Political agenda at preschools
I feel so depressed today, it is almost physically painful. I am not sure of all the causes, but there is one that has been occupying my mind for days.
When making the move to Orange County, we were excited as years of planning had come to fruition and the long-awaited beginning of our eldest son's formal education at what we consider the best school in existence, Van Damme Academy, was finally upon us. There was just one small matter to attend to: a preschool for our little girl needed to be selected. After speaking to over a dozen Montessori schools in the area, we had settled on Monarch Bay Montessori Academy. A Montessori training facility headed up by women who apparently valued the Montessori philosophy as much as I do was worth the higher tuition and a commute.
As the school year started, we could not have been more pleased with Van Damme. Lily's environment, however, served to dampen the joy. She was placed in a classroom with an inexperienced teacher who was off to a rough start. Still, after a series of talks with the administration and the teacher, I found I was able to influence the situation and the initially inappropriate behavior by the teacher was rectified. I was frankly astonished at the change and relaxed. Now that the school year is drawing to a close, I am revisiting my doubts.
Though Lily seems relatively happy and likes her teachers, she is in anything but a proper Montessori environment. The classroom is noisy. The kids are frequently misusing the materials. Presentations are not what I have come to expect from Montessori. The teachers are over-involved with the students and the whole thing is kind of sloppy. Still, this is not the primary factor making me depressed.
Why is it that preschools have taken it upon themselves to preach political agenda? It commonly takes form of extreme environmentalism and multi-cultural ideas. Leaving aside my own philosophical and political views, which do not mesh well with the content, I am distressed by the notion that a school ostensibly dedicated to teaching children to interact with the world, physical materials and engaging their senses, takes on the teaching of such controversial points to three-year-olds? It is developmentally inappropriate as ideas reach far beyond the preschooler's capacity to reason. Thus it is nothing more than propaganda and is contrary to the Montessori spirit of providing children with experiences and information they can easily grasp and advancing at the child's developmental pace.
There is nothing particularly wrong with teaching children to take care of nature. Many schools have gardens and classroom pets that kids learn to care for with love. Similarly, it is entirely appropriate to teach kids about polite manners and friendly demeanor toward others regardless of their color, creed or beliefs.
Yet when my three-year-old comes home and talks about trees "breathing all the air on earth", so we need to protect them, I note how impossible it is for her to grasp the ideas that go into that statement: photosynthesis involved in "breathing the air" or the "protection" measures involved with the trees, let alone the reasoning necessary to weigh the factors involved in choosing to "protect" them.
The multiculturalism ideas similarly involve all kinds of bad thinking. The notion of respecting anyone's beliefs is preposterous: some beliefs are evil and should not be condoned! No respect is due to villanos philosophies of the Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, cannibalist tribes of Africa or terrorist cultures of Palestine. I do not, however, presume to teach any of this to my own young children as they are simply unprepared to make such judgements - so why does their preschool feel the necessity to do so?
Monarch Bay is not the exception. They, thankfully, are not engaged in the multicultural preachings - of the two I find those more harmful, but are so over the top on environmentalism that I wonder when the children have the time to work on the proper Montessori materials at all as such a large portion of materials is dedicated to these age-inappropriate ideas! Peninsula Montessori, where my children began their education leaned heavily on the multiculturalism ideas and spent half the year preparing for, and immersed in the international festival, an event that attempted to ingrain the utmost respect to the backward, mystical and often dangerous ideas of other parts of the world.
Tomorrow, Lily is going on a field trip to clean up the beach. A delightful hike to the beauty of the Pacific Ocean with the time there taken up by sorting through trash instead of admiring the beauty of the planet we live on, nor the mysterious forces and amazing wonders of the ocean. My husband advocated keeping her home. My response (and the source of my present distress): "I don't expect that day to be any different from any others. Instead of learning about "protecting" endangered species, she will be picking up candy wrappers. I don't wish to deprive her of an opportunity to spend time at the beach for the sake of avoiding just one in the long series of unnecessary and inappropriate lessons!" "I didn't realize it was that bad," said Jeff, "Perhaps we should look at moving her."
Moving her where??? How are we to find a school in southern California, Orange County of all places, which does not feel that raising "responsible citizens"is its primary duty? I too grew up in an environment that busied itself with raising responsible citizens: Soviet Russia. Perhaps for me, this hits a bit close to home...
