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I am a strong Christian conservative, and homeschooled all my daughters through high school graduation.

All that being said, we taught them what the theory of evolution is about, and we taught them the theory of creation. We also taught them where we stand on both.

Creation theory? Yes - even though I personally have a very strong opinion and belief on this, scientifically, BOTH are theories, because they cannot be reproduced to be proven

The thing that most people on both sides of the aisle don’t realize is this - there are many points, sub-points, differing opinions, differing aspects to the main theory, allies to travel down, rabbits to chase, etc. on both evolution and creation. Micro evolution or macro? Species to species or intraspecies? Literal 24/7 or old earth creation?

You simply cannot lump all evolutionists or all creationists into one basket. Just won’t work.

This is why we exposed our daughters to as many differing view points on both sides of the aisle - that would be “education,” not simply “indoctrination.” They have all be able to stun and silence both creationists and evolutionist (of their age.....) with thought-provoking questions that neither had considered.

My .02

It is a shame that this brilliant young lady must choose between publicly standing up for her principles or a passing grade.

My daughters and I figured out a way for them to do both. Simply state at the beginning of the paper something like, "the texts say..." or "my professor taught...." and end with a closing paragraph of personal belief. Two of mine have done this and actually garnered positive feedback from their professors on that.

Pet Peeve - the phrase is “presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

One is either innocent or guilty of the accused crime, no matter what a court or jury finds - the FACT of innocence or guilt remains unchanged.

It is only the PROOF thereof that gets tried and recorded.

OJ Simpson comes to mind......

The Honduran Congress followed their constitution when their President overstepped its boundaries. He was removed, as specified in the Honduran Constitution. We (the US) ought to be in total support of the Honduran Congress and people for following the legal guidelines they set for themselves to avoid dictatorial takeovers a la Chavez. It’s extremely irritating and maddening to see the US Gov’t support the Honduran ex-Pres when he is the EX for sound, constitutional reasons. ARGHHHH. (My sister is a missionary in Honduras - I hear news from her first-hand).

Another reason I’m glad we homeschooled! My girls had lots of play time with kids of all ages, almost all kid-organized and led, and a variety of sports and activities. As far as I know, they never did the knife-throwing thing......

Living in a college town in Texas, this conversation between several college students (my daughter included) was recently overheard:

My daughter - “I can’t wait to turn 21!”
Friend - “I know, me too! We should go together!”
Other friend - “To Harry’s for a drink?”
Daughter- “No! Concealed carry classes!”

You might be an enemy of the state if you home school your children instead of trusting the government to do it for you.

How did we let this happen?

We - as a nation - have let 4 generations now be educated by the government, and every generation’s education has been progressively diluted to the point that it is no longer a real education, but rather a place to slowly mold children into passive, unthinking “sheep” who want handouts and easy money and little personal responsibility, no consequences for wrong-doing, no absolute right or wrong, no winners or losers just equals, and certainly no reading of original source documents from our country’s founding. The generation who just became eligible to vote this time around is the future, and it’s not pretty.

Although NONE of this entered our minds when we started homeschooling 13 years ago, it has been obvious over the years that our daughters have a totally different take on the past, present, and future of America than many of their peers. One daughter said a prof in her American history class at the local junior college asked how many had read the entire Declaration of Independence and Constitution. She was the ONLY one who raised her hand. The professor imemdiately said, “Well, you’re homeschooled.”

I know in our family, the ultra-conservative vote has doubled this year, as two of our three daughters can vote for the first time this election! How many other families out there who voted conservative in the last couple of elections have added new 18-year old voters? And - in our circle of friends at least - the conservatives have lots more children than the liberals do!!! (and we’ve never been polled...!)

Saddest part of that comment is that half the liberals in this country are teachers and professors who are in charge of our young.

Some of us have taken charge of our own young.....we indoctrinate them at HOME with our views and our blog bookmarks, so that when they get to college at 18 or 19, they are staunch conservatives and not afraid to argue as such. I was so proud of my daughter when a college test question asked her to "compare the war in Iraq and the Viet Nam war," and she eloquently started her answer, "Some would have us believe, in their own ignorance...."

