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'Jackass' Star Charged After Climbing Crane In Hollywood
The city of Los Angeles will also seek financial restitution for the cost of the police and fire response, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the City Attorney's Office.
Steve-O, whose legal name is Stephen Glover, was charged Monday with one count each of creating a false emergency, use of unregistered fireworks, storing fireworks without a permit, possession of fireworks without a permit, and trespassing, Mateljan said.
The charges stem from the Aug. 9 incident and a subsequent search of Glover's house, he said.
Glover's representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 41-year-old scrambled up a crane at least 100 feet high on Sunset Boulevard, inflating a large killer whale balloon emblazoned with "SeaWorld Sucks" and lighting fireworks when he reached the top, police said.
Glover, known for his outlandish stunts in the "Jackass" TV show and movies, later climbed down and was taken into custody.
Because the first responders were not sure whether he needed to be rescued, five ambulances, a helicopter and more than 80 firefighters went to the scene, Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said the next day.
She said resources were stretched thin because firefighters were called around the same time to rescue the operator of a harbor crane who was stricken with a medical emergency.
Prosecutors are working with police and fire department officials to determine how much restitution will be sought, Meteljan said Tuesday.
Glover's arraignment was set for Aug. 31.
The performer was cited last year for another protest against the theme park. Glover said his demonstrations are in response to controversy over the 2103 documentary "Blackfish," which criticized SeaWorld's treatment of killer whales.


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DIY foil cards: a better method
Yesterday I wrote about my ongoing experiments with laser transfer foil and an iron. Results were hit or miss. A lot of miss, actually. I'd been curious what would happen if, instead of fusing the foil to a laser print with my iron, I used my printer to do it (a Brother HL-5250DN). A representative from the company where I ordered the foil, PulsarPro FX, said a laser printer probably wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. They recommend a particular kind of laminator, but I've been too cheap to buy one. Last night I figured I'd try the printer anyway and crossed my fingers that the foil wouldn't get jammed up inside. The verdict: it worked WAY better than an iron.
I have a multi-colored pack of foils— click here and scroll down to "Foil Sampler Pack." That's the one. Or you could buy the "Individually Wrapped TRF" if you want to save some money and just get one color to test first, which is how I started. If you're outside the US, start here to find a vendor, then choose your product.
Here's the process.
First I requested Alex's permission to possibly destroy our printer. Got it, with just a "please be careful" admonishment.
Then I made a design in Illustrator and laser printed it on cardstock.
Next I cut a piece of foil and laid it over the design. I taped all the way along the edge that goes into my printer first and put a shorter piece on the other two corners to hold them down. Hard to see here, sorry.
Tips: Make sure the foil is cut large enough that your tape doesn't cover any part of your design or you'll probably have trouble getting the foil to stick in that area. Make sure you don't get wrinkles in the foil; smooth it down down when taping.
I put the taped-up cardstock back in my printer tray, positioned as if I were going to reproduce the print again on the same side. But this time, I printed a blank document. As the cardstock ran through the printer again, the foil became fused to any toner on the page.
Then I peeled off the loose foil; it only sticks where there's toner. The print above isn't too shabby.
But this here print IS shabby. And not in a chic way. I found that some cardstock works and some doesn't. No idea why; so aggravating. Update: Coated cardstock yields good results! Uncoated cardstock does not.
My white cardstock worked really well. Here's a print with copper foil adhered in a confetti design, inspired by that trend in metallic wall treatments.
Here's more copper in a houndstooth pattern.
Here's an origami unicorn I designed for another project, foiled in red. Fabulous!
So no more ironing. I'm using the laser printer from now on.

subset: commoncrawl


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From PostgreSQL wiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchDan Scott
Hi, I'm a core contributor to the Evergreen open source library system which runs on PostgreSQL.
I'm also a systems librarian at Laurentian University and am highly interested in information retrieval, including native full-text search support in relational databases.
PostgreSQL talks
- Email: email@example.com or email@example.com
- Blog
- Social networks:


