As is often the case, a piece of legislation, or initiative, sounds good on paper, but is a disaster in practice. The poster child (excuse the pun), was the awful No Child Left Behind act. The basic concept was great, who could possibly argue with the concept that every child be afforded the same educational […]

read more from this topic.....

(London, UK) Autism Sunday celebrates 10 Years (2002 - 2012) on Sunday the 12th of February this year. Autism Sunday is the brainchild of British autism campaigners Ivan and Charika Corea - what started as a small acorn of an idea in their front room has turned into a massive global event, celebrated in many […]

read more from this topic.....

Despite having a small apartment patio which limited my gardening area, I used to grow quite a few things that later wound up boiling, simmering and on occasion, burning, on the stove. These days I can’t do either, but I still review the books for my monthly column in the newspaper SENIOR NEWS. 
 
Thanks to […]

read more from this topic.....

In case you are only aware of the “hits”, the movie Soul Surfer is a “sleeper”: a small movie that becomes widely seen by word of mouth recommendations.
I usually dislike surfer movies (e.g. Blue Crush) but I do like the photography of the ocean in them, so I watched this one.
The good news: some good […]

read more from this topic.....

I am bemused when the sins that we recognized in the past are now being redefined by the modern world.
Greed, of course, is behind our “addiction” to oil, the war in the Middle East (no blood for oil”)  and the manipulation  of the stock market.
Lust however is still being touted by the NYTimes as good […]

read more from this topic.....

US President has created a controversy involving Cyber Laws by using “Autopen” to sign a Bill. Mr Obama was abroad at the time the Bill had to be signed and he has authorized application of his signature with the use of the “Autopen” equipment.
The move has been approved by the legal department stating that the […]

read more from this topic.....

Located along the U.S. New Mexico border, Posadas County has served as the setting for many good books written by Steven F. Havill. This series has seen monumental shifts before and one gets the sense by the end of Double Prey another shift is underway.
A western diamond back rattlesnake is not a snake to play […]

read more from this topic.....

Fourth in the Virgil Flower series, “Bad Blood” returns to a theme familiar to readers of this series —sex. Usually it is some form of perversion and the issue comes to light while Virgil is having an intimate relationship with the local lead investigator. Such is the case here though it takes a bit to […]

read more from this topic.....

Albany, New York isn’t just the seat of a clown car state government– it’s also a college town. And college students, when boozed to the gills, can out-bozo politicians. (Well, almost.) On March 12th crowds of drunken students rioted in the Albany neighborhood known as the student ghetto. The lads and lassies, most of whom […]

read more from this topic.....

 This is a guest article by D. Allen Johnson -   Simon Barrett (Editor)

I have been writing a lot lately on employment issues, and I have been doing some informal coaching to help folks in my Linked-In group find a job. When I suggested that a woman take a trip to see a CEO about employment, […]

read more from this topic.....

ArcheologyNews reports that a researcher claims Henry VIII didn’t die of a combination of syphillis, obesity related diabetes and malaria, (and perhaps a bit mentally unstable from cerebral syphilis and the mercury used back then to treat it).
No, they claim it was a rare complication of the Kells’ antigen called McLeod syndrome.
Research conducted by […]

read more from this topic.....

The Colorado House of Representatives is considering a bill to stop school bullying (House Bill 1254).  In an effort by some legislators “to be proactive…so we don’t have a sensational suicide in [Colorado],” the core of the bill will:

Create a committee to study the problem.
Set up an agency to solicit funds for training of teachers […]

read more from this topic.....

Do we have to decide that a bully is bad, evil and unredeemable in order to stop them or get them out of our lives?  Do we have to be judgmental in order to act – to kick someone out of school, to divorce someone, to sever a relationship, to put someone in prison?
Many people […]

read more from this topic.....

In her New York Times article, “Web of Popularity Achieved by Bullying,” Tara Parker-Pope describes increased bullying used by social climbers trying to become popular.  As they near the top, these climbers increase harassment, bullying and abuse, especially cyber bullying, in order to increase their popularity by crushing those slightly above and below them.  The […]

read more from this topic.....

Remember the late great Tea Party? The grass roots movement that made the political establishment quake? For one glorious moment it seemed as if a truly independent, average Joe/Joan movement might be gathering steam. A memory from that halcyon time: assorted TV pundits telling Republican leaders that Tea Party people “don’t like you guys either”. […]

read more from this topic.....

