript

Obama Vows to Speed Hurricane Katrina Recovery Effort
By HELENE COOPER
Published: August 29, 2009

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — "President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to note the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, pledging to work to advance the recovery effort along the Gulf Coast and announcing that he would visit New Orleans before the end of the year.

"None of us can forget how we felt when those winds battered the shore, the floodwaters began to rise and Americans were stranded on rooftops and in stadiums," Mr. Obama said. "Over a thousand people would lose their lives. Over a million people were displaced. Whole neighborhoods of a great American city were left in ruins. Communities across the Gulf Coast were forever changed. And many Americans questioned whether government could fulfill its responsibility to respond in a crisis, or contribute to a recovery that covered parts of four states."

Mr. Obama said he had coordinated the recovery effort across federal agencies and state and local governments. "No more turf wars," he said.

"I have also made it clear that we will not tolerate red tape that stands in the way of progress, or the waste that can drive up the bill," Mr. Obama said, adding, "Government must be a partner, not an opponent, in getting things done."

"He said his administration had put in place dispute-settlement programs in an effort to speed up the recovery.

"In addition, he said, the government has freed up hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance that has not been distributed.

"As we rebuild and recover, we must also learn the lessons of Katrina, so that our nation is more protected and resilient in the face of disaster," Mr. Obama said.

"That means continuing to rebuild hundreds of miles of levees and floodwalls around New Orleans," Mr. Obama said, "and working to strengthen the wetlands and barrier islands that are the Gulf Coast's first line of defense."

Ancestors of Modern Day Humans Came Down From the Trees to Become Bipedal

In the Aug. 10th 2009 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have postulated that "early humans walked on their knuckles before evolving the ability to walk upright, but a new study suggests they may have bypassed that step"

Researchers have developed their ideas from their detailed examination of "the wrist bones of several primate species, and found that humans more likely evolved from a tree-climbing ancestor, rather than a knuckle-walking one. The new model reignites a longstanding debate about the origin of walking on two legs, or bipedalism, in humans."

Scientists believe that: "Since humans' closest living relatives, the African apes, often move around on knuckles and legs, many experts thought human ancestors may have also employed knuckle-walking. But another camp of scientists traces humans' two-legged walking to earlier tree-climbing, a mode of locomotion that is used by all living apes."

Analysis provided by "evolutionary anthropologist Tracy Kivell of Duke University compared juvenile and adult wrist bones of chimps and bonobos, our closest living primate kin, with those of gorillas."

Dr. Kivell "found two key bone features associated with knuckle-walking in 96 percent of adult chimpanzees and 76 percent of bonobos, but in only 6 percent of the gorilla specimens she studied."

Researchers have suggested that "one explanation for the absence of these features in gorillas is that they knuckle-walk in a fundamentally different way from chimps and bonobos. Gorillas stride with their arms and wrists extended straight down, while chimps and bonobos walk more flexibly with their wrists bent."

"We sat down together and asked, 'What are the differences between them?'" said co-researcher Daniel Schmitt. "The answer," Schmitt explained, is "that chimps and bonobos spend a lot of time in the trees. And gorillas do not."

Researchers "Kivell and Schmitt think this suggests that knuckle walking evolved independently in the two African ape lineages. The researchers also think that some features of the hand and wrist found in the human fossil record that have traditionally been treated as indicators of knuckle-walking behavior are more likely to be related to tree climbing."

The evidence suggests that the ancestors of humans climbed in trees, and then eventually moved to the ground and began walking upright, the researchers said."

"We have the most robust data I've ever seen on this topic," Schmitt said. "This model should cause everyone to re-evaluate what they've said before."

"There are no fossils from the time of this transition, which likely occurred about seven million years ago, Kivell and Schmitt said."

The Eternal Question: Is Love At First Sight A Myth or a Reality?

Who isn't interested in love and romance? And even more importantly the question can be posed regarding how science can investigate a topic that is so dominated by emotions and feelings?
What follows is a sampling of several opinions provided by a range of individuals who expres their beliefs on whether love at first sight can truly happen.

