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Wanted: captain for 172-year-old whaleship
Mystic - The Charles W. Morgan is about to get its first captain in 92 years.
Mystic Seaport, which has been restoring the 172-year-old wooden whaleship for the past four years so it can sail to historic ports across New England next summer, is advertising for someone to captain the ship leading up to and during its 38th voyage.
"The Morgan has not had a captain in more than 90 years and who knows how long it will be after this voyage," Dana Hewson, the museum's vice president for Watercraft Preservation and Programs, said Tuesday. "So I think this will be a much sought-after position."
Seaport officials said the captain not only will have to be a top-notch mariner but also must be comfortable in front of the public because of the media attention and crowds the ship will attract during its three-month trip next summer.
"They have to be absolutely qualified to manage this artifact, which has national and international importance," Hewson said of the candidates. "They also have to embrace the role of the public nature of this endeavor."
He said that could mean interacting with everyone from the media and passengers to governors of the states they are visiting.
Applicants must possess a 500-ton Near Coastal Master license and have 10 years of command experience on traditional sailing vessels with extensive knowledge in square-rig sailing, according to the job description on the museum website.
It adds that the captain must recognize the ship "as the premier artifact in the museum's collection as well as one of the nation's most important historic objects. Her safety and well-being will be paramount in all decisions."
The Morgan, whose last voyage ended in 1921, is the world's last surviving wooden whaling ship and a National Historic Landmark. It also holds the distinction of being the country's oldest commercial vessel still afloat. A total of $7 million eventually will be spent on its restoration and voyage.
Hewson said the museum has seen interest in the position from people in the field.
"It's a relatively small world, so it's certainly been known in the field that we'd be doing this," he said.
The restored Morgan was launched during a ceremony in July. While the majority of the work to the hull is complete, shipyard workers have to replace spars, rig the ship, fit it with new sails, replace the electrical system and install modern navigation, safety gear and other equipment for the voyage. The 21st century gear will be removed when the voyage is over.
After the work is complete next spring, the Morgan will travel to New London, where it will spend three weeks preparing for the voyage and conducting sea trials.
Escorted by a tugboat and the Roann, a fishing vessel restored at the Seaport, the Morgan next will sail to Newport, R.I., and then to stops in Massachusetts at Vineyard Haven, New Bedford, the Cape Cod Canal, Provincetown and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary before returning to New London and the Seaport, where it will resume its spot as the centerpiece of the museum's collection.
Hewson said the museum hopes to announce the name of the captain in the next 60 to 90 days, and that the person will be involved in the fitting out of the ship next spring. The captain's job will end once the voyage is completed in August 2014.
Seaport spokesman Dan McFadden said the museum would not publicly disclose the salary for the position.
The museum also is hiring a full-time marine operations manager to handle all the marine logistics of the trip.
In addition to the captain, the ship will have three mates, 10 to 12 crew who are certified mariners, 10 additional crew and a dozen passengers on any one leg of the trip, Hewson said.
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In the past decade or so, comic-book movies have achieved a credibility that still eludes video-game movies. But that may be about to change, according to a new article over at Forbes.
David Maisel, who was the head of Marvel Studios and helped Marvel to begin producing its own movies starting with Iron Man, is now working with Rovio, the game studio behind Angry Birds, to create an Angry Birds movie that involves the game's creators at every stage of the creative process. Meanwhile, Epic Games will be heavily involved in the Gears of War movie. And Lionsgate, which just optioned the movie rights to the new hit zombie game Dead Island, says the game's hugely popular trailer (see above) will serve as the film's primary creative inspiration.
So maybe we'll finally get some decent video-game movies, if Hollywood starts taking the source material more seriously and involving the original creators more. The whole article over at Forbes is worth checking out — including the sad fact that some directors of past video-game movies have actually boasted about never having played the games involved. [Forbes]

subset: commoncrawl


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Viewing my photo-sharing badges
You can create and save badges in Photo Album and then view your badge list on the Saved Badges page. The badge list displays the badge name, date saved, and the actions you can perform for the badge. You can also view the code for a badge or delete badges. For more information about accessing the badge code, see Displaying Code for Saved Badges. For more information about deleting badges, see Deleting Your Saved Badges.
- Log in to your Account Manager.
- Click GoDaddy Photo Album.
- In your GoDaddy Photo Album Account list, click Manage next to the account you want to modify.
- Click Tools.
- Click Manage Badges.
The badge list displays.


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Elective Course Recommendations
If you are uncertain about what courses to take as electives and if you would like to register for courses that are in some way relevant to your psychology major, you might want to consider the courses listed below. Depending on your own specific interests in Psychology, one or more of the following courses could serve as excellent supplements to your knowledge base.
ANT 100: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANT 110: Introduction to Physical Anthropology
ANT 301: Human Evolutionary Theory
BIO 100: Concepts of Biology
BIO 105 & 106: Anatomy and Physiology I and II
BIO 208: Animal Behavior
BIO 312: Genetics
BIO 325: Evolutionary Biology
CS 135: Intro to Problem Solving w/ Computers
CS 140: Intro to Programming
JLA/SOC 205: Juvenile Delinquency
MGT/PS 202: Intro to Public Administration
MGT 250: Organizational Behavior — PSY has a similar course
MAT 220: Intermediate Statistics
PHI 102: Intro to Logic
PHI 103: Intro to Critical Reasoning
PHI 222: Philosophy of Science


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Little did I know when I agreed to do this week's "A Lesson Learned" that this would be such an amazing week for golf fans. Where do I start? How about 19-year-old Jordan Speith winning on the PGA Tour? 19!!! Or Will Willcox shooting a 59 on the Web.com Tour?! All golfers should appreciate the unique and special nature of both of those accomplishments, and in keeping with the theme of these articles, can obviously learn many great golf tips by watching them.
But there was another great performance this weekend - across the pond as they say. Phil Mickelson showed great resiliance, creativity and a wide variety of shots on his way to a great win at the Scottish Open. He also happens to be my favorite player on the PGA Tour - and my little brother - so I'm admitting a little bias in choosing my topic.
I know many golf fans were watching with great interest, not only in rooting for their favorite players, but watching how the game is played on great links-style courses. I know I love to play links courses; it is a very different approach to the game, but the objective is still very much the same: get the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes possible. The challenge of course is how to do it on terrain and in conditions you may not be all that familiar with.
Actually, some of the most famous and popular golf destinations in the United States are links-style layouts. Major championship layouts like Pebble Beach, Whistling Straits and the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island are links-style layouts. Chambers Bay, which will host the 2015 U.S. Open, is as well as are Bandon Dunes, Sand Hills and Arcadia Bluffs. Obviously, these are some of the top golf destinations in the world and thus, you'll probably find yourself walking down some of these fairways at some point in your golf career.
So what do you need to know?
Links-style golf is charaterized by huge undulations in the terrain, firm ground conditions -even on the greens, deep and plentiful bunkers, thick gorse bushes around the layout, wild wispy fescue grass and most commonly, weather. Cold, wind and rain are often a part of the links golf experience. But this is not problematic for golfers. In actuality, they embrace it. It's part of the course and it is special.
When you are preparing for your round, whether it's in golf's motherland of Scotland or at one of the great links-type courses anywhere else, I urge you to work on three shots you'll need when you arrive.
1.) The knockdown driver: The biggest key to playing well on a links-type course is to keep your tee shot in the fairway. The gorse bushes and fescue grass aren't as visually intimidating as the trees you may be used to seeing, but they are actually more problematic for you. (Balls will disappear into the gorse and and those in fescue may or may not give you a chance to advance, but will rarely come out the way you think when you try to hit it. At least with trees, you can get a nice kick or hit under or around them.) For this shot, I urge you to do three things.
a.) Tee the ball low.
b.) Grip down on the driver for control and a shorter swing.
c.) Keep the clubhead low during the follow through. Your shot will not travel as far in the air, but will be less affected by the wind and will still roll quite a ways due to the firm fairways.
2.) The bump-and-run: Links-style courses offer players plenty of shots around the green - and you'll need to know how to play almost all of them. But usually, the rule of thumb is that the sooner you can get the ball on the ground, the better off you'll be. The best approach to your short game is to get the ball on the green and let it roll to the pin vs trying to fly it all the way to the hole. Practice chipping and pitching with lower lofted clubs (7-iron, 8-iron, etc.) to get comfortable with the varying distances your ball will travel with each club. .
3.) Bunker shots: There will be two types of bunker shots you need to know when you play links-style golf.
a.) The high bunker shot. You will not believe the size of some of the bunker walls you will see. How quickly can you get the ball up? For these shots, open the blade wide and focus on making contact with the sand behind the ball.
b.) The SMART bunker shot. Many shots in links-style golf, especially out of the bunkers, aren't really doable. Seriously. The best thing you can do for your score is to avoid the big number - even if it means hitting a shot away from your target.
One other thing about links-style golf is that it is almost universally encouraged for golfers to walk the course while playing. It's how the game was meant to be played and you really get an appreciation for the beauty and joy of the traditions, the architecture and the stunning aesthetics of golf when you are out there feeling the undulations under your feet and thinking about the shot as you walk toward it.
I would love to see my favorite Tour pro have another great week on a links golf course next week at Muirfield. And I'd love to hear how you enjoy your time on links-style courses as well. Send me a tweet at @TinaMickelson and let me know. Hope everyone has many more great weeks of golf fun like this past week was for me.
Tina Mickelson is a PGA Teaching Professional at The Santaluz Club in San Diego, Calif. Mickelson has been a PGA Professional since 1994 and is part of a large golf family with her brother Tim the Men's Golf Coach for Arizona State University and brother Phil, a PGA Tour member. She is a proud Callaway Golf Amabassador. You can follow/contact her on Facebook and Twitter. Mickelson is a popular instructor/speaker for group clinics and corporate events.


