The Hall of Fire

Hm...That would really be difficult. Assuming that I can count my LotR, The Silmarillion and The Hobbit as one book, I would also take The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gamain, The Icewind Dale Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore, The Belga...

For several months, despite my best precautionary measures, my daughter always had a bruise on her forehead. I got all kinds of dirty looks and comments from random strangers. It was quite embarrassing. I am not defending this particular dad. The whole idea of leaving a child with a complete strange...

Anybody who has not read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gamain should. Then while your at it, read everything else written by both authors.:) I can't recommend The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour highly enough. It is one of the best books that has ever come into existence. It is set in 11th ce...

Unfortunately, I can't read the article. However, it is a very sad thing indeed. I think that the largest problem with American healthcare is insurance and drug companies, That is a whole different topic, though.

The Republicans definitely need to go, but I don't support the Democrats either. I will likely vote Libertarian, if that is an option.

Welcome to both Erech and Frodosmiss! I do more lurking than anything else, but this is certainly a friendly place. Enjoy your stay!

I work at home as a seamstress, and that has been the best overall balance between work and family that I could come up with. It is not the best paying in the world, being that I make only about $15 an hour. But, it works, and I don't have to worry about who is taking care of my children. I can unde...

That is more of a Gnostic viewpoint, though, which most of mainstream Christianity frowns upon. The unfortunate thing is that many Christians take the all or nothing approach. Then they also pick and choose which parts of the Bible that they want to take literally and which to take figuratively. The...

Same thing that I said on B77 applies here, too.
Again, if you have some other purpose for that comment other than upsetting the American's on the boards, then please let us know. This is certainly a topic worth discussing, however a blatant attack is uncalled for.

I can easily see Bible study as just another subject. It would be no different than studying the Koran or The Tibetan Book of the Dead to me. I am not so sure that I would have been able to do that at 12, though. I remember disbelieving a lot of what was in the Bible, but not having the courage to o...

The only time when getting spanked really bothered me was when I knew that I was innocent. That happened twice, and I remember both time very clearly. I was only about three the first time and my older sister had cut my hair. She then blamed it on me and mom believed her for some reason. The second ...

Indeed. There is nothing more humiliating than people calling YOU down in public for a child's bad behavior. I think that everyone has been to the grocery store with a child that is grabbing stuff off of the shelves, is whining for candy or donuts and pretty much anything else that they can do to be...

No matter how hard you try to be a good parent, or grandparent as the case may be, we are only human. Sometimes we are going to fail. I have lost it more than once with my three children. I also have four step children, and sometimes the job is overwhelming. Soon, all of the children are going to li...

I feel that this is treading shaky ground. Lifestyle choices, such as smoking are reasonable grounds for penalties, but once you get into other conditions, it is flat out discrimination. It would be unfair to penalize someone who is overweight because of a thyroid condition or anyone who has a condi...

But he also thought of all the others killed: "Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug," he told reporters in 2000. "That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another." Yes, Indeed. That is the most import...

My daughter does nothing but laugh if I try to spank her. It is completely pointless because I hurt myself and thats about it. There are other, much more effective methods of dealing with her. One has been push-ups for serious transgressions. She and her younger brother are in the situation, since m...

Great thread! When I red the first post, I laughed so hard, I nearly peed myself.

Before I put my 2 cents in my mouth ;) I'm curious - those who were spanked by parents as a routine punishment, how did your relationship played out as adults? My parents have changed quite a bit in the last 20 years or so. First of all, they have abandoned fundamentalist Christianity for a more br...

This is such a difficult can of worms. :( I think that making laws on the subject would be totally worthless. There comes the problem of enforcement, not to mention exactly where to draw the line. Would smacking a child's fingers away from a hot stove warrant prosecution? Or would it require more th...

It is an outdoor pool, so hopefully it won't be so bad. However, kids do manage to swallow half the pool while they are swimming.
I am concerned about it because they all already have asthma not to mention allergies and a thousand other health issues.