text:
courtesy of 20 Exchange Place |
Though it can be hard to see from the street, perhaps the most notable decorative feature of the building is the array giant heads that adorn the tower at the nineteenth floor (right). These fourteen figures are the "Giants of Finance," vaguely based on Middle Eastern models.
Much more discernible from the street are the eleven coins that flank the entryway to the building. Each represents a country with which the bank did business, including at the bottom left an American Indian-head nickel prominently displaying the building's date. Above the nickel is an Italian 20 lira coin from 1927, when Italy was firmly under the control of the Fascists and Il Duce, Benito Mussolini.
On the left, the coin features a Roman fasces, the bundle of sticks with an axe that was a symbol of the ancient Roman Republic and co-opted by the Italian Fascists. At the lower right is carved "Meglio Vivere un Giorno da Leone Che Cento Anni da Pecora" ("It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as sheep"), an older proverb that Mussolini had taken as his own.
The City Bank-Farmers Trust (which would later go on to become Citibank) was not the only place in the city to display Mussoilini-era imagery. At Rockefeller Center, the Palazzo d'Italia was originally decorated with a massive pyrex sculpture by Attilio Piccirilli entitled "Sempre Avanti Eterna Giovinezza" ("Advance Forward, Eternal Youth") that struck viewers as redolent with Fascist iconography. (The inscriptions on the side read "Art is work, work is art.")
On December 12, 1941, just five days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Piccirilli's sculpture was boarded over and in 1965 it was finally replaced with the current piece, "Italia," by Giacomo Manzu. However, all Fascist imagery was not erased: at the top of the building are Leo Lentelli's bas relief sculptures of the "Four Periods in Italian History," which depict ancient Rome, the Renaissance, the Unification of Italy, and Fascism (again, symbolized by a fasces).
* * *
There's much more on Art Deco New York
and the history of Rockefeller Center
and the history of Rockefeller Center
* * *


text: Want a taste of local culture during your trip to Madrid city? With events during every month of the year, you can choose from history, religion and culture, sports and music festivals or events suitable for the family and children. Our local experts ensure that you will never be bored during your trip to Madrid city!


text:
The new ZOTAC ZBOX Q Series Mini PC accelerates creative and professional workflows, offering up to a 2X performance boost over the previous generation. The mini but mighty workstation solution integrates powerful technologies into an ultra-small form factor featuring the NVIDIA RTX™ A4500 graphics card built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture and Intel® Core™ i7 processor equipped with eight cores and sixteen threads. The compact 2.65L ZBOX QTG7A4500 provides unrivaled performance and power efficiency for industrial or deployment scenarios.
Feature Highlights
- Intel Core i7 processor (8 cores and 16 threads)
- Up to 64GB DDR4-3200/2933 memory support
- Up to 4 displays support with 2x HDMI 2.1 and 2x DisplayPort 1.4a
- Fast data transfer with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.1
- Intel Optane Memory ready
- Killer 2.5Gbit LAN, Killer WiFi 6
- Windows 11 Ready
Open Apps wechat and Scan the above QR code.


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Showing __ of __
Propper shirts are manufactured from high-quality materials and built for durability, performance, comfort, and a clean, professional look. We stake our reputation on the toughness of our gear and apparel, and we know it's a reputation that must be continuously earned. Our polos, button-downs, and t-shirts all fit perfectly into the Propper shirt system, offering you options for uniforms or off-duty wear, in all climates and weather conditions, at an affordable price point. Outfit yourself and your department in BDU coats, duty shirts, and other tactical styles, or suit up for some well-deserved (and well-dressed) downtime.
All Propper Men's shirts are made with the level of care dedicated servicemen expect. Intuitive features, quality fabrics, and innovation are integrated into every garment for unbeatable form and function that looks as good as it feels. Browse our extensive collection of shirts in work-appropriate colors and sizes up to 5XL.


