11% of teens send nude photos to strangers

This is dangerous at a number of levels, but one consequence that you may not have thought of is that kids who are caught doing this are starting off in life as registered sex offenders. One 19 yo  had to move out of his parent’s house after he was caught sharing nude photos of his gf.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/06/25/pn.sexting.survey.hln

2 days in a row of some blue sky in RI

I’m fucking giddy.

I wish I was kidding.

 If this is what it is like to do crack, I am glad I never tried it.

Understanding Obama on Iran

Again, Why the Diffidence? – Victor Davis Hanson – The Corner on National Review Online

Shared via AddThis

Iranian Women and George W Bush

Our former President made this statement while in office.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the women will be leading freedom movements in Iran and elsewhere, and the role of the United States is to provide moral support and other support without undermining their cause.”

No doubt in his mind.

No doubt in my mind that he would have been sure the United States fulfilled its role at this critical time in Iranian history.

And Obama – somehow I think he has doubts and prefers to hedge his bets.  Clever man –  our President.

The women of Iran are perhaps less savvy. Freedom isn’t free, after all, it costs everything.

CNN has done well in covering the Iran crisis, and this morning they have a report on one of the more interesting and promising subplots — the role of women in the protests.  Shoreh Aghdashloo proudly claimed that 40% of the people in the streets were women in a Fox & Friends interview last week, and the infuriating and senseless murder of Neda Agha Soltan has galvanized the movement.  CNN reports that the women have taken an interesting and perhaps calming role in the protests, but the latter hasn’t kept them from becoming targets of the regime.    (from http://hotair.com)

 Still waiting to hear from the Dixie Chicks and N.O.W.

Funny weather we’re having

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElA1uVTKdMk

Diddly reads

I am reading a book called

Stumbling on Happiness

by Daniel Gilbert.  It certainly builds on the book that inspired Diddly by Cordelia Fine.

Below is a link to good review

 

http://jseliger.com/2009/04/23/stumbling-on-happiness-%E2%80%94-daniel-gilbert/

How to be happiest with with your choices

There is research out there that shows that you are  more likely to like whatever you pick ( autos, therapists, spouses ) when you feel you were given a choice. Interestingly enough, you are also more likely to continue to like whatever you pick if your choice is irrevocable.

I guess this means that the ideal scenario is the free choice among all alternatives without the option of changing your mind once you’ve chosen.  Some kinds of freedom are more likely to lead to happiness than others. Freedom up front has more value in terms of happiness than freedom at the end.

   I think this knowledge has lots of applications, especially in child rearing.

Idea for Israeli and Palestinan problem

 I have a proposal to address the Israeli and Palestinian conflicts.  People in that region who not only respect the other’s culture’s right to exist but are willing to actually uphold and serve the other side should be rewarded with freedom to live wherever they wish.  For example, if an Israeli want to live in the West Bank, he ought to be allowed to do so, as long as he pays taxes to the Palestianian Authority, send his children to Palestianian schools where they  learn Arabic, and young adults do some mandatory civil or military service for the Palestianian Authority. Coversely, a Palestianian would have to pay taxes to the Israeli Government, send his children to Israeli schools where they learn Hebrew, and young adults would have to do some mandatory civil or militart service for the nation of Israel.

It may be that Palestians flood Israel initially, so there may need to be some limits initially to the number of dual citizens allowed, but it might be wise to start. Getting this going wouldn’t require Israel to get along with Hamas or settle the issue of where a Palestian capital is going to be located. It would slow the establishment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank too without prohibiting them.

Freedom isn’t free.

How bad is divorce for kids?

I am divorced from the mother of my oldest two kids. It has been about 7 years since the divorce and things are ok. I like this excerpt from

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6171/

Many researchers in the field of psychology are acutely aware of the difficulty in eliminating subjective influence on research about human beings and human relationships. When looking into the effect on children of parental conflict and divorce it is easy to come up with harmful consequences – if that is what is being looked for. The possibility that there may be positive outcomes is often not considered, and thereby the results are distorted. Having reviewed the research on the effects of divorce, child development expert Rudolf Schaffer concludes that ‘the majority of children experience problems in the months immediately following divorce’, but ‘in the long term children show considerable resilience; they are able to readjust to a large range of new family circumstances’. Although maladjustment is more likely in children of divorced parents than non-divorced parents, the vast majority ‘do not show any severe or enduring problems’ (5).

For my part. I have to say that my kids show considerable resilience.

I think kids need us to believe in this resilience, even when they are hurting.  Not to say that you shouldn’t comfort and nurture them, but we also ought  expect them to do well, and bounce back when they don’t. Sounds simple enough but the prevailing wisdom these days is to see kids as valuable but fragile treasures.

Milestone weekend

Gabrielle Aviles Chase turned 13 yesterday. On Saturday she had a 5 hour long hair appointment and achieved her long held desire to get her hair straightened. We had a quiet day yesterday. She liked her presents. She and I took Phoebe for a walk at Lawton Farm, a nature preserve in Scituate. We got a little lost but no biggie.

http://www.lawtonfarm.org/      Actually, they are trying to save Lawton Farm from Pop Warner football.

To see G through the years, go to www.overthemoontohome.blogpsot.com  .Thanks to Reena for putting it together.

Xavier had his first camping trip this weekend. He went to Camp Champlin with the  Boy Scout Troop 31 on Friday afternoon and stayed 2 nights. http://troop31crompton.org/home.html

 They stayed in tents and he had a blast. Many of his friends are in this troop.  He earned a badge that allows him to use a knife and axe and other sharp stuff. He hopes to go to Camp Yawgoog in the summer for a week.  http://www.yawgoog.org/history/history_index.html (Click onto the slide show on the left for some photos. )

 Right after camp he had a soccer game and still seemed to have plenty of energy for video games when he got home.

And last but not least, the amazing Josie Dong Dong. Mom bought her a hand held bubble machine and she and Phoebe love it.

I am sure photos will be coming on overthemoontohome.