At $300 to $350 an hour, that's an expensive proposition for a retiree.

I agree. So if the reason behind gun deaths is demographics, why is the solution gun control?

The problem is that there are millions and millions of guns already in this country. Even if you could get law abiding citizens to give their guns up, criminals will continue to have them. Then that leaves law abiding citizens defenseless.

If gun control works, how do you explain the number of gun deaths per capita in Washington DC, Chicago, and New York City? They have some of the toughest gun laws in the country, yet their crime rates including gun deaths are among the highest in the country. Meanwhile, states such as Vermont and New Hampshire, which have VERY lax gun control have among the lowest gun deaths and crime rates. I live in New Hampshire. We own multiple guns. To get any gun (rifle or handgun) requires that the purchaser has a federal background check (takes 1 to 3 hours depending on how busy the system is). That is it. We are an open carry state, which means that I do not have to have a permit to carry or transport a gun so long as it is openly visible. A concealed carry permit is issued through the town's police department. It takes 7 days, requires you to list 3 or 4 character references and costs $10. If the chief of police refuses to issue, he or she must provide a reason for the refusal. Yet, as lax as these laws are, we have one of the lowest gun violence rates. Why? Meanwhile, my father in law lives in Long Island, New York. He is an Army veteran (Vietnam) who has never had a speeding ticket. He has been trying to get a permit to purchase a gun for home defense for over SIX months and continues to get the run around (lost paperwork, personal interview with law enforcement, etc, etc, etc). He's retired but it's taken so much time, he's finally given up. Yet, gun crime rates are higher there than here in New Hampshire. Gun laws don't prevent criminals from obtaining weapons, just law abiding citizens. Jenn

Not to be picky, but the income tax chart in the link has an error. It says that NH state income tax is 5%, but NH does not have a state income tax. It has a dividends and interest tax of 5% which applies to dividends or interest in excess of $4800 per year. When I find 1 error, it makes me concerned how accurate the other numbers in the chart are.

I live in NH and don't think the property taxes are "that" bad. We are at 22 per thousand but the home prices are so much lower than the surrounding areas that the total cost isn't unreasonable. My mom and sister in Connecticut have tax rates of 35 and 27 per thousand plus a state income tax of 5% and a state sales tax of over 6 percent on almost everything.

In New Hampshire, we are not required to take a gun safety course. Nor are you required to have a permit to purchase or open carry a firearm. Having taken a course, it was a complete waste of time. My best training on firearms came from a marine my husband works with and practice at the range. Even my 7 year old knows how to handle a rifle safely - it took 5 minutes to teach him gun safety and the rules involved - the 2 most important of which are do not put your finger on a trigger unless you are actively shooting, and always point the muzzle of a gun away from people (usually down).

You already have to be 18 to purchase a shotgun or rifle under federal law. 21 for other firearms. Federal minimum age requirements also apply to the ammunition used for those firearms. So this boy was already violating the law on 2 fronts. Additional restrictions probably would not have helped in this case. On the other hand, whoever sold him the gun and ammo should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. To put it in perspective, 2 adults going to a shooting range for an hour will go through 2 to 300 rounds of ammunition. Going twice a month means easily 500 rounds. About a year or so ago, it was near to impossible to purchase ammo since most dealers were perpetually out of stock. Some types are still VERY difficult to find and we stock up when we do find it. It's not unreasonable for someone who shoots frequently to have thousands of rounds.

One of the reasons I homeschool is because DS, during the first week of first grade, was LITERALLY taught to twiddle his thumbs while waiting for other children to finish their work. He was also sent to "time-out" twice within the 4 days he was there. I still don't know why because no one found it important enough to e-mail me or call me about it. He went from a child who loved school to hating school in 4 DAYS. We are still undoing the damage 1 year later. Add in a teacher who didn' know "there" from "their" and thought "clothespin" was spelled "closepin" and I figured I couldn't do worse. Unfortunately, parents and the staff in our district are so "proud" of the fact that our schools are "blue-ribbon", 10 out of 10 on greatschools, that they refuse to recognize that there are any problems with them. They are oblivious to the fact that the only reason that the schools do well is because every parent I have talked to afterschools or summerschools their children and the district is made up of predominantly wealthy parents who hire tutors at the first sign that their students are having an issue. My input is NOT wanted. So I stick to educating myself on the candidates for school board and making sure I vote every year. I will not sacrifice my children so that other parents and the school district can feel even better about themselves. I can sure as heck tell you that I had no knowledge of what was even going on in the classroom (no books or worksheets came home), never mind being able to influence it.

I think today was week 5, day 2 of couch to 5k. All I know is that it included (2) 8 minute runs that made me feel like I was dying. Friday is supposed to. E a 20 minute run, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Jenn

Saturday I did week 4, day 3 of c25k. Total 3.5 miles over 48 minutes. Today was week 5, day 1. 3.25 miles over 45 minutes. Unfortunately, my plantar fasciitis is now acting up again.... Jenn

Did Week 4, day 2 of Couch to 5K. Total 3.5 miles, 48 minutes. Jenn

Completed week 4, day 1 of couch to 5k. Added an extra 3 minute run, so a total of 3.4 miles over 46 minutes.

Khan academy has a place value video as well.

