Free Republic

The first F bomb of the evening came early, followed rapidly by the first insult of President Bush, which, not surprisingly, incorporated the second F bomb. This was not the end of the swearing, but then, this was not your usual book fair speaker. This was Rosie O'Donnell. Or, as she is known to the patient fans without tickets waiting outside in the standby line, just plain Rosie. O'Donnell kicked off the 24th edition of the Miami Book Fair International Sunday night at Miami Dade College, and the audience was smaller than usual on past opening nights. A rough count...

I have recently learned that student attendance at the PTA/PTO-organized book fair, "winter boutique" and other school sales at my 5-year old daughter's kindergarten are mandatory. Yes, mandatory, if you consider the fact that all children, regardless of whether they bring in money or not to shop with are taken to these sales to "browse". In other words, children do not have the option NOT to visit these fairs, and parents do not have the option to either consent or not consent to their child being taken shopping or "browsing" by their teacher. Yes, technically, parents and children have the...