I would love to learn. I use my sewing machine fairly frequently, but not making clothes. One of these days I'll make something that doesn't have right angles. I'm in the process of moving in a couple of weeks, husband is deployed, and this girl has a birthday coming up. It just isn't going to happen. Maybe I'll save this gift for Christmas. We'll see what I find. Thanks. Jo

Good idea. I'll look there later. Thanks. Jo

I love Hanna Andersson, but they might not be spinny enough. :D The other site was new to me. Thank you. The one really spinny skirt was made with fleece. Not practical for Hawaii. I'm going to look around the site. Again, thank you. Jo

I looked at these. They are beautiful. As much as I would love to support a homeschooling mom, $46 for a skirt seems excessive. Maybe I should ask the grandparents to take a look. ;)

Where can look to order, or price to have made? I don't want a fairy or princess skirt. I need a real skirt that spins. Thanks.

Thank you!!!!

I need the titles for chapters CVIII and CIX. I have this bizarre copy that doesn't have chapters and my TOG lesson uses the Roman Numeral chapter assignments. Usually I can guess by the topic we're studying but there is a great deal of information about Queen Victoria. TMI, sorry. Thanks for your help. Jo

I just don't think it is possible. There will always be the homeless- I worked in a Salvation Army medical clinic in college. They did a great job, and they were able to deal some of the root causes of problems. There will always be illegal aliens. We have public health departments all over the country already. We've been underfunding those existing programs. We don't need to create new beauracracies. I'm radical enough to believe these public health offices should charge a minimal fee for certain services- $5, $10 etc. Nothing for absolutely free unless you are completely destitute. We must move away from dependence on the government. It is NOT a kindness to make people dependent on a dispassionate distant government. This didn't work out well with Katrina, and it wouldn't with healthcare. We must help people break away from that mindset and empower them to be involved in their own healthcare. Everyone should be *expected* to get their own insurance. If there is true competition, the costs will come down.

I see. No, my purposes are not to insure everyone. I see it a bit differently. I also think hospitals should be given the authority to triage and send away non-emergency patients. But that is further away from my point. I'm trained as a RN. I have seen what comes through the ER- it is unnecessary to treat much of what comes through the door there. But people have gotten in the habit of using it as their primary care clinic. There is very little individual responsibility taken when the care is "free." I think hospitals should have auxillary clinics and should have incentive to subsidize that care. But my main pillars stand. As long as people are not paying for their insurance, In other words, if the government is paying...I mean we, the taxpayers, are paying, the abuses of healthcare will continue, and people will make few changes to their lifestyle to promote their own optimal health. And the cost will rise unsustainably, as in Massachusetts.

Yes. I didn't want to include this in the pillars.I believe this should be done too, but it is less of a root cause to insurance problems than most people think.

Yes. I agree. But the exposure to competition, via very public and transparent scrutiny of insurance companies should keep down the abuse of price gouging or refusal of treatment. It works. And if people were responsible for their own insurance, gaps between job changes would expose less people to insurance denial based on preexisting illness.

More costly than what is being proposed in congress? There will ALWAYS be uninsured- for everything. Can you give a source for the 5-15% stat? I am not suggesting there won't some who choose not to get insurance. But I don't think it is the Government's job to provide it either. There must be a balance.

Remove employer based healthcare insurance. Require people find their own like auto insurance. Why can't this be done? We absolutely have to have proof of insurance to drive. Same goes for health insurance. But only if it is done by individuals and family. Set up a rating system for insurance companies- like Amazon third parties.:D You can leave comments if you had a great experience, or if they screwed you out of coverage. Transparency, Transparency, Transparency. Do the same rating system for doctors. I would even be willing to have the government run the website for these ratings. It's cheap. I have more, but those are my main pillars of the plan. Individual responsibility and transparency. It is simplistic, I know, but those main pillars would solve soooo many of the problems. What do you think?

Rosie, I haven't read a single post from this thread until today. I went ahead to "last page" to see how the discussion had digressed, and there you are making me laugh. Lalalalalalalalalalalalal. Thanks. Regarding government/single payer health care: No frickin' way. We military people are only comfortable because we know when they can't handle it, they will farm us off to the private sector. Quit messing with the private sector Washington! They may have their issues, but they produce good medicine. Any one of us reading this thread wants the private sector to succeed. We may need it.

My kids are in a particularly rough patch of fighting. Generally revolving around sports, but not limited to sports. They compete about who was up first in the morning. Kill me now. Who has the biggest scar. Who was best behaived in church. [eye roll] Who had the best form while shooting baskets. I'm about to lose my mind. This isn't how I pictured our family looking. Argh! They ball hog, they are NOT good sports. They don't see this in my husband or myself. What am I doing wrong? And what is the consequence? I feel like the speech is falling on deaf ears at this point. Thanks. Jo

Which of these would you consider cost effective? I know Calvert can be spendy. It may not matter to her but I don't want to scare her off on the price. Jo

I have a friend that is pulling her daughter out of 6th grade, and I need some suggestions. Thanks. Jo ignore my bad grammar...I'm eating and typing. ;-)

I began at the beginning. I stumbled my way from Kindergarten on. This is different situation. My friend has emailed me for advice. What would you recommend? This friend is incredibly organized and bright. I know she would do well with all those issues. I'm primarily looking for advice on how to begin the academics. Thanks. Jo

That is an awesome idea! Plan B. :D This move is easier than leaving the island, but there are several times that I could use a transporter machine to help me be in two places at once. Darn technology lag. :glare: Jo

We are thinking about flying my husband back to help me move while he is in port in San Diego. Flights on Expedia are running over $1,000. :glare: That may be the best I can do, but I thought I'd ask. Thanks. Jo

Favorite way to prepare chuck roast?

I'm so excited! I made page 6 on google with a WTM posting for my orange cranberry bread- so good, yum. :D Other than that, I was just annoyed with how many people are using my name. ;) There is even a big Ron Paul supporter name Betty Jo or Heidi Jo or something. Not me. :lol: But I couldn't find anything personal. Jo

I have only read a couple of pages of this thread, and although people disagree, I'm glad to see the complexities being discussed. This is good. It isn't a simple topic, but to try and determine the future life of the unborn child is presumptuous. With all the stormy turmoil surrounding the topic of abortion, I remain convinced that the life growing within a woman is worth protecting. It is in the calm, like under the ocean the surface of the water. Actually all children are. Babies born to stable, financially secure parents may soon end up children of the divorced, widowed, or bankrupted. They still deserve protecting.

I buy ultrasound machines for crisis pregnancy centers. Focus on the Family has a program that we have given to specifically for years.

Well, there you have it. Thank you very much for clearing it up. Jo