Absolutely fascinating lecture by an economist on what we are spending our money on and why so many of us feel so strapped ..

Apparently there has been ongoing monitoring of spending habits for several decades now and, surprisingly, we're paying less (percentage wise) for lots of things or they've stayed steady ... however, housing is generally much larger percentage and, with both adults in a classic 2 adults/2 juveniles household, we are paying less and more, for instance, less per car but now 2 cars... and we are paying much more for our health care between our "contributions", deductables and co-pays ...

The biggest net effect is that more of our income is tied up in fixed expenses that we cannot adjust when we need to economize.

In my opinion there are also a large number of "newly invented" services, like mobile phones, internet services, bank charges, cable/dish TV, that once adopted are hard to do without or may be impractical. I know few parents without mobile phones for "emergencies" in our fear saturated culture.

anyway -- really fascinating. Didn't delve into the decline in real wages. Did you know that not that long ago MOST americans were putting 10% of their income into savings? Gosh, and I used to be one of them. No longer. I knew my disposible income seemed to have shrunk badly even though I hadn't changed my buying habits. But my savings offered more of a cushion even though it was smaller ... but, it's reassuring to know it's not your imagination that you don't have any money leftover ...

How do we get Cheney out of safety of his darkened lair?

today from Gaza/West Bank and Lebanon (where there's been little news for the last week or so) ....

That scares me... Is no one covering the story (doubt) or is it just not making it to the big time here at home ... or is Paris Hilton "more grateful"-ness saturating the airwave

and "The movie also boasts some surprisingly good special effects sequences, not because they surpass what we’ve seen before, but because one doesn’t expect them from this kind of movie."

The reason I went looking for a "low-brow" review is that the real question about the movie is "Will my 8 to 14 year old kids enjoy it?"

I saw some promo footage on HBO and thought the ark, animals and special effects looked COOL ...

There's no way on god's green earth a movie about Noah "for the whole family" could avoid being corny ....

Also, at 94 minutes, it sound like it's tolerable for those parents who really maybe once a year would like to go out to the movies with their kids ...

Yes, the reviews are mostly terrible ... but considering the what's popular these days, "so, what else is new?"

so, the cast is terrific, the special effects and animals are pretty cool and the story is hopelessly dumb ... but a movie worth going to the movie theatre with the kids -- priceless ... imho.

[Actually, my coniving brain suspects this movie may be able to get cable TV, video and tivo using families to actually leave the house to "go to the movies" for the BIG SCREEN experience -- if so, it's worth its weight in gold and, man, was it expensive. They'll likely buy the video when it comes out as well. Sort of like "Project Runway" reviving the image of an old-fashion department store, i.e. Macy's (tm), ya know?"

Dealing with outside influences and preparing your kids for the other people's ideas in all sorts of areas is part of parenting -- no different than dealing with the allure of drugs, alcohol, soul-less sex and dangerous driving practices.

I am an atheist. I think christian fundamentalism is a negative, intolerant social force. In my life time "Jesus Freaks" began evangelizing in great numbers in the late 1960's and -- though their sales tactics have changed and become more "mainstream" in appearance -- they've never let up.

Anyway, I can understand horror at the prospect of waking up to find your child has turned into a bible quoting, apocalypse anticipating fundie ... but some of you will ... and it's doubtful that a movie will trigger this conversions. Thankfully, for most it will be a phase (although vestiges may linger).

America has grown more outwardly "religious" and it is easy to feel assaulted, but I think the insidious influence of the evagelicals is -- in reality -- similar to that of other less than desirable social forces. Rather than movies, the biggest threat is likely to come from peers, relatives and neighbors. It requires very much the same parental awareness and "sane" informed parental response. Barring the doors and windows only increases the perception that these ideas have the power to scare the shit out of YOU ... maybe they do, but try not to over-react. Seriously.

particularly as we increase air strikes ... too bad we killed off Zackari.

There was a genuine boogie-man void in the marketing plan, what with our efforts to reach out to Sunni's and since, arch-nemesis, Moktada Al-Sadr has become a recognized player, despite out best efforts to demonize him.

Too bad it's a re-tread.

I've read that we intend to clear Fallujah by August, Fallujah again, third time's a charm ... and I suspect that the next few months will be the "last chance" the military will have ... to "succeed" and to punish.

As a result, I anticipate that methods in some areas will be brutal -- like Fallujah, the second seige, which we declared a success -- after we virtually leveled the city and destroyed it's infrastructure and got caught on tape, in a mosque, executing an unarmed injured man.

Al-Qaeda made me do it!