I realize that these ideas will fail to take hold and after a few months at Van Damme, Alex has corrected his views and brings home information about real science, spelling and art. Notably, they are not weighed down by any philosophical ideas inappropriate for his age. The word rational, for instance, is not yet in his vocabulary. For now, he is actually learning about the way the world works - a subject that is plenty big to fill a five-year-old's calendar... Still, the wasteful arrogance of the culture, in which we are forced to raise our children brings me pain.
Why, oh why, isn't Lisa VanDamme willing to open a preschool? Oh, right... because the number and perversity of government regulations would make her job so miserable that training young minds might not work out to be worth all the pain. Can't say I blame her. How sad!
As the school year started, we could not have been more pleased with Van Damme. Lily's environment, however, served to dampen the joy. She was placed in a classroom with an inexperienced teacher who was off to a rough start. Still, after a series of talks with the administration and the teacher, I found I was able to influence the situation and the initially inappropriate behavior by the teacher was rectified. I was frankly astonished at the change and relaxed. Now that the school year is drawing to a close, I am revisiting my doubts.
Though Lily seems relatively happy and likes her teachers, she is in anything but a proper Montessori environment. The classroom is noisy. The kids are frequently misusing the materials. Presentations are not what I have come to expect from Montessori. The teachers are over-involved with the students and the whole thing is kind of sloppy. Still, this is not the primary factor making me depressed.
Why is it that preschools have taken it upon themselves to preach political agenda? It commonly takes form of extreme environmentalism and multi-cultural ideas. Leaving aside my own philosophical and political views, which do not mesh well with the content, I am distressed by the notion that a school ostensibly dedicated to teaching children to interact with the world, physical materials and engaging their senses, takes on the teaching of such controversial points to three-year-olds? It is developmentally inappropriate as ideas reach far beyond the preschooler's capacity to reason. Thus it is nothing more than propaganda and is contrary to the Montessori spirit of providing children with experiences and information they can easily grasp and advancing at the child's developmental pace.
There is nothing particularly wrong with teaching children to take care of nature. Many schools have gardens and classroom pets that kids learn to care for with love. Similarly, it is entirely appropriate to teach kids about polite manners and friendly demeanor toward others regardless of their color, creed or beliefs.
Yet when my three-year-old comes home and talks about trees "breathing all the air on earth", so we need to protect them, I note how impossible it is for her to grasp the ideas that go into that statement: photosynthesis involved in "breathing the air" or the "protection" measures involved with the trees, let alone the reasoning necessary to weigh the factors involved in choosing to "protect" them.
The multiculturalism ideas similarly involve all kinds of bad thinking. The notion of respecting anyone's beliefs is preposterous: some beliefs are evil and should not be condoned! No respect is due to villanos philosophies of the Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, cannibalist tribes of Africa or terrorist cultures of Palestine. I do not, however, presume to teach any of this to my own young children as they are simply unprepared to make such judgements - so why does their preschool feel the necessity to do so?
Monarch Bay is not the exception. They, thankfully, are not engaged in the multicultural preachings - of the two I find those more harmful, but are so over the top on environmentalism that I wonder when the children have the time to work on the proper Montessori materials at all as such a large portion of materials is dedicated to these age-inappropriate ideas! Peninsula Montessori, where my children began their education leaned heavily on the multiculturalism ideas and spent half the year preparing for, and immersed in the international festival, an event that attempted to ingrain the utmost respect to the backward, mystical and often dangerous ideas of other parts of the world.
Tomorrow, Lily is going on a field trip to clean up the beach. A delightful hike to the beauty of the Pacific Ocean with the time there taken up by sorting through trash instead of admiring the beauty of the planet we live on, nor the mysterious forces and amazing wonders of the ocean. My husband advocated keeping her home. My response (and the source of my present distress): "I don't expect that day to be any different from any others. Instead of learning about "protecting" endangered species, she will be picking up candy wrappers. I don't wish to deprive her of an opportunity to spend time at the beach for the sake of avoiding just one in the long series of unnecessary and inappropriate lessons!" "I didn't realize it was that bad," said Jeff, "Perhaps we should look at moving her."
Moving her where??? How are we to find a school in southern California, Orange County of all places, which does not feel that raising "responsible citizens"is its primary duty? I too grew up in an environment that busied itself with raising responsible citizens: Soviet Russia. Perhaps for me, this hits a bit close to home...