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Contact KO Floors at
Installing Wood Flooring: Should I Do It Myself or Hire a Suffolk County Wood Flooring Contractor?
With more than 50 years of experience and a proven track record of success, KO Floors is considered the most reputable hardwood floor company in the Suffolk County area. Offering both new installations and refinishing services and a wide selection of products to choose from, they're the wood flooring company you can count on to handle all of your needs.
Are you thinking about updating your Babylon, NY house with new hardwood flooring? If so, you may be contemplating doing it yourself. With so many products available at local home improvement stores and a never-ending stream of how-to videos, it certainly seems like a plausible project. How hard can it really be to install your own wood floors? The answer: Very.
Here's a look at some of the top reasons why you should ditch the DIY-approach and hire a reputable Suffolk County hardwood flooring contractor like KO Floors, instead.
Knowledge and Experience
Sure, you may be able to pick up some helpful tips from how-to videos, blog posts, and manuals, but no matter how much information you consume on your own, unless you've received the proper training, you should really hire a wood flooring contractor instead.
At KO Floors, we have more than 50 years of experience in the hardwood flooring industry. All of our technicians are extensively trained in the proper installation process and techniques and have put their knowledge to the test in the countless installments we've completed. We can successfully install wood flooring in any interior space, regardless of the layout. Our team knows how to properly handle challenging cuts, uneven subfloors, and odd-shaped rooms with ease; something you probably won't be able to achieve with your DIY skills.
Our advanced knowledge combined with our practical experience is certainly more likely to garner better results than the information that you consume from videos and manuals.
High-Quality Materials
When it comes to hardwood flooring, you want to install the best quality products. If the quality is subpar, the results will be, too. While you might be able to find decent products at a home improvement store, the truth is, those materials simply can't compare to the level of quality that a reputable wood flooring contractor can provide.
At KO Floors, we work with some of the best brands in the wood flooring industry, and most of these brands can't be purchased at home improvement stores. Because our materials are superior, your floors will be more durable and will retain their beauty for much longer than they would if you installed them yourself.
The Right Tools
To properly install hardwood floors, you need to have the right tools, and there are a lot of tools you need to get the job done. Miter saws, table saws, jigsaws, air compressors, floor jacks, moisture meters, leveling compounds and tools; that's just a small sampling of some of the tools you'll need to install hardwood floors the right way. While sure, you might be able to purchase them, you'll need to invest a lot of money; not to mention the fact that operating some of these tools requires extensive training and experience, and unless you're a professional contractor yourself, you might not even know what some of those tools are!
When you hire a Babylon, NY wood flooring contractor, you can be sure that they'll have all of the tools to get the job done the right way. At KO Floors, we'll bring all of the necessary equipment to your Suffolk County home so that we can get your floors installed properly and quickly.
Faster Results
If you aren't experienced, installing new wood flooring is a pretty time-consuming job. Your home will be uprooted for a bit until they're fully installed. If you want the fastest results possible, hiring a Suffolk County wood flooring company is definitely recommended.
Thanks to our years of experience, KO Floors can quickly install your new hardwood floors. Each job is different and there are several factors that will affect the amount of time it will take (the size of the room and the complexity of the work, for example), but rest assured that when our experts install your new floors, not only will the project be done as quickly as possible, but it will also be done the right way. If you want to avoid minimal upheaval, working with a professional instead of doing it yourself is highly recommended.
Improved Safety
Wood flooring installation is labor-intensive. It requires a lot of heavy lifting and the operation of power tools. Even if you're in excellent shape, if you lift the wrong way or you don't know how to use a saw properly, for example, you could end up suffering some pretty serious injuries.
Nothing is more important than your safety, which is exactly why you shouldn't DIY your wood flooring installation and instead, have an experienced professional install them for you. The team at KO Floors knows the physical demands that are associated with the job and understands how to make the necessary accommodations to avoid injuries. We're also highly skilled at using all power tools and equipment. Plus, if an error should happen and a member of our crew does sustain an injury, we have the proper insurance, so you won't have to bear the financial responsibility.
Cost Savings
It might seem like installing your new wood floors on your own would save you money but in reality, it can end up costing you a lot more. Purchasing all of the necessary tools and materials alone can be costly. What happens if you buy the wrong item and can't return it because it's already opened? Or what if you make a mistake and have to start over again or have to call in a contractor anyway? And then there's the risk of any injuries that you might sustain and the cost of any medical care that you might require.
In other words, the DIY approach can end up costing you an exorbitant amount; much more than you would spend if you hired a contractor. Instead of throwing money down the drain, why not just hire a Suffolk County hardwood flooring company from the start?
For Fast, Efficient, and Affordable Hardwood Flooring Installation in Suffolk County, Contact KO Floors Today!
When it comes down to it, you're much better off hiring a wood flooring contractor than you are doing it yourself. When you choose KO Floors for your installation needs, you not only receive affordable prices, but you'll also get the highest quality work at the fastest rate possible.
To learn more about wood flooring installation services or to schedule a consultation, please give us a call at 631-693-4388 today! At KO Floors, we've got all of your hardwood flooring needs covered!
- Learn more about Babylon, NY 11702
- Open a Babylon, NY map
- Find the Babylon, NY United States Post Office
- Locate nearby Babylon, NY pharmacies
- View the current Babylon, NY weather report
- Browse a list of Babylon, NY public and private schools
- Babylon, NY is located in Suffolk county in New York State


