It seems to me that the questions were designed to provoke gender bias. What boy isn't going to say he's interested in how things blow up, for crying out loud? Phrasing these questions more neutrally might have yielded somewhat different results.

Even taking the study at face doesn't mean that science curricula should be segregated by gender. Instead, it points to a need for a diverse science curriculum that appeals to a broad range of interests while giving kids a good background in the basics. After all, biology and chemistry are critical parts of supposedly "boy-friendly" science like developing bioweapons AND "girl-friendly" science like treating diseases. Both are simply different applications of the same discipline.

It's how much they get minus how much they give. New Jersey gets a lot back from the Feds, but it pays in a lot more. In essence, it's a cash cow.

It's unrealistic to expect every state to get back exactly what it puts in. States like West Virginia and Alabama actually do need the extra government money because their citizens are relatively poor. Having said that, though, it's pretty clear that federal money is being used to reward the victors in recent elections. Alaska is a good example -- it's awash in oil money and should therefore be a net contributor to the federal coffers, yet it is one of the largest recipients of money from the federal government.

What's driving some of this is the tax code. It hits blue state residents harder than red state residents. Blue states usually have higher local and state taxes than red states because they actually provide services to their residents. But more and more blue staters are being caught by the Alternative Minimum Tax, which limits the deductions they can take for these things. The AMT is now essentially a surtax on the blue states, which is why the Republican-dominated congress has zero interest in fixing it.

She's the bridge between you and your parents, having kept her ties to all of you. She should be able to give you a better sense of whether your parents want to have a relationship with you again.

Another thing to consider is how heavily the burden of dealing with your parents falls on your sister. I bet your parents are making far more demands of her than they are of your brother (being so conservative and obsessed with traditional gender roles) and she will appreciate getting a little help with them. Feeling like you are being "stuck" with the care of aging parents while your siblings are merrily going about their lives is corrosive. It's a sure-fire way to torpedo a relationship between siblings -- I've seen it happen in my own family -- and your sister sounds like the one person in your family who you'd like to maintain a good relationship with. So talk to her about this, too. Maybe she'd like to have someone else take your father to the cardiologist occasionally, for instance, and you could do it as a favor to her (if not to your parents).

I'm not happy because a bunch of conservative wack jobs want to force me to bear unwanted children -- even if I have been the victim of rape. Rapists' rights are more important than women's rights.

I'm not happy because the same bunch of conservative wack jobs want to eliminate my access to contraception. After all, children are a punishment for having sex, not a gift from God.

I'm not happy because said conservative wack jobs could not care less about a baby's fate after it is born. At birth it magically transforms from a sacred fetus whose rights trump those of its mother into a vile little welfare brat who is nothing but a drain on their precious tax dollars.

I'm not happy because the aforementioned conservative wack jobs want to let my health insurance company opt out of covering screenings for cervical cancer. (Yes, I had no idea that conservatives were pro-cancer!) Not to mention contraception.

I'm not happy because the previously cited conservative wack jobs want to turn my lesbian and gay friends into second-class citizens and deny them equal treatment under the law and even basic human rights.

I'm not happy because television and movies are teaching our daughters that there is no higher destiny in life than being a porn star.

I'm not happy because I'm tired of people telling me I'm a bad mother because I have a career.

I'm not happy because my friends who are stay-at-home moms are are constantly criticized for wasting their expensive educations when they leave the workforce to take care of their kids.

I'm not happy because I'm tired of earning less money than men for doing the same thing.

I'm not happy because when I have to leave work to take the kids to the doctor, I'm lokked upon as a bad employee ... but when my male co-workers do the same thing, they're looked upon as good fathers.

I'm not happy because (to paraphrase Rebecca West) I get called nasty names whenever I act like something other than a doormat.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Because this documentary was about a program that the Girl Scouts ran at a women's prison, and neither of these organizations admits males.

Just because this particular film focuses on the problems of imprisoned women and their daughters does not mean that the problems of men are being trivialized or forgotten. They simply aren't the topic of this documentary. The filmmakers cannot be everything to everyone.