You should listen to Librivox

Reasons to agree: +2

1. They are free, if you have a computer or MP3 player.
2. Librivox has good books. The following books are good:
1. The Grapes of Wrath
2. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
3. The Man Who Would be King by Rudyard Kipling
4. The Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare
5.  Howards End By EM Forster
6. Poetics By Aristotle
7. Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson
8. The Awful German Language By Mark Twain
9. The Sayings Of Confucius By Confucius
10. Anna Karenina Book By Leo Tolstoy
11. Les Miserables Volume By Victor Hugo
12. Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen
13.  The Autobigraphy Of Benjamin Franklin Ed By Frank Woodworth Pine
14. The Return Of Sherlock Holmes By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
15. Great Expectations By Charles Dickens
16. The Secret Garden By Frances Hodgson Burnett

Reasons to disagree: -2

1. Each Chapter has the "This is a librivox recording..." thing
2. Listening to a book on tape may be more distracting than listening to music

Websites that agree: +1

1. http://librivox.org/

Score: +1

The Grapes of Wrath is not a great book

Score: 2 + 2 +1 +3 = 8

1. Reasons to agree:
1. Good books should be relevant to you. The Grapes of Wrath is not very relevant today 
1. Reasons to agree: + 2
1. Poverty in America has drastically changed from the time of the Great Depression
1. Reasons to agree: + 3
1. We have food stamps.
2. We now have disability
3.  Kids are not starving to death in America in more. 
2. Yes we all know that things were tough. The great depression was hard. Life sucked. But life has always sucked. Why should I read about it now? People live like that overseas. 
2. Tragedies with no hope are great at pointing out how wonderful the author is, but there is often little reason to read them.
1. Reasons to agree: + 1
1. Why waste your time learning about depressing stuff? Life is short. Write about your own problems. Better yet, try to fix your problems. But why read about other people's problems? Why read about fake other people's problems? If you want to read about other people's problems, why not read about important real people from history? Better yet, why not read about people who overcame problems like Lincoln, Washington, John Adams?

http://archive.org/details/TheGrapesOfWrath_557

You should post your kids old school work on line +2

Reasons to agree: +5

1. The internet has more room than the refrigerator
2. Grandparents can't see your refrigerator, if they live thousands of miles away.
3. You can usually assume other people will want to be treated the way you want to be treated. I wish my parents had access to scanners and the internet when I was little.
4. Kids will want to see their work when they are older. If you house burns down, has water damage, or you loose things, or throw them away, the internet can back them up.
5. Kids will need to get used to their efforts being evaluated by others including their teachers, their boss, and the public.

Reasons to agree: -2

1. Kids might think you are making fun of them, by posting their early work.
2. You don't have the right to publish things, unless they give you permission. 

Belief Score: +5 -3 = +2

Images that agree:

Soft: Echolocation, a piano, and a bat in a cave
Load: An elephant, a lion, and and avalanche









Self Portrait





Gealaejea







James Laub, Mammal, Warm bloodid, A mammal has fur, warmblood and drinks milk












James, 2012. Their little mistakes are cute, because they remind us how much there is to learn, and reminds us when we were little, and trying to figure stuff out. If you look carefully you will notice the following: no "x" in the alphabet, includes "and" as a letter on the keyboard, as = us, momy = money, nise = nice. That's my son. And just so adults don't get too high and mighty, you might notice that the question omitted the word "give".









James, 2012: James: "She will make a thump!" I love breakfast! Today I had jeltin and cereal. The jeltin was shalbe flaber. The cerial had brownshager. on it. Do you like breakfast? Items in the above image: James sitting at our table. Megan climbing under the table. She will make a thump. A fly in our Kitchen. The ceiling fan, faucet, and cupboards.












James, 2012: "When I grow up I want to be a zoo keeper. I want to be a dophim chaner. I want to swim with dolphim. I want to look at Dolphim emery day. I will never choe my jod. I like dolphim. I want to make sher that the dolphim are helfy. And thay git lots of exersise. I want thme to be good. the end. James"











James, 2012, Dolphin are sort









James, 2012: "My fabrite animal is a humpback whales! It lives in the sea. It eats crill"

Maintaining a list of family rules that you believe in will help you be a better parent if you

Reasons to agree: + 2

1. It is helpful to tell parents to make rules and set punishments. 
1. Reasons to agree:
1. Kids need rules. 
2. There are studies that show that kids feel anxious, nervous and scared when they feel like they are responsible for everything, and can do whatever they want because they are afraid. Rules set some sort of order, if they are based in common sense.
3. You can't punish people, if they don't know something is wrong. If you really don't want kids to do stuff, you should sit down ahead of time and make a rule of all those things
2. You shouldn't use a set list, but update it and modify it based on things the kids are struggling with.