I really appreciate everyones' support. To be honest, the poor eating is really just stress related. I'm eating enough but when I'm stressed I search for food. We went through a really rough patch with older DS this week. He's always been a little temperamental, but he had a couple episodes this week where he was completely out of control (hitting me, kicking my seat in the car while I'm driving, etc). It made us start worrying that there is something more wrong than just being seven (bipolar runs in DH's family). That being said, today he was back to his usual self - minor grumbling over schoolwork and a couple arguments with his brother but no major blow ups. I'm hoping it was just a really BAD week. This morning I struggled to get up, but ended up doing 46 minutes on the treadmill for a total of 3.25 miles. It started as week 3, day 3 of couch to 5k but I ended up adding an extra full interval plus 2 additional 90 second runs. Running 3 minutes straight is still tough but definite improvement. Weight is still where I started but I'm happy it hasn't increased given this week.

Week 3, day 2 of couch to 5k with an extra interval. Total 3 miles over 43 minutes including 1.5 miles jogging. Then ate 6 devil dogs. Yesterday was 6 hostess cupcakes. Exercise is going great but my first grader is getting on my last nerve.

Any chance you are in New York? I've seen those sheets in the EngageNY online files. I have an older 1st grader who is still counting on his fingers (and toes) occasionally. Math Mammoth is a decent program but I felt it didn't have enough fact practice. We've introduced math practice sheets from EngageNy but we do not time them. Anything timed at this point causes too much pressure and we've had complete meltdowns. Good luck!

The employees knew that HL owners had Christian beliefs that they allow to rule there business practices. It could be reasonably assumed that those beliefs would impact other business decisions in the future. And I disagree that there is no reasonable belief when FDA labeling directly states that it might prevent implantation of a fertilized embryo. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/021998lbl.pdf But that's probably reasonable given that the plan b insert says the same. http://www.planbonestep.com/pdf/PlanBOneStepFullProductInformation.pdf Then there is always WebMD. Not as definitive, but a good overview of what many people think. http://www.webmd.com/women/guide/plan-b I would assume Plan B SHOULD know how its product works and label it correctly.. I think it's ironic that many people are arguing that employees can't leave HL for another job because the pay at HL is so much better than what they can find elsewhere. Many employers pay more because some other part of their benefits package is "lacking". I can't understand accepting a job offer without understanding the complete package offered. That includes salary, vacation, medical, dental and salary. Without knowing medical coverage, copays, deductibles and employee payroll contribution, how can you really evaluate a position?

Did Week 3, day 1 of Couch to 5k this morning with 1 extra interval. Total 2.75 miles over 40 minutes. I'm still trying to dig out and catch up after the weekend. Jenn

Since you asked... I feel that there should be a VERY narrowly drawn exception with the following requirements: - the company must be majority owned by an individual or family who are personally involved in the running of the company. - the owners' beliefs being used as a basis of the exemption should not be a "surprise" to its employees. - there must be a "reasonable" basis for the owner to believe that providing those benefits violates those beliefs. This can be shown by Product insert or literature provided by the manufacturers, FDA approval documentation or substantiated medical research or literature. I think HL should qualify. Starbucks would not. If a Scientologist opens a business and makes it clear that the organization follows his beliefs, then the government should respect those beliefs. It should be up to the public to try to change his mind through boycotts or refusing to work there.

I think that's a very broad statement to make. And in my case, it's absolutely false. I am not currently a member of any church, nor do we attend any religious services and haven't in about 6 years. I do have an over-reaching belief in some "higher power". My husband believes in God, Jesus and the Bible and has taken it on himself to teach it to our children since I blocked them from going to weekly catechism (or whatever it is called now). Any religious questions I refer to him. I am defending HL because I believe that a business owner should have the freedom to determine what, if any, benefits they are providing to their employees. I feel it is wrong to force them (the family that owns HL) to provide and pay for medications they believe cause abortions. And the product labeling and FDA website supports those claims whether or not they are accurate. We are talking about an S Corp here, not a publicly traded corporation. If we were, I would feel very differently.

Actually, that's incorrect. Employees are NOT taxed on the value of their employer's contributions for their health care benefits. Any amount that the employee contributes through their employer is also excluded. Employers are allowed a deduction from income for the amount paid for those benefits. So let's add another wrinkle into HL paying the penalty. Now any amounts paid by employees for health care coverage will be in after tax dollars. For lower paid workers it might not be much, but it might be something.

Just to clarify, not all states and all plans cover infertility treatments. The ACA allowed the states to determine what would be required based on a "benchmark plan". I know my plan several years ago did not cover it. Not because of a moral belief, but because of the cost.

According to your link, we are talking about the fifth most used method. Even including all other methods it is only a total of 6.1% of ALL contraceptive use. And they are not dictating what medications are allowed, only what they are willing to pay for. Just like my prescription plan might refuse to pay for 1 medicine over another to treat the same condition (i.e. Limiting me to their formulary). I still can get the prescription, I would just have to pay the whole amount for it.

I guess I'm confused why everyone keeps saying that Hobby Lobby doesn't want to pay for birth control pills. The 4 contraceptive methods at issue here are 2 types of IUDs, and the emergency contraceptives Plan B and Ella which they claim function by not allowing the implantation of a fertilized egg. They cover the pill, mini poll, diaphragms, condoms, patches and sterilization surgeries for both men and women.