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Barney, the lovable purple dinosaur and his young friends share adventures featuring songs, dances and games that make learning fun for children. Barney and his dino-pals, Baby Bop and BJ, are joined by a cast of children.
There are no upcoming episodes of this series scheduled on Alabama Public Television.
Visit Barney & Friends website
Funding for Barney & Friends is provided in part by:


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Where do you want to go?
Photo by Kyle Johnson
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Rollins is all smiles talking to Chase a couple weeks ago pregame
The losses have been piling up on the Phillies in the past 20 or so games. It just so happens the losses started around the time of interleague play. I am not so sure the Phillies like playing interleague games, and their record seems to show that against the American league teams that they have been playing.
Every team the Phillies play is going to want to beat the "World Champs" so that puts the Phillies in the position of needing to play baseball like champs to beat those teams. The last 20 games have been the worst that the Phillies have played all year long, and the Phils have had incredibly bad luck to go along with that.
The Phillies need to start playing like they need to win, like they don't have the rest of the season to start getting wins and like they want to make it to the playoffs again this year. They must stop making the mental errors and start getting on base and moving runners. If they have a guy on first with no outs, they need to do whatever necessary to move that runner into scoring position, and start putting runs on the board.
I thought the losing streak was over, but it was just a bump in the road as a new losing streak has now sprung up on the Fightin Phils. This team is better than that, it still is not too late to turn it around. The recent weeks have nullified all the great games that the Phillies have won so far, so they are almost starting another season for themselves from scratch again.
Ruben Amaro Jr. needs to get out there and get a pitcher. He says there are none out there, I think he is making excuses. There are plenty of opportunities and he needs to make something happen. The Phillies need a solid starter with 'A' caliber status. If it means trading Werth or Victorino then he must consider it, those two players may never be as valuable as they are right now, and the Phillies need a starter that they can count on in the second half of the 2009 season.


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This salad is packed with flavor and nutrition, and it's a lovely light lunch. This salad contains flavorful beets, spicy arugula, filling quinoa, crunchy nuts, sweet oranges and a tangy, mustard-y dressing to dress it up. With all of these delicious, cleansing ingredients, it's a perfect pick-me-up.
This recipe makes about double the dressing needed. I love to have extra to make either a simple salad the next day, or to repeat the salad, but you can cut the recipe in half, if desired. Also, this recipe could certainly be played with! Add black beans or shredded cooked chicken for more protein, or add homemade croutons — I'm sure there are a lot of delicious variations! We are making it with golden beets this week.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes
Yield: 2 full servings, or 4-6 side servings
Quinoa, Orange, Arugula, and Beet Salad with Orange Balsamic Dressing
- 3 medium-sized oranges(one used in the dressing, the other 2 peeled, diced, and seeded)
- 4 heaping cups arugula, washed and dried
- 2-3 smallish beets
- 2 cups cooked and chilled quinoa (I just make extra one night when serving quinoa as a side dish, and chill for the salad the next day)
- 1/2 cup walnuts and pecans (soaked and dehydrated and/or toasted as directed below)
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste, depending on how salty your mustard is)
Cooking directions
- Scrub clean the beets and cut off any straggly root ends. Place in a steamer over a couple of inches of simmering water and cover. Small beets can take 20-30 minutes to cook. Large beets can take up to 45 minutes. Cook until a skewer pushes easily into the beets with just a slight resistance. Add more water during the steaming process, if needed. Remove and cool until they can be handled. Then peel with a sharp knife, and cut into thin slices. The slices will cool the rest of the way. They are fine in the salad warm or room temperature.
- In a medium sized saucepan, place the nuts and heat over medium heat. Stir almost constantly until the nuts are lightly browned and fragrant (don't let them burn!). Remove from pan, and place on a cutting board chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. Zest one orange until you get 1 teaspoon, then juice the orange (if you don't have a simple citric juicer, simply cut in half and squeeze over a cup). Place 1/4 cup of orange juice with the zest in a mason jar with the rest of the dressing ingredients. Shake or stir vigorously until well combine. Check flavors and adjust salt, if needed. (If using very salty mustard, cut salt in half and then taste test, and add more, if needed).
- In a large salad bowl, add the salad ingredients, toss with about half the dressing. Taste test and add more if desired. Serve right away.
Quinoa, Orange, Beet, and Arugula Salad with Orange Balsamic Dressing
This hearty, yet refreshing salad is drizzled with a mustard-enhanced dressing. It is a lovely light lunch or a delicious side.


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VALLEJO — Riders of SolTrans Route 78 will find a new schedule and other changes unveiled on Sunday, Feb. 3, the transportation agency has announced.
Among the changes, designed to save on costs of running the line, are elimination of the Vallejo Ferry Terminal stop, and runs before 6 a.m.
Route 78 currently runs from the Vallejo Ferry Terminal to the Walnut Creek BART station.
Under the new changes, the buses will originate at the Vallejo Transit Center in downtown Vallejo and will include additional later evening service.
Some of the buses will still stop at the Curtola Park and Ride, but they will not pick up or drop off passengers before 9:30 a.m.
Before approving the changes, SolTrans staff sought input from riders and others.
SolTrans has intended to modify the Route 78, which takes Vallejo and Benicia riders to Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek BART stations because the bus route is barely covering all its operating expenses.
To continue receiving government transportation funding to pay for the line, some 20 percent of the funding must come from fares, SolTrans officials have said.


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Stream and listen to new music "Nicki Minaj – Thought I Knew You (feat. The Weeknd)" below.
Nicki Minaj – Thought I Knew You (feat. The Weeknd)
Mike Hawk
I'm a writer and connoisseur of all types of music. I've been doing this for over 10 years now. Some of my favorite artists include Drake, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Travis Scott and Migos. [email protected]