Lists of Rules

1. Below is are rules to consider, based on your family needs. You should pick the ones you like, print it and put it on your fridge
1. Tell the truth.
2. You should have your 2nd grader do homework and 15 minutes of grade level reading before they can choose their own activities.
1. Reasons to agree:
1. Grade level reading may be harder, but you won't improve unless you push yourself.
2. They have done studies that prove that watching too much TV is bad.
3. The later it gets in the day, the harder it is for your brain to think well. 
4. You should do important things first. That way if you run out of time, you got the important things done.
5. Daily routines help form good habits. It's nice not to have to figure out what to do each day. 
2. Reasons to disagree:
1. You could also do 1 hr and 45 minutes of reading a week. This probably allows kids to get more engrossed in a story, and get addicted to it better. They don't have to read it all at the same time.
1. Reasons to disagree:
1. 2nd graders usually don't have long enough attention spans to do more than 15 minutes of reading. 
2. Daily routines are sort of boring and monotonous. 
3. Treat each other with respect. no yelling, hitting, kicking, name-calling, put-downs. Go to room for violations? Green, Yellow, Red Cards?
4. No arguing with parents. We want and value your input and ideas, but arguing means you have made your points more than once.
5. Respect each other’s property. Ask permission to use something that doesn't belong to you.
6. Do what Mom and Dad say the first time.without complaining or throwing a fit!
7. Ask permission before you go somewhere.
8. Put things away that you take out.
9. Look for ways to be kind and helpful to each other.
10. Reasons to disagree:
1. Putting a reminder to tell the truth is not necessarily, and accomplishes nothing. It sends the signal that a piece of paper on a fridge can improve their lives, and that you don't think they will tell the truth without the paper, or that they weren't telling the truth before the paper.
11. Don't swear
1. Reasons to disagree:
1. You need to learn to speak intelligently
12. No more than x hours of TV a day
13. Kids should be given specific rules about how to avoid harming their processions and things that belong to the family.
1. You should keep expensive things out of the reach of those who don't know or don't care about their safety (don't give pears to swine). This includes Wii remotes, snow globes, expensive toy animals with breakable parts. 
2. You should keep your stuff organized. Everything that is good is a result of Order. Chaos is a part of everything that is bad.
3. You should keep dirt and goo away from things that are clean
1. Reasons to agree:
1. You should take off your muddy shoes before coming inside.
2. You should wash your hands after meals, and playing with dirty things
3. You should not pick your nose and wipe it on stuff.
4. Cleanliness is next to godliness. 
5. You should cover your mouth with your elbow when you sneeze
6. You should wear a smock or a bib when you move things that drip unexpectedly, like eating or painting with  fluids with properties you have not yet learned, or with wet surfaces that your brain can not remember to avoid.
14. Kids should not allow their carelessness result in harm to their toys or the families property, especially expensive things like the car, or difficult to fix portions of the house. As kids age they need to learn to take care of "their" things, which involves keeping up with an organizational scheme that you help them with. 
15. Reasons to disagree:
1. If you plan on driving your car until it has very little value, than the scratches or upholstery might not limit its value as much as the age of the motor, transmission, etc. 
16. Reasons to agree:
1. It is OK to want your cars and house to look presentable while you own it, even if some day it will be scrapped and rebuilt. People make bad assumptions about those with broken down homes and cars.
2. It takes effort to earn money to buy things. It takes effort to keep things nice. Kids need to learn that it is wrong to take for granted efforts of others in their behalf. 
1. Reasons to agree:
1. Everyone should learn to take care of their stuff, keep it 
2. Reasons to disagree:
1. Kids that don't value nice things will naturally value your efforts to keep things nice
17. Do homework before fun (don't reward with treats)

Webpages that agree: 1

1. http://singleparents.about.com/od/discipline/a/groundrules.htm

Images that agree:

This post has a lot of drills and techniques that can help you be a good basketball coach for 7 year olds

Balanced athletic competition in a team environment promotes sportsmanship, cooperation, leadership skills, and the benefits of exercise and hard work.