Sometimes it takes a minute
by April

I had the love at first sight, needless to say, after he left me for another girl, I found out that he had covered a lot of ground around town (had many girls). Thank god he didn't leave me with any parting gifts. I met the guy that I am falling in love the right way--slowly getting to know him and finding compatibility. I have been fighting it because I was so heartbroken (just broke up with the love at first sight guy 6 months ago), and this guy has found me worth the patience to nurse me through a broken heart, be persistent enough to wait for me to start falling for him. Maybe he felt love at first sight when he first saw me. Because I believed in the love at first sight thing so strongly, that if you are meant to be you'll feel it, and with this guy I didn't feel that, but it is developing into a very deep love, far less shallow than the first sight stuff. I still question it or whether I'll run into the love at first sight stuff, and that will steal me away from this guy. I am so confused about what love is.
   

Ran into him, literally
by Anonymous

I wouldn't have believed in love at first sight except I've experienced it myself. I literally ran into a man on my way out of a building while walking and talking to a girl friend of mine. I said I was sorry to him and kept walking with her. Then suddenly had this really funny feeling and I turned around and he was standing on the steps of right where I ran into him and was looking at me. I turned around and walked back to him. I've never done anything like that in my life. We spent the rest of the night having fun together and have now been friends for eight years. He's a military man so we've loved each other from a far... but we both fell instantly in love.
   

oh wow yes it does
by angela

i walked into a restaurant looked up and there he was walking out i thought he was a waiter and asked for an ash tray to which he answered no .The room just stopped and i felt really freaked out.I have had many encounters with men and dates been married but nothing has EVER hit me with such a bolt in my entire life i cannot explain it.I bumped into this man four more times until he asked me out.I completely know in my heart that i will marry him it is without doubt and absolute.I know how ridiculous this sounds and really cannot reason it out to myself never mind to anyone else. It is the weirdest thing i have ever experienced .I will spend my life with him i just know , i might add that i am probably the most cynical person i know and i was not looking nor expecting what has happened , we are in early stages and anything could go wrong but i just know i will marry him .SCARY
   

its real
by Anonymous

its real I have experienced it
   

you've got to keep the faith. never give up on what you are willing for
by Anonymous

i'm from argentina, but although you are all from the US, what i felt when i read most of the commentaries is incredible. i met a guy about 5 years ago, and since that moment we started chatting and could not spend a day without knowing anything of the other. all of my friends told me since that moment that either one or the other was feeling something, but i never thought that could be true. about 2.5 years he became dating a girl. at the very beginning she knew the feeling his boyfriend (my boy) felt for me, and although she did not liked it, she needed to accept it. i visited him several times, and in one occassion we kissed! the worst of all is that he told his girlfriend and since that moment everything went to downfall. at first he could managed to talked to me, but in all of the suddens, he told me he believed that girl was forever and so, he needed to let me go, and beg me to forget him. you can't imagine how much i cried. evertime snce i hear any song we both sang or any love song, i cry. i hope i can see him again and everything turns find again. or, if she was supposed to be for him, i beg God to let me forgive him. although i'll never stop loving him (he bought a place in my heart) "what you dont let go is going to pass you by" best wishes for all from argentina!(L)
   

Great minds think alike...?
by Anonymous

I have now been in a relationship with a person for some time, but I knew him for a while before that. I had always felt, right from when I first met him, that he "understood" me, and I felt that he thought like me, which I had never felt with anyone before. I thought of myself as being good friends with him (what I didn't realise was that he also had some romantic interest in me!). He asked me out eventually, and about a month into dating him, I found out he had Asperger's Syndrome. Nearly a year after that, a few weeks ago, I found out that I also had it. He had known I did right from when he first met me, but assumed I already knew and didn't mention it. I like to think our feelings of mutual understanding are more than just a neurological pattern that we have in common, but there are people who wouldn't see it that way. But either way, I'm in love, and I don't care why!
   

love at first sight
by saidy

i believe their is love at first sight. i think i saw mine. he had glasses and when he took it off i looked at his eyes then suddenly it felt like the world froze. then i suddenly realize i was in my classroom. right when he put his glasses back on i felt weird. after class i didnt even remember his face without glasses. i was in 7th grade. in 8th grade i had him in computer class. he had contacts on and when i stared at him the world would stop again. then i would look away not remembering his face then the next day he had his glasses back. i heard his contacts riped.
   

