XBox Live. Real humans, 24/7. You can find "research" that supports any point of view. Plenty of studies have concluded that previous studies showing certain products and behaviors as harmful were not scientifically produced. If you don't want your kids to play video games, more power to you. Just don't try to prove that it makes your family superior, because that's how you're coming off. Plenty of us have kids we're very proud of, good successful kids, and they play video games.

Take out boyscouts and add 4H, and this could be any of my four kids. However, they've all played scads of what are probably considered "violent" video games. Doing one doesn't mean the other can't be. Just saying. They're all quite sane, production young adults, doing well in college and with their jobs. They still play video games, but not to the exclusion of everything else. Call of Duty, HALO, even GTA. I've never censored their games or limited their screen time. To each their own.

Doesn't the serpent talk to Eve? One presumes it doesn't use sign language. I guess that leaves the Bible out too.

They'll come down. Nobody ever finds cat skeletons in trees.

Get the double fronts. They simply last forever, and when one layer wears through, there's another layer underneath.

Governments run much like businesses, in that they set their budgets ahead of time, using numbers from taxation and appropriations (local government gets money from the county, county governments get money from the state, states from federal, and so on) that they expect to get. They know they're going to get a certain amount of money, just as a business can forecast a certain profit - within reason. Businesses fail because expected profits don't materialize, but governments provide services that have to be continued, regardless of spiraling costs, like fuel and utilities, that they simply can't forecast. Perhaps a severe winter had caused the road department to spend many times in excess for road clearing than they budgeted for. They still need to clear the roads so emergency crews can get around. Perhaps the locals schools had to spend twice what they were alloted for bus fuel. In any case, you are provided the services of your county during a shortfall, due to rising costs, and now possibly taxes will be raised to cover that shortfall, it isn't that they simply spent out of control and are now punishing you. Governments don't make a profit. They budget from monies they're due to collect in a coming year. It isn't a perfect system.

Feed stores will sell the same product marketed as stall bedding. It's still more than woodstove pellets (and they may sell those at a feed or farm store), but considerably less than cat litter.

If you want to environmentally friendly and economical, stop buying the small bags labeled as "cat litter" and for the same price, buy a 50 pound sack of woodstove pellets.

We had high expectations for girl scouts, but were disappointed. We opted for 4H.

I wasn't sure how to answer. My kids want money. Everyone else gets gift cards. Either I'm done, or I haven't started.

Try technorati.com or google's blog search engine.

What's the big deal? Homeschoolers insult the publicly schooled all the time. I'm sure it doesn't bother them anymore than some bimbo on The View's opinion bothers me. I didn't watch the clip, and I don't watch the show.

Any big box store is at least an hour away from me. I use Amazon for a wide variety of my purchases (things I can't buy in my very small town), sheets are often a very good price at Amazon. With my Amazon Prime account, I get most things in a day or two, and when I do pay shipping, its much less than gasoline. Other online merchants too. I try to buy local when I can, raise a lot of my own food, don't buy things just to buy them (I haven't been in a mall in years). I'm not a shopper. When I need something specific, I buy that thing, not a lot of other stuff I don't need. Most of my children's clothes were second hand or bought at places like outlet stores, they're old enough now to make their own choices and they still prefer bargains, and sometimes, that means Target or Walmart. I don't have a problem with buying at Wal Mart or Target if I happen to be close to one and there's something I need. There isn't any more "made in china" or "junk" there than any store.

Italy. You can't beat it for historical reference. Art, architecture, and natural beauty.

Doing "the right thing" is usually the most beneficial to the species. Evolution favors "doing the right thing".