I realize that these ideas will fail to take hold and after a few months at Van Damme, Alex has corrected his views and brings home information about real science, spelling and art. Notably, they are not weighed down by any philosophical ideas inappropriate for his age. The word rational, for instance, is not yet in his vocabulary. For now, he is actually learning about the way the world works - a subject that is plenty big to fill a five-year-old's calendar... Still, the wasteful arrogance of the culture, in which we are forced to raise our children brings me pain.
Why, oh why, isn't Lisa VanDamme willing to open a preschool? Oh, right... because the number and perversity of government regulations would make her job so miserable that training young minds might not work out to be worth all the pain. Can't say I blame her. How sad!
Blood and gory numbers
After many months of arguing with myself about the value of having another baby, I surrendered. There was a basic and fundamental problem: while all the arguments against it were obviously right, rational and clearly optimized for a better life - they just did not work! So eventually, my husband and I made the decision to move ahead.
A few weeks of HARD WORK later, we had a pink line! Now, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you will know, that this is not yet cause for celebration for me. It's been barely over a year since I lost the first of the two most recent pregnancies. I had decided not to tell anyone, so as to avoid a very public sadness if the news were bad - the only problem is - I couldn't do it! It it just plain too hard to have news so big and important, and fail to tell my friends. And yes, many of them I have never met, and the only connection we have is through Facebook or this blog. So there we have it - I posted my BIG SECRET last week.
My new doctor seemed to really take my situation to heart and began monitoring my blood immediately. The news so far are neither disastrous, nor encouraging. Here is the situation.
HCG - your basic pregnancy hormone - is supposed to double every 48-72 hours. My number on day 32 was 290, which falls well within the crazy-wide range for week five of 18 - 7,340. A week later, the number is near 2,000. Clearly moving along, but I'd be happier if it were at the upper end.
Progesterone - this is the hormone responsible for many of the pregnancy symptoms (of which I always have very few, and fewer still now) - and again, a wide 4-34 is acceptable. Mine turned up at 16 and my doctor said, "I'd be happier if it were at 20" and prescribed demetrium - a progesterone supplement. After doing that for a week, my level went down to 12! OK, that's decidedly the wrong direction. :-(
So what does it all mean? My initial reaction - that I am too old, too broken to have a baby, life is unfair. There is definitely a god and he is spiteful. Oh, and I give up - I won't even go for any further blood tests!
The morning after, I went back to a more measured approach. Clearly, something is wrong with my body. The wrongness is unlikely to be a typical chromosomal problem as those tend to prevent people from getting pregnant. We've never had an issue there at all. So the more likely explanation - the oven. I also suspect, the issue is not structural. Not only have I had healthy children, but in my last two pregnancies, the problem was diagnosed long before any natural processes expelling the baby began taking place. Hormones? Been my suspicion for a long time. I am thrilled, my doctor is monitoring the situation. We'll surely be able to figure out what it is, fix it and do better in the future, if not this time.
I'll probably post updates as things develop.
Low point
Have you been there?
One kid is going through a moody face and turns into a storm cloud with no notice. When you finally manage to get him into a human shape again, the little one begins to fall apart for no apparent reason. You get into an argument with your mother-in-law about some stupid household matter. Your husband is working late, so you have no reprieve in sight. Finally, dinner is over, you've got the kids in a bath and listening to some well-deserved audio on your iphone. Then all hell breaks lose. Kids begin to scream at each other, mother-in-law picks that moment to walk in and discuss politics, you discover that the kids' bed is in need of bed sheets and you recognize the beginnings of a bladder infection.
MOMMY'S NIGHT OFF. "You guys are putting yourselves to bed tonight. I will not be checking on you. Yes, I know, we did not brush your teeth. I do not care. Go brush them if you wish. I am blogging."
After a few minutes, there is no crying coming from the other side of the house, the mother-in-law is hiding and the screen is filling up with words. Things are looking up.
Do you know a secret about Other Moms? I mean, Other Super-Moms that do everything perfectly, blog about positive discipline and a variety of parenting successes that seem to be so out of reach for mortals? Well, I have learned that THEY ALL HAVE BEEN THERE. Every one of them! Should I include myself? Yeah, I think, my blog mostly paints the good days. :-)
Oh, you want to know another secret?
I A M P R E G N A N T.
Good night.