More than physical attraction
by Ant

Those who say its only strong physical attraction (which I have also experienced) have never experienced it. Its far beyond that. For me, she walked in the room and I knew I could marry her. It was like finding a missing piece of yourself, and my heart rejoiced. The pure shock of the moment felt like a punch in the gut. She felt the same way. We started dating that day. We both felt as if we were already married. When issues prevented it, I can't describe the pain.
   

Yes, but you may have to experience it to believe it
by T

After love at first sight, of course work is required to keep the relationship strong - that's just common sense. But my parents, who experienced the same thing, have told me that the memory of that initial feeling has always served as a reminder of their love for each other during difficult times.
   
A state of mind
by Anonymous

Sure, I believe in love at first sight. It generally lasts as long as the people will it to last, as long as they still believe in being in love. But I also believe that LONG-LASTING love is a full-time job. Here's my experience on this matter: 6 years ago, I met a man who I instantly fell in love with. We had an amazing connection, as though we were sharing the same mind. It sounds ridiculous, but it's absolutely true. We dated for several years, even lived together - but it wasn't meant to be. He stopped believing in us (he has some deep seated emotional/commitment issues, come to find out). We're still friends, and I still love him, but no longer in any romantic way. 3 years ago, I met the man who I am now engaged to. I didn't love him at first. I wasn't physically attracted to him, etc. But, our relationship grew out of this wonderful comfort that we feel together and it has (with daily work) grown into a healthy and strong relationship. I know it will work because I believe in US, which is a powerful factor. So.. with work, patience and unconditional love any relationship can last - even if it wasn't love at first sight. And conversely, a relationship that begins with love at first sight isn't always destined to work out. It takes the same amount of work as any other relationship..
   

Only in Hindsight
by Ron Gentile

There are times we meet people when we feel a great connection right away. In some cases as we learn more about them this connection grows and grows, and if asked to reflect we'd say that it was "love at first sight." In other cases as we learn more about one another we find that we're not that compatible after all. If asked to reflect we'd say that we got off to a good start, but that it didn't work out. In short you can only know what you know give the available information. You have to spend more time together to find out if all the ingredients for a long-lasting lover are there. I'm actually writing a book about this called "The Four Factors: How to Measure the Goodness of a Romantic Relationship." You can read more about it at http://thefourfactors.blogspot.com. I'd love your input. Thanks, Ron
   

Yes
by Ovid

57+ years ago we met and I knew. We just celebrated our 56th anniversary. So, the answer for me was and is yes, and very much so. For today's generation it probably happens less often. This is sad because hooking up may be great fun but it is not love at first sight.
   


Unless you experience it, you can only wonder about it
by Anonymous

The instant I met my husband I knew, with no doubt, that we would be joined together the rest of our lives. 19 years later we are still together and I expect not to be separated from him until one of us passes over. There is no good words to explain the feeling. There was a very real physical feeling of being taken aback as well as some mental confusion of what had just happened. I don't know if I would call it love at first sight, there was no lust involved, but it was as a door being opened and I could see the future without any doubt.

Archetypal Partner
by Elmas

Jung had it right ... We are looking for the 'ideal' the archetypal partner . Sometimes we experience 'love at first sight' from afar , but when we get to know the person the initial excitement dissipates... for they are themselves and not the "ideal" in our minds ... Rings a bell ? Anyone had a similar experience to share ?
   

