Johnson Smith
Founder and CEO
Johnson Review

    Earlier this month, blogger Lisa Henderson announced that she and her husband John had decided not to have Christmas. The family, who lives in Utah, will still put up decorations, but presents from Santa are a no-go this year.

    “John and I feel like we are fighting a very hard uphill battle with our kids when it comes to their rights,” Henderson wrote on her blog. “It is one of the biggest struggles as a parent these days in middle class America. Our kids have been acting so ungrateful lately. ... John said, “We shouldn't just celebrate Christmas. And, so that's what we did.”

    Instead, the Hendersons are putting the money they would have spent on gifts toward service projects in order to teach their three sons the “pleasure of giving.” The children will still receive gifts from grandparents and other family members, but this year, she said, their letters to Santa will be asking him to find someone who needs presents more than they do.

    In an interview with ABC News, 11-year-old Caleb Henderson admitted that he and his brothers had been behaving badly. “We would hit each other. We were fighting and crying,” he admitted, and Lisa said that when she broke the news to her sons, they cried pretty hard.

    But so far, Henderson told Fox News last week, the family is having a sudden turning this into a different kind of gift. They have already held a clothing drive and sent boxes of clothes and candy to a village in the Philippines that was hit hard last year by Typhoon Haiyan.

    “The children were excited and kept wanting to give more and more,” she reported on her blog.

    Many readers responded positively to Henderson's post. Some sharing their own stories of limiting Christmas in order to teach their children to be charitable(仁慈的) or grateful. “As parents you're giving your kids something so much more special than a bunch of gifts on Christmas,” one wrote.

    But Henderson received negative follow-ups as well on her blog. Responding to critics, she updated her blog with a statement that reads, in part:

I just wanted to explain a couple of things. First, my kids are in no way hurt for things.... They have reacted by making gifts for each other and packing them into each other's stockings stealthily(偷偷地). They are learning exactly what we wanted them to learn, because they are not moving around feeling sorry for themselves. They are thinking of others.

    The second thing I wanted to explain is why I wrote this post. Some people seem to think I wrote this for attention. Ummm, the attention you get from posts like this is not good and actually extremely difficult to deal with.... The reason I wrote this post is I want to empower parents to feel like it's okay to take a stand. ... I wanted to share what we are doing, so any parents that feel they are struggling with the same issues in their home can see what others are doing and get ideas for their family. My intention is to help support other parents and to raise amazing kids.

    Our warming planet is expected to face serious water crisis（危机）in the coming decades — which means each nation's natural resource will be more important than ever.

    It was a mid-winter's day. My Mom had ordered me and my two brothers outside so she could get a little housework done.

    My brothers were seven and five years older than me and much bigger as well. Still, it was I who decided to start the snowball fight. I hit one of them when they weren't looking and soon we were all making and throwing snowballs as fast as we could. Being little helped me avoid the first dozen or so snowballs that came my way until the one that caught me in the back of the head and sent me sliding into the two foot deep snowdrift. I felt two hands grasp my shoulders as my oldest brother lifted me out safely. I laughed as I dusted the snow off.

    Later Mom called us back inside for a lunch of hot, chicken soup. I drank it slowly and then sat near the old, wood stove in our living room and let the warmth quickly dry my damp socks and jeans. It felt so nice. I couldn't describe the feeling back then but I know now that it was pure happiness.

    In those innocent days of childhood there was no regret for the past or worry for the future. Each moment could be enjoyed just the way God intended. Each day could be filled with fun, laughter, and love. I think that we all need to re-experience that feeling in our lives. We need to live with childlike joy while keeping our adult wisdom. We need to throw a few snowballs and drink a few bowls of soup afterwards. We need to trust in our Heavenly Father's love for us and share our love with others as well. Life here is too brief not to enjoy all of its precious moments.

    Four teenage girls from Minnesota, US. 120 hours of non-stop togetherness. No cellphones. This is not a reality show, but an adventure journey.