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Over the past 100 years, society's support of people with developmental disabilities reads like a hike up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. From institutions that were thought at the time to meet the basic physiological needs of food and shelter, to the reputed consistency and predictability of sheltered workshops, to focusing on developing healthy relationships through Circle of Friends and other programs, to personal achievement found in employment in the community, support has become more enlightened as society's beliefs about people who have developmental disabilities have become more realistic. It is not surprising that people working to promote inclusion have started to focus on Self-Actualization, the peak of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization, in the form of creativity, spontaneity, and problem solving, is a concept that should be woven into all the work we do in supporting people to live full and valued lives of their own choosing; it can also be addressed head on in projects that involve the creative arts.
Think about ways you feel self-actualized. It might be going to the opera; it might be meditating; it might be mountain-climbing. These are all activities that make people feel alive, feel human. They are activities where mundane worries go away and we focus on being in the moment, our senses and emotions intertwined. All people deserve to experience moments in their lives like these and we have a responsibility to make this so.
For many people, creativity in the arts is a way of finding value and meaning for themselves. Semiahmoo House's annual Extravaganza demonstrates how the arts can have a deep impact on personal development and on the community at large. Having once had the responsibility of co-directing a high school drama production of The Breakfast Club, I can speak from experience when I say that the Extravaganza is an immense undertaking that requires collaboration between people with a diverse set of abilities. One of the things that makes a drama production so meaningful is this very teamwork: members of a cast must be open-minded and creative together for the project to succeed. Every Extravaganza I have attended (and I have attended every Extravaganza) has been wildly embraced by members of the community who make up the audience and has demonstrated achievement and self-actualization for the performers and production crew.
The fine arts make space for successful inclusion. Southridge School and Semiahmoo House have a long-standing relationship that involves the fine arts. Inclusionary after school classes that involve drama, sculpture, painting, and media arts have participants of diverse abilities creating together. In the classes, perceived differences disappear and labels become irrelevant. The only label that applies is "artist" and that is what you would see if you were part of the class: a group of like-minded artists creating together.
The fine arts classes echo one of the best things The Council on Accreditation witnessed at Semiahmoo House the last time they visited to gather evidence for their accreditation report: in many of our programs, they could not see who was the worker and who was the person being supported. They saw people working together with purpose but without hierarchy. Creativity allows for this type of relationship.
Being mindful of self-actualization and making space for artistic creativity supports inclusion and enhances the quality and richness of the lives of all people.


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about Dr Rajnarayan Mahasuar
Dr Rajnarayan Mahasuar is a Psychiatrist in Werribee, VIC, Australia.
The following description is a generic description for the category and does not necessarily reference all the services/ procedures offered by Dr Rajnarayan Mahasuar.
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, of mental disorders. These include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities.


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It's Spring Break at Lake Powell and there's a party going on! Kenzie Reeves takes a chance to distract Damon Dice from the game they're playing by sucking his cock, and Piper Perri takes the same imitative for Bambino. Meanwhile, Haley Reed and Gina Valentina spend time sucking face in the lake before moving to the shallow water for something a bit more substantial.Peeling off one another's bikini tops, Gina and Haley take turns licking and sucking each other's small tits and rock hard nipples. When Haley leans back and lifts a leg high in the air, Gina is quick to move her bikini thong aside to lick her girlfriend's creamy twat. Peeling off Haley's bottom, she dives in for an enthusiastic pussy feast that includes plenty of anal play. When Haley turns the tables on Gina, the brunette enjoys every moment of having her landing strip twat licked. The girls eventually adjust into a scissor position so they can rub pussies until they're both riding the knife edge of pleasure. Gina doesn't quite get off from that, so she eventually scoots up Haley's body so the blonde can lick her lover to climax. Back at the boat, Piper has launched a raft with Bambino. Once he pulls her aboard, she is quick to wrap those puffy lips around his hardon and suck him dry until his big dick explodes in her mouth!
Click to download and see more!
0 views
Date: November 15, 2022


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Google Street View: TCH - Part 3 - Alberta from Austin Leirvik on Vimeo.
Austin has created 5 videos of Interstate 5 - Mexico to Canada (http://vimeo.com/channels/
The Trans-Canada Highway will be completed sometime next week. Austin will then move onto cover the M1 motorway in the UK. Any videos he makes in the future will show up on his Vimeo account.


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Kamer huren: niet meer beschikbaar Van Vollenhovenlaan in Utrecht
- 25 m2
- 1 kamer
- Begindatum
- Onbepaalde tijd
+++ Room near the city center with a green view +++
The room:
The room is located at the 1st floor. The room comes with everything (all the equipment) that is needed in order to study, such as a desk, a high sleeper bed and storage facilities, as well as featuring a large window that not only brings light into the room but also provides a view. We provide you with all the facilities necessary, from towels and bedding to the entire kitchen equipment, so that you are able to directly move into your Utrecht home, without bringing anything other than your clothing and a toothbrush!
The apartment is situated in the neighbourhood ' Transwijk-zuid', which offers many facilities. Right next to the apartment, there is a park where you are able to not only wander around, but also attend various organised events and activities, such as the 'Snowball Festival'. The apartment is situated in between two shopping malls, both of which contain supermarkets and cheap Turkish green grocery bazaars and of course several retail stores. LIDL is a 10 minute walk away and IKEA is just a few blocks away from the apartment.
The location is easily accessible by public transport (bus or tram), as it is only a 10-15 minute ride away from the city centre (of Utrecht). You could also rapidly reach the centre by bike/bicycle, but of course that remains your choice: the more expensive way or the authentic Dutch way. The University is a 20 minute bike ride, or 25 minutes by public transport.
Shared responsibility:
We have a shared responsibility regarding the residence's maintenance. We deliver a clean apartment with all the furniture you need, therefore we expect you to handle this with care.
The monthly rental price includes the furniture. Furthermore, the advance service costs for gas, water, electricity, internet will be €105 per month, leading to a total monthly rental price of €550 per month. If you do not excessively use the utilities, then you will not have to pay extra. However, if the consumption of the utilities exceeds the utility costs, then you will be responsible for the additional fees.
The payment that is labelled as the 'First month's rent' will be regarded as the rental payment for your first full month of stay, as this amount is based on the duration of stay of one full per calendar month.
Check in/out date: as stated in the tenancy agreement, the rental period officially starts on the 1st day of the month or halfway through the month. This means that if you, for example, if you wish to book an accommodation from February 3rd onwards, your tenancy agreement will officially start on February 1st.
After the booking an additional payment request will be sent for the one-time administration fee of 299 euros.
DISCOUNT OFFER: If you are staying for five months or more and are planning to pay everything up front, then you will receive a discount on your rent; a 3% discount for 6 months and a 5% discount for 1 year! The offer is valid at a minimum of 5 months. Please inform us if you are interested in this offer and let us know the amount of months you are paying in advance, as this will save you hundreds of euros! Also, you do not have to pay the full amount until you have received your house keys.
Contact landlord:
If you are interested in renting this accommodation, just leave me a message. Feel free to ask anything you want to know about your future living space. During your stay you may always contact my team and/or me regarding 'a better way of living'.
Please keep in mind that all check-in appointments shall be carried out only on Monday to Saturday between 9AM and 9PM local time, based on availability; it is not normally possible to check-in on Sundays or on generally recognised Dutch holidays. In case you have booked an accommodation that officially starts today or tomorrow, always contact us directly by phone after your booking has been secured, since we cannot guarantee a check in within 48 hours of booking, as this depends on both your response time and our availability.
If you would like to live in Utrecht along with other internationals and you just want to pack your essentials in order to instantly move into your new accommodation, well then this is your place to be! Please note that despite all photos being of the actual apartment you will be booking, the content of this advertisement may deviate slightly from reality in regards to decoration, as work progresses. The actual size of the apartment may differ from the floor-plan, as this is given as an indication.
Stad | Utrecht |
Wijk/buurt: | Transwijk-Noord |
Inschrijven gemeente: | Ja |
Opleverniveau: | Kaal |
Huisgenoten: | Geen |
Begindatum: | Vraag de adverteerder |
Bezichtiging | In overleg |
Eigen badkamer |
Eigen keuken |
Eigen toilet |
Eigen voordeur |
Vraag de adverteerder |
Vraag de adverteerder |
Eigen woonkamer |


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators are probing whether the Obama administration divulged too many details of the secret raid on Osama bin Laden to Hollywood filmmakers.
Rep. Peter King, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, has questioned how much information was shared about the U.S. special operations mission in Pakistan that killed the al-Qaeda leader in May. King on Thursday released a December letter from the Pentagon saying that the inspector general's office covering intelligence matters "will address actions taken by Department of Defense personnel related to the release of information to the filmmakers."
King, R-N.Y., also released a November letter from the CIA saying that its office of public affairs was developing a "single point of reference that will govern future interactions with the entertainment industry."
King has expressed worries about the administration's cooperation with Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Kathryn Bigelow, director of the Oscar-winning picture "The Hurt Locker," who is working on a movie about the hunt for bin Laden. In August King wrote the inspectors general of the Pentagon and CIA noting a New York Times column saying that Sony and Bigelow had been given "top-level access to the most classified mission in history."
In his letter, King said that leaks of classified information related to the bin Laden raid had already resulted in the arrests of Pakistanis believed by Pakistan authorities to have assisted the CIA. Participation by the Pentagon and the CIA in making a film about the raid "is bound to increase such leaks, and undermine these organizations' hard-won reputations as 'quiet professionals,'" King said.
He sought information on talks among the White House, the Pentagon and the CIA about providing Hollywood executives with access to covert military operators and asked whether the film would be submitted to the military and the CIA for pre-publication review.
White House press secretary Jay Carney, asked in August about King's call for an investigation, said claims that the White House had given out classified information were false and that the most specific information the White House had released about the raid came from his daily briefings.
In a statement late Thursday, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said, "CIA has been open that as part of our public outreach, the agency has over the years engaged with writers, documentary filmmakers, movie and TV producers, and others in the entertainment industry.
"Our goal is an accurate portrayal of the men and women of the CIA, their vital mission and the commitment to public service that defines them," Youngblood added. "And it is an absolute that the protection of national security equities is an integral part of our mission."
Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal issued a statement in August saying the film "has been in the works for many years and integrates the collective efforts of three administrations, including those of Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, as well as the cooperative strategies and implementation by the Department of Defense and the CIA."
The movie is expected to reach theaters at the end of the year.


