I also have five sons, the oldest of whom is 19, so I hear you. Our two teen drivers are on our policy, allowing them to pay lower rates, but any accidents/tickets they incur affect their rates solely. They purchased their own (used) vehicles and pay their own associated expenses. I agree that paying for their own transportation (among other things) is a valuable learning tool. But along those lines, you don't have to allow a 19 yo to live at home and spend all his money on entertainment.

6 hours, 23 minutes. Yikes. Between that and this endless, seesaw battle between WSU and Cal, I'm exhausted. Currently down 60-59, the Cougs are once again doing everything in their power to snatch defeat out of the hands of victory. Oy. :-/ ETA: Sorry for the rabbit trail have to come back to say that the Cougs just lost the game, 60-59 ~ at home, no less. Last second missed field goal of only 19 yards. (My high schooler is a kicker & believe me, I have a heart for the role, but seriously...how the heck do you miss a 19 yard field goal???!!!) I swear, being a Cougs fan is akin to sticking pins & needles in your eyes. Ugh!

All else aside, Laura was responding to another poster, so in that respect your indignation is misplaced. It does each of us well to be familiar with our sources, as much as is reasonable. That isn't to say any one media source is entirely reliable or neutral. Of course not. But those that are, in their home nations, considered "tabloids" or have an overt alliance are perhaps not the most useful reference. Case in point: We should consider the source with a great grain of salt, as The Blaze is the brain child of Glenn Beck. (I'd say the same were it the brain child of Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert, btw.) You need only click on the above link to understand my point. Take a look at the graphics, the sensationalistic headlines. Is that a remotely reasonable reference? Rhetorical question, of course.

Yes, have to chuckle at the juxtaposition of referencing the Daily Mail & then lamenting irresponsible journalism. ;-) Or nose around an actively infected person's vomit. For example.

Oh, heck ~ if that doesn't make me feel ancient. ;-D

I know, right? Don't even get me started on rules & regulations pertaining to dairy farming management practices. I am just…boggled. Of course I don't want anyone else ~ such as the poor man pressure washing the vomit ~ to contract this disease. At the same time, if they don't, what lessons are learned? Is the take-away that it's okay to let people spend DAYS on end in a tainted environment? To send in underpaid, under-informed laborers to clean up in a manner that provides no protection whatsoever to them or the general public? It's a travesty. It isn't just about how many people do or don't get ill. It's a deeper issue, imo.

Totally agree that it has the potentially to be nail-biting. Heck, that game the other night between the Royals and the A's was incredible! And even the non-faithful Mariners fans (yes, there are such creatures as M's fans!) were on the edge of their seats last Saturday. Oy, the pain! Oh, I don't hate baseball. As I said, I'm a sports fanatic. But let's face it, following 160 games over a long season can at times be akin to watching paint dry. I do love the tradition behind baseball, though. One of the highlights of my life as a sports fan was going on the field at Fenway on Mother's Day some ten-ish years ago. Took my older guys to Boston & the Sox were playing the Mariners. Absolutely FREEZING evening, btw, but worth it (to me, anyway!) to see the World Series trophy up close and personal.

Not sure if anyone mentioned Amazing Race. It's the only show I watch in real time (aside from sporting events, my passion). I've watched for years & enjoyed sharing it with my boys ~ the different locales and so on. Really bummed that they've moved it to Friday nights, though. That's high school football night! We looked forward to watching on Sunday evenings. I watched last week's premier after the fact on my own & frankly, I was SO glad my boys weren't watching. Honestly, the skanky factor keeps going up. The one gal literally writhing in the sand in her thong bikini was just….ewww. Pretty tired of the same, stereotypical teams they have on there, too. The token gay/lesbian team. The token non-Caucasians. The token "older than age 35, which in Amazing Race-ville is downright aged" team. And so on. But still, I follow. ;-)

Sea-HAWKS!!!! Oh. You said baseball. Good ol', Mariners; at least we know what to expect. Ahem. Baseball is so ding dang boring, but as a fanatic of just about every sport, of course I follow ~ especially in October. Having grown up during the George Brett era, I've gotta go with the Royals. Would have liked to see Pittsburgh in there, too.