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Last edited: 15 February 2016
The Vajra Foundation Holland (Stichting Vajra) has worked in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal since 1995 to bring solar cooking and heat-retention cooking to the refugees there. By 2006 some 100,000 refugees were cooking their meals using these methods. The on-the-ground work is done by Vajra Foundation Nepal and financing is provided by the Dutch Lottery and the Dutch NGO Stichting Vluchteling.
In 2009, the project is slowly being phased out. Vajra collects solar ovens of departing refugee families, repairs them and distributes them among the last refugees who are not yet in possession of a solar cooker.
By 2015, more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees had been resettled in other countries. Approximately 13,000 Bhutanese refugees remain in the camps although current data about their use of the solar cookers that were left behind is unavailable. There are unconfirmed reports from the Varja Foundation that Nepalese families living near the abandoned camps are now using these solar cookers.[1]
Most significant projects
- 85,000 refugees from Bhutan have solar cooked their meals in Nepal - The Vajra Foundation Holland (Stichting Vajra) has worked in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal since 1995 to bring solar cooking and heat-retention cooking to the refugees there. By 2013 some 85,000 refugees were cooking their meals using these methods. The on-the-ground work is done by Vajra Foundation Nepal and financing is provided by the Dutch Lottery and the Dutch NGO Stichting Vluchteling.
- See other Most significant solar cooking projects worldwide.
Factors for success
- Unwavering belief that solar cookers can improve lives and environments
- From the start Vajra Foundation has considered solar cookers to be an appropriate technology for the Bhutanese refugees. Whereas other solar cooking projects have folded after minor setbacks, Vajra Foundation has fully supported the project from day one. As stated in a Vajra Foundation report, "How can one expect local people to be in favor of solar cooking when the NGO introducing it does not support it fully?"
- Continuous drive to adapt and improve the technology
- As the program has progressed, adjustments have been made to the solar cookers to better meet the needs of the users and assemblers. Local materials have been used when possible to help lower costs. Design modifications — like cooker frame adjustments — have been incorporated as needs were assessed. Perhaps most importantly, the hay box was introduced as a compatible technology, addressing the need for warm food after sundown as well as the need to share solar cookers between families. Vajra Foundation believes strongly in pairing hay boxes with solar cookers, stating, "They are two sides of the same coin: one cannot go without the other."
- Willingness and ability to incorporate user feedback
- Refugees have been involved in the project from the start, setting up user meetings, trainings, etc. Feedback from the users is incorporated into the project plans, helping to identify technological and programmatic areas for improvement.
- Strong teamwork between cooperating partners
- The relationship between the Holland branch and the Nepal branch of the organization was critical. While VFH had access to funds and specialist knowledge, the Vajra Foundation Nepal (VFN) knew how to best incorporate solar cooking into lives of Nepalese and Bhutanese refugees. While VFH solicited and organized volunteers, VFN hosted them with great care and was eager to learn from them. The chairmen of both foundations, Ramkaji Paudel and Maarten Olthof, were the backbone of the project. Jointly, the two visited partner agencies, refugee camps, workshops, etc., and solved issues that arose. Importantly, responsibilities were given to staff members, such as Dor Bahadur Bhandari, and to the refugees, who did the fieldwork and organized solar demonstrations and lunches that ultimately convinced authorities that the project was worth supporting.
- Monitoring, follow up, and evaluation
- With proper monitoring, follow up, and evaluation, useful program adjustments are made continuously. Regular visits with the new solar cooks highlighted areas of need, as did feedback from user group meetings. Weather records were kept for purposes of determining actual solar cooker use versus potential solar cooker use. Funds were tracked and adjustments made to maximize their use.
Audio and video
- February 2010:
See also
- Vajra Foundation Nepal
- Stichting Vluchteling
- Refugee camps
- Summary of a Comparison Study of Three Cooking Methods in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp, 2005
External links
- http://www.vajra.nl
- Largest Solar Project will continue in the World - (English version)
- Project evaluation - (English version)
- November 2006: Ten years on, nearly 100,000 Bhutanese refugees going solar, Solar Cooker Review
Maarten Olthof
Varja Foundation Holland
Oudegracht 246-B
3511 NV Utrecht
Tel: +31 619400886
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Web: http://www.vajra.nl - (English version)


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Ionian Coast | Mainland Greece
The Ionian coast extends from the upper end of Peloponnese until the northern borders of the country and is actually the west coast of the continental Greece. It is a place of untouched beauty yet all organized and ready to welcome guests for the most refreshing holidays. With a prominent traditional character adorned with Venetian elements, the graphic towns and villages of the area exude the essence of old-time splendor and authenticity.
Throughout its beautiful extend, the Ionian coast is rugged with picturesque villages and small towns, small resorts hidden within the lush vegetation of its treasured hills and white shores that offer everything a guest may need: from fully organized beaches to quiet, almost private hidden coves.
Visiting this part of Greece is an experience in itself; one can choose to either stay in one of its graphic areas and enjoy the utmost of relaxation, or take the opportunity to explore all the surrounding beauties by staying in different areas every 2-3 days. Whatever the visitor chooses, one thing is certain: the Ionian coast will lure them into its authentic holiday life with its vibrant resorts and its pristine natural diversity.
SyvotaSyvota is a seaside settlement a few kilometres north of Parga where the turquoise waters of the sea magically blend with the lush vegetation creating the most idyllic picture. Verdant islets featuring few of the best beaches of the area are located right amidst the emerald bay that make Syvota look just like a painting. Syvota has it all: vibrant nightlife, quality taverns and cozy cafes while it is the perfect spot to either visit the inner part of Epirus, and specifically the Acherontas river springs, or rent a small boat and explore all breathtaking surrounding coves for a magical day at the beach.
PalerosLocated only 30 minutes away from the beautiful island of Lefkada Paleros is a small graphic village famous for its surrounding beaches that constitute a must-visit for summer holidays. Paleros is built right by the sea and its original beauty roots in its resemblance to a mountain village built in the local architecture with stone-paved squares and alleys. Apart from its renowned beaches, Paleros is an ideal destination for hiking lovers as it features numerous paths passing through hills and mountains of unique natural beauty.
PrevezaOne of the most popular places on the Ionian coast Preveza is a "mainland island" that will lure guests into its aristocratic ambience with paved alleys and pedestrian areas traversing its magnificent centre. A cosmopolitan yet authentic town built right at the edge of a peninsula between Amvrakikos Gulf and the turquoise Ionian waters, Preveza is indeed a sophisticated place amazingly combining contemporary facilities with traditional architecture and neoclassical mansions. Strolling around its seafront passage and having a taste of the local taverns is definitely a must-do.
PargaParga is a fairytale-like settlement amphitheatrically built right across the islands of Paxos and Antipaxos. Its vibrant seafront promenade with numerous taverns, bars and cafes is majestically completed by its colourful Ionian-style buildings. Parga's picturesque castle is located at the hilltop right at the edge of its port and it's a perfect spot to enjoy an afternoon coffee or a glass of wine overlooking Parga's bay and the Ionian Sea through the pine trees. Right amidst the bay of Parga, Panagia's verdant islet is found, named after the small church of Panagia (Holy Mother) built on its coast. Right on top of the islet's hill stands the French castle built in the early 19th century by the French conquerors.
When visiting the Ionian Coast one can choose among countless things to do and diversified places to visit. To start with and as the Ionian Coast is vast and full of hidden gems, visitors should definitely make arrangements in order to visit as many spots and areas as possible. One can start from the southern part and spend two days at least in all of the area's hotspots while heading to the north.
Countless beaches scattered either on the beautiful coast or the islets swimming in the Ionian waters are waiting to lure visitors into their magical bliss. Sailing around the coast is, thus, highly suggested in order to discover all those hidden gems of utter beauty and absolute isolation.
Diving aficionados will treasure the area as it boasts a rich seabed and waters bursting with all kinds of sea life. For nature lovers, the area is suggested for various hiking walks or biking trails within the mainland's hidden trajectories.
One of the must-sees of the area is Acherontas River whose springs, during ancient times, were thought to be one of the gates to god's Ades underworld. The site is found at the northern part of the area going towards the heart of Epirus; the river's banks offer a refreshing walk through narrow paths and steep rocks during hot summer days. For the daring ones the freezing cold waters will definitely revitalize swimmers in their cold embrace. One can even swim to the springs of the river despite the strong currents.
And of course, as the entire Ionian Coast unfolds right across the beautiful Ionian Islands, a daily excursion to one of the islands will fill the canvas of summer holidays with even more unforgettable experiences.
The Ionian Coast is actually the west coast of the country and, thus it can be reached by car. Driving from Athens, the Ionian Coast is at about 350km distance (first stop Paleros) while the entire coast is about 150km long. From Thessaloniki the driving distance is approximately the same (350km) while there are some flights from Athens to Preveza mostly during summer months. Flights from Athens to Ioannina, Central Epirus, are also operated and then one can drive to Syvota for 1,5hr (100km).
The Ionian Coast extends at about 150km and boasts numerous towns and settlements where accommodation options vary from fully organized luxury hotels and resorts to luxurious private villas. Holiday villas with pool are the perfect choice for visitors to the Ionian Coast as their super full days here should close with cocooning at the cozy pool terrace overlooking the cerulean sea. As such, the Greek Villas' team of experts has handpicked some of the best luxury villas in the Ionian Coast for those who want to taste absolute comfort and pampering.


