Oh msbelle, Strega has a good point. You may actually find better rates looking for health insurance on the open market as rates vary substantially region to region.

RSA would need -- I think it's a 5-goal differential to advance; as much as I like to see them with a great shot of winning this game, another Portugal - NKor level blowout seems really unlikely, and I'd hate to wish it on any team. It's been really hard to watch France go down this hard day after day.

Well, in a sense, it is their due after the whole Thierry Henry scandal. And then the craziness of this week. It is all quite shameful.

I thought Steward's slam on team England last night was golden.

Aims - benefits are they keep a child occupied/absorbed out of the house. I know I have the extreme issues of a child who is behavior dramatically worsens with these internalizing activities. The thing is, it is hard to tell if your child will be ok with it, or develop issues with it. Mac is MUCH better if he has his iPod to occupy himself while we are out. I really wish I could turn back time and have it be that I had just brought along comic books on the subway. Both of those are self-involved activities, but they are not engrossing in the way the games are. They have breaks and end points where a lot of games (specifically the adventure ones) just keep going and going with never ending harder to obtain goals.

Yeah, I was thinking of the Henry fallout and the craziness as part of their downfall, not just their on-field performance. Just one bit of sordidness after another.

I think if South Africa and Uruguay both score one more, South Africa would advance. That's doable on both sides.

I need to shower and turn on soccer.

Aims, video games are sort of social currency among kids, too. So there are pros and cons with that. But they can be part of social activity. Witness Owen chatting on the DS with his cousins.

They also offer one more thing that you can take away for time outs, etc.

I have to write and give a speech tonight. I was elected president of the local MOMS Club so now I have to speechify at our banquet. Meep.

I think we'll stay away from the adventure games for now. Joe and Em play Lego Star Wars on the X Box in a tag-team fashion that seems to work pretty well as far as her learning about obstacles and gathering rewards and such. She's OBSESSED with getting all of the coins and such. I worry about having the post-use issues with her because getting her to stop freaking out when we turned off the television was some hard work and it's only recently that she doesn't all the time. And also because passive- entertainment is "supposed" to be a no-no for kids with ADHD, but I've been reading some ADHD mom boards that say the DS actually helps with settling while medication is wearing off. We won't be getting one for awhile because we just don't have the money right now and she hasn't asked for one. Yet. Not having "real" television has probably helped with that.

I think if South Africa and Uruguay both score one more, South Africa would advance. That's doable on both sides.

You're absolutely right -- I was misthinking the necessary GD as "they have 5 goals to make up", and forgetting possibilities like RSA+3, some other team -2. I should know better given that fencing does the same math.