    "It was really perfect," said Julia Ruelle of her recent adventure to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with three of her childhood friends. "By unplugging, we had an amazing time."

    Last year, the 16-year-old took part in an essay contest and carried off a prize. The award was a 5-day canoe and camping adventure with up to three friends. No parents or guides would be there. So Julia invited her friends Anna Wander, Madeline Wilson and Julianna Torelli.

    The four Minnetonka High School juniors arrived in Ely for training the day before they began the journey. They set out the next day at 7 a.m., quickly developing a routine.

    "We were done paddling by noon," Julia said. "We ate lunch at the campsites and then it was time for hammocks (吊床), reading, making friendship bracelets (手镯) and talking."

    The girls had all had experience in the outdoors before.

    Anna had been to the Boundary Waters with her family. "I love how you are separated from everything in your life, especially technology," Anna said. Without her phone, she said, "I'm less worried about things." Madeline, too, had been to the Boundary Waters a few years back. "But this time, I had to paddle right and set up camp," she said. The girls made fire and cooked meal together. No one was ever hungry or homesick, but they were nervous the final night as they waited out a thunderstorm. They left wet sleeping bags in one tent, and squeezed into another for the night. "Every thunderstorm in the Boundary Waters feels huge," Julia said.

    On the car ride home, they were all on their phones catching up with friends. "It was a little at a loss turning my phone on," said Anna. "Mental health can be improved so much in the Boundary Waters. It really helps to get away and reconnect with yourself."

Round and Round They Go

Space is becoming more crowded. On December 3, a Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX thundered into the sky. On board were 64 small satellites, more than any American company had launched before in one go. They have a variety of uses, from space-based- radar to the monitoring of radio-frequency- emissions.

These objects are part of the latest breed of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites. This launch is just taste of what is planned. SpaceX and OneWeb, a communications firm, plan to launch satellites in their thousands, not hundreds. The pair are set to double the total number of satellites in orbit by 2027.

That promises to change things dramatically on Earth. LEO satellites can bring internet connectivity to places where it is still unavailable or unaffordable. This will also be a lasting source of new demand for the space economy. Morgan Stanley, a bank, projects that the space industry will grow from $350 billion in 2016 to more than $1. I trillion by 2040. New internet satellites will account for a half this increase.

For that to happen, however, three worries must be overcome. Debris(碎片)is the most familiar concern. As long ago as 1978, Donald Kessler, a scientist at NASA, proposed situation in which, when enough satellites were packed into low-Earth orbits, any collision could cause a chain reaction which would eventually destroy all space craft in its orbital plane(平面). The syndrome which bears Mr. Kessler's name weighs heavily on the minds of executives at the new satellite firms. Debris could cause entire tracts(广阔的一片) of space to be unusable for decades.

Solutions exist. One is to grab malfunction satellites and pull them down into Earth's atmosphere. Another is to monitor space more intensively for debris; a US Air Force programme called Space Fence is due to start in 2019. But technology is only part of the answer. Rules are needed to govern the safe disposal(清除) of old satellites from low-Earth orbit. The United States' Federal Communications Commission is revising its regulations with this in mind. Other countries should follow suit.

Cyber-security is a second, long-standing worry. Hackers could take control of a satellite and seal intellectual property, redirect data flows or cause a collision. The satellite industry has been slow to respond to such concerns. But as more of the world's population comes to rely on the infrastructure of space for access to the internet, the need for action intensifies.

The third issue follows from the first two. If a simple mistake or a cyber-attack can cause a chain reaction which wipes out hundreds of billions of dollars of investment, who is liable? Underwriters(保险商) are studying the plans of firms that wish to operate large numbers of satellites. But there is a long way to go before the risks are well understood, let alone priced.

As space becomes more commercialized mind-bending prospects open up: packages moved across the planet in minutes by rocket rather than by plane, equipment sent to other small planets, passengers launched into orbit and beyond. All that and more may come, one day. But such activities would raise the same questions as LEO satellites do. They must be answered before the space economy can truly develop.