Andrew, your post made my whole day.

No, Obama and his team are not perfect. They are human beings like the rest of us. However, I am incredibly heartened by their efforts to pull their heads out of the sand and speak clearly about the world as they see it. This can only mean good things.

3% of production and 25% of consumption do not add up, no matter how hard we try. We have to reduce the consumption.

I couldn't agree more!

I've been working at home since 2005. Two years for a small company, and about 1.5 years for myself as an independent contractor.

Yes, many companies don't like NOT being able to see your smiling mug tapping at a keyboard in a cubicle, wearing the requisite office dress code.

But... those who would be inclined to take advantage of a work at home situation will do the SAME THING in the office. Those are the ones who spend hours out of each day standing by the coffee pot, regaling their co-workers with movie reviews. Any manager worth their salt knows who those people are and should act accordingly. Not penalize a whole group because of one or two chronic timewasters.

When I worked for a small company telecommuting, everyone in the company did it. We stayed in touch with IM, email, phone calls, and a company subscription to GoToMeeting.com. It worked beautifully.

This doesn't work in a lot of professions (teaching, nursing, retail, etc.). But in many professions it can work well, if managers can manage to let go of face time. Those employees who really need babysitting should probably be shown the door anyway.

... is a simple one, and it's not the "nanny state." It's because Europe is comparatively small and densely populated. There aren't vast tracts of unused land to dump their stuff in.

We, however, have seemingly infinite miles of not a lot. Our landfills are often miles from population centers where we can dump our stuff on a truck and fugeddaboutit.

Europeans don't have that luxury. Everywhere is someone's back yard. We shouldn't have that luxury either, but it's a lot easier here to close one's eyes and look away.

I agree wholeheartedly that manufacturers need to think about the full life cycle of their products, and the costs after the item is defunct.

Yes, I know all the economic reasons why falling home prices equal economic doom.

However... there HAD to be a correction, especially in California. Homes were so far out of reach for so many people. If it takes two high incomes and an endless commute from miles away to afford a home, something is wrong. You could say home prices are in free-fall. You could also say they're returning to some semblance of reality where real people working real jobs can buy them.

And no, it's not what you think.

A naked lady party is a clothing exchange. With a great catchy name.

1. You (assuming you're female) invite as many women friends as you can. As many different sizes/shapes as you can. Each person brings a grocery bag or two of castoffs from their closet.

2. Shut the blinds.

3. Put on the music, get out the wine.

4. Everyone tries on the clothes! Everyone goes home with something "new", the leftovers go to the charity of your choice.

Lots of fun, new clothes, no money. Not shopping in your own closet. Shopping in your friends' closets!

... is a double-edged sword.

When I was at the place in my life where my children went to a day care center, I paid more than my mortgage in child care every month. My husband was a student--we paid more in child care than his tutition.

I don't know what the answer is. The childcare workers typically had low pay, they had benefits available but couldn't afford to buy them, and the most well-paid of them had an associate's degree from community college in early childhood education. This was a high-quality center, and still the staff couldn't afford insurance. I felt terrible leaving my kids with people who I grew to love and trust, paying way more than we could afford, which still wasn't any kind of decent wage for them.

The only way to "raise the economic value of the childcare worker" is to make it government subsidized. Not a bad idea... I think I contributed more to the economy by working than by collecting welfare, but if the rates had gone up, we would have been even further in the hole.

Should early childhood day care/preschool be government-subsidized, like public school? I don't know the answer to that one. But that's the only way to raise daycare worker's wages.

From someone who was raised as a conservative Catholic, then gave it up in college... I can repeat chapter and verse all of the solid right opposition to abortion. I grew up carrying the signs. My mom still does.

I grew up with the thinking that goes like this:

--Tell kids that they shouldn't have sex until they're married.

--Tell kids that they're wrong to have sex.

--Tell kids that there is something wrong with them, they are dirty, bad, and poorly raised if they even think about it.

--Birth control will only send the wrong message. Why should anyone need it if they don't have sex?

--Girls who get pregnant are bad girls.

--Boys who get girls pregnant can disappear off to college and that's ok.

--The only option if you get pregnant is to endure months of public scorn, give the baby up for adoption, then endure more public scorn until you're old enough to move away, because everyone knows what you did.

--The public scorn for your parents who go to church here will never end, because they had damaged children.

--Sex is BAD.

--Until you're married.

--Then it's OK but only to have kids.

Thank you Obama for calling out the ridiculousness! Hooray for science over ideology!