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The Winter 2018 Online Student Art Galleries are now live featuring art from the district's elementary, middle and high school students!
View the Middle School Gallery
This gallery is a way to highlight the remarkable products of art education in the district. It's a digital attempt at bringing the work of our student artists at all levels into your home – because art is created for others to take in.


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Characterized by a revamped optical design, the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM from Canon is a workhorse wide-angle zoom and member of the well-regarded L-series of lenses. Featuring a series of specialized elements, this lens utilizes a trio of aspherical elements and two ultra-low dispersion glass elements to control a variety of aberrations for high sharpness and clarity. Both SWC and ASC coatings have also been applied to the elements in order to reduce lens flare and ghosting for increased contrast and color accuracy.
Complementing its optical prowess, a ring-type Ultrasonic Motor offers fast, smooth, and near-silent autofocus performance, which is further benefitted by full-time manual focus operation and an internal focusing design. The lens is both water and dust-resistant, and fluorine coatings have also been applied to the front and rear elements to protect against fingerprints and smudges from affecting image quality.


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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Lionel Mapleson, then the librarian at New York's Metropolitan Opera, did something new: He took an Edison "Home" model phonograph and recorded operas with an orchestra as they were being sung on stage.
He experimented with recording from places like the prompter's booth, but finally landed on the catwalks high above the stage. Microphones weren't invented yet, so he used a giant horn, perhaps six feet long, to record acoustically.
"The Mapleson Cylinders, at least in terms of sound recording, are definitely among the most important sound documents of the 20th century," said Bob Kosovsky, a librarian in the music division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and an expert on early opera recordings.
"It recorded live performances at a time when people didn't think it was possible," he said.
In other words — these are some of the first live recordings of music ever.
Mapleson recorded hundreds of cylinders, of operas but also of his family. Many are lost, perhaps forever. But the New York Public Library had 126 of them until last fall — all the known cylinders except for the 16 in possession of the Mapleson family. The library borrowed those in 1981 to digitize them as best they could and they put the collection on LPs; the result is hissy, scratchy — the music rises up like a ghost underneath a wall of static.
But then, last spring, the library bought an Endpoint Cylinder and Dictabelt Machine, invented by Nicholas Bergh. NPR's story in April last year focused on how the machine worked, saying that it could digitize even broken cylinders with more clarity. And it mentioned how the library was excited to try to re-digitize the Mapleson Cylinders it owned to see if they could make them less noisy.
"So my brother, Peter, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, came across the story and he says, 'Oh, did you see this?'" said Alfred Mapleson, the great-grandson of Lionel. "And when I saw it was like, 'Oh, that's great. That means they probably can read the read these broken cylinders as well, which is great, is phenomenal.'"
He reached out to the library to donate them on behalf of the Mapleson family.
"And both Bob and I had just about fell out of our chairs with excitement, it was the best news we had gotten in 10 years," said Jessica Wood, assistant curator in the New York Public Library's music division.
A long family history
Mapleson's family had owned Mapleson Music since the 1700s, Alfred Mapleson said, a company which rented out its own opera orchestrations. They kept the cylinders as part of the business, but when it was sold to Educational Music Service in the 1990s, they kept the more personal things with the family — like the cylinders, which for quite a while were being kept in a beer cooler under Alfred's mother's recliner on Long Island.
But then Alfred moved them to his own house, along with Lionel's journals — about 50 of them. They're more like scrapbooks, really, with photographs and news clippings pasted in, along with thoughts about both Lionel's daily life and the big news of the day — like the sinking of the Titanic (he sailed on a boat to England with some who had survived), or the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake (the Met was there on tour).
He also, said Wood, recorded "the day when Arturo Toscanini and Puccini came to his hotel room in the evening because they decided that act one of the opera Manon needed to be re-orchestrated."
The journals accompanied the cylinders to the library (details of how everything was packed up are here in an NYPL blog post by Wood.)
The librarians have been through about 20 of the journals so far, and there's not a lot about the recordings, though Kosovsky said it's clear that a lot of them were captured, not for posterity, but so his friends could hear themselves sing; many of them would never have heard their recorded voices otherwise. Yet what is there is rich, with detailed information about life in England and New York a century ago.
Alfred Mapleson himself has two sons — but he thought it was important that these journals, these cylinders, be available for others to use for research, so that his family legacy could live on.
"All I can say is I really hope I've done my family proud," he said. "You know, if if Lionel could see this, or or my grandfather, or my dad, they'd be like, OK, you're doing right by by the family. That we all did what was right to perpetuate the Mapleson name and for history. And that's what's most important to me."
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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The English translation of "medida" that I have is "measure."
This could mean "measurement" as in "length."
Or it could mean "measure" in the sense of "means," (to an end.)
Which of these two senses does "measure" take? Or is it both of them? Or others?
La traduccion ingles de "medida" que yo conozco es "measure."
Puede significa "measurement" como en "length" (largo)?
O puede significa "measure" como en "means" (to an end)?
De cuales de los dos sentidos tiene la "medida"? O ambos? O otros?


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FAO: Benefits of School Feeding Programmes Linked to Family Farms
GLOBAL - A study undertaken by FAO in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru showcases the contributions that school feeding programmes are making to strengthening children's social protection, food security and nutritional status.According to FAO, the study, A Panorama of School Feeding and the Possibilities for Direct Purchases from Family Farming - Case Studies in Eight Countries (Spanish only), indicates that these programmes both promote school attendance and bolster the learning process.
Additionally, all countries studied showed interest in sourcing food for school programs from family farmers as a way to foster local development.
"This is a triple-win approach: it secures quality food for students of public schools, promotes consumption of fresh and healthy food, and opens new markets and the possibility of higher incomes for family farmers while boosting local development," said FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva.
All told, the various programs profiled by the regional study include 18 million students of different ages and educational levels, with a combined budget of approximately $940 million, representing an annual net investment of $25 per student. Funding is primarily destined for the purchase and distribution of food.
Growing political commitment
The commitment of governments in the region to school feeding programmes has grown, the study finds. Almost all countries examined have expressed interest in implementing a policy of direct purchases from small producers to supply their school feeding programs.
However, FAO also notes that legal and regulatory frameworks are required to facilitate the integration of small producers into government supply networks..
"The study shows that tackling the challenges of school feeding programs requires the involvement of various actors, including governments, parliamentarians, international organizations, private sector, the educational community and civil society," said Najla Veloso, coordinator of FAO's regional work in this area.
Brazil-FAO Programme
The study on school feeding programmes was supported by the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme, which is engaged in a series of activities aimed at helping countries achieve various Millennium Development Goals.
Brazil's experience with school feeding programmes has a 50 year history. By 2012, its national feeding program reached nearly 45 million students.
"The Brazilian government is ready to contribute to the development and improvement of school feeding programmes not only in Latin America, but also in Africa," said Albaneide Peixinho, general coordinator of Brazil's School Feeding National Programme.
Given the advances shown by school feeding programmes highlighted in the regional study, FAO and the government of Brazil are stressing the need to translate the political commitment shown by countries into concrete school feeding policies and institutions, to guarantee the quality and nutritional value of food in schools.


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Calculating an exact mortgage payment without a calculator on a loan is no small task, but there are some simple rules-of-thumb you can use to get a close estimate.
With the exception of the MIT Blackjack Team, performing this type of complex math in your head often leads to frustrating rants.
When coming up with a rough estimate, it is important to understand the individual components that factor into the overall monthly mortgage payment.
Yes, the thousands of dollars you send to your lender every year may cover more then just the mortgage, but referring to one simple formula will help you gauge what the new payment will be as you're out looking for new properties that may be in your price range.
What's In A Mortgage Payment?
A mortgage consists of 4-6 parts:
- Principal – the balance of the loan
- Interest – the fee paid to borrow the mortgage money
- Property Taxes – based on county assessed value and residence type
- Hazard Insurance – in the case of fire or property damage (may include a separate flood policy)
- Mortgage Insurance – more than 80% LTV on conventional loans, or with FHA financing
Most lenders use the acronym (PITI), which includes Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance.
And in the case where a separate Mortgage Insurance Premium is required, we add another "I" to the end of that creative series of letters.
Another monthly expense that you have to consider is the monthly dues that come with properties that have a homeowner's association (common in condominiums and other developments). This isn't a payment made to your lender, but you will have to qualify with that payment and it is also best practice for you to factor that in the monthly cost of your new home.
Confused yet? Don't worry, this is slightly easier then most state bar exams.
The Mortgage Payment Cheat Sheet:
Ok, you've made it this far and haven't closed your browser, so I guess that is a good thing.
Now before I reveal this top secret formula, you have to understand that it will by no means be exact.
Mortgage Payment Formula:
For every $1000 you borrower, your TOTAL monthly mortgage payment will be $8.
So, if you purchase a home for $250,000 with a $50,000 down payment – borrowing a total of $200,000, then a good estimated total monthly PITI payment would be roughly $1600.
But don't forget to add your homeowners association dues to that monthly payment.
What If I Pay Taxes And Insurance Separately?
Well now we're at the easy part. If you elect to pay taxes separate from your mortgage, the cheatsheet is reduced from $8 per $1000 down to $6 per $1000.
So there you have it. $8 for every $1000 borrowed.
Again, please keep in mind that this is not going to give you an EXACT payment. You may be purchasing a property with higher real estate taxes or your insurance premiums may be higher then average depending on the state you live in.
Related Articles – Mortgage Payments:
- Mortgage Payment Basics
- Who Owns My Home If I Have A Mortgage?
- Why Do I Need Mortgage Insurance?
- Understanding An Amortization Schedule
- Shopping For A Hazard Insurance Policy
- Understanding the FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP)
- Do I Have To Continue Making My Mortgage Payment If My Lender Goes Bankrupt?