Definition of "good coach"

1. You have to define what a good coach is, before you can do a good job of becoming one.
1. A good coach will:
1. be trustworthy
1. show up 10 minutes early
2. cancel as early as possible in the case of emergencies
2. respectful to the kids
3. be fair to the kids
4. find kids that need a hobby and have the interest and help them apply themselves
5. help kids enjoy striving for excellence
6. get different kids to work well together 
7. help kids set achievable, measurable goals
8. help kids have fun
9. not show favoritism
10. a good coach can find lots of reasons to motivate kids to improve their skills
1. Reasons to agree: 
1. A good coach can motivate their kids by showing them that practice can be good social group activity.
2. A good coach can motivate their kids by showing them that practice can be fun. 
3. A good coach can motivate their kids by showing them that they can set and accomplish goals that they first believed were impossible. 
4. A good coach can motivate their kids to apply them selves by telling them about the rewards of being active
1. Reasons to disagree: 
1. You are lying if you tell your kids activity levels will make them healthy. Activity is not as important as diet. 
2. Kids don't care

Basketball drills for 7 year olds

1. The best way to teach a skill is for you to demonstrate the skill in action, and then pick a volunteer to try and demonstrate it. Using their names, you can then kindly correct any mistakes they make and praise efforts to improve. This will let the other kids learn from the volunteer's mistakes. Then you should let them all practice, and you can go around similarly working with other kids. Seeing the volunteer be OK with being corrected, and still have social rewards of attention will let them know it is OK to be critiqued. 
2. You shouldn't let kids dribble when you are talking, but if they are standing in line it is OK.
1. Reasons to agree: +2
1. Kids need all the practice dribbling as possible. Why would you stop them from practicing?
2. Kids shouldn't get bored at basketball practice. It should be one of the few times that their short attention spans are not exhausted. You shouldn't have them standing in line waiting for their turn very often. If you have more than one basketball hoop you should use it. You can divide the group into smaller groups. 
2. Reasons to disagree: +1
1. Towards the beginning of the year, when they are learning drills, they may need to watch the other kids to figure out what to do.
3. Dribbling
1. Red Light, Green Light is a good basketball practice
1. Reasons to agree: +1
1. This drill helps players learn how to stop suddenly with the ball without losing it, such as if they're being trapped by a defender. Line up all players on the baseline with a ball. Stand at the far free throw line facing the players. Yell "green light" and have all the players start running at you while dribbling the ball. Yell "red light," upon which all the players must stop and dribble the ball in place. Repeat the drill by having the players stop and start again until one player reaches where you are on the court. That player is the winner. 
2. You should have kids dribble high and slow and low and fast.
1. Reasons to agree: +2
1. You have to dribble low and fast to keep people from getting the ball. 
2. You have to dribble higher to run faster
3. "Sharks and minnows" teaches kids (minnows) how to: dribble, avoid defense, and (sharks) defense techniques. 
1. Reasons to agree
1. Sharks and Minnows has kids who are minnows try to get from one side of the basketball court to the other. One "shark" tries to make the "minnows" loose control of their ball or pick up their dribble. Those kids that lost control, become "sharks" when the remaining kids try to dribble back to the other side. This usually goes a 3 or 4 rounds. The last "minnow" to loose their dribble is the winner. 
2. Tips. 
1. Some kids loose their dribble, but try to sneak back into the pack. You need to have them go to the sideline. The kids should also police each other, because it gets a little chaotic. 
1. My son likes being a shark, and purposefully looses his dribble. Give them swirlies until behavior improves.
4. You should show kids how to dribble, and let them try to dribble more than 20 times with each hand, standing still.
5. You need to explain to kids the concept of traveling.
1. Reasons to disagree: +1
1. Most 7 year olds don't understand that you can pivot on one foot (like your shoe has been nailed to the floor), but that you can't lift up your second foot. 
2. Reasons to agree: -1
1. When you dribble you keep your body between the defense and the ball. You need to be able to dribble with both hands to go both directions. 
6. You should help your kids take the ball in circles around their ankles and wastes
7. You should help your kids dribble the ball in circles around their back and between their legs.
8. You should let the kids "try and get the ball from the coach".
1. Reasons to agree:
1. It is a good way to demonstrate defensive dribbling, faking one direction, and going another direction.
2. As said above, "A good coach can motivate their kids by showing them that practice can be good social group activity." 
3. Kids enjoy teaming up against authority figures. This is harmless when done in athletic competitions, as long as you let them win, and are careful with them.
2. Tips
1. Don't let your ego get to big. Go easy. Parents are watching, and you don't want to hurt the kids!
2. This probably works best with no more than 3 or 4 kids.
3. If their are other kids that are very good at dribbling  you can use them as good examples to also demonstrate their skills. 
9. You should have kids stand in one place while dribbling and pivot, to practice dribbling. 
1. Reasons to agree
1. When kids are all running it is hard to watch them all
1. This is one of the great advantage of basketball, it teaches good hand-eye coordination
2. Reasons to disagree
1. They will get dizzy
2. This isn't something to do very often
10. You should have kids walk forward, backwards, around cones, around the court to practice dribbling.
1. Reasons to disagree
1. Kids will rarely have to dribble backwards
11. 
    
