Right. And people work to make enough money to be able to make a decent livelihood. The opinion on this thread seems to be that people should take up any work no matter how low the wages, but that the only obligation employers should have is to make money for themselves. Why then would employers who do find people to do anything for them for a pittance, ever want to pay decent wages? Somebody spoke of Dickens on this thread. This seems like a classic call for a return to a Dickensian society where the poor remain wretchedly poor with no power to change anything and the rich continue to grow vulgarly rich.

:001_smile: And I am not accusing you of accusing China of being communist, because I know they are communist. I was only saying that Communism has nothing to do with bystander apathy.

These issues are present in ANY developing nation. India has all of these problems. And we have a democracy too. Yes our systems are broken. Yes a lot needs to be done and things are changing - albeit too slowly. Yes our politicians are corrupt and our political system is one big money sucking machine. Sigh. But...it has already been shown in this thread that bystanders not rushing to help somebody in trouble happens all over the world. Why should we bring in China's political system or communism into this discussion?

Thanks for mentioning this. I just googled bystander apathy and found a Wikipedia article on this. Unfortunately such behaviour is neither uncommon, nor limited to certain societies.

I do not think one can form an opinion about a people or a culture even after watching this video. There are terrible things that happen everywhere (yes, even in the developed nations) and we find people capable of amazing acts of kindness, also everywhere in the world. I suppose when poverty, pain, suffering and an overall feeling of helplessness become the norm in a society, the degree of apathy is also higher.

Agree with this. My ds is the same way and he will take well to any sport provided the coach is sensitive and positive. Unfortunately though, most sports coaches that I have come across have been rough and seemed to consider yelling to be a normal part of coaching. Such behavior would never be acceptable when teaching maths or science!

I think this is a great thread and I thank you for starting it. I am very introverted and so is my ds and some of the suggestions on this thread are insightful and helpful to me and I suppose also to many others who are reading. I understand not all of what is posted being relevant to your situation, but I hope you find at least some useful ideas here. I for one, am loving reading all the responses :)

I am a Hindu and pretty agnostic right now. But even when I was strongly theistic I did not think of God as a someone sitting and tuning in to prayers and granting wishes as s/he pleased. I do not believe God intervenes in people's lives. Our lives are directed by the choices we make. Our perceptions of good and bad are just that - perceptions. What we see as misfortune is not always so. One of my favorite stories is the one about the Chinese farmer who lost his horse. Our joy and our pain is pretty real to us and it is therefore only natural that we define the nature of existence through our eyes. But if you think about it, we are but just a speck and the world moves around oblivious to our existence.

Emily, I hope you feel better by now. I agree with the people who have said that it is never okay to ask a woman whether she is pregnant. As far as it being a cultural issue, I come from a culture which has a pretty loose definition of personal boundaries and people don't think twice before asking personal questions here. Even if you belong to such a culture, it is STILL NOT okay. As a person who carries most of my weight around my tummy, I can't recall the number of times that I have been asked this question. It mortified me the first few times. I have now learnt to smile and shake it off. It still hurts though, when somebody asks me in front of my husband and he laughs his head off :001_huh:

My ds is a very sensitive child. He has been playing action oriented games for quite a while (not FPS though) and I do not see any adverse behavioral issues at all. In fact I feel video games have given him additional interests to pursue such as history (many games interweave historical characters and mythology), drawing, designing costumes and weaponry, etc. We do limit screen time and we do check the reviews and ratings of the games before allowing those in the house.

My son does not like FPS (first person shooters) either. This genre is pretty popular among hardcore gamers but not usually among casual gamers. Check out some other strategy, treasure hunt or action games. That said, I don't have any suggestions for DS, sorry.

We own a PS3 and I do not allow my ds10 to play anything that is rated 18+ or Mature. I look at the PEGI ratings...I believe there are other rating systems as well. Call of Duty - Nintendo DS version - PEGI rating

Here you go....http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263107. Some of the best elementary and middle school science threads are tagged as "science ideas".

I have a few books in my Amazon Wish List. I have not read them yet, so I cannot tell you about them, but perhaps you will find something useful here: Money Sense for Kids Show me the Money The Berenstain Bears' Dollars and Sense The Everything Kids' Money Book DK Eyewitness Economics Hope this helps.

I haven't read this but it looks interesting and I plan to buy it for my ds: Evolution Revolution by Robert Winston

Loving all your posts in this thread Rebekah. Especially agree with the bolded parts.

:iagree: Yes Indian vegetarians avoid eggs as well, but we love our yoghurt. But all in all a good idea to ask about food preferences.

I think it would be a good idea to ask if they are vegetarians. Many Indians are. If they are, then you can either skip the chicken altogether or cook only enough for your family. And I agree with the posters who suggested Mexican or any food with a kick of spice.

Since you are looking for websites I will post this link. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/. It is however very extensive and will require quite a bit of study. If you have access to a library and would like to check out some books I recommend Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne. It is brief, concise and well written. Your Inner Fish, which I mentioned in an earlier post is also very very good.

Evolution makes testable and falsifiable predictions. For example, it predicts the layers in which a particular fossil should be found. Neil Shubin and his team were able to accurately predict not only which geological layer the transitional form between fishes and amphibians could be found but also where on earth they would have the highest chance of finding one. Their expedition led to the discovery of the Tiktaalik. Shubin has written Your Inner Fish (which I highly recommend) explaining the methodology used for this discovery. It is also an excellent treatise on common descent. There are other predictions which the theory makes such as for example the tree of life which can be confirmed (or falsified) by DNA evidence.

IMO, this describes exactly how one could approach the topic in a way that does not misrepresent either religion or science (which is unfortunately what many tend to do). Agree especially with the bolded parts.

Very well said Laurie. To the OP: your mother has clearly learned to justify her actions to herself and to absolve herself of all responsibility in her mind. We often wish such people would realise the error of their ways or act is a less selfish way - but clearly to her, she is not being selfish at all. I can understand your heartache, but please let go of your expectation that she will come around or that she will understand your perspective. :grouphug:

There...is this not nice of me :tongue_smilie:

Yes it makes sense. I have struggled too with guilt about similar issues but I don't anymore. I have come to believe that every person in your life was there for a purpose. Every relationship has shaped a little bit of who you are today. I look back to my relationships with gratitude for teaching me what I needed to learn at the time :)

Yes. I do get what you are saying. But I think it is beautiful what you shared. Some love stories last forever and some are brief and intense. It does not lessen what you once felt, or make it wrong just because the relationship did not end in marriage. Perhaps your regret comes from a value judgement that you have made in your mind that it is somehow wrong to have loved someone other than your dh? If perhaps you see the beauty in what you once felt and accept it as a wonderful phase of your life you will no longer feel regret?