Thursday on Today 9/6

Noteworthy Today: "Scream Free Parenting: Raising Your Kids By Keeping Your Cool" author Hal Edward Runkel gave some advice for parents such as you're not totally responsible for your kids. What he means is that they are not a direct reflection of you. They are human beings. Your job is to make them confident and independent so they grow up to be good, decent human beings. This sounds like a great book which I'll put on my TBR list. I would suggest it for any parents. You can use my Amazon box here to buy it. There were more tips, but I couldn't hear them since my toddler was screaming. Just because we as parents don't scream, doesn't mean our kids won't.

Today's Consumer Smarts featured Janice Lieberman giving advice on how to get a deal on furniture. She suggested going to High Point, NC to Furniture Land South, the biggest furniture outlet in the country. Or shopping in Boyles Furniture Showroom. Shop in January or July for free shipping. My question is, is it really worth it to travel to NC if you don't live anywhere near there just to get a deal on furniture? Surely the cost of travel will outweigh any bargain you get on your furniture set. Just my opinion, FWIW.

A Simpler Life: The Appeal Of Rural America. Apparently they've compiled a list of the best rural places to live and number 10 is Polk County, North Carolina. Number one is Baron County, Kentucky. Those places are fine if you're content with farming and your idea of a shopping trip at the mall consists of getting a jar of peanuts from the corner drugstore. But some people don't need busy lifestyles, so it fits for them.

Father Knows Less Or "Can I Cook My Sister?" is the name of a new book by Wendell Jamieson about the crazy questions kids ask. It was inspired by the author's son who kept asking questions and his father decided to try to find answers to all his questions. That's a dedicated parent. Anyway, one question was "Why does it always rain in car commercials?" Something I'd never really noticed before, but I try to ignore most commercials. The answer is that cars look better on a wet road than a dry one. It brings out the car colors better. Why do doctors have messy handwriting? The answer is because they are too impatient to take time to write legibly. Too bad they don't consider the importance of what they're writing--such as prescriptions that could help people or kill them if they get the wrong dose. Another question is, why is there war? Nobody answered this. You can read the book for a long and detailed response by someone who finally took the time to answer. But I can tell you why right here: because the world is run by men. If women ran the world, there would be no war. Plain and simple.

The Oprah Effect: Can Winfrey Deliver For Obama? This is the first time Oprah has endorsed a presidential candidate which some say could backfire because people don't like being told whom to vote for. That's true. Personally, I don't think it will get him elected, but she is helping his campaign by hosting fundraisers which raise millions of dollars.

Today's Kitchen featured America The Beautiful's New Orleans with Cooking On The Gulf Coast. A couple of chefs from local restaurants cooked up some red fish, shrimp, prosciutto wrapped tuna and other stuff.

That's a wrap.