My personal and professional experience is that forgiveness doesn’t stop real-world bullies.
Most people think forgiveness consists of two things:

Some surge of feelings that makes us more kindly disposed toward a person who has injured us, whether intentionally or not.  Words in dictionaries include:

A thawing or understanding, caring, sympathy, empathy, compassion, pity, pardoning, clemency, mercy, kindness […]

read more from this topic.....

Clinton once had a line “It’s the economy, stupid”, and one longs for someone to teach economics to the present administration.
I was always a union supporter, and many of my family and friends belonged to unions. But you know what happened to a lot of textile jobs in the northern states in 1950’s and 1960’s? […]

read more from this topic.....

I learned by personal and professional experience that unconditional love doesn’t stop real-world bullies.  But others learned the same lesson over 2,500 years ago.
Of course, we all have those bad days when everything seems to go wrong and we’re so grumpy that we take it out on the dog or anyone we meet.  But with […]

read more from this topic.....

You may be the target of a bully, but you don’t have to be a victim.
Bullies can go after you in many ways; physically harming you or threatening to hurt you; inflicting emotional pain through harassment, relentless criticism, taunting, put-downs, cutting out, manipulation, controlling, back-stabbing, spreading rumors, telling secrets, embarrassing you or generally mean behavior; […]

read more from this topic.....

By Jefferson Flanders
French physician and anthropologist Paul Broca once observed that the least questioned assumptions are often the most questionable.
Here are five very questionable assumptions that are overdue for consideration at the start of 2011.

Assumption: Government incentives for green technology will best advance 21st century job growth in the U.S. It’s become conventional wisdom, […]

read more from this topic.....

You can’t convince bullying spouses to change; you’ll never prove that you’re right or should have what you need; you’ll never deserve the rewards they withhold from you.  They’re not interested in the truth or in your reasons or your wonderful logic.  They’re not interested in loving you the way you want to be loved.  […]

read more from this topic.....

The axis mundi of “Secondhand Lions,” starring Robert Duvall, Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment, is that the kid (a teenager) is desperate to learn what he needs in order to become a good man.  He’s never heard truth from his mother.  He’s never had a good man in his life.  How can he figure […]

read more from this topic.....

In “The Last Samurai,” with Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, the Samurai asks Tom Cruise what he has devoted his life to.  Up to that point, nothing.  He has had and still has nothing worthwhile to devote himself to.  So he is empty; a shriveled heart moving from one whiskey bottle to the next.  And […]

read more from this topic.....

Amy Chua’s article in the Wall Street Journal, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” has gotten enough publicity to make her book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” a best seller.  She’s clear that she uses the term “Chinese Mother” to represent a certain way of treating children that may be found in people from many, […]

read more from this topic.....

George Will reported in his Newsweek column, “More Stimulating that the Stimulus,” that “In Ottawa, the sensitivity police in a children’s soccer league announced that any team attaining a five-goal lead would be declared to have lost, thereby sparing the feelings of those who were, if you will pardon the expression, losing.”
This was confirmed by […]

read more from this topic.....

We all remember: Colorado was home to the Columbine High School shootings in 1999.  But as Jessica Fender reports in the Denver Post, “More Consistent Anti-Bullying Program Urged for Colorado,” after 11 years “good intentions have devolved into an uncoordinated approach that ignores best practices in some instances and leaves state authorities with no clear […]

read more from this topic.....

‘Tis the holiday season and kids’ expectations are high.  They want what they want and they want it now!
We may want to draw new lines, cutting back because of the economy or because we’re just tired of their whining and complaining or because we think they’re on the path to become spoiled brats.  But if […]

read more from this topic.....

In their New York Times column, “From Dangerous Home to Safe House,” Amelia Duchon-Voyles, with Liz Welch, describes how Amilia helped a woman and child escape from a bullying and domestic violence situation.  They also described the mother’s progress toward standing up to her batterer and to establishing a steady life for her and her […]

read more from this topic.....

In his New York Times Op-Ed column, Charles M. Blow reported on the experience of his three children and the results of a study conducted by the Josephson Institute Center for Youth Ethics, which interviewed more than 43,000 high school students.  He reports that the study showed:

“Boys who went to private religious schools were most […]

read more from this topic.....

In his article in the New York Times, Erik Eckholm, points out that, “Alarmed by evidence that gay and lesbian students are common victims of schoolyard bullies, many school districts are bolstering their antiharassment rules with early lessons in tolerance.”
The article continues, “Rick DeMato, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church, [who] opposes the curriculum changes in […]

read more from this topic.....