http://theburningplatform.com/blog/ “Out of the nursery into the college and back to the nursery; there’s your intellectual pattern for the past five centuries of more. School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?†– Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury wrote his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 in 1950. Most kids were required to read this book when they were seventeen years old. Having just re-read the novel at the age of forty-seven makes you realize how little you knew at seventeen. It is 165 pages of keen insights into today’s American society. Bradbury’s hedonistic dark future has come to pass. His worst fears have been realized. The American public has willingly chosen to be distracted and entertained by electronic gadgets 24 hours per day. Today, reading books is for old fogies. Most people think Bradbury’s novel was a warning about censorship. It was not. It was a warning about TV and radio turning the minds of Americans to mush. It is now sixty years later and his warning went unheeded. A self imposed ignorance by a vast swath of Americans is reflected in these statistics: 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year. 70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. 57% of new books are not read to completion. There are over 17,000 radio stations and over 2,000 TV stations in America today. Each day in the U.S., people spend on average 4.7 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines. The projected average number of hours an individual (12 and older) will spend watching television this year is 1,750. In a 65-year life, the average person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube. Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child – 20,000 Number of videos rented daily in the U.S. – 6 million Number of public library items checked out daily – 3 million Percentage of Americans who can name The Three Stooges – 59% Percentage who can name at least three justices of the U.S. Supreme Court – 17% You can read the rest of the article yourself. It's a good but scary read. The statistics in the beginning make me want to go cry. If this is where we're at now, where will we be in 20 years?

I went to find more info on them and found lots of articles about the current infestation: Members of Congress from Maryland, Pennsylvania and three other states under siege by the brown marmorated stink bug are asking federal authorities to allow farmers to fight back with pesticides that are not now approved for such use. Rallied by Maryland Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, 15 members signed a letter Friday to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, arguing that "if we fail to take action … damage from this insect could prove to be a national crisis." Farmers in Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states are reporting significant crop damage — 20 percent or more in some orchards — from the invasive Asian species. The congressional letter asks the USDA to "fast-track" reclassification of the stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, from a nonregulated pest to one that is regulated. That would allow the EPA to approve the unregistered, emergency use of any pesticides found to be effective. Many existing products don't work because of the insect's feeding and over-wintering habits. Greg Rosenthal, spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency has not yet seen the letter. But, he said, the service "is convening a New Pest Advisory Group to consider the regulatory status of the pest." The letter also asks the USDA to fund expanded monitoring, control and eradication programs, and to work with universities and private companies to register pesticides found to be effective. "Time is of the essence," the bipartisan group wrote. "The goal is to marshal all available government resources to develop an effective control than can be implemented by next spring." Besides Bartlett, signers include Maryland Democratic Reps. Frank Kratovil, Steny Hoyer, and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, as well as members from districts in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Oklahoma and California.

Yup. I'm in MD and they're everywhere here. I stopped to pump gas today and they were all over the pump, columns, and my car. It's insane.

*Raises hand and jumps up and down* I do, I do. Well, kind of anyway. I'm in the Ellicott City/Columbia area. :D

Thanks. I've never had to keep canned fruit in the fridge before. A regular can is normally gone in a day, two max. These jars are much bigger than I'm used to though, so I was worried about how long we'd have to eat them once we open the jar. :001_smile:

Vitamin D and omega 3's are the staple here. From my understanding the liquid vitamin D is best, but we still just do a pill because it's easier. I also start switching over to more foods that will build up the body nutritionally. Soups and stocks. I'm hoping to try bone broths and such this year. I remember reading that dark meat is good for the extra zinc which helps too.

Ok, I'm canning for the first time ever. I'm almost done with my first batch of canned pears and I have a question. I used quart size jars and a lot more fruit fit in each jar than I expected. Once I open the jar, assuming I'm refrigerating after opening, how long is the fruit good for?

If you haven't seen it yet, I love Sweet Home Alabama. :)

I was going to suggest the red wine, but I wasn't sure 45 minutes was enough cook time to cook off the alcohol in a slow cooker.

Do you have any dry onion soup mix? Maybe try just salt and pepper? For next time, make sure it's beef broth (I keep better than bouillon in my fridge so it's quick and easy to make up, always on hand). Also, some red wine helps too.

Lots of people looked, but no help? :( I went ahead and made a spreadsheet of everything and I'm now trying to figure out how best to use everything. The good thing is I've come to the conclusion I buy way to many dry goods (pasta's, rice dishes, instant potato's) and they sit there forever. What I'm short on is fruits and veggies, which makes sense because I tend to buy them fresh.

Ok, I'm tired of having crap in my cupboards that don't get used and never knowing what to make or what I have. So I just got finished going through and writing down EVERYTHING that's on my shelves, in the freezer/fridge etc. (well except all my spices. I have too many and I'm not up to that task yet, lol) Now what the heck do I do with the info? I was thinking about making up my own spreadsheet, but if there is already something out there that will organize by category and possibly select recipes for me I don't want to reinvent the wheel. I tried a quick search online for virtual pantry, and the two things that popped up I wasn't terribly impressed with. I figured if anyone might be able to point me in the right direction or give me some advice on what to do with the information now you ladies might be able to help. :) I'm not always so great at some of the domestic stuff, but I'm trying to learn!

I remember visiting my BIL one year around May. While the water was cool it was very swimable and the weather was great.

Thanks everybody. I feel a lot better about it this morning after a good nights sleep. I have no idea why it bothered me so much last night, but everyone's advice was great!