Yes it does happen
by Aly

I saw my love at a grocery store in the parking lot almost 11 years ago. It was like the world stopped. Like I had known him forever. He said "hows it going sweetie?" and I was so dumbstruck all I could do was mumble a weak "fine" and walk past reeling. I wish with all my heart I had been able to talk to him. I doubt I will ever love someone that much again. And no, Im not impulsive. I generally reason out all my relationships, and they are generally not overwhelmingly passionate on my end. This person evoked a response in me I didnt know I was capable of, and have never felt since. I will never forget him, and I always hope that one day I will see him again.
   

tell you my story in 5oo words?
by smiling eyes

got to be kidding, man walks by and touches my arm, looks me in the eye and asks to marry me. answer with "I would, if I wasn't already". only one of many who. . . while the one married, my eyes gravitated to his hands . . he didn't stand a chance, near 50 years ago, there's always some, the catch of any eye, the touch of a hand, the words which catch. Love? is a soulattitude towards life . . be charmingly disarming and leave each gent feeling good about his self.
   

physically, yes - emotionally, I don't think so
by Anonymous

About a year and a half ago I saw her for the first time. She is, physically, the ideal embodiment of what I consider to be beautiful. Just looking at her would cause a huge surge of adrenaline to rush through me. As a terribly shy person, I did not tell anyone how I felt for more than a year. When I did tell a friend about it, he engineered an encounter between us. I have now spoken a total of two words to this person. So, no I don't think I was in love with her, because surely you have to know someone to love them. It's a moot point because we subsequently found out she was engaged to someone else anyway.
   

Love at first sight reunited...
by Bud

Yes. After 20 years, I was reunited with an old classmate through MySpace. I flew across the country to visit with her. We had been in communication daily since that first e-mail saying "Did you know..." When I came down the stairs at JFK and saw her, something inside of me just clicked. Since for the past few months she and I had been talking nonstop, we knew everything about each other. She lit up and we were inseparable that week. Two months later, she moved to Phoenix. Less than a year later, we were married. Today, we celebrate our son's first birthday and we are still going strong.
   

Attraction at First Sight
by Bilmar

Will is absolutely correct that without that "attraction" at first sight there is no hope or desire to explore developing into a very loving relationship. For me it was her smile. I was so strongly attracted I wanted to learn more. As I did it became a strong relationship. Looking back, I can see how people believe it was "love at first site" when it turns out so wonderfully.
   

You don't find love - you grow love.
by Anonymous

Love is cultivated and earned over time, after sharing life with each other and bonding closer and closer. After five years of marriage, I can say that I love my wife much more than I ever thought I could before... More than on our wedding day, and certainly more than at first sight.
   

Yep, it happens
by Anonymous

First time I saw her I was like "that is the most attractive woman I have ever seen." That was Fall 1990. I still think this today.
   

Mesmerized immediately
by Anonymous

He was in a class in college. I couldn't get him out of my mind. We would only stare at each other, but never talk. Finally after 2 years we came face to face only to express this connection we felt. We shared one night. Ten years later in touch again and our hearts feel like they are about to explode. I do believe something exists. I can't pinpoint it. It is like we were supposed to be together, something drew us together. I have had many boyfriends,long term, and even a husband. But what I feel for him, I will never be able to explain. I can still see him walking into class 12 years ago.
   

It happened to me
by Tiphareth

I had never thought much about love at first sight until it happened to me. It was 30 years ago. A friend and I were at a night club and three young men our age walked in. My eyes were immediately drawn to one of them, becuase he seemed to have an "aura" about him. Moments later this young man was standing in front of me and our eyes met and I can't even describe the feelings I had. Everyone else in the room "disappeared" to me. We talked all night and I felt that this must be what heaven feels like. The "aura" I'd seen around him now surrounded the two of us. I felt like we'd known each other all our lives, and that we had so much to say to each other it would take a lifetime together to say it. But it wasn't meant to be. We lived hundreds of miles apart, and circumstances weren't in our favor. I cried the next day when I realized I would probably never see him again. It was an experience that had a deep effect on me.
   