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Regus gives you the opportunity to grow your professional network while reducing your costs and increasing your productivity. Regus gives you access to several co-working spaces in the city at the best addresses, and it allows you to work flexible during office hours. All INCLUSIVE space includes:Mail handling, access to admin support, kitchen, all utilities and cleaning, Business Lounge, ac... Read More
Regus gives you the opportunity to grow your professional network while reducing your costs and increasing your productivity. Regus gives you access to several co-working spaces in the city at the best addresses, and it allows you to work flexible during office hours. All INCLUSIVE space includes:Mail handling, access to admin support, kitchen, all utilities and cleaning, Business Lounge, access to printer, scanner & copier, receptionist, office furniture, access to Meeting rooms, and business grade internet and WiFi.We have more than 100 centres in Canada starting from 200 sqft to 500 sqft or more. All sizes, all budgets. Regus is the world's largest provider of flexible workspace, able to meet the needs of large corporates and small businesses alike. We are currently serving more than 1 million clients every day providing convenient, high-quality, fully serviced spaces for people to work, whether for a few minutes or a few years.Enquire now!!!Terms & Conditions:The total space includes shared space in the Business Lounge of the centre with high quality furniture and common facilities such as kitchen and reception. Pricing is indicative and subject to availability.
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Mayor cancels NYC Marathon
Kate Traina, 14, looks over the rumble of her grandparents house in Staten Island, N.Y., Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come under fire for pressing ahead with the New York City Marathon. Some New Yorkers say holding the 26.2-mile race would be insensitive and divert police and other important resources when many are still suffering from Superstorm Sandy. The course runs from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on hard-hit Staten Island to Central Park, sending runners through all five boroughs. The course will not be changed, since there was little damage along the route. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Our favorite cartoon of the week combines Angela Merkel losing ground at the EU Summit and the defeat of Germany in the Euro 2012 semi finals. Oh yeah and meanwhile Germany's economy is slipping.
Other cartoons show Romney kicking ass with the help of Super PACs, Obama using drones, and Bashar al-Assad killing people in Syria.


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Tiger Mom Amy Chua Responds to Tiger Baby
It's a sign of just how deep tensions are around parenting today that, over two years after Amy Chua's "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" was published, its combination of shocking revelation, serious reflection and tongue-in-cheek exaggeration still sends T. Rex-scale ripples skittering across the surface of our sociocultural Dixie cups.
Two weeks ago, novelist Kim Wong Keltner's "Tiger Babies Strike Back" was published — her nonfiction account of growing up under the paw of her authoritarian Tiger parents.
Last week, the web was abuzz over the release of UT Austin psychology prof Su Yeong Kim's longitudinal study tracking the parenting styles and social outcomes of over 400 Chinese American families in the Bay Area, which seemed to show that children of Tiger Parents had both poorer emotional health and lower GPAs than those of parents who embraced warmer and fuzzier child-rearing strategies.
More after the jump.


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Je t'aime Capri
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How to Hit the Golf Ball on Hill Lies
Not many golf courses are flat. Every now and again, you need to hit a shot off a slope. The ball may be below or above your feet. Both positions are sidehill lies. Or you may be halfway up or down a slope.
When you're faced with any or all of these situations, you need to make an adjustment. The common factor in all these shots is the relationship between your shoulders and the slope.
Sidehill lies require an adjustment so you can stay balanced:
If the ball is above your feet: You have to lean a little into the hill to keep your balance. If you stood at your normal posture to the upslope of the hill, you'd fall backward. You're close to the ball because of the lean, and you need to choke up on the club.
With the ball below your feet: Lean back more to retain your balance on the downslope. Because you're leaning back, you're a little farther away from the ball; grip the club all the way to the end and use the whole length of the shaft.
For uphill and downhill lies, it's a little different:
The ball needs to go uphill: Because your left leg is higher than your right, your weight naturally shifts to your right leg. Let that weight shift happen so your shoulders are parallel to the slope of the hill.
The ball needs to go downhill: On a downslope, your weight shifts in the opposite direction, onto your left leg. Again, let that weight shift happen. Keep your shoulders and the banister parallel.
Finally, follow these three rules:
Adjust your aim when you're on a slope. Off a downslope or when the ball is below your feet, aim to the left of where you want the ball to finish. Off an upslope or when the ball is above your feet, aim right.
Factor in ball position. Play the ball back toward the middle of your stance if you're on a downhill lie or forward, off your left big toe, from an uphill lie.
Use the right club. Take more club (a club that has less loft) if you're on an uphill lie because the ball tends to fly higher. Use less club (a club that has more loft) from a downhill lie because the ball has a lower trajectory.
Swing about 75 percent of your normal swing speed to keep your balance. Practice with different clubs from different lies to get a feel for these shots.


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She came to see me yesterday for her headaches. She doesn't want any more tests, and doesn't want to go to ER, either. So it sounds like she's trying to save you guys some dough, too, at this point.
So it was really a surprise to find that you bozos refused to authorize my prescription for a CHEAP FUCKING GENERIC drug (which according to drugstore.com is priced at 11 cents a pill) to help her feel better, and stay out of the ER. Instead, you told me it was "experimental" (although it's been a standard treatment for over 20 years) and faxed me 5 pages of forms overnight to get it authorized.
You guys can eat my shorts. I prescribed a drug that's $1.25/pill, now, and you bozos actually cleared it. Way to save some money there.
Wait'll your CEO finds out how this is gonna impact his bonus this year. He won't be happy.


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Technical Article Reprints: Process Automation with Feeding, Pneumatic Conveying, and Systems Engineering
The following article reprints are from industry trade journals from around the world. These articles offer additional information about feeding, pneumatic conveying, weighing, feeder accuracy and more. All articles are in English only unless otherwise noted.
Click one of the links below to read or download any of these articles. You will be asked to sign-in or register first. You only need to sign-in once to access all of these files (or any other premium content) during your visit to ktron.com. Registration is free, and you will be given an opportunity to create an account if you do not have one. These are PDF files and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Thinking Outside The Pneumatic Receiver
PowderBulkSolids.com 1/2015
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Pneumatic conveying is often chosen as a clean and versatile method for manufacturers to efficiently transfer finished products and raw ingredients from point A to point B in a completely contained manner. Due to an emphasis on product and process safety, as well as requirements for quicker turn-around times during changeover, manufacturers in a variety of industries are evaluating the efficiency and cleanability of the overall design when choosing and installing a pneumatic transfer system.
Materials on the Move
Developments in materials handling technologies, includingplans for a major new research facility backed by industry
Compounding World 2/2015
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Many bulk materials, especially fine powder, do not flow consistently out of the supply hopper during feeding. This can lead to the formation of rat holes, or in extreme cases material bridges. Until now, Coperion K-Tron has used a vertical agitator to prevent the occurrence of such problems. Although this system is dependable, it is also difficult to clean and requires additional headroom. These disadvantages can now be avoided with the ActiFlow system.
Food Process Equipment Trends
World Food Processing 7/2015
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Today's food manufacturers are looking for ways to boost production runs, simplify cleanup and sanitation, control ingredient costs, reduce changeover times between runs and increase the ability to produce a variety of product types and sizes, all with an emphasis on cutting cost but improving overall food safety
Accurately and safely dispensing pharmaceutical and high-value powders with an automated loss-in-weigh feeder
Tablets and Capsules Magazine 7/2015
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This article explains how an automated loss-in-weight feeder can accurately and safely dispense pharmaceutical and other high-value powders in continuous feedering and batching applicaitons, eliminating the dangers and inefficiencies of conventional manual loading.


