timst4

This is one fast coup! Congrats, Putin! You won

This is the war on Science. Next comes the war on Education. The obliteration of democracy comes next. If you imagine Trump gives up this level of power without bloodshed in the streets you are deluding yourself.

And Facebook and X are not advocacy organizations vehemently pushing an agenda? The fact that there is an organization looking to speak for teenagers and their rights to privacy in the face of the aggressiveness of FAANG lobbying should be the best news you hear today. Organizations like CSM and EFF are the last points of light in an ocean of darkness.

Elections have consequences

I see the Disrupt movement has matured. Too bad the plan all along was to stick someone else with the externalities.

OLWEUS most likely

The fact that Tiktok wholesale bought the user base for musical.ly, largely preteen children, and converted them to an entirely different app meant to addict them and harvest their data seems pretty unconscionable.

So as someone who teaches robotics to middle school Students, FIRST lego is still the best program for kids. If you would like to learn CAD, EE, 3D printing, and microcontrollers, then certainly go the battle bots route. However, this will be a steep learning curve for your son and he may get frustrated. With FIRST, he will move from FLL to FRC in late middle school which has much more open road. He will also learn to work as a part of a team and solve problems in concert with peers which is different than a father son team. FLL is intense and almost a year round pursuit. Find a good home school team for him to join and he’ll get the best experience.

As if anyone had a choice about climate change. Cigarettes, oxy, sugar, and carbon are all alike in that their detrimental effects were hidden, downplayed, or denied for decades. Now, here we are with a destroyed ecosystem and rampant addiction. Choice is a meaningless word in the context of capitalism. There is only manipulation.

Regulation was needed 60 years ago, and now we are the ones left holding the bag.

This is one of the most flawed arguments that get made. I’ve been to many places in North America and Europe. Everywhere you go, direct sunlight above 65F is nearly unbearable. Air temperature is one thing, but we are super heating the entire air column between you and the outer atmosphere. Places that used to be pleasant with lots of sunshine like the SFs East Bay are now searing hot in direct sun. Yes, Maybe Quebec is more pleasant than it used to be, but it will be uncomfortable most of the summer in 5 or 10 years. Humans will certainly migrate North but Eventually we will just run out of latitude. Climate Change isn’t linear. Each year will be getting hotter faster than it did the year before. We’re toast.

Middle School educator here. I can assure you that your daughters will not be alone when it comes to a moratorium on social media. However, the girls they may very well want to be friends with may be very much into social media and group chats. My advice is to be firm but also take steps to create social opportunities for your daughters. I have a 12yo and I host board game nights with amazing snack trays. I help her to play video games socially using air console.

You have to play defense. These apps are deleterious to your daughters self worth. I’ve seen too many hospitalizations and suicides to believe otherwise. But you also have to play offense. They will need guidance on how to be social in a world coopted by manipulation and deceit. Parenting these days is challenging but it’s possible to raise girls who thrive without phones.

Catan or DND has a similar competitive yet low stakes vibe.

Here’s my secret: I host a night about once every two months and I bake soft pretzel bites with varying dipping sauces. People know I’m going to bake pretzels and this familiarity is comforting, but they also come to see what sauces I’m gonna have. I try to make them exotic at times