Objectivist Roundup
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| Russian Father Frost & Snowgirl |
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| Russian New Year's tree |
Martin Lindeskog presents EGO: MORRIS THE CAT REQUIESCAT IN PACE posted at EGO, saying, "I miss Morris the cat. "Requiesce CAT in pace." Listen to the answers to the questions on Dr. Leonard Peikoff's podcast: What was the name of Ayn Rand's cat? Did she talk to it?"
Darius Cooper presents U.S. Economy: Federal Debt- How big is it? posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "I put together a few graphs to show the size of the U.S. debt (excluding "entitlements" for this post)."
Tony White presents Post 3: Repaying a Teacher: Peikoff’s Horizontal Additions to the Objectivist World View posted at Peripatetic Thoughts, saying, "A tribute Leonard Peikoff's four major additions to the Objectivist world view. Includes a discussion of the connection between Ayn Rand and Ancient Greek man-worship."
Rachel Miner presents Finding Objectivism posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Best of 2011: This is the story of my traumatic discovery of Objectivism while I was steeped in religious Jewish culture and visiting concentration camps in Poland. It was so life changing and I can now look back on my honest response to those new ideas with pride. I was 17, yet I was so ideologically devoted to Judaism, it still took me about three years to integrate the results of this experience."
Joseph Kellard presents The American Individualist: Photos: Rockefeller Center at Christmas posted at The American Individualist, saying, "I posted some photos I took that capture the spectacular that is Christmas at Rockefeller Center (and surrounding areas). Enjoy!"
Diana Hsieh presents Civility in the Election Season posted at NoodleFood, saying, "The 2012 election season is already contentious, and here's my policy on maintaining civility."
Rational Jenn presents I am a Productive Mommy posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "I've read about and heard many critiques about my current profession--a stay-at-home full-time parent. In February 2011, I wrote a post that addresses some of these critiques and explains why I think parenting is and should be a selfish, productive endeavor."
Santiago and Kelly Valenzuela presents How's This for Assimilation? posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "Corrections to this post: I miscarried earlier this year, but I'm pregnant again. My new due date is in June. Also, I don't think assimilation should be a requirement for immigrants and is ultimately unimportant in the immigration debate. Obviously, assimilation in some areas, such as language, would be in the best interest of an immigrant, but that's their choice and it's their life, therefore, it should be of no concern to the rest of us."
Santiago and Kelly Valenzuela presents Who "Pulls Their Own Weight"? posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "Santiago takes on a common immigration myth and gets to the real fact of the matter."
Santiago and Kelly Valenzuela presents Marxist Economics in the Immigration Debate posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "Santiago exposes the Marxist economics Conservatives like to use in the immigration debate."
Kelly Elmore presents Reepicheep's Coracle: My Birth Story, Told For the First Time After Seven Years posted at Reepicheep's Coracle, saying, "I chose this post for several reasons. First, I think it is the most powerful piece of writing from this year's blogging. Second, it was the beginning of one of my big triumphs of 2011, moving past pain into healing. This is the year when I became okay after Livy's birth. This was my year of deliverance."
Paul Hsieh presents My iPad and My Hip Fracture posted at NoodleFood, saying, "My "thank you" to Steve Jobs and Apple for their great products."
C.W. presents The Right Way to Solve the Entitlement Problem posted at Krazy Economy, saying, "Why is this my favorite? Well, the subject matter had to do with actually moving toward capitalism and applying Objectivism, rather than discussing principles. I want to revise it some. But on the whole, it is a good efort for a journeyman economist, I think."
Roderick Fitts presents Induction of Aristotle’s Theory of Four Causes posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "One of my best essays on the progression of thinking Aristotle engaged in to induce his theory of four causes--material, efficient, formal, and final."
Roderick Fitts presents Induction of "Reason is Man's Only Means of Gaining Knowledge" posted at Inductive Quest, saying, "My first inductive Objectivism essay without using the "Objectivism Through Induction" course as my training wheels. Enemies of induction, here I come!"
Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore present Podcast #17: Brainstorming a Parenting Problem posted at Cultivating the Virtues, saying, "One of our favorite podcasts this year features an unscripted brainstorming and problem-solving session about a parenting problem."
David Baucom presents The Ballad of Gary Johnson posted at Cyrano Rises, saying, "To be published in the upcoming January issue of Charlatan Magazine, my article about the campaign and ideas of Gary Johnson and their cultural reception. Draws upon my Q&A sessions and my TOS interview. Written for a mainstream, not Objectivist, audience."