His eyes told me
by Lucile

I couldn't see my love until he sat down beside me. I was nearsighted. It was not lust but a feeling of such comfort, bliss, all knowing at the time and I knew he would be my husband. Married now for sixty six years and still have that fatal attraction. What a life to love someone so deeply and so much for all those years.
Hormonal, chemical, electrical and psycho-social creatures...
by Bruce

We cannot view human beings solely by their isolated attributes... it is the combination and interplay between all of these attributes that ignites the spark we call love. That being said, a flame lit, will still go out unless nurtured. There are phases and degrees of attraction and love and they directly correspond to pheromones, vasopressin, oxytocin, phenylethylamine and ultimately to the mind-body integration of these elements and our childhood imprinting.
   

Love at first sight? Absolutely.
by Anonymous

1st marriage was based on knowing him very well, learning to fall in love, But the love wasnt strong enough to with stand all obsticales it ended in divorce. thinking I would never fall in Love again I see my 2nd husband for the first time with a feeling till this day I cannot explain, we married 1 month after knowing each other the same feeling I felt that very first day, is still the same feeling that keeps growing everyday even after 13 years of marriage. (love)
   

Love is an action that speaks louder than the feelings, it's also user defined.
by James

From what I have seen in my 45 years, most relationships that survive the test of time are by those who are emotionally healthy, confident and have realistic expectations. jfahnestock@qualityreplacement.com
   

love @ first sight
by chris

I've experienced a level of both.I think that there is some chemical in these individuals that when sensed by the 'right' person causes a release of copious amounts of dopamine and stabilizes seretonin.It is an oddity I have tried to understand. Those persons and myself often get along like a plugged in toaster oven and a bathtub of saltwater, there's electricity and chemistry but someones going to get fried.
   

I saw it once and it was amazing.
by Anonymous

Just as mentioned in an earlier posting, it's as if time ceases and a lifetime is lived in one perfect moment. It is beautiful and can completely take one by surprise. And the most difficult part is getting over that rare connection, when timing was off. But yes, I believe in love at first site.
   

tone of voice elicits trust
by Anonymous

A voice that's part of a general emanation of a personality that guarantees the person is trustworthy, never a liar--that voice invites love.
   

Lust: Yes! Love: no!
by Anonymous

I'd say there is absolutely Lust at first sight.. meaning you are simply but wildly attracted to someone the first time you see them. Maybe its the eyes, the hair, the shape .. its just that right combination that matches your mental ideal. Love at first sight.. no. Love is much more complicated and basically means you'd give everything you ever had for that person. That in my opinion takes time to develop and validate.
   

It does exist but is not always meant to be...
by Anonymous

Love at first sight exists. It is more than physical attraction; there is something unknown that brings two people together in an instance. Time ceases and a lifetime is lived in one perfect moment. I felt it, so did she, and we dated briefly until fate intervened. She gave her failing marriage a second chance. Though we were not together, we still felt it and it never faded. I got married, she divorced, and to this day we still love each other, but fate continues to separate us.
   

Lust at First Sight
by BanjoGirl

Anyone that thinks they are in love at first sight makes all of their romantic decisions based on physical attraction. They are the same folks that choose the wrong person and get divorced. Some of the important characteristics of a partner come out of the woodwork over time: how affectionate are they, do they need a lot of attention, are they honest.
   

Worked for me too
by Andrew

I met my wife just over 8 years ago - We've only been married for the last 1.5, but I knew at the time that she was the one for me. I didn't tell her immediately for fear of freaking her out - and incidently, she wasn't in love with me from word go. It took her about 3 months for her to agree that she loved me, and as with the other post before, we've been going strong ever since, with no end in sight
   

Not lust only...
by Bill

There was a question once asked on the Newly Wed Game, the first two I can't remember exactly. But it pertained to how the man (I think) fell in love with his wife. The third answer given for the wife was 'head over heals'. A friend and I were talking about this question the next day wherein I mentioned that with me, it was always 'head over heals'. This was not a lust problem on my part, but because of of yet maturing emotionally.
   

