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Amazon.com Pulls Pedophile Guide from Kindle Store

Mac Strider — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:26:09 +0000

I’ll keep this short and sweet, as other blogs like humantrafficking.change.org have covered this in more detail… but I thought it was worth bringing to your attention that the sick book, The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure actually made it onto Amazon.com’s top 100 best sellers list.

Most people are blogging about how irresponsible Amazon.com is for not only allowing this book to be sold from their website, but for defending their right to sell it as an expression of free speech. But what I’m more concerned about is that you can’t get a book to Amazon’s top 100 list without selling a bunch of copies… so what’s more concerning for me, or I guess, eye opening, is that there are obviously WAY more sexual predators out there then I realized.

Especially since I run this high profiled website that shares pictures of my kids from time to time.

I guess it’s just more justification for why I carry a springfield XD.45 in my waistband and train with it regularly to protect my family. If nothing else comes out of this issue, at least it opens up people’s eyes to the amount of sick and troubled people in our society who will willingly hurt others.

The Problem With Public Schools

Mac Strider — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:49:30 +0000

I have to say that this young lady, who is giving her Valedictorian speech nailed it on the head when she says, “I can not say that I am any more intelligent then my peers… I can attest that I am ONLY the best at doing what I’m told.”

And to completely sound like a conspiracy theorist, if you actually go back and look at some of the speaches Woodrow Wilson along with some of the BIG business people of the time gave when they were originally setting up our public school system, it was their goal to create a society that would be more willing to take orders.

That’s as deep as I’ll get on you today.

If you’re interested in learning more about this intentional indoctrination go read “Weapons of Mass Instruction”, it’ll really make you rethink how you’re choosing to educate your child.

Are All Stay At Home Mom’s Equal?

Mac Strider — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:38:49 +0000

In a recent article by the Montreal Gazzette, there was some interesting findings as to the long term effects that daycare has on children compared to stay at home moms.

The article does a good job of showing both sides of the issue and refers to actual research in a NON opinionated way.
Here’s some of the highlights against daycare:

“…after the mother works full-time outside the home in the first year of life, together with consideration for the timing of the start of that work, be it at three, six, or nine months after birth: “At age 4.5, children whose mothers had worked (full-time) at three months, six months, or nine months have significantly more externalizing behaviour problems than children whose mothers did not work in the first year,” the authors write. They go on: “A similar pattern is seen at first grade.”

But the article also goes on to talk about how children in GOOD daycares develop better vocabularies and math skills then those of stay at home moms.

Here’s the question I have with what this research suggests…

While being a stay at home Mom is obviously a lot of work, from my personal observation many stay at home moms don’t spend their day actively teaching their child things.

For example, I work from home and my wife is ALSO a stay at home MOM… and every day we run our two year old son through some reading lessons, puzzles and learning games.

And while I haven’t evaluated his math skills (however you do that with a two year old), his verbal skills are off the charts.

So I’d personally be very curious to see a study that showed how children of stay at home moms, who were actively teaching their child every day with reading activities, puzzles, problem solving games and the works, would fair against the “good daycare crowd”.

Because let’s face it… the studies took the time to grade GOOD daycares vs. Bad ones, but didn’t take the time to separate out good parents vs. the lazy ones… and let’s be honest, there are lazy stay at home moms too.

I would argue that stay at home mom’s can fill the “developmental gap” that exists between daycare raised children and stay at home mom’s by creating a better learning environment in the home. And if that is actually possible, then wouldn’t that be the best option?
You’d be able to have the higher cognitive development, WITHOUT the development of behavior problems.

That’s my take on it anyways… do you agree, disagree?

Tell me what you think by commenting below, especially if you’re a stay at home parent who has done something to help your child develop better then a child at a GOOD daycare.

Hot Topic: How Much TV Should Kids Watch?

Eppie Vojt — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:31:51 +0000

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Growing up, I was told that if I sat too close to it, I’d go blind. If I watched too much of it, my brain would rot. I even seem to recall my grandmother mentioning something about it giving off cancer-causing radiation. It’s a wonder my parents let such a dangerous device into the house. And still, despite the best efforts of my parents to demonize the “boob tube,” I watched WAY too much of it.

As a parent now, I find myself facing the same predicament as my own parents. I have two young children who are fun, creative, imaginative, and energetic. Do I really want them to spend a decent chunk of time each day zoning out in front of the television?

TV’s Role in the Life of an Average Child

TV plays a huge role in the life of the average child. Consider that a child between the ages of 2 and 5 spends, on average, 32 hours per week watching television. That’s almost a full-time job! Kids aged 6-11 spend an average of 28 hours per week plopped in front of the tube. And nearly two thirds of families are eating dinner with the television on. Some kids see the TV more than they see their parents… or their friends… or the light of day.

As kids get older, television also becomes a centerpiece of socialization. At school, children discuss their favorite shows and characters — the child who isn’t watching much TV may feel left out, and increase their watching habits to fit in.

Is Watching All This TV Bad For Our Kids?

I don’t believe that TV is completely without merit in the lives of our children. Today, there are programs designed specifically for young children — these programs engage the kids and teach them new things. They ask the kids to participate, and encourage our kids to be imaginative. I think it’s neat that my kids know some Spanish because they’ve seen Dora.

But there’s an opportunity cost associated with television watching. Every moment our kids spend watching a favorite program is a moment they don’t spend reading a book, or socializing with friends, or exercising outside. It’s a moment they don’t spend practicing an instrument or drawing a picture. If TV is in any way evil, it’s because it’s pulling our kids away from activities that are better choices for how to spend their time.

Finding an Appropriate Balance

So the issue for most parents becomes finding an appropriate balance. Growing up, we went through a lot of different TV rules. For a while, we went without it all-together. We went for another period without cable. Whenever we did have TV, cable or not, there were always special restrictions for weekdays vs weekends. So what do you do in your family? How much is too much for you and your kids?