Martin Lindeskog presents "ANNUAL BLOG REPORT IX" posted at EGO saying "I have now been blogging for nine years. Please send me suggestions on how I should celebrate my 10th blogiversary in 2012!"
Trey Givens presents "ALL PEOPLE ARE STUPID AND THEY SUCK AND ARE DUMB AND I HATE THEM ALL FOREVER!" posted at Trey Givens saying "I maintain my optimism in humanity by staying away from it..."
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of objectivist round up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Jealousy and envy
Alex and I had our Taikwan Do belt tests yesterday, him receiving the next, Yellow, belt, me skipping over it and getting Senior Yellow, our paths divergent for the first time.
I had fretted much about how to talk to Alex prior to the event. As I predicted, he was very upset, stating that we should be doing it 'together', that he was extremely unhappy that I would have a different belt from his, and shedding some tears.
Setting it aside for a few days, I set out to explain the general concept. We talked at length, without reference to the situation at our martial arts class, about a person's achievements being his own, that his challenge being only to give his own best. In addition, we spoke about the pride one might feel at having a loved one accomplish something special, this being independent of one's own accomplishments. Going through many made-up concretes, and using opportunities from minor circumstances that arose in our day-to-day life to illustrate the point.
Yesterday, he broke a wooden board with the side of his bare hand, a challenge that every martial artist gets to overcome many times in his career. I was immensely proud of him. The youngest student in the group, the little tiny five-year-old who had struggled to break the plastic snap-boards in practice, he did the task with focus and efficiency, leaving the audience in awe of his form and skill. At bed time, we spoke about the experience. I was so proud of him! Then I said, "And I got to break the fat board, the kind they have for adults. He gave me a beaming smile, one full of happiness that, I am sure, mirrored my own. I was touched. I said, "Your smile makes me so happy! I shows me how happy you are at something that I did!" There was a pause. "Mommy, I want to see your senior yellow belt", he said, still smiling happily. We had not talked about it in a couple of weeks, so not only was he accepting the circumstance, but he chose to bring it up, wanting to see my accomplishment.
Somebody said to me earlier, envy is not innate in children. Probably not, if you define envy to be the desire to destroy the good because it is the good: to want to take away one's value rather than acquire it for oneself. On the other hand, jealousy is very natural: the wish for another's belongings, success or position in life. Envy is borne of resentment, while jealousy of valuing.
I loved teaching my son about coping with the feelings of jealousy. I think, it is the inability to cope with those feelings that can lead to bitterness, resentment and ultimately envy. Learning to separate another's success from one's own desire for same and being able to set independent goals while being genuinely happy for a friend's achievement is a true virtue, one that enables greatness. I am also proud of him for the ability to process this and come out on top!
I had fretted much about how to talk to Alex prior to the event. As I predicted, he was very upset, stating that we should be doing it 'together', that he was extremely unhappy that I would have a different belt from his, and shedding some tears.
Setting it aside for a few days, I set out to explain the general concept. We talked at length, without reference to the situation at our martial arts class, about a person's achievements being his own, that his challenge being only to give his own best. In addition, we spoke about the pride one might feel at having a loved one accomplish something special, this being independent of one's own accomplishments. Going through many made-up concretes, and using opportunities from minor circumstances that arose in our day-to-day life to illustrate the point.
Yesterday, he broke a wooden board with the side of his bare hand, a challenge that every martial artist gets to overcome many times in his career. I was immensely proud of him. The youngest student in the group, the little tiny five-year-old who had struggled to break the plastic snap-boards in practice, he did the task with focus and efficiency, leaving the audience in awe of his form and skill. At bed time, we spoke about the experience. I was so proud of him! Then I said, "And I got to break the fat board, the kind they have for adults. He gave me a beaming smile, one full of happiness that, I am sure, mirrored my own. I was touched. I said, "Your smile makes me so happy! I shows me how happy you are at something that I did!" There was a pause. "Mommy, I want to see your senior yellow belt", he said, still smiling happily. We had not talked about it in a couple of weeks, so not only was he accepting the circumstance, but he chose to bring it up, wanting to see my accomplishment.
Somebody said to me earlier, envy is not innate in children. Probably not, if you define envy to be the desire to destroy the good because it is the good: to want to take away one's value rather than acquire it for oneself. On the other hand, jealousy is very natural: the wish for another's belongings, success or position in life. Envy is borne of resentment, while jealousy of valuing.
