Country Mouse writes: Another attribute applied to local goods and services is the term "community". My local town meeting is community. My library is community. A commercial establishment is not community and we should never be fooled into thinking so.

As a small retail business owner I have to completely disagree with this statement. Our store is a center for posting community information, local non-profit arts groups sell tickets to their events at our store (at no monetary benefit to us), we hold free events that are open to the public and last but certainly not least we make considerable donations to different groups in our community. The last time your child's school needed a prize for the talent show or an ad in the theater production's program, who did they ask? Costco? Barnes and Noble? No, a local business. When the local foodbank or library is having a fund raiser and needs a raffle prize, is it Amazon who coughs one up? No, I don't think so. Ditto for the ambulance corp, the Art festival, the March for Dimes walk, the high school softball team, Senior Trip to wherever, the local hospice center, etc etc. These are the kind of requests we get every single day.

Beyond that, I pay taxes in the town I do business, both for my business and my personal taxes because I live in this town. My accountant, lawyer and banker are in this town, where they all pay taxes and are members of the community. When you shop at Wal Mart where does your money go? $7/hour to the local sales person and all the rest is shipped to Arkansas, where their offices are.

Country Mouse, if your Barnes and Noble is better than your local independent book store, than you've made your decision. You won't be upset when the local store goes under because of Amazon and B&N. But some people will and some people will wonder why their downtowns are empty and why they have no choice but B&N,(who in my opinion is a lame excuse for a bookstore. Talk about lack of choices!)

I'm not saying there is never a reason to buy from chains or on-line, but don't fool yourself in thinking that it has no impact. And don't fool yourself that because a business is making a profit it isn't an important part of your community.

Though, I may pick up some of the numerous copies that I see in various book stores, page through them briefly and return them discretely to the shelves, possibly with accidentally but conspicuously damaged dust covers.

Now Mike, I know you know better! That will hurt booksellers, not Harper or Tenet.

A marital melee in which husbands sneakily replace all incandescent lights with compact fluorescent light bulbs, only to have their wives strike back by re-replacing the bulbs. Are they kidding -- do real life, non-sitcom families actually engage in this kind of domestic warfare?

This is exactly what happened in my house, minus the "sneakily". My husband changed all the bulbs to clf and I switched many of them back. I don't like the light to read by or in the bathroom where I primp (hair & makeup). We still have many flourescents for environmental reasons, but I did draw the line at replacing all the bulbs in the house.

I bet anyone who was on that airplane with him would think he got just what he deserved. And hasn't he read a newspaper since 9/11?

The woman must be on some kick-ass prescriptions, she looks like a robot. I can only imagine the silent scream she is hiding behind that mask. I don't want to be there when she finally blows.

I read somewhere that they turned off the sound from the audience when W and the robot were on - they didn't want any booing to be heard.

The localvore movement and the organic movement compete only for one thing: headlines. Of course they aren't contradictory, but who will get more press? I'm sure it would be a surprise to all the foodies out there who eat largely organic and local to find out they are at war with themselves.

Personally, I'd rather eat the cow that my local farmer raised in his backyard with no antibiotics, growth hormone or pesticides yet is not "Certified Organic" than something a huge agri-corp produced that claims to be organic. I bet my farmers is a lot closer to organic.

In the hospital, the baby is taken away immediately; the mother has to beg to see the baby. It was so great to have that power and that respect given to me." . . .

Epstein agreed. "The hospitals are very blasé about it. They say the baby has to go to the nursery now, or the mom has to rest, or the baby has to go to NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]. And the baby doesn't have to go to the nursery."

I'm glad that Rikki Lake is taking on this very important topic, but she does not do her cause justice by grossly exaggerating hospital birth. I gave birth in a hospital twice with a Certified Nurse Midwife and no one ever took my baby away or made me beg to see my baby. While this may happen to some, it is ridiculous to characterize this as typical. The worst thing they did to me was put the baby in a warming bed - right next to my bed.

Home birth is not for everyone. I wonder if her movie mentions birthing centers or hospital births with CNMs.