Not all vaccines are of equal worth. I once got into a long discussion with my kids' pediatrician, in which he eloquently defended vaccines in general, but at the end he shook his head and said, "well, the chicken pox vaccine...that was sort of forced upon us by the pharmaceutical industry". His point was that chicken pox is not that dangerous a disease, and that exposure to it provides better immunization than the vaccine. But it's a lucrative little industry, and the disease itself is a huge inconvenience to working parents. So it became required, but the motivation was questionable.

Vaccines in general are hugely beneficial, but it's also healthy to question each one. The combination of an overly-protective government and a greedy pharmaceutical industry could be dangerous.

Absolutely. My 2 girls (now 10 and 12) haven't watched TV since they were toddlers, and only recently got into some movies and computer games. They have been relatively sheltered from pop-culture gender biases. One is a tomboy who wears her hair short, and thinks a perfect day is 2 hours of swim practice, then some rock climbing and a run. The other plays flute, and would love to sit in the house all day and play with "My Little Ponies". They're best friends. Both are obsessed with Lord of the Rings. Neither has expressed any interest in computer science (although I have tried). There are some things that "nurture" just can't control.