I'm surprised at the how much people (parents) complain about the amount of homework assigned to their children. There are many educational alternatives available out there - maybe you have to search for them, but you can find everything from open schools to Waldorf to Montessori (going all the way to 12th grade). Find the one that works best for you (maybe the one with the least amount of homework...)

I want my kids to have a significant amount of homework. We specifically put them in a charter school that assigns heavy amounts of homework because we felt that the local public schools were too light on that. So far, they have not been turned off to learning by the homework.

So, do what's congruent with your personal philosophy, but let us do what we want. And next time, do your own homework - did anyone notice the typo in the title of the article?

I don't always agree with Cary - in fact I sometimes vehemently disagree. But on this question, I could not agree more. Cary - your response is breath of fresh air.

You can debate whether some of "Husband's" actions are missteps or not. It doesn't matter. Cary's advice is absolutely sound.

This would be funny, except that it's too close to the truth - too depressing.

Wow. I haven't actually read any of Anne Lamott's books, but I've been mildly intrigued. I always thought I'd get around to reading her one of these days. Yes, she seems a little self-absorbed. At the same time, it takes a lot of guts to write about slapping your kid. I agree with some of what she said in the interview, but not everything...

I think the hysterical responses of some letter-writers say a lot more about the writers than they do about Lamott. If their goal was to influence someone against her, they've failed miserably.

Coleman is a senator from my state, and he's got just one thing on his mind - his own re-election, which may be tricky.

He's very adept at saying things that will create the impression that he's independent-minded, but managing to avoid actually voting for anything other than the party line.

A couple of months ago, he looked like he was only a few steps behind Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Chuck Hagel in the GOP defections on the Iraq war. That was widely reported. He's nonetheless marched lock, stock and barrel with Bush on actual votes ever since. That was not so widely reported.

Now he's calling on Gonzales to resign. You can bet that if there is a "no-confidence" vote, the most you can expect from Coleman will be a vote of "absent."

Actually, Gonzales and Coleman have a lot in common. They're both willing to lie - er, excuse me, - say whatever it takes to stay in power.

People are willing to forgive Falwell's beliefs because they were sincerely held? Um, there are a number of prominent historical figures from the 20th century who did far more harm to humanity than Falwell did - who were also sincere about their beliefs. I don't think anyone is ready to forgive them on the basis of sincerity. Same goes for Falwell.

Snarky? If you'd had Tinky Winky demonize Falwell in the same language and tone that Falwell demonized his enemies, that might have been snarky.

I guess that Falwell succeeded in being a divider - he polarized people into two camps, and that polarization continues, as evidenced by the comments to this article.

This isn't really about whether pot is/isn't should/shouldn't be legal. I think Cary hit it right on the head. This is about addictive behavior and about how that behavior affects the addict and the people closest to her or him.

Being part of a family (traditional, mixed, totally non-traditional, whatever) does mean that the people need to sometimes bend, sometimes be firm with - and for - one another. Add the addiction, and a not so simple (but commonplace) life situation goes belly up.

I think the LW is right when she says "I can tell her the lies, justifications, sneaking, self-medication, blame-shifting and defiance don't seem all that different to me than an alcoholic's little tricks. I can tell her what I see is self-destructive and reckless." I don't think the LW's concern has anything to do with whether pot is legal. Alcohol is legal, and if the behavior she's talking about were related to alcoholism, it would be just as destructive.

The ISG Report was a non-starter. We've heard how the President's Iraq policy is on it's last legs numerous times . While I would really like to see us withdraw from Iraq, I just don't buy it.

Even if "Bomb Iran" McCain's numbers are low, remember that he's in the past been critical of Bush from the right - not enough troops, not enough of a hard-line policy. As long as guys like McCain and Cheney are around, there is no way this President is going to do a thing to bring this war to a conclusion.

Petraeus is now talking about "decades" in Iraq - I think we've found the "lasting legacy" of this administration...