Republican National Convention

Jonathan Capehart, of the Washington Post, was on The Leonard Lopate Show discussing the speeches so far at the Republican National Convention and how the week in Tampa shaped the election.

Revolt of the Rich

In Revolt of the Rich - Our financial elites are the new secessionists, Mike Lofgren writes "It was 1993, during congressional debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement. I was having lunch with a staffer for one of the rare Republican congressmen who opposed the policy of so-called free."

Check out the entire piece in The American Conservative.

Washington, DC

We swung by Washington, DC on the way home.

We saw the white house, Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

More pictures below:

Water Country USA

We went to Water Country USA, and Eason and I went on both of these Vanish Point rides. CRAZIEST RIDE EVER!!!

Eason's back got scraped up from The Drop. It was really a lousy ride. But all the other rides were lots of fun.

Buckroe Beach

We had a great beach day at Buckroe Beach.                                                       

The New New Deal

Michael Grunwald, senior national correspondent for Time Magazine and the author of The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era,  writes in his new book about how the stimulus package was far more effective than acknowledged.

He discussed it on The Brian Lehrer Show:

Kids Enjoying Colonial Williamsburg

At Colonial Williamsburg for Eason's birthday. My mom got Eason the rifle he always wanted and the hat Andi picked out.

More pictures below:

Raising Successful Children (Is It Easier Than It Sounds?)

In the NY Times' Raising Successful Children, Madeline Levine, author of “Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success” asks "Is there really anything wrong with a kind of “overparenting lite”?"

She goes on to say:

The happiest, most successful children have parents who do not do for them what they are capable of doing, or almost capable of doing; and their parents do not do things for them that satisfy their own needs rather than the needs of the child.

Unnecessary intervention makes your child feel bad about himself (if he’s young) or angry at you (if he’s a teenager.)

Check out the whole article at The New York Times.

My Message To Camp Counselors

At the beginning of this summer the director of my daughter's camp asked some parents to come and speak to their staff about what we expect from the staff and camp, any fears we might have (made up or real), good or bad experiences that we have had and why.

I wasn't be able to go attend, but I did send an email with what I would have liked to say: