The government is seen to favor Catholics, citizens can be frequently spotted going about their business stark naked, the tenet of free speech is held dear, and the cat is a protected species.

It’s quick, easy, and thought-provoking. Every couple of days we log in and check the issues waiting for decisions. For each issue, short statements are made by fictional members of opposing viewpoints. Carolyn picks to side with one of them or abstain.

This is a complex simulation designed for adults, so I have the ominous feeling it’s going to blow up in my face one day. In the meantime, however, it’s a fascinating informal way to explore politics.

Nation States was created by author Max Barry. Read his humorous writing about an encounter with the UN, or visit the Nation States home page.

If you’ve ever dreamed of brushing Barbie’s teeth, now’s your chance.

Barbie’s Career Games

Mattel has also streamlined their general games portal, which gives relatively easy access to American Girl, Polly Pocket, Barbie, and other games for various ages. Visit them at Mattel Games

About a year ago, Tumblr had a service which allows you to compare trends – the popularity of keywords across all their tumblogs. I can’t find the service today, but thought I’d post this graph I created last year. As you can see, the pen (green) was clearly mightier than the sword (blue) in this sample from July 22 – August 5, 2009. Another search (not shown) revealed that the iPhone outstripped both pen and sword.

Since no units are marked to expres the difference, it’s impossible to tell whether thousands of tumblr-using bloggers prefer the pen to the sword, or if it’s only a handful.

— former Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency

Surprising news – Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today. Yes, that Nobel Peace Prize. No, this isn’t a misprint. Among 205 nominations, the Nobel committee chose Barack Obama – accomplishments still TBD – as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner. As my husband put it, “He hasn’t done anything.”

It’s true. And yet, it’s an insightful choice. Obama hasn’t evidenced a tangible accomplishment, but he has “done something” just by remaining hopeful in a climate of despair and fear.

Virtual Lap Harp Click the kids’ harp; it loads faster and is easier to enjoy.

About.Com: Tree Leaf Key

More Activities for learning about Autumn:
Project Learning Tree has activities for signs of fall, looking at leaves, a tree life cycle, and more.
Author Beth Harpaz appreciates some of the events of Autumn in the article, Searching for Early Signs of Fall.

Today’s post, however, isn’t about unschooling. It’s about play. It just happens that my focus quote is by an unschooler. There’s really nothing in her article that links the two. So for now I can remain on the margins of that category.

Play, however, is not something I am in the margins of. There are situations that call for learning to be dry and disconnected, but certainly these should be the sidebars of any learning situation. There’s no substitute for learning which occurs naturally through discovery, curiousity, exploration, and play.

Read more about play:

The Importance of Play from Brookes Publishing

Quotes about Play from the Strong Museum of Play

The American Journal of Play

Peaceful Playgrounds – all about the spaces we use for recess

Playing with Your Child from the Child Development Institute

Maria Montessori: Play is the Work of the Child from the Child Development Institute

News Release from Stanford University

Researchers at Stanford University hoped to learn some productivity tips by studying multitaskers, but they found nothing to emulate. “They can’t keep things separate in their minds,” said lead researcher Eyal Ophir. Colleague Professor Clifford Nass commented, “They’re suckers for irrelevancy.”

The next question, researchers say, is whether multitaskers have an innate tendency towards distraction or if multitasking helps create a distracted brain. That’s a question parents and educators have been debating for years, as the rise of video games, commercials, and “factoids” have continued to chop up children’s attention spans.

Read more below.
Stanford University: Multitasking

–> “It’s an inherent part of the job description.“ ~ Parenting writer Katherine Lee
–> “Staying focused and not fragmented is ‘the next best thing’ to happiness.“ ~ Judith Timson, columnist for The Globe and Mail
–> “Any kind of disruption can make driving dangerous.“ ~ Science Daily, in 2008
–> “We do not learn as well when we are distracted“ ~ Science Daily, in 2006

Somehow, after she and I both got so sleepy that we were silly, we started chanting Fox in Socks rhymes. Blibber blubber, beetle battles, and so on. She can recite an impressive number of them. There was also some talk of carmel camels. Carolyn loves word sounds, always has.

I fed her cinnamon cereal for breakfast. We’ve been avoiding cinnamon to see if it affect her rashes. Now she’s scratching herself, using baby talk, and fidgeting. So I think the answer is yes, cinnamon affects both her skin and her behavior. Plus her attention span seems to be shot. It’d be kind of intriguing if it weren’t going to make my morning so dicey. On the other hand, think of all the cinnamon-crazed mornings I’ve probably just avoided by taking time to notice. Chocolate is just the same.

Oh dear – she stopped her fishing game on the computer in the middle, and so only got 7 small fish, and is now upset about her poor score. Oh good – she’s already forgotten about it and is saying, “Lazy Lagoon, Lazy Lagoon, Lazy Lagoon,” over and over.

“Puzzle pieces, puzzle pieces, puzzle pieces. Lang, lang, lang, clang clang clang, a-mang, mang, mang. Purple, pink, blink, blink blink.”

How do you like my picture mom? I say, it looks like the train is speeding along in the darkness. “It’s not darkness,” she says. Oh yes – I forgot my least-favorite part of these reactions. Nitpicky stubborness. Urgh. “It’s a big field of green grass, grass all around.”

There’s a pause, and then she adds a stream of comments, without pausing between any of them. They are not questions or even communication: almost like exhales that she can’t avoid. “Some nails are blue. I think there was a nail in our tiny things bin. What color are tires? Tires are black. Ta-Da.”

Now she’s spinning around in her seat and singing “La, la, la, la,” while coloring a picture on the computer. I thought I might as well let the computer take some of her freneticism. Maybe I should google “antidote to cinnamon.”

“Grey, grey, grey. Got it.”