I doubt very much he would mean for me to feel bad. Honestly, they've never been anything but great to me. It was a conversation he had with my husband. He's also not the type to try and control us too much at all. Education has always been a hot button issue with him. I think he feels like a failure sometimes because none of his sons finished college (even though my husband is a very successful software engineer and the other two went into the military). So now he's moving his hopes onto his grandkids going to college and getting degrees. So I think he's worried that by homeschooling them they will be at a disadvantage. I think part of the problem is he's never seen a good example of homeschooling. My SIL was homeschooled until high school age. When she went to enter high school she was testing a year behind so she had to 'repeat' 10th grade. My brother is being homeschooled right now, but not well and because my parents were truck drivers for years and he lived in the truck he did miss out on a LOT of socialization. I can't cut ties with my in-laws. I love them, the kids love them, and 98% of the time everything is great. He probably doesn't even know that DH mentioned the conversation at lunch to me, he was just talking with his kid during lunch break.

I suppose I should add my first thoughts were MRSA or cellulits. Good luck. Hopefully it's nothing serious and he's better soon.

That would be my first choice too. Walk in clinics around here generally start at $150 + fees for tests and meds. Just walking in the door of the ER starts at $500 I think.

But I really need a place to just vent a bit. My daughter is only 3 1/2 and my FIL already continuously makes comments about 'aren't you looking forward to school soon' (to her) or 'aren't you going to put her in preschool soon' to us. He KNOWS we're going to homeschool, but I think he does it to pick a fight. He brought it up with my husband to day at lunch, asked when she was going into school, and he told him that she already was doing preschool at home. My FIL then went into his speech about socialization, teachers are professionals who know what to do, etc. DH told me about it when he got home and it's been bothering me ever since. We're very close to his family, see them at least once or twice a week. They live only five minutes away. I don't know if I can keep this up if I'm going to be constantly opposed. I'm so excited about teaching my daughter. Every time something clicks or she learns something new that is the most amazing thing to me. I can't imagine sending her away to let someone else do that. But I'm sitting here sick to my stomach about in tears because of one person's opinion. Why the hell does it even matter so much to me! DH lets it slide off his back no problem, but then he has years of dealing with his dad under his belt. Sigh. Like I said, I know many of you have experiences with unsupportive family members and it's been discussed many times here before. But I really needed to get it off my chest right now and figured this would be a good outlet.

What was the procedure?

Lol. I'm used to the opposite climate. I grew up in northern NY. It was often snowing while I trick or treated on Halloween. Today it's 64 up there. Early September would already be cool and crisp as I went back to school. I really miss that. I really miss NY climate wise, but I don't miss the politics and lack of jobs in many areas. Now I'm down in MD where it's going to be in the 80's today (a break from the 90's, but still feels too humid) and many Christmas's don't have snow :(

My Grandmother not only reads Danielle Steele, but she used to have a subscription to Harlequin Romance novels and she likes the Twilight series. :001_huh: I can't say I'm adopted though, because at least she likes to read. DH's grandmother used to do nothing but sit on the couch and watch soaps and game shows. While the above may be literary trash, they are a step above soaps and game shows. My guilty pleasures are the Sookie Stackhouse novels and J.D. Robb. They're complete trash and I know it, but when I'm only able to read a couple pages at a time between running after a 3 year old and a 2 year old their story lines are easy to keep track of. If I tried to read anything meaty 5 pages at a time I'd go nuts.

I remember a lot of projects that I did. In fourth grade we studied Native Americans, particularly the type that lived in our area (Northern NY). When we finished our project was to build a model long house complete with little people, etc. I LOVED that project. I spent so much extra time on it at home it's not even funny. I really loved that unit because I was learning local history and I felt connected to the area. I remember journaling about books that we read in 3rd grade. We were reading a book about the pilgrim's passage on the ship to the US and after each assignment we had questions about what we think it would have been like to go through that. I remember band and chorus concerts and practices. While I hated music classes I loved band and chorus. I remember in 7th grade writing a paper on thunderstorms. I still remember some of what I learned. I did a research paper on feminism in Shakespeare for my honors english in 11th grade and I got to go use the college library for research. I was (and still am) a research nerd. While I know what I loved in school, I also know that not everyone loves the same things. While I loved doing projects and crafts with various subjects and I felt I learned and solidified a lot of knowledge by doing them, my husbanded hated arts and crafts in school and even from a young age felt they were a waste of time. So while I look back and say I want to do more of the things like the longhouse project and go activity heavy because that's what I loved, I realize I need to look at my kids and take my cues from them. As they get older I'm hoping to follow their lead as to how they learn better and what works for them. Based on just looking at their very different personalities at such a young age, I'm not sure what works for one will work for the other. But we'll see.

Nope, I hate the heat and humidity of summer and wish it would end now. I LOVE fall. The leaves changing color, the crisp bite in the air, apple picking season, etc.

I have no actual experience with that age group, but I can theorize a lot :) Part-time job If he's ready a class at the community college Some other type of class (art, music, sports, etc) Volunteer work Do you have a local co-op that has classes?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the whole series) The Handmaids Tale (I haven't read it yet, but I always hear it recommended) A Brave New World- Adolous Huxley The Mists of Avalon- Marion Zimmer Bradley The Beekeeper's Apprentice- Laurie R. King (first of a series) Game of Thrones- George R. R. Martin (also first of a series) The last three aren't quite classics, but they are some of my favorites.