I loved teaching my son about coping with the feelings of jealousy. I think, it is the inability to cope with those feelings that can lead to bitterness, resentment and ultimately envy. Learning to separate another's success from one's own desire for same and being able to set independent goals while being genuinely happy for a friend's achievement is a true virtue, one that enables greatness. I am also proud of him for the ability to process this and come out on top!
Objectivist Roundup
Welcome to the December 1, 2011 edition of objectivist round up. It's Christmas time again! For most of us, it is a time of joy, family and a beautiful tradition. For some a religious holiday, or an opportunity to acquire too many belongings. For my five year old, it is a time filled with extremely confusing messages coming at him from the general culture. Part of the confusion comes from our family's approach to Santa: though not a real person, he is part of a fairy table that makes Christmas special. Alex becomes confused each year at why his friends don't know the obvious. Each year, he comes up with some new commentary. "Mommy, daddy, you know, if you had told me that Santa Clause and Easter Bunny were real, I would still figure it out. After all, are there any talking rabbits that go around people's houses bringing them eggs?!"
Another gem this year was, "You know, Christmas is just about money," he said with a curled lip, clearly imitating someone he saw lord knows where! "It is?" I countered. "What about family?" "Oh, that too..." "And the beautiful Christmas tree in our home?" "Right!" "... and celebrating the joy of life with all the Christmas music?" He lit up. "Mommy, can you play Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer?"
Allrighty then...
Kate Yoak presents Free Market posted at Startup Thermometer, saying, "I was surprised to discover a strong emotional reaction of my own when a contractor felt that the world economy was treating him unfairly. Here is why I fired him."
David C Lewis, RFA presents 10 Healthy Meals That Probably Won't Break Your Budget | Twin Tier Financial posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning, saying, "10 healthy meals that probably won't break your budget."
Darius Cooper presents von Mises on the Quantity Theory of Money posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "With M1 booming and the price-level still fairly constrained, I wanted to share von Mises's critique of the Quantity Theory of money."
Joseph Kellard presents Conspiracy Theories and Freedom Don't Mix posted at The American Individualist, saying, "A commentary in the New York Times underscores the corrupt epistemology that permeats Egypt and will thereby undercut any effort at establishing freedom, if one even exists, in that Islamic-dominated nation."
Rachel Miner presents Soaring posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "A quick post noting my experience of a hot air balloon ride which I had anticipated for about twenty years. (Three pretty pictures are included.)"
Paul Hsieh presents HHS Restrictions on Neurosurgery: Just Don't Call It Rationing posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "Some of the proposed new restrictions on medical care here in America make Canada look good in comparison."
Jared Rhoads presents Twead #15: Political Philosophy, Clearly posted at The Center for Objective Health Policy, saying, "This week we posted assorted notes from the book "Political Philosophy, Clearly" by Anthony de Jasay (Liberty Fund, 2010; 347 pp). Get a flavor of it here."
Benjamin Skipper presents Reintroduction posted at A Giant Doing, saying, "This is the ex-author of the now defunct blog, Musing Aloud. I've decided chocolate reviewing isn't for me, so I want to go back to regular writing, but in order to shake off some unwanted readers I have started a whole new blog."
Paul Hsieh presents Screening For Terrorists vs. Screening For Cancer posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "My latest PJMedia OpEd shows the underlying similarity between two seemingly disparate government approaches to screening for two kinds of dangers."
Santiago and Kelly Valenzuela presents Budgets Groan: Immigration Law Continues to Hurt, Not Help posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "Florida conservatives have a case of NIMBY over a proposed immigration detention center."
Diana Hsieh presents LTE: Campaign Finance Reforms posted at NoodleFood, saying, "My letter to the editor in defense of free speech -- and Scott Gessler's campaign finance reforms -- was published in the Denver Post."
Rational Jenn presents The One About Thanksgiving posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "I wrote this post so that one day I'll remember some of the details of this year's Thanksgiving holiday. It was one of our best yet!"
Edward Cline presents Ambidextrous Statism posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "There is no fundamental difference between the Far Left and the Far Right. They are both totalitarian in nature. Their median is a mushy socialism posing as “Progressive” welfare statism that leaves no whine or grievance left behind. And in all historical cases, the median has always drifted inexorably in one direction or another."