12. You should have kids see how fast they can make a basketball go around their ankles, waste, and head both clockwise and counterclockwise. 
1. Reasons to agree
1. Whatever team has the most coordinated kids will probably win
2. Reasons to diagree
1. Most 7 year olds can't do this
4. Passing
1. You need to explain to kids that when they pass they need to send the ball to a place that is easy for the person on their team to get it, but hard for the person on the other team to get it. For 7 year olds, the defense is often supposed to stay within a box, which helps. 
2. You should explain and demonstrate bounce passes to kids. 
1. Reasons to agree
1. Once the kids know the advantage of a bounce pass, they will be more likely to use them at the correct time.
2. The bounce pass should be used in specific situations. It is good to use because people can't easily reach to the ground fast enough to stop the ball before it bounces up into the hands of your teammate. 
3. You should explain and demonstrate the chest passes to kids.  
1. Reasons to agree
1. The bounce past should be used when you have a direct line of sight. Kids often have difficulty controlling a pass, or throwing the ball in a straight line.  
4. You should do experiments to see if kids can through longer with a 1-handed long pass or an overhead two hand pass. Explain that if they use the right technique, as they get older, they will be able to through the ball further with a 1-handed long pass, as they take a step, put the ball back further, and have a longer follow through.
1. Reasons to agree
1. If you want to win, the 1-handed long pass is the fastest way to make a fast break. 
5. Shooting
1. You should explain and demonstrate the different basketball shots
1. Reasons to agree
1. Kids don't understand geometry. They think you just have to throw the ball at the hoop. They don't understand that it has to come up above the hoop, and drop down through it. You also should briefly explain the geometry of a backboard shot. 
6. Rebounding
1. You should explain and demonstrate proper boxing out
1. Reasons to agree
1. It is hard to remember not to hold your opponent
7. Hand-Ball Coordination
1. You should try to get kids to get the ball to go around
8. If they are not motivated you can tell you want to see who can do it best. If this becomes a distraction, don't do it. Let competition motivate, but not be the only motivator. 1/4 competition against other, 1/4 against themselves, 1/4 fun, and 1/4 oversize. 
9. You should tell older kids that they might be good this year, but they need to practice hard because they will be the young kids next year. Its more fun when you are good. You don't have to be great, but it is not as fun when you are the worst. 

Links:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_moves

In an effort to be more realistic than the past, Hollywood now glorifies dysfunction

Reasons to agree: 

