And Hayek was Mises' student. =) The Keynes vs. Hayek videos (at least one has been linked to in this thread) are really fabulous for demonstrating how enamored we've become with Keynesian thought in particular. Politicians naturally want to spend more now because the short-term gains are often positive and, well, let the next guy worry about the long-term consequences. The bad economist looks at the obvious - what is seen, ignoring all further consequences - the unseen (paraphrase of Bastiat). As Keynes (who, btw, only ever took one economics course) famously said, "In the long run, we are all dead." Mainstream economic policy rarely gets beyond stage-1. Austrians worry about stages 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Austrians try to foresee the unseen. It's really obvious which sort of policies we've been following and that they're not working out very well.

Whoa, hold up there, Bill. You have obviously read something about the Austrian School of economic theory, but you're speaking with more authority than is warranted. Basically, it looks like you don't know enough to understand it, but just enough to feel free to criticize it. First, I really need to clear-up the misconception that Austrian economics is also called anarcho-capitalism. While many Austrian economists do subscribe to this political ideology, we believe that social sciences must be value-free and there are many Austrians who are not anarcho-capitalists. Again, Austrian economics is a school of economic thought, not an ideology. But let us examine your critique of the lack of scientifically or mathematically valid underpinnings. Economics is a social science. There's a big difference between social and hard sciences. Mainstream economics seems have forgotten this. You cannot examine the behavior of human beings the same way that you would examine, for example, mindless particles. In addition, when mainstream economists attempt to predict future economic trends with their fabulous mathematical models, they use all variables. And the actions of individuals are not accounted for. It's no wonder that they are terrible at predicting much of anything. The resulting equations are imprecise and a downright fraud. On more than one occasion, I have seen mathematicians cackle hysterically when they find out what mainstream economists do in these models. Austrians, on the other hand, primarily employ the study of human action (praxeology) and logic (of which mathematics is only a branch) to predict economic trends. Shockingly, Austrians consistently have a much better grasp of what is happening and is going to happen in an economy (for example, Mises and Hayek were the only economists to predict the Great Depression and we knew about the impending housing bust in the early 2000s, and there were suspicions in the 90s). Economics is much more than a numbers game. In its essence, it is the study of human beings and what they value. If mathematics is the main tool for advancing economic thought, the assumption must be that human beings conform their actions to a constant mathematical equation. This is why Austrians use logical inferences from observation rather than equations. For an overly simplified example, I can observe that someone likes chocolate ice cream more than strawberry ice cream. But it is impossible to precisely say that the person gets 4.5 "utils" of pleasure from chocolate ice cream, versus 2.6 from strawberry ice cream. The latter is a simply ridiculous statement, yet this is the approach of mainstream economics. Furthermore, the vast majority of Austrians had their training in mainstream economics and/or advanced mathematics. It's not like they don't understand the stuff. They see the flaws and the failures. I cannot stress enough that Austrian economics has no ideological position. The conclusions of the observations tend to lead to the idea of interference in the market as having an overall detrimental effect on society, but when working purely on economics, Austrians take no stance. Again, we strongly believe in value-free science because we're interested in describing reality. Confusing ideology again here. Libertarians as a whole are often influenced by the conclusions of Austrian economics. For example, libertarians tend to believe that state interference in the market results in a poorer society, governments are bad at allocating funds, if it is needed the market will provide it, etc. This is a really difficult paradigm shift to make because our society is so very used to the idea of the state handling things like welfare, natural disaster recovery, education, etc. As for tornadoes, an Austrian economist will tell you that you when you provide “insurance” for disasters from organizations such as FEMA, you make it less of a risk to live in places like Tornado Alley. This isn’t contentious among economists. It’s simply supply and demand. When you reduce the cost of something, more of it will be demanded. I feel like continuing further is treading to close to violating the political discussion ban, but that really needed clarification. If you want more info, mises.org is a good place to read-up on the economics of it. As for Austrians being Randians, both Austrian and Objectivists would laugh at you for saying that. Source: Married to an Austrian economist-in-training. P.S. For anyone interested in Austrian Economics, Dr. Robert Murphy has a wonderful textbook called Lessons for the Young Economist (http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Young-Economist-Robert-Murphy/dp/1933550880) and just in the past few days released the teacher’s guide (http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Young-Economist-Teachers-Manual/dp/1610162048), which is specifically designed with homeschooling parents in mind. Austrians economists tend to homeschool. =)

This is not strictly a kids' cookbook, but the author did write it with cooking with his son in mind: High Flavor, Low Labor by J.M. Hirsch (http://www.amazon.com/High-Flavor-Low-Labor-Reinventing/dp/034552229X). The recipes are all pretty simple, but incredibly delicious. It may be something that you would use together or after she's learned the basics.