Eh, I'm a stats girl & NPR addict, but I found that article less than impressive. Yes, Ebola is less contagious than mumps or measles. But the vast majority (yes, even now it's an overwhelming majority) of people in the United States vaccinate against the former diseases. It stands to reason that they'd exhibit concern about a mutating virus with no available vaccine. That and the fact that Ebola has an exponentially higher mortality rate. The fact that these are historical R nought values makes them less relevant in the here & now, too. And then, as footnoted, one has to consider that the R nought is time integrated. The significance of that is obvious when comparing HIV and Ebola. (Apples & oranges, which is really what this graphic boils down to.) HIV has a higher R nought, with the understanding that the time integration may be a year or more. Ebola is more on par with a few weeks. But all else aside, the article's patronizing opening line ("Holy moly! There's a case of Ebola in the U.S.!") causes the author to lose credence. Colbert can pull that off. NPR? Eh, not so much.

Are people panicked? That isn't my impression. Not my takeaway from any discussion here, and anyway, I don't equate chatting online with panic mode. I've not heard a single person in "real life" mention it. (Now, in two weeks when the Cowboys are here, up against Beast Mode, et al ~ then & only then will Dallas register in the minds of Western Washingtonians. ;-) ) The story isn't being treated with any unnecessary fervor by my news sources (none of which are televised). Awareness is raised, concern is piqued, conversation & coverage increased ~ but that doesn't translate into a state of panic.

As evidenced by the range of responses here. ;-)

It depresses me that anyone would even consider such a thing. Right. A Liberian-American man spoke on NPR yesterday about the unfortunate treatment he and his fellow Liberian-Americans are receiving of late. They are to an extent being treated like pariahs ~ the default assumption being that anyone with a Liberian background, anyone who has ever been there, is a health hazard. People who are in some cases emotionally traumatized are now further subjected to disdain and/or fear by their own neighbors. Very sad. I am all astonishment! I hear you. You took the words out of my econ major mouth. ;-)

This has always been and continues to be the norm in this (that) area. If anything, the overt presence of the military is considered a bonus by most.

No, not okay. I can assure you I won't take offense or intentionally be offensive, but whether others are offended by my input is out of my control. It is silly and useless to include a disclaimer like this when initiating a conversation. Out of curiosity, who might be exempted from the "almost everyone"? Same. I'm ever-flummoxed when people make assertions as to what God would or wouldn't have done, and why.

Oh, for god's sake. Seriously? The plethora of sound bites based on who knows what all add up such that we can ascertain a factual bottom line? If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn calling your name. Ya think? ;-) Exactly. This points up why confusion/misunderstanding/mishandling is to be expected. On the one hand our own government is offering pat assurances ~ and on the other, people on the receiving end of those assurances are ready to lambast this man, in hindsight, for not arriving at conclusions they themselves would be hard-pressed to understand or identify. Tra la la!

Apologies for a lack of clarity on my part. To assert that the man knowingly traveled with a deadly disease is plain ignorant. Clearer?

To make such an assertion is plain ignorant. We don't have a clue (and never will) what he really knew. Nor do we know what it's like to live in an area ravaged by an epidemic. Oh, we can get all high & mighty, claiming we'd never do this or would definitely do that. Yada yada yada. Hot air.

I don't share your certainty. My impression is that proper sanitation has yet to be provided. My further impression is that great many people allegedly in the know really don't have a clue what to do and are therefore vying for the Honorary Pass the Buck Award. I'm by no means in a state of panic, but I'm disturbed that our self-congratulatory "first world" society appears to be in a mell of hess in responding to one case of Ebola.

It is folly, at this point, to term anything about this case as "obvious". Nor am I. It's easy to play armchair quarterback and assign blame, but the reality is that we have very little knowledge despite the myriad of "news".

Fair enough ~ but my opinion is derived from firsthand experience. ;-)

New Zealand, for example. I know it's not easy to see increases in the cost of food. We live in a culture in which we're accustomed to abnormally low prices. When one considers the inputs to produce a hundred weight of milk (the pay structure used in dairying), a $4-$5 pound of butter is actually quite reasonable.

Sorry…? I'm not sure if you mean I should be able to click on the pics on iPhoto and do this, or….?

Blergh! I am NOT enjoying my iMac nearly as much as I thought I would. Thought I'd be thrilled with the ease of use after a PC, but no. One frustration is iPhoto. I plain do not get it. So your pics are in your iPhoto library and….then what? For example, I want to upload & print some photos via the Costco photo center. I used to (with my PC) be able to just put in the location of my photos and they'd upload, no issues. But you can't do that with iPhoto. So….? I know it can't be this challenging. Help, please! What am I missing? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

I'm in Western Washington, where damp & wet is commonplace through much of the year. It's still very possible to line dry outside, even in the winter; one has to be attuned to the weather & take advantage of drier, windy days. But more often than not when it's damp I dry things around the wood stove.