John Drake presents Review: Your Brain at Work posted at Try Reason!, saying, "A review of the book "Your Brain at Work"."
Jason Stotts presents Stolen Paternity posted at Erosophia, saying, "Can paternity be stolen? It turns out that it can."
Atul Kapur presents “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” in Quotes posted at Wit Lab, saying, "I share my favorite quotes from a book by Richard Feynman. Since he was a physicist, and not a philosopher, I find it remarkable that he held so many unconventional and good ideas."
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of objectivist round up
using this carnival submission form.
Another gem this year was, "You know, Christmas is just about money," he said with a curled lip, clearly imitating someone he saw lord knows where! "It is?" I countered. "What about family?" "Oh, that too..." "And the beautiful Christmas tree in our home?" "Right!" "... and celebrating the joy of life with all the Christmas music?" He lit up. "Mommy, can you play Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer?"
Allrighty then...
Kate Yoak presents Free Market posted at Startup Thermometer, saying, "I was surprised to discover a strong emotional reaction of my own when a contractor felt that the world economy was treating him unfairly. Here is why I fired him."
David C Lewis, RFA presents 10 Healthy Meals That Probably Won't Break Your Budget | Twin Tier Financial posted at A Revolution In Financial Planning, saying, "10 healthy meals that probably won't break your budget."
Darius Cooper presents von Mises on the Quantity Theory of Money posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "With M1 booming and the price-level still fairly constrained, I wanted to share von Mises's critique of the Quantity Theory of money."
Joseph Kellard presents Conspiracy Theories and Freedom Don't Mix posted at The American Individualist, saying, "A commentary in the New York Times underscores the corrupt epistemology that permeats Egypt and will thereby undercut any effort at establishing freedom, if one even exists, in that Islamic-dominated nation."
Rachel Miner presents Soaring posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "A quick post noting my experience of a hot air balloon ride which I had anticipated for about twenty years. (Three pretty pictures are included.)"
Paul Hsieh presents HHS Restrictions on Neurosurgery: Just Don't Call It Rationing posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "Some of the proposed new restrictions on medical care here in America make Canada look good in comparison."
Jared Rhoads presents Twead #15: Political Philosophy, Clearly posted at The Center for Objective Health Policy, saying, "This week we posted assorted notes from the book "Political Philosophy, Clearly" by Anthony de Jasay (Liberty Fund, 2010; 347 pp). Get a flavor of it here."
Benjamin Skipper presents Reintroduction posted at A Giant Doing, saying, "This is the ex-author of the now defunct blog, Musing Aloud. I've decided chocolate reviewing isn't for me, so I want to go back to regular writing, but in order to shake off some unwanted readers I have started a whole new blog."
Paul Hsieh presents Screening For Terrorists vs. Screening For Cancer posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "My latest PJMedia OpEd shows the underlying similarity between two seemingly disparate government approaches to screening for two kinds of dangers."
Santiago and Kelly Valenzuela presents Budgets Groan: Immigration Law Continues to Hurt, Not Help posted at Mother of Exiles, saying, "Florida conservatives have a case of NIMBY over a proposed immigration detention center."
Diana Hsieh presents LTE: Campaign Finance Reforms posted at NoodleFood, saying, "My letter to the editor in defense of free speech -- and Scott Gessler's campaign finance reforms -- was published in the Denver Post."
Rational Jenn presents The One About Thanksgiving posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "I wrote this post so that one day I'll remember some of the details of this year's Thanksgiving holiday. It was one of our best yet!"
Edward Cline presents Ambidextrous Statism posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, "There is no fundamental difference between the Far Left and the Far Right. They are both totalitarian in nature. Their median is a mushy socialism posing as “Progressive” welfare statism that leaves no whine or grievance left behind. And in all historical cases, the median has always drifted inexorably in one direction or another."
John Drake presents Review: Your Brain at Work posted at Try Reason!, saying, "A review of the book "Your Brain at Work"."
Jason Stotts presents Stolen Paternity posted at Erosophia, saying, "Can paternity be stolen? It turns out that it can."
Atul Kapur presents “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” in Quotes posted at Wit Lab, saying, "I share my favorite quotes from a book by Richard Feynman. Since he was a physicist, and not a philosopher, I find it remarkable that he held so many unconventional and good ideas."
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