My condolences for your loss. Your mother sounded like a cool lady. In my outrage over the TSA in general and the no liquid rule in particular, I have found myself repeating your mom's frozen tomato sauce story. It's unfortunate for the world to lose one more sensible person. Take care.

How about you discuss the fact that private insurers have an ANTITRUST EXEMPTION. That they're standing ate the start line together because they can agree not to run the race at all.

It just came to my attention today that this exists. I don't know how Republicans can talk about letting the free market work with this on the books. How about it?

Betzee and all others - how badly do you think of our society, and how nihilistic are you that your best response to helping your children deal with it is "well, better get them used to it sooner rather than later"?

Why not let them develop their love of learning a bit longer, before the drudgery of arbitrary busywork? Why not give them the tools and the confidence to be prepared for the social pressures they'll face, rather than having them sink or swim from Kindergarten? Why have them be tested when tests are kind of arbitrary anyway?

Again, very well adjusted former home-schooled person here. Again, it may not work for everyone - but how's that group schooling working out for everyone else?

Had to take one of those standardized tests where they only let you bring a clear zip-lock bag into the room. When the proctor reamed me for leaving it under the desk, I plopped in on top and said "I was leaving it there because there are TAMPONS in it, but if you want to look at them, be my guest."

So I guess we're over it.

Wow. Thanks. I remember those questions from the 80's. We'd be at the library and would get the "why aren't you in school? How are you socialized?" question. We eventually came up with our stock answers. You will too.

No Christian wing-nuts here. Mom is an atheist who thought school was a prison, and didn't want that for us. We did our work on our own timetable (generally more efficiently than in school, which I attended for a year). We volunteered at a museum during the school day. We did regular-kid activities with "regular" children during the after school hours. We took vacations in May and September, the off season. We did not have to endure junior high.

Sure, you have to be more proactive about some things than others. But my siblings and I turned out fine. People are even surprised when I tell them I was homeschooled - I'm incognito.

It was a great gift. Not everyone can give it, and not everyone can do it right. But it worked for us. Good luck.

Brightstar...do you really not see a difference between abortion and artificial resuscitation? Between actively destroying something and intervening to save a life that is probably already gone?

Do you have a living will? Do you want others to use the paddles over and over again to restart your ravaged heart when it just doesn't want to work anymore, or when you're brain dead anyway?

The law pretty much allows people to refused medical treatment. And if the person can't consent, they allow their next of kin to make the decision. [I may not have this completely right...]

Sure, fine, you may not be down with abortion. But when it comes to medical intervention, isn't it sometimes ok just not to have any?

Do you wear your brown shirt every day, or just on special holidays? Sieg hiel?

BP's point is not that this was a class-ist arrest. It's still racial profiling.

His point is that the reason Gate is upset is because he forgot that his eliteness doesn't make up for his blackness in the eyes of the cops who don't "know better" than to mess with an elite.

BP's point is that, no, it doesn't matter how elite you are, if you're black in America you have to be super-deferential to cops, or they'll arrest you. Unless you're safe in your Ivy League tower

The example: the college dorm party. Blacks don't fear police on their Ivy League campus because there they're "safe." But BP's argument is that that safety does not extend beyond the tower walls. And in Cambridge, MA, it is not safe, and if you are black, you're a target.

He's not saying the cops had a right to do it. He's saying that in the currently-still-unjust world we live in, you can be "uppity" and get arrested, or you can keep your head down and not get arrested. Just because he says it's going to happen doesn't mean he thinks it's ok. And btw, it's not.

PS. to all the white people who say "oh, I had cops question me about being on my property before, and it was cool," think about this: what was your perception of cops growing up? Were you taught that they were there to protect you, and that you had nothing to fear? Or were you taught that they were oppressive misusers of their authority who historically stood by (or participated) while your ancestors were lynched? Did you grow up trusted or distrusted by cops? That REALLY might color your opinion of them when they show up at your house unannounced.