February 2009 Books

Here are the books I've read in February:

10. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
11. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
12. Interviews with Muslim Women of Pakistan by Chiara Angela Kovarik
13. Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
14. The Shack by William Paul Young

I'm interested in seeing what others have to say about "The Shack" during a book club meeting this Saturday. I thought it was an interesting perspective on God and religion. Nothing super controversial or life changing for me, but apparantly this book is causing a lot of controversy.

Anyway, keep reading!

What does this mean?

Since I've "decorated" my vehicle, I've gotten 2 tickets and backed in to a tree. I kind of like the hippy-van thing going on, but I'm starting to think the stickers need to come off.

Happy Birthday, Alex !!!!!!!

Fro Alex's birthday, we went with friends to the Science Center. For dinner we went to Sushi Man, so Alex could get a spider roll !

Happy Birthday, Alex !

Happy Birthday Rachel !!!!!!

Rachel spent the day skiing with Alex, Pat and some friends. She loved it. Afterwards, she had a sleepover with her favorite friend. It was a quiet, low-key celebration of birth.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

What are we teaching our kids?

Recognize this logo? I do - Rachel has 6 or 7 of them. In fact, Alex just gave her this guy for her birthday.

She's a cute, stuffed, black kitty that looks just like Inka. I like her too - that's why I picked her up from the store. After she received her, Rachel ran downstairs to log her new cat in.... and that's always where I start having an issue. To keep Webkinz virtual pets happy, you have to buy them virtual stuff. And to buy them stuff, you play games (dare I say under-age gambling?) to make money. The more money, the more stuff. I asked Rachel if the games were hard, but guess what? Money making is EASY on Webkinz. And, it's pretty unlimited. Since Rachel logged in on her birthday, she was given 100 bucks! However, since the game earnings can be in the thousands, she reported the birthday gift as only 100 bucks. In fact, just for purchasing and logging in her new Inka cat, she was given $2,000 and some other random junk. Now, it's been about an hour and Rachel's still messing with the Webkinz thing, and I don't mind her spending time playing a computer game - it's just this one. I'll repeat myself here, just because I am so baffled by the concept and how people / parents think this is good. On Webkinz, the more stuff you get, the happier your pets are. Money making is easy street - just gamble for it. If you don't regularly check in with your Webkinz site, your pets lose happiness, so make sure and keep coming back to cyberworld (obsessively) to buy more stuff (again, obsessively). And have as much fun as you can - for a year. After that your pet expires and if you do not buy another one, your whole account is kaplooey. This morning Rachel even contemplated not logging in Inka until her other latest one - a horse- expires in December - so worried is she that she'll lose her whole virtual world.

What are we teaching our kids?

For more see:

Commercial-free Childhood

Parenting For Peace

Save Darfur

Here's another issue I'm interested in. To learn more go here: http://www.savedarfur.org/

Three Cups of Tea

“If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.” - Greg Mortenson, “He Fights Terror with Books,”April 6, 2003

“Your President Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years.”- Brigadier General Bashir Baz on the U.S. invasion of Iraq

My 11th book of 2009 is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.

This book describes the philanthropic efforts of an American mountain climber who was rescued and nursed back to health in 1993 by a Pakistani village after his attempt to summit K2 in the Himalayan Mountains. Upon leaving this village, he promised to return and build the village a much needed school. Not only did he return to build that school, as of 2008 he has built 78 schools in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, serving 28,000 students. To understand what he had to overcome to be so successful, reading the book is essential.

Reading this book prompted me to learn more about Islam, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sure, in America, we hear every day how horrible it is there and how all the people are America-haters on jihad - or war against Christians, to put it very simply. This could not be farther from the truth. In Pakistan, family comes first. Well, second, I guess, after God, known as Allah. But family is much more sacred there then here. And, Pakistan citizens do not support the terrorist extremists such as the Taliban nor Al-Qadea. This is one reason why schools like Mortenson's are so critical. If not given the chance to attend schools teaching academic subjects, children in poor, rural areas can more easily be recruited by the extremist groups to attend madrassas, where terrorist training sometimes poses as education.

While I firmly believe that Mortenson is doing a good thing and helping Pakistan immensely, while reading this book I also had to question whether such modern influence is always for the best. Who says that our way is better? Even in his book, Mortenson quotes passages from a book he'd read - Ancient Futures by Helena Norberg-Hodge. "...Western develpoment workers should not blindly impose modern improvements on ancient cultures... industrialized countries have lessons to learn from people like those in the Himalayan mountains about building sustainable societies. Community and a close relationship with the land can enrich human life beyond all comparison with material wealth or technological sophistication. Another way is possible." Norberg-Hodge also writes in her book (quoting the king of Bhutan in the Himalayas) "...the true measure of a nation's success is not gross national product, but gross national happiness". (Reading things like this really makes you wonder if America is as successful as it wants to believe, doesn't it?)

I guess it all comes down to education. The modern world is here to stay. Hopefully, the small villages will be able to embrace the modern without the heartache that is present in affluent America. If anything, America has more to learn from Pakistan then we can teach them. Thanks to Greg Mortenson for paving the way.

More from Mortenson and a book excerpt:

“If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else, then we will be no safer than were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.”

"Terrorism happens because children aren’t being offered a bright enough future."

Three Cups of Tea is not only an astonishing tale of compassion and a promise kept, but an indictment of the Bush administration. One sees the destruction of Afghanistan—men, women, children, the land—by the Taliban and by the U.S. The thing that angers Mortenson most in Afghanistan is the failure of the U.S. to provide the money for education and reconstruction it promised; money that has been diverted to the war in Iraq.

