I think that pen-ler's may be interested in a little discussion I had with Teresa Amott (and I hope I'm not violating your privacy, Teresa!) In response to her comment on how good the US military's child-care system is these days, I said: it gives one an incentive to join the armed forces! To which she said: The way things are going, it may be the only full-time job with benefits left.... Seriously, isn't it weird that the military has decent child care? I'm connected with a bunch of socialist feminist child care types -- people who organize child care workers, etc. -- and we're all still a bit baffled. I mean, it's obvious that a volunteer army that relies on a largely poor younger workforce might need to tailor its benefits to attract higher "quality" recruits, but one would think that the military ideology would not exactly be suited to providing decent child care. I (Jim, that is) agree. It's eerily reminiscent of how the military sector of the old Soviet economy was one of the few efficient sectors. I guess military goals conquer all. I've had experience with two types of childcare, both private. One, a church-organized place partly subsidized by my university, was okay, but is currently being milked for cash by the congregation. The other, a parent-organized school that once "belonged" to a synagogue, follows the private-school tradition of cream- skimming. In short, they expelled my 4 1/2 year old son because he was a "discipline problem" (chip off the old block?) We'll see how the public schools deals with this. in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA 90045-2699 USA 310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950 "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante.