1. TV glamorizes dysfunction too much
1. Reasons to agree: +5
1. Homer Simpson chokes Bart. 
2. Many kids grow up only seeing dysfunctional families on TV, and think they want nothing to do with family life. 
3. When I wrote a book report in Jr. High Rosanne was on. I wrote, "In contrast, I recently watched Roseanne. The show started out with three criticisms in a row, between Roseanne and her daughter. Rosseane would say something mean about her daughter's grades. Then the daughter would say something mean about Roseanne's weight. This continued for the whole show. The next day I watched Roseanne again. Roseanne thought that Tom wanted a divorce. She said, "I want the house, he can have the kids, but I want the house." Many kids grow up thinking this is the way marriage will be, and it is not a laughing matter. It seems there is no value placed on children. The number one thing is money. Many Educators believe attitude's about family relationships are formed by "casual contact" with shows like Roseanne."
4. When I wrote a book report in Jr. High I wrote: "Most shows that portray husband and wife relationships, show them constantly bickering. I watched Family Matters recently. I thought this would be an exception to the rule, but the wife and the husband were very mean to each other. In one conversation the wife and husband were sitting on the couch and talking: "Carl can I speak openly?", the wife asks. "Yes,"he says, "You're a Jack---" (Family Matters Feb. 25, 1994). The crowd again erupted with laughter."
5. TV shows often tell kids how to rebel against their parents. The parents are alwasy the stupid ones.
6. In the first Roseanne ever, Roseanne took her sixteen year old daughter, Beckey, to buy birth control pills. At first she did not want to, but a bunch of her friends talked her into it. The show's main theme was; how mean it is for parents to not let their kids have sex. 
2. It is dysfunctional to have casual sex. Hollywood promotes casual sex.
1. Assertion #1: It is dysfunctional to have casual sex. 
1. Reasons to agree: +5
1. Sex addicts have noncommittal sex, in a very dysfunctional way. 
2. It is dysfunctional to make poor choices. It is a poor choice to have casual sex. 
1. Reasons to agree: +5
1. Casual sex is a rejection of commitment,. The ability to make commitments is required, in order to be a functional member of society.
1. Reasons to agree: +5
1. Those unable to maintain long term faithful commitments before marriage, are less likely to stay in committed relationships after marriage. Committed people are looking for different things. They are 2 different types of people. There are people who build relationships slowly, based on common interest, respect, 
2. Commitment is required in order for relationships to last. Those who are not committed to marriage will suffer economically, romantically, and emotionally. 
1. Reasons to agree: +5
1. A study of about 9,000 people found that divorce reduces a person's wealth by about three-quarters (77 percent.
2. Dwindling marriage rates are concentrated among the poor — the very people whose living standards would be most improved by having a second household income.
3. It is dysfunctional to risk having babies with someone with whom you have not made a life long commitment. It is dysfunctional to take unnecessary risks that can alter the wrest of your life, for momentary rewards of having a boyfriend, being "cool", or giving into other people's desires. 
4. The secret that no one wants to talk about is that it is dysfunctional to have casual sex outside of marriage. The upper class of people have less divorce, and get married. The lower class of people are unable to control their genitals, and end up producing unwanted babies, abortions, and have crappy lives that are controlled by their dysfunctional sex lives. Sure, rich people sleep around too. Sure, some poor people are very ethical and committed to their spouses.  But the statistics prove that poverty follows those who are unable to control their sex lives. TV shows that glamorize irresponsible sex, are convincing stupid people (largely the lower class) to live lives of poverty, and slavery to dysfunction. 
2. The study of about 9,000 people found that divorce reduces a person's wealth by about three-quarters (77 percent) compared to that of a single person, while being married almost doubles comparative wealth (93 percent). And people who get divorced see their wealth begin to drop long before the decree becomes final.
3. TV normalizes behavior.
1. Reasons to agree: +3
1. TV is the way we think other people live. 
2. We often don't see inside other people's homes, unless it is on TV. 
3. A section of Superfreakanomics proves this (the section is the unlikely savior of Indian women). Here is a discussion of the research. 
4. Our personal relationships have too much dysfunction
1. Reasons to agree: +1
1. "The divorce rate remains, stubbornly, one out of two. The out-of-wedlock birthrate has tripled since 1970; it is among the highest in the developed world. A nauseating buffet of dysfunctions has attended these trends--an explosion in child abuse, crime, learning disabilities, and welfare dependency, name your pathology."
5. TV glamorizes dysfunction more than it used to
1. Reasons to agree: +1
1. People on Leave it to beaver were pretty functional. They were patient, avoiding extremes of anger, selfishness, and cruelty. It taught the generations how to understand each other, how to laugh at each other, and how to get along with each other.
6. TV characters don't have to be dysfunctional to be interesting. 
1. Dis functional people are boring. 
1. Reasons to agree: +1
1. They always give into selfish motives. 
7. When the TV shows disinfection, they teach people how to be dysfunctional.

Reasons to disagree: 

1. There is no such thing as Hollywood. There are hundreds of writers, producers, etc. 
2. Hollywood just does what sells. It is our fault for watching all these TV shows. 