No Better than Astrology
by Wired News

People make tons of false assumptions when they first set their eyes on someone. Although you may feel strongly attracted to someone instantly, there is no solid reasoning behind those feelings. The idea of love at first sight is no more scientific than astrology.
   

Worked for me.
by Jen

Love at first sight might not be real, but it certainly worked for me. Immediate attraction followed by marriage and two kids. We've been married for almost 8 years now and are still going strong. So we may not have been in love at first sight, but it still only took a week which is close enough in my book.
   

It's About Knowing What You Like When You See It + Being Friendly
by Will

It's people knowing what they like when they see it, + the capacity to be struck by it.

BUT: It's a Movie they see, not a Photo. Ex: Body Language, facial expression, posture, voice, clothes, grooming, physicalized thought, interpersonal rapport, neg vs. pos "vibes".

I feel women are better at this.

The best relationships I've had were with girls who were good matches + demonstrated an Immediate (and many times instinctual/automatic) Positive Reaction. ymmv.
   

Some People Calculate their Love
by Wired Science

While some of us can fall in love at first sight, others are very methodical, almost robotic, about choosing who to love. For them, it is a careful decision, not a feeling.
   

it's real
by Anonymous

I met my man one night when I was not looking for anything at all, I turned to my left and there he was. Within 3 weeks, I knew without a doubt and realized i had known before that, that I was going to marry this guy...he is simply the most beautiful man i've ever met, inside and out. It sounds stupid but I have no doubt and neither does he. Two cynical people who believed we would never again be in love met each other and found out we were so wrong...it's amazing.
   

Eyes that were mirrors
by Anonymous

Ever since I first saw him, i could not help noticing him, for it was like the young, aqueous sunlight of spring had been cast upon the fridgid January days that I spent watchig him, and he was the mirror that captured and shone with that radiant light. However his eyes did not meet mine, for he was away in a world that I know all to well. Then, months later I heard the most beautiful music and followed it to its source, an it was him playing a song he must have tolen from my own mind. I knew him befoe I spoke to him and loved him before I saw him. I now know that what I loved in him at that first sighting was some bizare otherworldly recognition, for I now know that he and I must share a mind--we are so much alike that it never ceases to unnerve me. Now we are both in love, and each day I hope that love is not as fleeting as that first, unreciprocated glance I had at him. There are no others like us but each other. Our fears,our interests our strangenesses, our psycological intricacies, and even our favorite books and activities are virtually identical. True love proves itself each day. this will not fail, it cannot simply die. I have found the one person who I have been waiting for. Love at first sight does exist.
   

gotta have attraction then u get reaction
by Me

well i remember the day i saw him it was like woah i felt as if it took my whole life i had to know this person i had to marry them no matter what to this day i cant get him out of my head
   

I didn't until it happened to me...
by Anonymous

Two years ago I walked into a pub with a friend of mine. There he was ... playing in a band I had never heard of. It was as if I knew him, although we had never met. When the band took a break, he walked by me and we made eye contact. I smiled at him and he smiled back and we talked at every break. I honestly think we knew each other in a past life. He feels the same way. We are soul mates and nothing ... not even death ... will sperate us! If it does, we will find each other again.
   

It does exist
by Anonymous

It does exist, it's just that it doesn't always happen at the most opportune times. I believe I feel in love-at-first-sight recently. I'd known him for about an hour and barely spoke to him, I know nothing about him, but that I think he must be perfect! I was just so drawn to him, everything was in-tune between us, our eyes and I could feel both of us wanting to know more about the other. Later on, we both inquired about the other, (through a mutual friend) though I'm not sure anything will come of it - I am married to someone else, though it is a rather unfulfilling marriage that I don't believe will last much longer, (it has only been 1.5 year). My true love ;) happens to work, on occasion near my place of business, so it is totally possible for us to meet again when it's a better time, (if things do not work out with my husband). I will let you all know if I am right about this guy, that one day we will be together!
   

