Shocking News: Guilt can help change behavior

It surprises me when journalist find this kind of stuff to be newsworthy. However, I guess in our postmodern age, we need to be reminded of what everyone used to know: guilt can help change behavior.

So often these days we are told not to make children feel bad, because it hurts their precious "self-esteem." So, we don't try to make them feel guilty for their bad behavior and then are shocked we get more bad behavior. However, a little shame goes a long way.

A Reasonable Question

Tempest In a Teapot: "A private firm's downgrade of its hurricane forecast raises an obvious question: If scientists can't get near-future projections in a limited area right, how can they predict the climate decades from now?"

I absolutely love the ending line of the article:

The formula for a climate of fear, though, requires nothing more than a lot of thunder and a bit of heat generated by political activists.

To be Fair: Global Warming May not be caused by the Sun

I want to be fair and open minded in the Climate Change debate. A recent study is indicating that the Sun may not be a cause of Climate Change.

Now, the finding doesn't make sense to me since it is counterintutive that more heat from the sun should cool the earth. The vague reasoning about the the earth not be affected due to the ocean's ability to absorb and retain heat needs to be explained a little bit more. I would think that if the oceans are preventing the Earth from warming because of the Sun, then wouldn't they work similarly for warming caused by man?

I still have questions that cause me to be skeptical. There is no "man-made" explanation for the Medieval Warming period between 800-1100 when the Vikings were able to farm areas of Greenland. What did man do to cause the Little Ice Age from about 1300-1850?

Of course, as I have said before, I believe that global warming is happening. But we have to be careful with what is causing it. Each side want to say it is ONLY cyclical/solar activity/natural process or it is ONLY human activity. As with a lot of things, I say that truth lies somewhere in the middle.

The Magic House

We took the older kids to the Magic House today and left the three young boys at home with Mom and Dad. Mihaela loved it!!! She was a little dazed and confused at first, not quite knowing what to do there. But, once we took her to the water table and let her go, she started having a blast. She went down the slide, through tunnels, played, jumped, sorted, banged stuff together, did artwork, and played in the giant sand box.

We were disappointed that we had decided not to bring Noah, he would've had a blast. Well, we will take him next time.

Zoo Day

Erin and I left Lannom with Mom and Dad today and have taken Noah and Mihaela to the St. Louis zoo. Mihaela has been talking about this for weeks. We have a good zoo in Montgomery, but it is so small compared to the St. Louis zoo. Mihaela loved the penguins. I think that was her favorite part. Noah loved taking a nap in his stroller, and thus, missed over half of our time there.

Erin was busy photographing the animals. She plans on using the photos while doing art projects and letter time with the kids this Fall.

My only complaint is that the Zoo is big and has some pretty high hills. There were some times where both Noah and Mihaela were in the stroller and I was pushing over 60 pounds up a steep hill on a hot, humid, St. Louis summer day. Erin actually had to lean over and help me a few times.

Takin' it easy

I love vacation. It is great to just relax in a nice, cool house.