Books that agree:

1. Hollywood vs. America: The Explosive Bestseller that Shows How-and Why-the Entertainment Industry Has Broken Faith With Its Audience

Webpages that agree:

1. http://www.freakonomics.com/2009/11/02/introducing-the-superfreakonomics-virtual-book-club-meet-emily-oster/

Interest of those who agree

1. Improving society. 
2. Teaching good behaviors 
3. Patting themselves on their back for how good they are.
4. Identifying themselves to their circle of friends as part of the "good guys", the conservatives
5. Not wanting to come off as too accepting

Interest of those who disagree

1. "Keeping it real". 
2. Exposing bad behaviors
3. Pushing boundaries. 
4. Patting themselves on their back for how cool, hip, counterintuitive they are.
5. Discussing difficult topics
6. Making money. 
7. Identifying themselves to their circle of friends as part of the "good guys", the conservatives. 
8. Proving how open minded they are. 
9. Not wanting to come off as too judgmental

Its alright to let your young kids chase geese +5

Reasons to agree: +7

1. Young kids will never catch geese.
2. Geese can bight back. They have sharp teeth. 
3. Geese are overpopulated. For instance here in Chicago they put chemicals on eggs to prevent them from hatching, because their are too many, and they poop everywhere and create environmental problems.
4. The lack of predators have allowed geese to overpopulate. 
5. If you eat meat you are guilty of more violence against animals than chasing geese. 
6. Geese may get chased by wild animals. They are violent against each other. They rape ducks (google it, it is a fact). You can't apply people ethics to animals. Animals chase each other. Cats chase mice and play with them. If you don't want animals tormented you will have to kill all cats. 
7. Its cool to watch birds fly. Letting kids chase birds until they fly gives kids an awe, and an experience, and an appreciation for animals. It is possible to love animals, and hunt them, as native Americans taught us. Chasing them, and smiling at them as they fly away is not bad. The French who force feed geese in a cage are bad. But little kids who chase them, and make them get some exercise are not. See image below for evidence to support this belief.

Reasons to disagree: -2

1. From "Auguries of Innocence by William Blake": A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. A dove-house filled with doves and pigeons Shudders hell through all its regions. A dog starved at his master's gate Predicts the ruin of the state. A horse misused upon the road Calls to heaven for human blood. Each outcry of the hunted hare A fibre from the brain does tear. A skylark wounded in the wing, A cherubim does cease to sing. The game-cock clipped and armed for fight Does the rising sun affright. Every wolf's and lion's howl Raises from hell a human soul. The wild deer wandering here and there Keeps the human soul from care. The lamb misused breeds public strife, And yet forgives the butcher's knife. The bat that flits at close of eve Has left the brain that won't believe. The owl that calls upon the night Speaks the unbeliever's fright. He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men. He who the ox to wrath has moved Shall never be by woman loved. The wanton boy that kills the fly Shall feel the spider's enmity. He who torments the chafer's sprite Weaves a bower in endless night. The caterpillar on the leaf Repeats to thee thy mother's grief. Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgment draweth nigh. He who shall train the horse to war Shall never pass the polar bar. The beggar's dog and widow's cat, Feed them, and thou wilt grow fat. The gnat that sings his summer's song Poison gets from Slander's tongue.
2. My wife says we were geese bullies. 
3. Animals are cool. Leave them alone. 

Idea Score: +7 - 2 = +5

Images that agree:

Me in Idaho Falls with my brother. An old man came and yelled at us.

I had a good childhood +6

Where much is given much is expected. I was given a lot. If I turn out to be an OK person, I owe it to my family and the good start they gave to my life. We all stand on the shoulders of giants.

Reasons to agree

1. I don't remember my parents ever yelling at each other.
2. I argued with my Dad when I was in high school, and he just put up with me.
3. I was never spanked. I know people who spank are often also great parents. I'm not saying their are not. I'm just saying, for me that is one area that my parents were really great about.
4. My parents lets us have water fights. My older brothers didn't beat me up for squiring them (see image below, for verification).
5. My parents let me where weird aqua-man masks (see image below, for verification).
6. My parents took us camping, even when I was young, which is not easy (see image below, for verification).

Images that agree:

My squirting my brother Steve. My shorts are almost staying up.

My dad walked me up the narrows in Zion National Park

My Brother Steve, My Dad, my Brother Brian, and I

Big Wheel and Banana Seat Bike. Me sporting my aqua-man mask.

