The Wizard of Oz (1939) -- Beware of the flying monkeys!

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1991) -- Deliciously creepy stop-motion animation.

The Wallace & Gromit movies: A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave (shorts), Curse of the Were Rabbit (feature-length) -- My kids never got tired of watching the adventures of cheese-obsessed inventor Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit.

The Adventures of Robin Hood -- Of the many Robin Hood films, my favorites are the 1925 silent version with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and the 1938 version in glorious Technicolor with Errol Flynn.

The Court Jester (1955) -- Danny Kaye dances and sings in this musical romp through Merrie Olde Englande.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) -- A flying car, Dick Van Dyke, and lots of great songs.

The Princess Bride (1987) -- Classic fairy tale with swordplay, giants, rodents of unusual size, and even some kissing.

Back to the Future (1985) -- Marty McFly must help his parents get together, with the aid of crazy professor Brown and his time machine.

Anything with Shirley Temple -- She sure was sweet and cute, wasn't she? And she made a lot of movies.

Anything with Charley Chaplin -- The Little Tramp's physical comedy is lots of fun; older children will understand the satire and drama that underlie the gags and jokes.

Anything with the Marx Brothers -- Take Groucho, Harpo, and Chico, mix with lots of jokes, gags and a big song & dance number, and voila! A Marx Brothers comedy ensues.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) -- Older kids will enjoy the Baron's improbable string of adventures.

Yellow Submarine (1968) -- Trippy Beatles animated movie.

Who framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) -- The only hope of a cartoon character framed for murder is a toon-hating detective.

The Republican party has pretty much abandoned the center in recent years. And as it has moved further and further to the right, the Democrats have begun picking up the disenchanted moderate, center-right voters and politicians that the Republicans have left behind. They're filling the vacuum that the Republicans have created by prioritizing religious/ideological purity and amassing power/wealth above governing the country and taking care of its citizens. That the Republicans have trashed their own brand name by their incompetence and corruption (not to mention their lack of compassion for the problems of ordinary folks) adds to this.

And yeah, this expansion into the center is going to move the Democratic party to the right. On the other hand, I think the center is ready to listen to a more liberal message, having seen the results of listening to the conservative message. The conservative movement is running out of intellectual steam and hasn't come up with new ideas in quite a while (as opposed to new, divisive tactics). They keep flogging God, guns, tax cuts and gays, when the country has moved on and wants a message that's both more pragmatic and more inspirational. The Democrats have to articulate a coherent message of their own, though, and that's where they've often fallen short.

If we had used DDT as liberally as the anti-Carson folks claimed we should have, mosquitoes would have swiftly developed resistance to it. We would have eliminated raptors, song birds, and other DDT-sensitive animals and accumulated plenty of DDT in our bodies, but the mosquitoes would still be merrily breeding and transmitting malaria.

The tobacco industry doesn't care about malaria, but it does care about breaking up the coalition of environmentalists and public health experts. Conservatives also want to discredit environmentalism and public health because they stand in the way of unfettered profit-seeking by corporations. Their interest in the malaria sufferers in Africa is limited to using them to discredit Rachel Carson and by extension, the environmental movement. If they actually cared about alleviating suffering from malaria, they'd have directed their funding towards anti-malarial efforts and vaccine research instead of astroturf organizations and anti-science propagandists.

If demand for pickup trucks picks up, I'm sure that GM will resume building them in quantity, perhaps with hybrid power trains and similar fuel efficiency features.

It would mean one less monkey on your back.

Please take care of yourself. Caregiver syndrome is staring you in the face. Take some time for yourself, take walks, or get your favorite form of exercise. Eat right. Enlist your niece for emotional support and help. Try to clear as much as possible from your plate. If you can afford it, get cleaning services, lawn services, grocery delivery and the like.

Being responsible for three disabled and ill adults is no picnic. Adult day care for your mother and respite care for your dad and husband are good ideas. Especially at night! (If aides are not available on the weekends, could you bring your husband home during the week?)

And please look into assisted living facilities for your parents. It sounds like they are going to need this sooner rather than later. You need to do this now, while you are still well and things are kind of under control. Do not wait until you become sick or hurt yourself, because then the decision will be taken completely out of your hands.

Good luck.

Seriously.

If you are having this much trouble with something that's part of your job, you need to find a new one. (Plus, it sounds like your boss is a real piece of work.) No job is worth sacrificing your mental and physical health for.

But I do drink bottled water occasionally when I'm out of the house. It has neither high fructose corn syrup nor artificial sweeteners, both of which I try to avoid.

Last panel is too funny! (Nice Dr. Who cameo, too.)

Cute, but a bit long-winded.