I agree about the Keurig, I had one and sold it because it didn't taste that great and the waste really bothered me. I went to Italy in 2012 and have wanted that coffee ever since, so I got an espresso machine, found a good Italian coffee and have a decadent cappuccino almost every day. I would invest in an espresso machine, so e chocolate syrup and good coffee and experiment until you've made the perfect mocha, it can be done, I make great ones at home when I'm so inclined. :)

It really does, now if I could just stop thinking about it and analyzing it. :)

We have a desktop, it's dh's old(er) windows gaming machine. It is actually only about 4 years old and still runs very well. I love it, we have two large monitors hooked up on it so we can read, watch videos, game, etc. I usually have Onenote up on one side and we check it off as we go. We have several laptops too but having the desktop in a central place in our schoolroom makes it very convenient.

Ugh, I can sympathize, I cannot stand the heat, I seem to run hot. Our air conditioner is always on, I think I've only opened the house up 7-8 times since we've lived here (18 months now). I cannot wait to move. The Pacific Northwest is always calling my name but not likely to happen. Hawaii is just not the place for me. On the bright side though cold brew coffee is amazing! :)

After much internal reflection (and discussion with my dh and mom) it is definitely not her views, we became friends knowing we were opposites. The most recent racist comment happened about 3-4 weeks ago and I've really been struggling since.

I expect exactly this to happen, she will perceive it to be because I disagree with her views but that really isn't it.

Thank you. I think I just really needed to hear that it was ok. I'm going to try to just let it die naturally. I was feeling very unsure that I am doing this for the right reasons, but I don't think I'm doing it because we have different views per se, it's more about values and the way she's presenting them. I have found it a bit difficult to be part of the homeschool community here in Hawaii because it's small and *seems* to be mostly the opposite of me. We both moved here around the same time and bonded over that but I think it may have just run it's course at this point.

I'm really struggling with a friendship right now. I like to consider myself pretty open minded and easy going although I'm very passionate about some things. I have a friend who is about the polar opposite of me in every way one can be. She is also very passionate. We are on opposite sides of the political spectrum as well as the religious one. For the most part this hasn't been a huge issue, we've had a couple debates/discussions, etc. but nothing life altering. I quit Facebook about a week ago because the political posts (hers and others) were starting to have a weird affect on me, like anxiety and anger. The thing is, she is super supportive of ideas I find abhorrent, she is anti-gay rights (I come from a gay family), she has made two racist comments in my presence now (my family is multi-ethnic). Today, like a huge idiot, I looked at her Facebook feed and it alludes to me "being so mad I left Facebook" and something about "public school's anti-Christian, pro-Muslim, liberal leftist garbage". I feel done, but I hate confrontation and I'm wondering if ending the friendship is the right thing to do. I'm really hurting and feeling uncomfortable and in an unfamiliar situation. I'm a bit of an introvert and don't usually have or need a lot of friends, I never have.

Adoption would not be a possibility if she's seeking justice for her attacker, because he would also have to approve it. If the rapist then gets custody or visitation what is to stop him from raping or abusing the child. I agree that life is hard, I don't agree that we need to intentionally make it harder. 18 years of facing a person who violated you is *cruel*. A baby that is not wanted is not safe. I won't link it, but look up baby Brianna Lopez. I would argue that she would've have been better off never being born. She is by no means the only infant to have that happen, but it's the case that has stuck out most in my mind.

This kind of stuff always brings The Handmaid's Tale to mind. I truly feel like the Christian Right is trying to bring forth a Christian nation where women are mere wombs and men get to control them. It is terrifying. It seems lately there is always talk about women's healthcare, wages, etc. and the right doesn't want to do anything to improve it because the war on women is manufactured by liberals and thus not real. There are people considering a presidential bid who's entire platform is bringing god back to our "Christian nation". Unlimited campaign donations, corporations as people, and the lunatic (loud) tea partners make this a distinct possibility.

Did you know in more than half of the states a rapist can seek (and get!) visitation or custody? So no only did he violate this woman in the worst possibly way, if she reports the rape then he would be DNA tested, if he was the father he would have a say in adoption. If he got custody or partial visitation she would have to see him regularly for the next 18 years. So we effectively be forcing a woman to carry a child born of a violent, horrible interaction and then subjecting her to him for 18 years all for what? How is that ok? How is that not punishing the woman?

I'm out of likes but this bears repeating a million times.

Do your tax dollars not go to Medicaid? Of course you are paying for other peoples' birth control and a myriad of other things you may not agree with, as am I. Your religious freedom ends where my rights begin. Employers are not doctors, they have no place in the examination room where a woman and her doctor make decisions about her health. Period. If they don't want to pay for things they don't believe in, then they ought to cease existing, because there is just no other way around that. It still does matter that there are states actively trying to ban certain types of birth control including the most effective IUD. That tramples on my liberty and right to make decisions about my own healthcare for myself.

Actually, some right-wing politicians are trying to make those illegal. Look at personhood bills. Paul Ryan is a big fan and has penned a couple. It's only about control of women, it always is. Especially in the right wing fundamental circles where patriarchy reigns supreme.

Yes this. Every word of it. I get so tired of the religious right acting they are the only true patriots. I am a veteran, my dh is active duty, I'm as liberal and atheist as they come and I love my country. I'm not of the 'Merica crew, I don't subscribe to ethnocentrism, but I served my country because I believe in it. Most people serving this country are not doing it so we can turn it into a theocracy, that's not what they fight and die for. It's gotten to the point that the word patriot has almost negative connotations to it anymore, and that is a terrible shame.

This is such a huge problem. Anti-abortion laws and decreasing access to birth control disproportionately affect those in poverty. When you add in the abstinence-only sex education that many people would like to see in our public school system you get a dangerous mixture of ignorance and hormone fueled young people that perpetuates cyclical poverty. Cyclical poverty exists by design and is disproportionately applied to minorities. The success stories happen only because they are needed to keep the wheel of poverty turning. Since the abolition of slavery, many in the US have searched and sought ways to keep certain factions "in their place" so to speak. The first way was Jim Crow, but that was too overtly racist, so a new method had to be designed, and even though some whites have to face similar issues, minorities are often most affected. Restricting a person's ability to control their fertility (be it by perpetuating ignorance or access to medical care) is one of the many effective methods that have been brought forth for that purpose. A great example is how Texas is forcing most of their planned parenthood clinics to close, but this is happening to the poverty stricken border areas where a woman would have to travel hundreds of miles to seek care, which often includes other types of family planning (not just abortion).

Me too, and I get emotionally invested in trying to change someone's opinion. I cannot let go of things I'm passionate about. :/

No worries,I know how that goes, I had so much political stuff on my Facebook that it was giving me real anxiety. I had to deactivate.

Little side note: if you're interested in this stuff, check out the book The New Jim Crow. It is absolutely incredible, sad, all the things.

Sure , I read it as value all children and let your fertility do its thing. She talks about controlling ones fertility in a negative way, not sure how else I could possibly take that. Controlling fertility is of absolute utmost importance to women all over the world and is not a negative thing in the least.

Where is the line? Jim Crow was outlawed for a reason, do we really want to bring it back?

Really? How in the heck could it be good for anyone if women just popped out baby after baby until they were no longer able? Of course fertility needs to be controlled, I knew few people who desire to have 10+ kids and for the ones that do, great! have at it, but just because I CAN doesn't mean I should, or that any person anywhere should be compelled to. There are so many factors that go into family planning, economics is a huge one. Most people can't afford to have that many kids. Suggesting that women should just embrace their fertility and not do anything to control it is naive at best and utterly irresponsible at worst. ETA a word

That's exactly the kind of thing they should want to avoid. You cannot logically be against abortion, many contraceptives, and sex education. When a person (or corporation) is against all those things there is a strong indication that the ultimate goal is to make sure women remain under their control, stuck in a patriarchal society that aims to punish them for having s3x. Which leads right back into our country turning into some kind of theocracy/oligarchy where men and money make all the rules. Ugh, this stuff makes me so angry inside. I cannot fathom how anyone can think this is a good thing. It is just beyond me. I know darn well that had it been a Muslim company and related issue, it wouldn't been have been heard by the Supreme Court much less decided in favor of. This country absolutely makes considerations for Christians and Christians only. I agree with the dissent quote you posted. It's a dangerous precedent that some people seem unable to see. I'm really glad I deactivated my Facebook before this.

I also want to add that when a person is denied birth control they are going to be more likely to have an abortion, at some point. The IUD is considered one of the safest and most effective contraceptives on the market. It is rather expensive, Hobby Lobby's *opinion* that it causes abortions is not a fact. What is a fact is that contraception, especially long term, implanted contraception, goes a long way toward preventing abortion. So if they truly cared about the issue of abortion and not making a political statement they would continue covering it as they did before Obama(!) mandated it. http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/05/study-free-birth-control-significantly-cuts-abortion-rates/

ITA. There is nothing good about this and I feel fairly certain that when it comes to other religions that have a sincerely held belief about say, blood transfusions or medical care altogether, people may be singing a different tune. I have zero faith in the Supreme Court right now since the unlimited campaign donations case. We are living in oligarchy that's somewhat likely to become a theocracy to some degree when we give more weight to corporations and religions than we do to people.