Chicago and Chicago Land are good place to raise a family

Background, definitions, and assumptions

• For a place to be considered good, it must be better than average. 
• Chicago land is, of course, Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

Reasons to agree: +10

1. Chicago has lots of stuff to do, that don't cost too much money. 
2. Trips to the zoo are good for kids (+1). Chicago has good zoos. 
3. Chicago has good mass transportation (+2). 
4. Chicago has good architecture (+0). Its cool to live near good architecture. 
5. You can leave near Chicago, and still have a back yard. Despite criticism of suburban sprawl kids have fun in their back yards (+0).
6. Bolingbrook, a typical suburb of Chicago, has pretty good parks.
7. Kids like fireworks, and there are often good fire works shows around Chicago. For instance Navy Pier has free fireworks during the summer, their are good firework shows across the suburbs on the 4rth of July, and the Chicago Air Water show has good fireworks.
8. Numbers are what matter, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being best and 10 being worst) Bolingbrook, a typical Chicago suburb, is a 4 on property crime, and a 5 on violent crime, which is about average for the USA. 
9. You should make wherever you are home. 
10. Chicago has a lot of stuff to do.

Reasons to disagree: -6

1. Hiking is a good pastime. Hiking is only fun in the mountains. There are no mountains in Illinois. There is no good hiking near Chicago. City walking is not as cool as hiking in the mountains. Sure, Boise is hot during the summer, but its cooler in the mountains. It is hot everywhere in Illinois in the summer. It is too humid in the summer to hike. There are too many bugs, and the forest have too much undergrowth. 
2. State Parks in Illinois are anticlimactic (compared to Idaho).
3. There is a culture of corruption in Chicago, that rewards people based on who they know.
4. In Illinois kids from worse neighborhood go to much worse schools than those who are from better neighborhoods. 
5. A good place to raise a family is close to extended family. It is hard to go from a place you grew up in, and then just live somewhere else. It may always feel unlike home. 
6. Shooting is fun, but you have to pay to go shooting around Chicago. 

Total Score:

• Reasons to agree: +10
• Reasons to disagree: -6
• Net reasons to agree with reasons to agree minus reasons to disagree: +1+2
• Total: 

Images that agree: +3

Chicago has good mass transportation +2

Assumptions:

• Good means low cost, and high quality. Transportation includes parking. Not all transportation facilities are "public". For instance privately owned parking garages are part of the equation.

Reasons to agree:

1. If you are lucky you can find parallel parking for free around Lincoln Park Zoo.
2. Parking is $1.00 an hour, if you can find any, near Northerly Island. I drove there with 2 bikes in  my car, and my 7 year old son, and we rode to Millennium Park and back. 
3. Kids ride the Metra free on the weekends. 
4. The Water Tower Place Mall does parking validation. 
5. It costs $7 per adult to ride to Chicago Union Station (week-end passes, kids ride free). From there you can walk to a number of places:
1. Millennium Park. 
1. In the summer, kids can play in the fountain. Bring towels, and a change of clothes. It is sort of white trash, but they can change in the bathrooms. 
2. Each time you go down the kids will probably want to look at the bean, and get their photo taken.
3. I should probably walk the whole park once. Their are some statues on the south end I have never seen. 
2. Winter
1. Kris Kringle Market Chicago 
3. We walked, with 3 kids, and 2 strollers, all the way to the Hancock Building. It was a pretty long walk. When we got back to Navy Pear we took a water taxi bat to Union Station, to save our legs, and to make a train.

Reasons to disagree:

1. Sales tax is high in Chicago.
2. It costs $20 at a minimum to park in Chicago. 
3. It cost $7 for a weekend pass. So if you want to go in as a couple it costs $14 just to get there. 

Score: 

• Reasons to agree: +5
• Reasons to agree: -3
• Total: +2

You will probably face many setbacks

Images that agree: (stolen from Megan's Website)

People will take and publish unflattering photos of you

You will get sick

Nothing Last forever

Phil went on vacation, and the mosquitoes like him.

We lost power on vacation and came home to this.

Megan is helping our kids be Creative

Images that agree: (stolen from Megan's Website)

You should try to take pictures with loved one's on Holidays

Reasons to agree:

1. People need holidays

Images that agree:(some stolen from Megan's Website)

2011, Easter

1978 or 1979. Bobbie, Earl, Me, Dad, Bro

Basement sump pumps are annoying +1

Reasons to agree:

1. If you have a sump pump, it will fail. When it fails, is probably during a rain storm, when you need it to work. Crawl spaces in Illinois fill with water, if you don't have a sump pump, for some reason. 