On the war in Iraq, Mortenson tells how Brigadier General Bashir Bas in Pakistan, one of the great supporters of the efforts to educate all of Pakistan’s children, reacted as they both watched a CNN feed of Iraqi women carrying children’s bodies out of the rubble of a bombed building:

“People like me are America’s best friends in the region,” Bashir said at last, shaking his head ruefully. “I am a moderate Muslim, an educated man. But watching this, even I could become a jihadi. How can Americans say they are making themselves safer?” Bashir asked, struggling not to direct his anger toward the large American target on the other side of his desk. “Your President Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years.“Osama had something to do with it, too,” Mortenson said.“Osama, baah!” Bashir roared. “Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to America, Osama is in every home… You have to attack the source of your enemy’s strength. In America’s case, that’s not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.”

Other Amazing links:
The Girl Effect - don't miss this one!

Pennies for Peace

Central Asia Institute

Another Take on Fair

Giving Loving Gifts

Here's a great article on giving responsible gifts that do not cause harm to others - really two gifts in one.

In summary, anyone giving diamonds, gold, chocolate, cell phones or small electronics should be aware that their gift of happiness might be causing tremendous suffering to someone else, depending upon where the raw materials originate. I myself would rather not have a gift, if it promotes violence, slavery and bloodshed. But I also appreciate gold, diamonds, and chocolate. (Not so much cell phones and electronics - unless it's a conflict-free netbook....). And luckily, the above article has information on how to make sure these items can be obtained conflict-free. It's good to be informed.

Just to Be Fair

Looking back at a few of these recent posts, it sounds like I'm really against public education. And I am - at least in our district. We're right in the middle of trying to pass another bond to fund, amoung other things, crowding issues at the high school that APD would technically go to next year, so I guess everyone around here is thinking about these things.

But, I went to public high school and loved it. Granted, we had a huge number of Advanced (now AP?) classes available, and they actually taught math. Real math, not the phony stuff that everyone in this state is either whining about or flunking.

And, if we moved back to Illinois, I would most likely send APD back to high school. Maybe private, because it's like $6,000 there vs. $20,000 per year out here. But probably public. I would definitely have to think hard about it, because I really do like the autonomy and freedom of homeschooling. But at least we would have viable choices. Something really has to be done in this state and quickly. Otherwise, it will come true. The kids here will be washing cars for the qualified employees immigrating from India and China. Or maybe serving their food. "Would you like fries with that?"

I'm on a Soap Box

Wow, I'm on a soapbox lately! It's fun discovering all these articles though. Check these out-

The Math Underground
Betrayed - Why Public Education is Failing

A Nation Behind

2 Million Minutes is a documentary which addresses how United States education is no longer considered only "at risk". We are now behind even 3rd world nations such as India and China.

Seattle Times reported the following:

The April 1983 government report “A Nation at Risk*” warned us that if we didn’t improve math and science education in the U.S. we would be at risk of falling behind our global competitors. Having reached the twenty-fifth anniversary of the report, a provocative new documentary film, Two Million Minutes, vividly reveals that American students are no longer “at risk” of falling behind -- they are now clearly behind even Third World students in India and China, in addition to being in 24th place among developed countries.“Despite the billions of dollars being spent on ‘education reform’ since 1983, the U.S. has implemented none of the meaningful recommendations of the 1983 report and as a result has seen no real improvements to our math or science education system,” said Robert Compton, creator and executive producer of the documentary Two Million Minutes.

A partner of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s ED in ’08 campaign, the film follows two students in India, China and the U.S. during their senior years of high school. By comparing how these students prioritize their time (approximately four years or “two million minutes” of high school), the film demonstrates that the typical student in the U.S. spends much less time on his/her education and gives less thought to future career opportunities than his/her global peers in India and China. The documentary discusses the implications for the U.S. economy of having its students lose ground in education compared to those students around the globe.

Compton had film crews record high school seniors in the U.S., India and China in 2005 and 2006. “What we saw and what the film portrays is that our culture has a highly developed athletic (pathetic isn't it???) and extracurricular system but a deteriorating core academic system,” said Compton. “In 25 years, America has gone simply from being ‘A Nation at Risk’ to a nation way behind its largest future economic competitors – India and China.”

“How is your high school student allocating his/her two million minutes?” asked Compton. “That’s a question every parent should ask him or herself. It’s one I even had to ask myself.”

I have not seen this video yet, but really want to. I might need to order it, as I am like number 30 on the waitlist for the libraries' 1 copy!

Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture

I found another resource - Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture, after doing some research on the Silver Spoon Kids book. If you sign up for their newsletter, you can get a free copy of this booklet, both in PDF and published form. Here are some quotes:

We have become a nation that places a lower priority on teaching its children how to thrive socially, intellectually, even spiritually, than it does on training them to consume. The long-term consequences of this development are ominous.
–Juliet Schor, Born to Buy2

When you say no to another gizmo, say yes to something
your child really wants — your time. In What Kids Really
Want that Money Can’t Buy, author Betsy Taylor points to surveys
and self-reports that indicate what children really want
more than stuff is time — with parents, friends, and extended
family. According to a New American Dream poll, 57
percent of children age 9-14 would rather do something fun
with their mom or dad than go to the mall to go shopping.
Kids yearn to get off the treadmill with their families and simply
have unstructured fun. Whether it’s playing games, cooking,
reading together, or just sharing space with the TV off,
remember that the best thing you can give your kids is you.
-New American Dream.org

All this and more can be found on New American Dream.org