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SYNOPSIS: Clark and Kevin are a pair of average guys, each with a wife, a house, and a good job. Clark has a young son, Kevin has a big car. None of these things makes them happy. They do share a mutual favorite pastime, but it takes a lot of work and care, and they can't do it too often …Read More »
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Reading 1: An American Garden
Only 7 miles from Chicago's bustling downtown is Columbus Park, a beautiful landscape of wildflowers, waterfalls, stepping stone paths, and a river. Although visitors might think this is a scenic natural site, it is actually the masterpiece of Jens Jensen (1860-1951), a landscape architect.
Jens Jensen was born in Slesvig, Denmark, but when he wanted to marry Anne Marie Hansen against his family's wishes, the young man decided it would be better if they immigrated to the United States. Following a brief time in Florida and Iowa, the couple moved to Illinois. Jensen fell in love with the flat stretches of prairie filled with colorful grasses and wildflowers. He later recalled:
It was on the train coming into Chicago, and through the car windows I saw silhouetted against the sky the delicate rose of a wild crab apple in early bloom. And when I was told it was a native tree, I said to myself, "That tree is a symbol of the beauty of this prairie landscape we have been passing through." . . . It and the native hawthorn, whose gray horizontal branches are typical of the rolling lands of this mid-country.¹
In 1885, Jensen began working as a street sweeper for Chicago's West Park Commission. In his free time, he began exploring undeveloped areas at the outskirts of the city. Some of these landscapes had forested areas and long winding rivers with natural rock formations and waterfalls. He saw great beauty in the trees and plants that grew naturally in the Midwest at a time when many Americans regarded native plants as weeds.
Nearly every Sunday and holiday, summer and winter, spring and fall, through those early years, I spent botanizing, studying and learning to know every plant that was native to this region. You see, in those days the city limits weren't so far out as they are now, and by riding to the end of the street-car line and then walking, one could see quite a number of plants in a day; and by taking the steam cars, one had a radius of thirty miles or so. I was amazed at the richness of color in every season of the year, particularly in the fall. Northern Europe has some color in the autumn, but nothing to compare with this country.²
Jens Jensen was promoted quickly to the position of gardener. Noticing that many formal gardens with neatly arranged imported plants were languishing, he decided to create a new kind of garden in Union Park. Jensen turned to the plants he had discovered during his weekend "botanizing" to create informal groupings of native wildflowers, an "American Garden."
When, as foreman I had my chance to design a garden, I laid out as formal a plantation as was ever made . . . In these formal beds the foreign plants didn't take kindly to our Chicago soil. They would die out no matter how carefully we tended to them, and our propagating beds were kept busy growing replacements. And after a while I began to think, "There's something wrong here. We are trying to force plants to grow where they don't want to grow."
Jensen's wildflower garden was a very new and unusual idea for his time. The American Garden soon became one of the park's most popular attractions.
Even though he was often quite controversial, Jensen's talents were recognized and he became superintendent of 200-acre Humboldt Park in 1895. Because he refused to get involved with political graft, a dishonest park board dismissed Jensen in 1900. However, with the appointment of reform candidates, Jensen returned to the West Park Commission serving as chief landscape architect and general superintendent of the West Park System. Beginning in 1905, he was given the opportunity to redesign existing parks and create some entirely new small parks.
In addition to creating landscapes that would appeal directly to the senses, emotions, and spirits of their visitors, Jensen championed his own philosophy. He was a man of strong opinions, who had arrived at them by both scientific observation and intellectual analysis, and he was willing to speak out. He was physically imposing, standing over six feet tall with keen blue eyes, a full head of red (later, white) hair and a matching flowing mustache. Jensen dressed with flair, often sporting a silk scarf around his neck. He had a dramatic way of speaking to get his point across; some people thought that he sounded like a screeching eagle when he became passionate about a cause. Jensen could also be quite persistent. When a worker installed a waterfall at the Garfield Park Conservatory, Jensen thought it more resembled a mountain cascade than a gentle prairie falls. It was only after Jensen insisted that the workman listen to Mendelssohn's Spring Song that he realized what Jensen envisioned and how he needed to change the waterfall.
Questions for Reading 1
1. Why do you think Jensen, who was an immigrant, liked the natural midwestern landscape better than people who were born and raised in the area?
2. Why didn't Jensen believe in creating formal gardens with foreign plantings?
3. Why do you think Jensen called his experimental garden the "American Garden"?
4. How do you think people felt about native wildflowers before Jensen used them in the American Garden? How did they react to them in his garden? Why?
5. Even though Jensen's ideas were controversial, he was very successful. What do you think were some of the reasons for his success?
Reading 1 was compiled from Chicago Historical Society, Prairie in the City: Naturalism in Chicago's Park, 1870-1940 (Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1991); Leonard K. Eaton, Landscape Artist in America, The Life and Work of Jens Jensen (Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1964); Robert E. Grese, Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992); Jens Jensen, Siftings (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990); and Jens Jensen and Ragna B. Eskil, "Natural Parks and Gardens," Saturday Evening Post, 202, no. 36 (8 March 1930).
1Jens Jensen as told to Ragna B. Eskil, "Natural Parks and Gardens," Saturday Evening Post, 8 March 1930, 18-19, 169-170.
1Jens Jensen as told to Ragna B. Eskil, "Natural Parks and Gardens," Saturday Evening Post, 8 March 1930, 18-19, 169-170.


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American Anthropological Association (AAA) and the Committee on Minority Affairs in Anthropology (CMIA) are pleased to announce the selection of Karen G. Williams as recipient of the 2013-2014 AAA Minority Dissertation Fellowship. This annual fellowship of $10,000 is intended to encourage members of ethnic minorities to complete doctoral degrees in anthropology, thereby increasing diversity in the discipline and promoting research on issues of concern among minority populations.
Williams' dissertation, titled "From Coercion to Consent?: Governing the Formerly Incarcerated in the 21st Century United States" focuses on the criminal justice system. Dr. Dana-Ain Davis of Williams' dissertation committee notes, "In addition to being an outstanding leader, Karen also has an outstanding record of academic achievement." She is currently working on her PhD in anthropology at City University of New York. Karen received her Bachelors of Fine Arts at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in anthropology and continued on to receive a Masters of Arts in Performance Studies at New York University.
Williams will be recognized during the AAA Awards Ceremony at the 2013 AAA Annual Meeting in Chicago. Rosa E. Ficek, PhD Candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will be acknowledged as the Honorable Mention.


text: Families wait for hours to register at the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan along the northern border in early July. Within a few weeks, the population of the camp more than doubled, leading to shortages of food, water and medicine. Paula Bronstein/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Shots - Health News Dire Health Conditions In South Sudan Prompt Airdrops August 24, 2012 More than 100,000 people have fled to refugee camps in South Sudan to escape fighting in Sudan and find food. Heavy rains have depleted supplies and raised mortality rates above emergency levels. The United Nations has launched emergency airdrops of food to help the refugees.


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The reform movement is already failing
By Diane Ravitch
The opinions expressed are her own.
Reuters invited leading educators to reply to Steven Brill's op-ed on the school reform deniers. We will be publishing the responses here. Below is Ravitch's reply. Here are responses from Joel Klein and Deborah Meier as well.
In my nearly four decades as a historian of education, I have analyzed the rise and fall of reform movements. Typically, reforms begin with loud declarations that our education system is in crisis. Throughout the twentieth century, we had a crisis almost every decade. After persuading the public that we are in crisis, the reformers bring forth their favored proposals for radical change. The radical changes are implemented in a few sites, and the results are impressive. As their reforms become widespread, they usually collapse and fail. In time, those who have made a career of educating children are left with the task of cleaning up the mess left by the last bunch of reformers.
We are in the midst of the latest wave of reforms, and Steven Brill has positioned himself as the voice of the new reformers. These reforms are not just flawed, but actually dangerous to the future of American education. They would, if implemented, lead to the privatization of a large number of public schools and to the de-professionalization of education.
As Brill's book shows, the current group of reformers consists of an odd combination of Wall Street financiers, conservative Republican governors, major foundations, and the Obama administration. The reformers believe that the way to "fix" our schools is to fire more teachers, based on the test scores of their students; to open more privately-managed charter schools; to reduce the qualifications for becoming a teacher; and to remove job protections for senior teachers.
The reformers say that our schools are failing and point to international test scores; they don't seem to know that American students have never done well on international tests. When the international tests were first launched in the 1960s, our students ranked near the bottom. Obviously these tests do not predict the future economic success of a nation because we as a nation have prospered despite our mediocre performance on international tests over the past half century.
The last international test results were released in December. Our students ranked about average, and our leading policymakers treated the results as a national scandal. But here is a curious fact: low-poverty U.S. schools (where fewer than 10% of the students were poor) had scores that were higher than those of the top nations in the world. In schools where as many as 25% of the students were poor, the scores were equal to those of Finland, Japan and Korea. As the poverty rate of the schools rose, the schools' performance declined.
An objective observer would conclude that the problem in this society has to do with our shamefully high rates of child poverty, the highest in the developed world. At least 20% of U.S. children live in poverty. Among black children, the poverty rate is 35%.
Reformers like to say — as they did in the film "Waiting for 'Superman'" — that we spend too much and that poverty doesn't matter. They say that teacher effectiveness is all that matters. They claim that children who have three "great" or "effective" teachers in a row will close the achievement gap between the races. They say that experience doesn't matter. They believe that charter schools, staffed by tireless teachers, can close the gap in test scores.
Unfortunately, research does not support any of their claims.
Take the matter of charter schools. The definitive national study of charters was conducted by Stanford University economist Margaret Raymond and financed by the pro-charter Walton Family Foundation and the Dell Foundation. After surveying half the nation's 5,000 charter schools, the study concluded that only 17% got better test results than a demographically similar traditional public school; 37% got worse results, and the remaining 46% were no different from the matched public school. An eight-state study by the Rand Corporation found no differences in results between charter and regular public schools. On federal tests, students in charter schools and regular public schools perform about the same.
The overwhelming majority of charter schools are non-union. They can hire and fire teachers at will, and teacher attrition at charter schools is higher than in regular public schools. Many studies have shown that charters have a disproportionately small number of students with disabilities or students who don't speak English. Yet, despite these structural advantages, they don't get better results. Furthermore, right-to-work states where unions are weak or non-existent don't lead the nation in academic achievement; most are middling or at the bottom on federal tests. Brill simply refuses to acknowledge these inconvenient facts because the charter movement is a central part of the "reform" claims.
Research provides no support for Brill's belief that the teacher is the ultimate determinant of student success or failure. Economists overwhelmingly agree that families, and especially family income, have a larger impact on student academic performance than teachers. Typically, economists estimate that teachers account for 10-15% of student performance; non-school factors influence about 60%.
And what about the reformers' claim that three great teachers in a row close the achievement gap? It is a sound bite, not an actionable policy proposal. The reformers can't point to a single school or district that has actually made this happen.
The reform movement is already failing. Its remedies don't work. It ignores poverty, which is the root cause of poor academic performance.
If we are serious about improving education, we would work to improve both schools and society. We would invest in the recruitment and preparation of career teachers and make sure that every child has a curriculum that includes the arts, history, civics, foreign languages and other subjects. We would also invest in prenatal care so that every child is born healthy and invest in high-quality early childhood education, so that children arrive in school ready to learn. We would stop the budget cutting that is now increasing class sizes and reducing needed services to children.
Unfortunately, such research-based strategies are not part of today's reform movement, which is why it will most assuredly end up in the dustbin of history, like so many others.
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
[…] We will be publishing the responses here. Below is Klein's reply. Here are responses from Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier as […]
[…] be publishing the responses here. Below is Meier's reply. Here are responses from Joel Klein and Diane Ravitch as […]
Okay… lets suppose that teacher fail because students aren't trying or parents don't care… That just provides even more reason to fire the teacher. If you are funneling students destined to fail regardless of the quality of the teachers they have then you might was well make teaching a revolving door career that will slowly turn into one where no one expects anything and is therefore paid little more than minimum wage to act as a government sponsored baby sitter…. That would in fact be a better situation than we have now. Why pay for quality teachers if having a quality teacher wont improve the students success… if the students are doomed from the start then why bother with expensive teachers… we could simply get adults capable of keeping the students from revolting and killing each other to guard the daycare centers… which then leads to the ultimate decision to stop state sponsored education altogether. After all if the majority of the students wont learn then why waste money on them at all. Simply cut the taxes that go into funding education, the parents of the few students that are destined to learn because they came from good families that believe in education will foot the bill for their own kids knowing it will give them a better place in society… the other kids will simply flounder around become janitors or perform other menial tasks and life will go on….
Why even give the teacher's union a voice in this discussion? It's clear to most parents that the average teacher is mediocre or worse, yet their union stands in the way of making positive change. Rather than be a proactive partner in reshaping our education and returning it to best-in-class, the union fights to defend the indefensible. They remind me of the Tea Party – a small and out-of-touch minority that have an outsized impact on our future. Shame on all of us for allowing this to continue.
Mr. Brill and Ms. Ravitch each demonstrate the two polarize viewpoints expressed in the reform debate. Who is right? As it is with most debatable topics, it is probably somewhere in the middle.
As a relatively new teacher, I do have a different viewpoint from both these positions. It is important to report that I may be young in experience, but not young in life given my start as a teacher was after thirty years working in private industry. I have a full understanding of how businesses and workers co-exist in union and non-union environments.
To begin, let us dispense with the notion of the overpaid underworked teacher that draw from the trough of public funds to pad their lifestyle and use the union rules to get exorbitant time off or skirt shoddy practices. I was paid 45K a year and if I chose to use the negotiated health care plan, it would have cost me $700 a month to support my family's health care needs. Fortunately, my wife has a better plan to cover us, so the option of opting-out was workable. Excessive sick time off? Not on your life. During my second year of teaching, I had to have a tumor removed from the pituitary area that kept me out of work for two months. With only two years in the tank, my sick time was good for two weeks and I had to deal with unpaid time. Obviously, the 10-15 days of sick time Mr. Brill exists, but it doesn't exist everywhere. I think when Mr. Brill assembled his facts, he did the one thing he accused Ms. Ravich of doing – cherry-picking the worst examples and drawing across the board conclusions.
Equally distorting is Ms. Ravitch's point of view on the effects of student in poverty and compelling these students facing daily challenges to do well in school. As a high school math teacher, I see examples of this daily, but I also see just as many with advantageous backgrounds exhibiting a lack of drive or interest in learning. When there are students that come to the class day-in and day-out sitting in class without purpose, it is hard to propagate a learning environment for the whole class. It does not take many of these students to disrupt the proceedings of an entire class. It isn't necessarily poverty that creates these challenges. Don't get me wrong, poverty is a factor; it just isn't THE factor in student learning.
The last big point I believe is relevant is one that both sides miss: teacher evaluations. I cannot stress highly enough how important and useful this tool is as long as it is not used to bludgeon teachers with the intent of wrecking their careers. The objective is making teachers better, not make them sweat for the privilege of teaching. The traditionalists say they are an obstacle in allowing teachers to function in a manner they see fit and the reformers say they are necessary to weed out the poorer performers. They are both so wrong-headed.
As most schools require by contract, I was evaluated twice a year, but they were so differently handled, it was hard to believe it was in the same school. The first year was handled expertly – a time was set, lesson plans given to the evaluator, and a follow-up meeting on the observation points. The evaluator was a vice-principal that was also a seasoned math teacher capable of giving back invaluable feedback and suggestions to improve my teaching skills. As a first year teacher at the time, I was thankful! In fact, if there was money in the budget, I would have appreciated other teachers coming in and evaluating me as well. There wasn't. The second year (last year), it wasn't handled nearly as well. These became "drop-in" evaluations – little ten minute reviews and quickie follow ups without the detail or path to pedagogy improvement. It was the same person, but a recent principal change also changed the rules of evaluations. It did not offer much in the way of improvement.
Evaluations, when used correctly, can produce marvelous results. In my book, there weren't enough of them. One of the most instructive learning experiences during my education to become a credentialed teacher was a required visit to a school for a week to observe classes in the content area we were expecting to teach. I learned so much in how teachers effectively teach. This could still be an effective tool if it were available now if the school could pay for a substitute to teach while I rotated with teachers in my own school. Or, they could visit my class, observe my teaching, and give me tips in improving my techniques. However, it may seem we teachers are in the building collaborating all the time, but the fact is we see so little of each other except for the precious few minutes between classes or before and after school. In fact, teachers are quite the island without much for support.
Teaching is a great craft, but it isn't an easy one. The Great Reform Debate tends to dehumanize the functions of the teacher and doesn't show how exposed teachers are to reform minded methods that could oust the teacher from classrooms permanently. If a teacher leaves a school because the school doesn't want them teaching their classes, it effectively blackballs them from the teaching profession. No one wants a blemished teacher in this scrutinized environment without tolerance and without the desire to fund education properly. I predict in the next 3-5 years, there will be a large teacher shortage as teachers are sent packing, others retire early to avoid the bull crap, and new teachers reduced to fill the void stunted because the cost of education and demand to perform expertly right away detours all but the intensely dedicated. There are many other, less stressful ways to make a living.
I have never heard of Mr. Brills and I read a lot of material by the giants of schooling. I started to teach my first primary class in May,1946 and I have followed a lot of issues in the interim. I've been around even longer than Diane; and have seen some disturbing attacks on teachers and the accompanying sterile comments over the years….the Back to Basics debate, The Minimal Competency Movement,I could go on; that just seem to come out of the blue every now and then.
Blanket-test merchants are presently in control of schooling; and they are punishing children as they have never been punished before for no justifiable reason. They have removed the freedom to learn, the joy of learning and a child's yearning for high achievement by the creation of fear driven, profit-based schooling. It's the worst assault on schooling in my lifetime. Mr. Brill's version of the 1975 Black Papers, then written by non-school academics who just wanted to make a noise at the time is another sad comment.
One wonders if Brill and Klein have ever been in a public school where children almost break a leg to get to school…arriving at or before 7.30 a.m.; and having to be chased home at dark, because they wanted to learn from and in the resource-rich environment; where the worst form of punishment was being forbidden to enter the classroom before the 'first bell'. Or..in a school where every child disliked the long midsummer vacation because they would not be able to go to school for a while. I have. I'll wager that none of Klein's chosen schools can create that sort of joyful, learning-based, achievemnt-seeking atmosphere.
Go Diane and Deborah. I do hope your optimism will be realised. School chilren, as vulnerable as they are seen to be, deserve a better life.
After all if the majority of the students wont learn then why waste money on them at all.
The majority do learn. It's just that we have a one size fits all school system. It serves the motivated dedicated smart kids above all. How many people in life know what they want to be at 10, or 12, or even 25? How many of our best and brightest people in history didn't do anything of value to society till age 40 or 50?
Anyone who expects to create a factory to turn out motivated, dedicated highly focused, educated children at the 100 percent mark is a failure at the study of humanity. Humans are a messy disorganized bunch and primary and secondary school is just a foundation. Some will succeed some won't and the demand that we meet an arbitrary number is the same kind of thinking that almost ran IBM into the ground.
Yes by test scores other countries beat us. How many of those countries have a better quality of life, the flexibility to try and fail, or the ability to criticize thier government or even lobby publicly against it?
20 years ago I remember being told Indians would take over our Engineering departments because they were turning out more engineering students than we are. The simple fact is they are taking over the low end jobs but they usually fail at the high end jobs because they were never trained to make decisions or consider anything outsider thier flowcharts. But more of them have degrees than us?
America leads in innovation and hard work. In spite of what the average american thinks we work about 1 month more a year than workers did in 1970, we have the highest productivity of any nation on earth, we produce a little over 40 percent of the worlds manufactured goods in spite of having less than 5 percent of the population. We let everyone pull us down into focusing on the details of problems that we have and we forget that we still do almost everything better than the rest of the world.
We've got problems they are real they need to be addressed but screaming the sky is falling never fixed anything. All it does is freak everyone out and take thier focus off any real solution. Like addressing poverty that keeps parents so focused on surviving day to day that they don't or can't help thier children with preparing for the future.
[…] around a long article by Steven Brill (from here and here). The other articles up so far are by Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier, Jennifer Jennings, Margaret Honey, Alex Kotlowitz, and Joel […]
What Diane Ravitch is talking about is a cult movement that has taken control of education and can best be understood in the context of Stephen Colbert's "truthiness."
Truthiness is a "truth" based on gut-feelings without regard for evidence, logic, or facts. Diane Ravitch began the deconstruction of reforminess with her book,
The Death and Life of the Great American School System.
Ravitch was present for the "big bang" of recent "school reform," traceable back
to A Nation at Risk, when she was part of the conservative think tank
cabal. Their "truths" were based on fantasies of market-based
concepts of competition and choice, with pragmatic programs including
test based accountability, charter schools, and vouchers. Much of
this became the basis for NCLB and the unholy alliance of neo-liberal
and conservative school reform efforts: that is to say, reforminess.
Ravitch's epiphany came at a think tank meeting when, one after
another, the testing gurus, the charter school proponents, and the
voucher propagandists stood up to report on a decade's worth of
"progress." But there wasn't any. One research group at the
conservative, pro-charter Hoover Institution, CREDO, did a massive
study on charters and found only one in five outperformed regular
public schools, while two in five did worse, and the remainder were no
different than local public schools.
Ravitch realized that the fundamentals of neo-liberal/conservative
reform were reforminess—based on gut-feelings, intuition, and with no
basis in evidence, logic, or facts. She engaged in empirical research
and all the beliefs were found wanting. Ravitch concluded that
reforminess was not just resulting in little to no improved
achievement; it was actually narrowing, damaging, and corrupting
public education.
Enter the Obama Administration, which inexplicably appointed Arne
Duncan, experienced in neo-liberal private sector foundations but not
a day as a teacher or school administrator, as Secretary of Education.
He comes up with Race to the Top. If the fundamentals of NCLB were
utter failures than the only solution was to double down with even
more draconian reforminess: "turn-around" proposals, shutting down
schools, firing teachers and principals, turning public school
management over to private sector charter operators—all based on his
gut, but absolutely no empirical research.
Mr. Brill, like others of his ilk, has no idea of what he is talking about.
[…] – This Was Well Written! by educationclearinghouse on August 25, 2011 I came across Diane Ravitch writing about the "reformers." Diane has been studying education in this country for over 40 years and she knows what […]
[…] us all of what we're really up against. "Yirmin" left this comment on a recent op-ed by Dr. Diane Ravitch: Okay… lets suppose that teacher fail because students aren't trying or […]
[…] how many kids will be harmed before the reformers move on to a new pet project? The last sentence of her recent writing says it all "Unfortunately, such research-based strategies are not part of today's reform […]
Certainly, we all want our education system to be better. Politicians should be careful not to enact short-sided policies that have negative unintended consequences. Everyone in society has a responsibility to contribute to the education of the next generation because we all bear the costs as a society of poorly educated individuals who are more likely to be costly to society later in life. One-size-fits-all approaches enacted by politicians with little input from experienced educators are not likely to be successful. For more information: http://americansocietytoday.blogspot.com /search/label/merit%20pay
Hear, hear "rgod8855″! I hope your experience teaching math is as wonderful as mine was (35 years math/science, physics, calculus, oceanography…). I was getting tired of listening to reformers trying to get rid of teachers. The job is tough enough today to weed out anyone who is lazy. Focus on getting rid of teachers who: a) don't know what they are talking about or: b) can't get along with kids.
Those two factors are the most important for a teacher to be successful. Most kids are so good they will put forth effort they did not know they possessed for a teacher they trust and respect. Kids appreciate the effort a teacher puts into being prepared and interesting. They will forgive an occasional clunker (that great idea you knew would work, but didn't). They know you are human.
Kids respond to the person they know is really happy to see them every day and can't wait to teach them something.
It kind of makes me sick to see how many of you are so ardently opposed to teachers. Many teachers that I know are very hard working, good young people who really care about the kids and are underpaid and granted too few resources. It may be hard to improve childrens' home lives when so many live in poverty, especially when you have conservative Christian fascists who ironically believe that helping the poor is akin to mortal sin, but we can improve our schools.
Pay teachers better. Give them more resources like computers and good technology. Stop making them buy things out of pocket. Stop deriding these people who take your little brats and put up with the scars of their crappy home lives and try to teach turn them into functional citizens. It's nauseating how anti-intellectual, anti-education so many of you supposed fiscal conservatives are. You'd rather invest tax dollars in oil companies and fight wars in the Middle East than try to improve the teaching environment of your own kids.
Your children are your future, not the aged failures who are hoarding all of your money and slashing your wages and benefits to leave you fighting over scraps. Do not abuse teachers; without them your kids would be even more screwed up and befuddled.
I have taught kindergarten for thirty years and primary for six. I have seen ideas and policies come and go and they are never good for children. If we make the changes that are being proposed in Florida, we are opening up a can of worms. There are many ways we could get poor teachers out, ways we can teach teachers how to teach better and to evaluate them. Everything is always blamed on teachers for the inability of the teacher to bring up test scores. Of course then it is the union who protects us. Nothing in education or in life is ever as simple as it sounds. It is never just one thing. It is complicated. We have to take it apart and work on each separate issue but the government wants a quick fix so we put all the blame on the teachers. I'm not saying that their aren't teachers that shouldn't be there. There has to be a way of working them out. My county has a program that works with the teacher having problems. It just seems to me that everything has come down to the tests. They wonder why they are seeing people cheating on them due to becoming disparate. I have lost respect for our school board and the educational people in Washington. We as a nation still refusing to look at the main issue here.. When children are successful, it comes from administration, teaching and parents. There are lots of things that could be changed but people don't even look at what is good for the child. Dedicated teachers are angry because many things go against child development. No one looks at that any more. Now we are taking away play time in kindergartens because it is a waste of time. We need to push them as much as possible so that their scores go up. One of the things I noticed before I retired was that many children taking the FCAT test in third grade that I had taught were making poorer scores then I thought they should have gotten. I tutored one of them and realized that they had come with poor language skills and word recognition. It takes children many years to catch up and you are asking them to perform on tests where language is crucial. We need to close up that loop hole. No one ever looks at that. There are lots of things we can do to help children love school and use our creative techniques but that will not happen as long as we continue the way we are. Children are so vulnerable. The children of America have been in crisis for ten years. The government chooses to ignore this and turns their back on them and now they think the answer is in education so let's blame the teachers. They need to do their homework. Many of the things people have said in this blog are true. I only wish there was a way we could prove to the American government how all of us feel about our jobs and our dedication to education. Maybe it's time for a "march". Something drastic needs to be done to get the country's attention.
[…] reforms actually improve student performance? I hope you can take the time to read a response to a new education reform book reviewed by Dianne Ravitch at this Reuters link. I believe she does a great job of pointing out that the reformers are fixing the wrong […]
[…] Meier and Diane Ravitch respond here and here, respectively. While the point-by-point critique of Brill is useful, I found Meier's response […]
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text:
Andy Harries And Elaine Pyke Executive Produce;
Dan Percival And Frank Spotnitz Co-Executive Produce
When a resourceful international terrorist group plots an attack, a charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative joins forces with a stealth British military unit to stop them in the ten-episode action series STRIKE BACK, debuting FRIDAY, AUG. 12 (10:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT) on CINEMAX. The show marks the first time HBO/CINEMAX has worked with UK broadcaster Sky to produce an original series.
Sullivan Stapleton ("Animal Kingdom") and Philip Winchester ("Crusoe") star, with Amanda Mealing ("Holby City"), Eva Birthistle ("Silent Witness"), Jimi Mistry ("Blood Diamond"), Rhashan Stone ("Episodes") and Richard Armitage ("The Hobbit").
Executive producers are Andy Harries (HBO's "Longford") for Left Bank; Elaine Pyke ("The Runaway") for Sky; co-executive producers are Dan Percival (HBO's "Dirty War") and Frank Spotnitz ("The X-Files"). Directors for the series are Dan Percival (HBO's "Dirty War"), Alex Holmes (HBO's "House of Saddam"), Bill Eagles ("Fringe") and Paul Wilmshurst ("Law & Order: UK"). Writers are Frank Spotnitz, Richard Zadjlic ("EastEnders"), Tony Saint ("Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley") and Simon Burke ("Persuasion").
The timely, fast-paced series mixes suspense, action and drama, spanning the globe from India to South Africa, from England to Chechnya. Shot on location in South Africa and Hungary, STRIKE BACK began production in February and will wrap in late summer.
The team that tracks the terrorists is Section 20, an elite military black ops unit within the British government that focuses on high-risk, top-priority targets. When one of their own is captured and held hostage, the group enlists the help of Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), a former Delta Force operative who is familiar with the terrorists. Although he has good instincts and skills, his cocky style is often at odds with the more formal team, especially the more by-the-book Sgt. Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester). Team leader Col. Eleanor Grant (Amanda Mealing) is a smart, tough military leader who is skilled with a gun and diplomacy, but knows when to break a rule or two.
STRIKE BACK is a CINEMAX Presentation in association with British Sky Broadcasting Limited; a Left Bank Pictures Production; executive producers, Andy Harries for Left Bank and Elaine Pyke for Sky; co-executive producers, Dan Percival and Frank Spotnitz; series producer, Michael Casey; producers, Trevor Hopkins and Sue De Beauvoir; co-producer Bill Shepard.
Episodes include:
Episode #1
Debut: FRIDAY, AUG. 12 (10:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT)
After agent John Porter (Richard Armitage) is kidnapped by Pakistani terrorist Latif, the rest of his team from Section 20, an elite secretive British Military Intelligence unit, race against the clock to find him. They quickly learn that only Porter and one other man, former U.S. Delta Force operative Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), can identify Latif. Sgt. Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester), tasked with finding Scott, tracks him to an underground fight ring in Kuala Lumpur. Scott agrees to help Section 20 and decodes a hidden message from one of Porter's hostage transmissions that warns of a terror attack at a hotel in India and a plot known as Project Dawn, which the unit has been tracking for some time.
Led by Col. Eleanor Grant (Amanda Mealing), senior team members Capt. Kate Marshall (Eva Birthistle) and Maj. Oliver Sinclair (Rhashan Stone), Section 20 sets up a covert surveillance operation in New Delhi and are aided by Pakistani Intelligence Officer Major Ashkani (Jimi Mistry).
Their intelligence proves correct when terrorists seize the hotel with hostages, including Scott and Stonebridge, trapped inside.
Written by Frank Spotnitz; directed by Dan Percival.
Episode #2
Debut: FRIDAY, AUG. 19 (10:00-10:45 p.m.)
The team learns that the terrorists are also searching the hotel for Mahmood, a weapons scientist who has info about missing WMDs, which signals that Latif's plot could be much bigger than originally anticipated. Scott and Stonebridge furiously search for Mahmood and for a way to thwart the assault on the hotel. Meanwhile, outside the hotel, the Indian army plans a risky rescue attempt of its own, against the advice of Col. Grant and Maj. Ashkani.
After the attack is resolved, the team learns the true identity of Latif as he eludes them. Scott officially joins the team and he and Stonebridge realize that Section 20 may be compromised.
Episode #3
Debut: FRIDAY, AUG. 26 (10:00-10:45 p.m.)
Section 20 tracks Latif's known associates to Cape Town, South Africa. They capture and interrogate an accomplice who leads them to an armored car company that recently had a brutal and suspicious robbery in which no money was stolen. Col. Grant recognizes one of the attackers as vicious mercenary and former IRA member Daniel Connolly (Liam Cunningham). After researching the company's client list, they surmise that the target may be defense contractor ATAT. The unit warns CEO Kenneth Bratton (Alistair Petrie) that the attack may not have been a random robbery, but he does not reveal that he is already being blackmailed by Connolly.
Meanwhile, Scott and Stonebridge pursue Connolly's new hacker. After an accident, Scott must impersonate the hacker, only to find that Connolly's apprehensive team may be suspicious of him.
Written by Frank Spotnitz; directed by Bill Eagles.
Episode #4
Debut: FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 (10:00-10:45 p.m.)
After Scott passes Connolly's "test," they brief him on the plan to break into a secure facility, but will only tell Scott that he is to override the security system. They give him the hard drive they stole from the armored car heist that houses the security information.
Maj. Sinclair installs a worm in the hard drive that will allow him to remotely hack the system. Section 20 plan to enable Connolly in the hope that he will lead them to Latif and reveal his plot. Capt. Marshall briefs Stonebridge about her research into the connection between ATAT and Mahmood.
ATAT CEO Bratton starts to panic and asks Capt. Marshall to meet him, and Section 20 hopes to bring him under their protection. But Connolly is one step ahead of them and kidnaps both of them, with Stonebridge in pursuit.
Connolly's team proceeds to a fertilizer facility, which is a front for Bratton's secretive business. Sinclair's computer worm enables them to break into the security system remotely. Connolly makes Bratton open the vault and he seizes its contents, which point to Latif's global plot. A tense firefight ensues as Connolly tries to make his escape.
Written by Frank Spotnitz; directed by Bill Eagles.