Images that agree: (stolen from Megan's Website)

Our sump pump runs quote often, when it rains, leaving a pond which we tell the kids not to play in.

You should get a membership to The Chicago Field Museum +0

Reasons to agree: 4

1. The Chicago Field Museum has Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus skeleton currently known.
2. A visit to a museum is not as educational as reading a book, but it is educational enough. 
1. Not as educational as reading a book
1. In order for something to be very educational something has to go into depth. Reading plaques in front of stuffed animals is not very in depth. 
2. ... it is educational enough
1. At a museum you get to brows a bunch of topic. I guess the goal is that you find something that is interesting, and then you can go somewhere else and learn more later.
3. With no guided tour you can do whatever you want. You get out of it, like most life, what you put in. Perhaps instead of rushing from thing to thing, find a few things you are interested in and then really experience that thing. Perhaps bring a sketch pad and draw stuff.
4. The Chicago Field Museum is a short walk from Northerly Island, which offers parking for a dollar an hour, so parking doesn't have to cost very much, if you can walk 3/4 to a 1.5 miles.

Reasons to disagree: 4

1. The idea to have self guided tour through a museum was a bad one.
2. The experience of visiting a museum feels so separate from normal life, that it often has no affect on normal life. 
3. Museums need to make a specific call to action, with good arguments. What is the call to action? To become a biologist? To become a fossil hunter? Archaeological? Gemologist? Museums have a very broad charter but they should set very specific goals, shouldn't they? To facilitate research? Is that done better by looking at books, or visiting a museum. Often visiting a museum can become just walking around and looking at "curiosities". Which is fine enough, I guess. Does Khan Acadamy do more education than the field museum? 
4. You may end up going only to have your kids tell you they are afraid to see the "mommies" (ie mummies) and the Animals, because they remind them of death and give them nightmares.

Score:

# of reasons to agree: +4

# of reasons to disagree: -4

# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0

# of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0

Total Idea Score: +0

Don't like the score? It is easy to change the score. Just post a reason to agree or disagree with the overall idea, or any of the reasons and the score will change.

Websites that agree:

1. Laub Life: "Field Museum of Dreams"
2. http://fieldmuseum.org/

Images that agree: (stolen from Megan's Website)

Baby Phil is sort of like a dog

Reasons to agree:

1. He likes to carry things in his mouth (see images below for verification). 
2. He likes to dig in the dirt. 

Images that agree:

Ali Loves the Trampoline, James Loves His Bike, and Phil Loves Pots of Dirt.

You should get a Shed Aquarium Membership +3

Reasons to agree: +3

1. Animals are cool. The shed aquarium has lots of animals. They have dolphins, a beluga whale.
2. They let kids dress up as penguins. 
3. They have a spot with strong animals, that they let the kids play with.
4. If you want to have the Chicago Experience, the Shedd is in Chicago, and has a nice view. 

Reasons to disagree: -1

1. The Shed Aquarium is cool and stuff, but they have dolphins at the Brookfield Zoo, and they have other types of animals too, but the parking is included with the cost of the Brookfield Zoo. And the Shedd Aquarium cost about $175, while the Brookfield Zoo is $92. The Brookfield Zoo has Manta ray Bay that lets you touch animals similar to the thing at the Shedd. You have to pay to do it, but still it is less money than the Shed. 

Score:

# of reasons to agree: +4

# of reasons to disagree: -1

# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0

# of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0

Total Idea Score: +3

Webpages that agree:

1. Laub Life, Aquarium Adventure
2. http://www.sheddaquarium.org/

You should go to the Naperville Last Fling +2

Reasons to agree: +4

1. The last fling has petting zoos, pony rides, presentations. 
2. A parade (never watched).
3. Parking is good.
4. Naperville has good free public parking, which is good. 

Reasons to agree:  -2

1. The rides are overpriced. 
2. The food is unhealthy.

Score:

# of reasons to agree: +4

# of reasons to disagree: -2

# of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0

# of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0

Total Idea Score: +2

Websites that agree: +3

1. Laub Life: Last Fling-Ding
2. http://www.lastfling.org/

Images that agree: