Reya--are you suggesting that the only racism in the early 20th century is "scientific racism"? That there was no economic basis to racism? Maybe I'm misreading you, but it sounds like you're arguing that populism and racism are wholly unconnected. Baiting race for class is a time-honored tradition in American politics, and I don't really see Hakim arguing for more than that in the passage you quote. Certainly racism has multiple causes, but I've never heard anyone argue that there's no connection between economics and racism.

Ours is up! (link in sig)

I remember loving Natalie Savage Carlson's Orpheline books when I was a kid (I had a thing for orphans). They're all set in France. They're mostly out of print now, but it looks like you can still get them pretty easily.

ooh, fun! Let's see...The Invention of Hugo Cabret is set in Paris Number the Stars Denmark The Land I Lost Vietnam

I'm unclear on this, too. When you said "unhappy with the direction they're going" I immediately assumed you meant because of the vote to allow openly gay pastors (but you know what they say about assuming). But then you said you were more liberal. If you are indeed looking for more liberal, I'm fairly well versed in denominations.

These Aesop books from Royal Fireworks Press are fun. My six year old is doing these plus Writing With Ease, and we'll likely stick with that (plus poetry memorization) for LA until he starts Michael Clay Thompson in 3rd grade.

The problem with my itouch is that it was a gateway drug for the iphone. Which I now have. My son's getting my old Touch for his birthday ;)

I didn't have any trouble getting into it, but I still hated it. I think Henry's a controlling jerk.

Although if Desmond was telling the truth, he didn't know that Locke is really Smoky now.

I actually feel like there are a lot of reasons aside from budget why it's best to hand down clothes...I try to buy used and reuse stuff as much as possible in general for environmental reasons (and assorted other issues; child labor, et. al.). It's really important to me that my kids don't get the idea that using something that someone has used before is somehow automatically worse than using something brand new. Of course, there's also the issue of having clothing that fits one's individual tastes (WRT to the hand me down issue that is; but not WRT to new vs. used). So far, none of my kids could care less what they wear, so we haven't had any issues with hand-me-downs.

yes. Genetics is more complicated than they tell you it is in high school biology. It's also too complicated for me to really get, but here's an explanation my quick googling turned up: http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=101 ETA: my Dad has hazel eyes, and my mom has green eyes. I have blue eyes, and my brother has brown.

Or airlines. Or Disneyworld. Or my cable company. I agree with the "it's fine except it messes up my Netflix viewing" crowd ;)

I have three boys (all 2 to 2 1/2 years apart). Sometimes I think I'm going to need to fill in and buy new stuff for the younger ones, but it almost never actually happens. I just put out the summer clothes, and my youngest has 30 pairs of shorts. I'm not sure how this keeps happening to me. At least 90% of their stuff is bought used, too; I have something of a thrift store/garage sale addiction. One can't really pass up 3 pairs of like new Mini Boden shorts for $2 a pair, can one? ETA: this is not to say I never DO buy stuff specifically for my younger kids...but I almost never NEED to.

:iagree: My first grader isn't reading as well as your dd yet, and he's doing Explode the Code and then reading lots of books to me...stuff like Little Bear, Frog and Toad, etc.

http://www.southernsavers.com and couponmom.com I got the trial membership to grocery game, but ended up canceling it and just using Southern Savers + Coupon Mom for the same info.

DH and I have been watching lots of The Dick Van Dyke show on Netflix instant viewing. I've loved it since college, when my roommate and I used to watch it together. And, of course, the Brady Bunch, but much more ironically.

You have to combine the sales with the coupons. A couple of weeks ago one grocery store near me had coupons for $2 off 2 packages of Kraft shredded cheese (in those machines that spit out coupons). Another store had a deal where if you bought 8 packages of cheese, they gave you a discount...it ended up that the cheese was $1/package with the sale. So that sale combined with the coupons equaled free cheese. I got a lot of cheese (and, no, I didn't clear off the shelves. They had a display with literally hundreds of bags of the cheese, so the ones I took barely made a dent). And we'll definitely use it; it's already shredded so it freezes great. ETA: so it's not like you're getting free peanut butter every week. But you can often find something for free and stock up on it.

You have to get a CVS card and then the extra bucks will print out on your receipt. If you look through the sale circular, it will tell you what things you need to buy to get the EB. There are usually a couple of things every week that they'll give you the full value of back. Last week there was contact solution, and this week there's the Dove shampoo and some kind of body wash.

I don't care what they're wearing unless we have to go somewhere. I am trying to imagine myself caring...and, nope, can't quite get there :). We are a casual people here.

Some people think the best way to teach a kid to swim is to toss them in the deep end, too. Doesn't mean they're right. My son has a lot of anxiety, and I'm so glad we homeschool him. I push him out of his comfort zone all the time, but I can do it in small steps and choose the situations where I can be pretty sure the risk will be rewarded with a good experience. At five, he was a pretty big mess when it came to group situations. Now, at nearly nine, he still has his issues, but he's SO MUCH better than he was. Maybe things would have worked out okay for him in school, too--who knows? But looking back on my own school experiences...well, I just have my doubts about the magical healing powers of school for kids with social anxiety.

Look for a low cost vaccination clinic. Is Tractor Supply Company in your area? At ours they do a low cost clinic once a month; that's where we take our cats. In Alabama, I would definitely, definitely do heartworm. We're in GA; my mom fosters cocker spaniels, and it's crazy how many of them come to her with heartworms....I would say at least 10-15%. The treatment is really expensive, and one of her fosters died from heartworm a couple of months ago. You can get the preventative cheaper ordering it online than from your vet, though....you just have to get a prescription from the vet.

I would NEVER guess rottweiler for that pup! He's adorable...my husband just saw the picture and said, "who's that cute dog?!" :)

well, I hated Wuthering Heights, but I LOVE Faulkner. And, come to think of it, that does seem a little odd. Perhaps I had a stronger stomach for unrelenting misery when I first got to know Faulkner (high school and, mostly, college) than when I read Wuthering Heights (last summer). Or perhaps the misery just seems more purposeful in Faulkner.

To Kill a Mockingbird, though my reasons are a good bit more nuanced than those in the linked article (or so I'd like to think ;)) Wuthering Heights

Most "unisex" names start out as boys' names and then people STEAL them for girls, and they eventually turn into girl names. As if people with girls don't have enough names to pick from already! It's hard enough coming up with boy names as it is! Says me, with three boys and too many encounters with girls named August and Ariellas nicknamed Ari. Ahem. Where was I? Henry is a great name. Henry nn Hank has been on our short list all three times. I think it's fairly trendy amongst a certain subset of the population (celebrities, urban hipster types), but I don't think it's in any danger of turning into Aidan.