According to a study conducted by the DoJ, nearly 5% of college women are raped each year. Her fears are not unfounded. She needs to use whatever escort system is available, take a self-defense course, travel is packs, carry mace, whatever. I am finishing my fifth year of college right now (changed majors late) at a major university in a super safe area. Rape is a huge deal on my campus. It doesn't matter if you don't stay out late, don't drink, or don't go to wild parties. It still happens.

I was homeschooled, so I don't know what the traditional weights are, but if it's just daily assignments and tests, I would recommend starting with weights comparable to high school and college. 20% for daily assignment and 80% for tests. Or, if she has assignments that she does with you and then independent assignments (i.e., homework), you could do 10%, 20%, and 70%. Just my two cents. I think it's best to start prepping students for what's ahead as early as possible. :)

I chose 'Other.' I was a homeschooled student, K-12. My DH and I do not have kids yet, but we decided before we were married that we are going to homeschool. I guess I'm a pre-homeschooler now? lol

:grouphug: That sounds like a really tough situation and I think you are handling it well.

I remember only eating mashed potatoes and Jello for days after my braces were put on. Having to chew anything was terrible.

I don't know about Disneyland, but Disney World is great the first couple of weeks in December and becomes total nightmare right around Christmas Day.

I believe him and I am not the least bit surprised. Here are two websites devoted to cases of unnecessary force by law enforcement officials: http://www.theagitator.com/ http://www.freedominourtime.blogspot.com/

Your kid is still going to be in school, just not in the same building as everyone else. As the PP said, make a big deal about starting PreK and K and explain that he gets to go to school at home and that there are lots of kids all over the world that are homeschooled. Do you have any homeschool groups in your area that you can join? I think it really helps for kids to have homeschooled peers.

I was 17 not that long ago, so my perspective is coming from a recent teen rather than parent of one. With the GF's mom: Your house, your rules and her house, her rules. It would be different if you had a younger child, but at this point, your kid is really almost an adult. With your son: I don't think you're being unreasonable with what you are asking him and his GF to do, or not do, in your home. But there are plenty of other places for them to do whatever it is they are going to do and you do need to trust that you have taught your son well. I think that the best way to at least make sure that they are ridiculously safe if they do anything is to have frequent talks with him and his GF about the possible consequences. I would imagine that neither is prepared for the realities of parenthood and that is, of course, always a risk.

Okay, let me preface this by saying I am a total Disney-nut. My personal favorite time to go is early December, but there are other great times. September is one of the absolute lowest crowd times. Most of the Fall is pretty good in general, but avoid when schools are out for Fall break because there will be an influx of traffic. Halloween at Disney is super fun, but Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has gotten absurdly crowded in recent years. December up until the week before Christmas is great. The parks and resorts have fabulous decorations. Once people are off work and out of school for Christmas, there is a huge crowd surge. The crowds die down about a week into January and do not really pick back up until Spring Break. Just don't go in the Summer or during Spring Break. I think that being able to go to Disney during low-crowd times is one of the awesome perks of homeschooling. Be on the look out for Free Dining (stay on-site with a certain Magic Your Way package and get Free Quick Service Dining for Value Resorts or Free Dining for Moderates and up). They've been offering this at various times throughout the year, but most often when traffic is lower (September-December). If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Also, check out http://www.disboards.com. It's a great resource for trip planning.

For me personally, no. When I need to write, I am completely confident in my ability to do so and to do it well. Understanding the rules of grammar and being a good writer do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. I was homeschooled and my mother greatly emphasized the importance of grammar in my education, but I have never been much of a writer. My narrative voice tends towards the dry and academic, which the majority of people do not find engaging.

I have never been taught how to build a house. I know what a house looks like and I know what materials are needed to construct one, but I sure as heck would not want to live in a house I built myself.