I hope she reads it someday!!!And she would know it was me who wrote it..
by Anonymous

A girl came to me giggling!!When i asked her why??? she said , that she did not know why she was giggling, she thought , it must be the coffee..I asked her if there was something wrong about the way i was looking..she said no...and then I was giggling too..And then i told her it is contagious!!I saw her beautiful eyes, and her smile.I don't know what I am feeling, but I never felt this way before..

I hope she reads it someday!!!And she would know it was me who wrote it...I know she would never forget it!!
   

what the hell is love at first shight
by seleste

I HAVE KNOW IDEA
   

Physical attraction
by Karl

Love at first sight - it's so easy isn't it. All you have to do is look around, and hey presto, there's the person with whom you will spend the rest of your life!

Well, yes, it can happen that way, but for most of us love at first sight is just a dream - a way to cut out all the anguish, the waiting and the wondering, the pain of rejection and the uncertainty of love's reciprocation. But at its heart, the concept of 'love at first sight' is deeply flawed.

First of all it assumes that the test of real love is based only on physical attraction; that you have a picture in your mind's eye of the perfect man or woman - of his muscular shoulders or her long slim legs. But the chances are that these pictures - particularly facial characteristics - are more than likely to be built upon celebrity images or parental looks - friends or relatives from our past that we came to respect. In truth, those who seek love at first sight are prisoners of one-dimentional relationships that take no account of that crucial ingredient in any successful partnership - personality.

Secondly we all have to recognise that the desire to reproduce - sex - can briefly overwhelm our common sense - a state in which we fall victim to the moment without regard to our long term prosperity - and that such moments are often based on little more than physical attraction. This is not to downgrade physical appearance - far from it - but to emphasize that how we look carries dangers that can obscure what we value most - our souls.

Apart from anything else the clothes we wear are so often driven by fashion that individuality is subsumed to peer pressure in a way that stifles personal expression. Clothes can provide vital clues as to the innate characteristics of the wearer, but all too often they are worn to flatter little more than our physical attributes.

You may get lucky with love at first sight, but beware the consequences.
   

Yeah and it's amazing
by Anonymous

i've found love at first sight on the 3rd day of track practice last year in 9th grade. it felt like someone threw a football at the back of my head, which made me trip on the ground. when i looked up he was the only guy i saw, and it felt like it was only us two out of the other 100 people on track. this guy isnt "gorgeous" or i love him because of his looks. he actually looks normal, not too ugly and not too hot. in my eyes hes perfect in every way. every day since last year i strongly loved this guy who i didnt know his name or anything. eventually i heard someone shout his name Dallas. when track ended and we didnt see eacother, oh god i fell apart and cried everyday. 10 months seemed very slow and i was worried if he was joing track again.

thank god last week track started again and he was there. we both love eachother but never talked or anything. i feel a bond.
   

what's love got to do with it?
by chuck

I fall in love every time I see a woman, as long as they are attractive, because every one knows, we men are visual creatures.....
What about the blind?
by Anonymous

Have any of you who claim to have experienced 'love at first sight' had said experience with a person who isn't beautiful, traditionally or otherwise? Would two fat, sagging, hideous excuses for human beings who are 'meant to be together' have the same initial reaction to one another as two gorgeous types? Probably not, unless they were blind, in which case they'd have to rely on their other 4 senses . . . love at first sniff, perhaps.
   

matt
by Anonymous

is just okay
   

Only love is real
by Anonymous

I believe that love is everywhere, it's not something that occurs only between a man and a woman, but something that grasps the essence of life, of anything. That essence is the driving force behind, music, poetry, art and religion; a presence that can't be explained, studied or put into words. Yes I believe in love at first site. Love is not measured in time, though a bond between two people can grow in time.
   