Well I bought my used 2002 Saturn SL2 for status. The “Can I afford the monthly payment?” status.

Monthly payments? Who makes those? We buy our cars so old and used and cheap that a one time payment is all we need. We let our three teen-agers drive them - much less stress when they hit each other's cars learning to paralell park. We save our monthly payments for braces, college tuition, and car insurance.

We had 12 games, I think (having all daughters, the football teams isn’t my highest priority, but it does make the calendar!) We play TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) teams and public schools with 6-man teams for a full season.

Our homeschool association has a 6-man football team! Last year, we were one of three in the State of Texas.

Reports I hear from my friend fixin’ to go back for his third tour in Iraq (this war...he was there in 1990, too!) say that the majority of the average Iraqi people he and his unit encounter are extremely grateful and express it! You should read some bias from the military, not just the MSM. The United States Central Command web page will give links to all sorts of press releases, articles, pictures, etc. that tell a totally different story than what you’ll get stateside from a liberal media.

Number one, that figure is sheer fantasy. I could easily hire one or two people to do everything my wife does for less than half that.

That would depend on if you hired another wife-type person (like Alice on the Brady Bunch) or went with professional, single-job specific businesses who do all that - a landscaping/yard care business, a caterer, a professional housekeeper, an accountant, a chauffer, an errand-runner, etc. Those kinds of businesses bring a premium price for those families willing to pay! My guess is - most men don't realize half of what their "stay-at-home" wives actually do, and wouldn't until it went undone!

That was great! Who is this guy, never heard of or seen him!

If the daughters have not been taught the PRINCIPLES behind the dress code long before they turn 13, then it's a battle, no question. My three (16, 17, 18) would not even want to wear a shirt like that, let alone BUY it. My sister (older, wiser) suggested years ago that we teach principles, not lay down rules, and watch the difference.

I've talked to a mother in Yakima who wanted her teenage sons to get agriculture jobs and they couldn't," he said, adding that he believes employers are hiring illegal immigrants to drive down prices and avoid having to pay taxes on workers.

This is in direct odds with the farmer who said not one Causcasian applied for a job. So whats the cause/solution to the disparity? One says no whites applied; another said the sons "couldn't" get agricultural jobs. Why couldn't they? Didn't pay enough? (I know an 18 year old who would sit home and do nothing rather than work for minimum wage - he thinks he's worth more, and obviously, $0 income is somehow preferable....) Or will the farmers simply not hire because of the paperwork/tax issues? I know I'm no economist, but how about if we apply that whole "supply/demand" theory, and put in "cost of labor" at a wage that non-migrant workers need, then increase the cost of the product.....if it's really wanted, people will buy it (gasoline being a good example here...)

My idea for *every* political campaign for about 6 years - "anyone but the incumbent."

A total clean sweep of every legislature and house to get rid of career politicians who pander to God-only-knows whom and ignores their constituents in lieu of self-glorification is desperately needed! I gurantee if you get a rural houswife from North Zulch Texas and a farmer from Arriba Colorado to discuss the budget, the CRAP would get cut pretty quickly! You ask families ON the border to make laws about the border, and the situation would change dramatically!

The opposite would be men who strive to be the prettiest, best manicured, in the office. A lot of women looking for that? Sadly, yes. I just saw nightly wrinkle reducing cream for men at my grocery store. Have you checked out the array of men's body washes at the store? How about men getting pedicures and waxes? It's all happening so fast it makes me want to puke. Where are all the men who'll hold the door open for my daughters???????????? My three daughters (18, 17, 15) all look for guys with an incredible work ethic - not afraid to get dirty, sweaty, or mussed up to do what needs done. Who stays late to sweep the gym? Who volunteers to take the trash out? Who not only holds the doors open, but is there first to unlock them and stays last to re-lock them? They would all be so irritated at a guy who refused to do some hard work! Luckily, we live in a place (rural Texas) where that is the norm! We used to go to a church where the preacher wouldn't take out the trash or pull weeds....we left that church, and partly because we all had a difficult time dealing with a man who refused to do physical labor, even when necessary!