again and again
by Howard

Tiphareth: wrote of an encounter that mirrors many I have had... the magic, love if you will, the exploration and infatuation. The difference is that I have little trouble letting go.... I meet someone and our interaction sucks the oxygen out of the air and everybody around us disappears for a time.... hours usually. We part and I don't take contact information... and I don't offer it. We seldom touch other than perhaps a brief brushing of hands together, and we both know that those few hours are all the time we have to share our lives, to know each other, and to treasure.... and to enrich each other's lives. She may be single, she may be married... I don't give a hoot... it's not about sex or about mating, it's about something else entirely. It is love at first sight, and it could be allowed and encouraged to develop, but it also is a tiny jewel, a treasure to carry on into the future, knowing that you have connected with someone in a deep passionate way...... the fantasy is far better than the reality in most cases, and I am usually satisfied with that...... Compressing love into a brief moment in time.
   

For some, maybe it's the only way they know...
by Anon

My intuition said yes... My experience can't say no... My heart says "Love Always, Anon"...
   

Love at first sight?
by Anonymous

Love at first sight... I only believe it, because I think I have witnessed it. Is love at first sight what happens when you see a complete stranger, not know a single thing about them, their name or anything, and not taking into concideration ow they look, think, act, or feel, and yet, wanting them more then anything?
   

Think about this
by Anonymous

This is a question based on experiences so it cant be answered. also everyone's definition of love is different so again it cant be answered.
   

Of course I believe in this!
by kostyazen

Of course I believe in Love at first sight! You just need less fear in your life for it to happen all the time. Also you can replace fear with love, like in "Living on love - The Messenger" book by Klaus Joehle. http://k.livingonlove.com
   

happily married
by Christy

My husband and I have been married 22 years and we were married 1 month after we met. Definitely love at first sight!
   

Love at First Sight is Very Real
by Wired News

If love at first sight is a myth, then why are there so many songs and stories about it?
   

Pff
by SJ

Love at first sight? Only if you follow the most basic of all human instincts and cannot use your brain on your own, but let it use you. Its simple attraction and if you see the person often it is just layering attraction. Isn't there a saying that there is a difference between Love and Romance? Love means "I want you", its desire, not Care. When you Care about someone it is completely different, you don't want to see them hurt at all. Not just "oh I want/love you".
   

It's primitive
by blakely

Have you seen a real person of the opposite sex within stone's throw and thought that he/she #1: was hot? and #2: that you could picture yourself at least dating, if not in a relationship with said stranger? Sometimes it turns out to be love, most of the time it's just primeval lust. If two baboons had to go on at least 3 pleasant dates to get their emotions in check before doing the deed, what shape would their species be in now?
   

u decide!!
by khushiiiiiii

i think love at first sight really dont works..when u look at some person how can u knw about his charactersitics, thinking,idealogies unless u know dat person since before..love at first sight for me is just an infatuation w/c people feels love..yeah it may working sometime but i may call it a matter of mere coincidence or astrology..love is not physical appearance..its a inner beauty..so for me being in love is sth w/c really needs time and patience..
   

Love at first sight a myth? DUH
by Anonymous

Being in love is great.However, it takes a certain amount of time to build the relationship to well... LOVE. Love at first sight is quite impossible, people may think they're in love but in actual fact, it's what you call infatuation or a crush.
   

Love At First Site
by LB

Of course I believe in this. I believe because your destiny is your destiny. If I am destined to be with someone, then technically, when I first "see" them, somewhere inside of me, there is already a seed for love. I "met" my husband, my soulmate online. A few messaged conversations later, it felt as if I had loved him forever, because essentially, I had!
   

Hard to tell.
by Tina Marshall

I've never been in a relationship as a result of "love at first sight", but I would love to believe that it does exist. I've heard several success stories, so I'm still holding out for it to happen to me. My eyes are wide open:) I actually just read a post today on Peterman's Eye about love at first sight. Thought I'd share!

http://www.petermanseye.com/anthologies/what-was-learned/368-love-at-first-sight

Cheers!
   
laura
by Anonymous

is a tennis loserface with no life
   

dude
by Anonymous

looks like a lady.