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World Cup 2010 is in full throttle, and while my beloved Les Bleus are out of the competition, there's still plenty to be excited about. My number 2 team – Spain has been doing quite well, and so far, my hopes are riding on La Furia Roja, and its hot Spaniards. But the one thing that most girls will likely agree with me on, is that football is not just about the game and winning. Of course, winning is super important, but sometimes a little eye-candy goes a looong way.
After watching a few games, and cringing when girls swoon over that fake-tanned, sun-dried Portuguese beef jerky with drag queen eyebrows – Ronaldo (apologies to all you CR lovers, but it's just my silly opinion), I couldn't resist posting my Top 5 Hot Players of World Cup 2010. No, you won't see Beckham or Ronaldo on this list – they are not my type of man candy. But I would most definitely love to kick it with these hot footballers. Happy Wednesday, lovelies! And share who your fave footballers are in the comments!
1. Iker Casillas – Spain (age 29)
Plays for Real Madrid and Spain's national team, this talented and hot goalie hasn't been on my radar for very long, but it looks like he took the number 1 spot from my all-time fave Zizou. My favorite Iker is the scruffy, moody, angry one on the field. Yours?
2. Carlos Vela – Mexico (age 21)
Carlos is the new (hot) face of Hugo Man, and is the only consolation to the France vs. Mexico loss for Les Bleus. Looks great both in a suit and on the field.
3. Yoann Gourcuff – France (age 23)
This cute French midfielder replaced Zidane's playmaker role on the field. And though he hasn't proved to be as skillful as Zizou himself, he's still quite nice to look at.
4. Kaká – Brazil (age 28)
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite or simply Kaká to his friends and fans is hot, talented, and devoted to his family. He's also Iker's teammate at Real Madrid, which makes Real Madrid games eye-candy galore. He's the face of Armani and Adidas…and have I mentioned that he's hot?
5. Roque Santa Cruz – Paraguay (age 28)
There's no doubt that Paraguay's national team reached quarter-finals for the first time in their history in part due to striker Roque Santa Cruz's hotness talent. Next up, his team will be facing Spain, and likely will be sent on their way home to Paraguay…but the moments of Roque's passionate plays and charismatic smile won't fade from fan's minds for a long while.
Photo Credits: Google Images


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With the growing threat of viruses, worms, scams and phishing schemes, it seems impossible for computer users to avoid a cyber breach these days. In spite of a massive focus on preventing cybersecurity breaches, it's still possible to wake up one morning to news of a multi-million-dollar breach at Equifax. This nationwide credit reporting agency was thought to be as secure as Fort Knox and yet, just last year, Equifax announced that it had suffered a data breach that exposed the financial records of 143 million users.
Consumers may worry that if organizations like Equifax are not immune from these dangers, then no one is. The public must assume that credit reporting agencies, banks, credit unions and other financial institutions have the highest level of protection from data breaches. If that's true, then how do these massive breaches keep happening?
Richard F. Smith, Equifax Chairman and CEO commented on the breach: "This is clearly a disappointing event for our company and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do". What he did not say was that this type of data breach erodes public trust. How can our biggest and best-protected organizations continue to be infiltrated by hackers? What can the ordinary citizen do to protect their financial, personal and health information?
Most people sleep better knowing there's a sophisticated alarm system in their home to protect them from intruders, but what about online safety? There are growing concerns that perhaps no one actually has that magic key to safety we're all searching for. No one wants to be a victim and yet a new study from Bankrate reports that 41 million Americans have had their identity stolen.
In spite of our shattered dreams of online security, experts tell us that the more proactive we are, the better. All those little things we do — such as changing passwords regularly — really do make a difference.
In keeping with this movement to make the Internet safer for everyone, big companies like Microsoft and Google are getting involved. Microsoft's Windows Defender is an antivirus tool that delivers real-time protection against spyware, malware, viruses, and others. It is now built into Windows 10 at no additional charge. It is important, however, to keep it updated to the latest version.
Along those same lines, Google has recently updated its Chrome Web Browser with new security tools that inform users know of potential threats. This newest product is called Chrome Cleanup and it's a Chrome Extension that constantly checks for malicious software and automatically removes any threats for you. Powered by ESET, this technology was built to detect even the most subtle threats and remove them before they can harm your computer.
Chrome Cleanup also scans and removes any software that could cause a conflict or crash on your computer. It removes irritating ads that are hard to get rid of and notifies you if a site is trying to infiltrate or change your browsing history. essentially, Chrome Cleanup protects your computer against any nasty software that might be trying to damage your computer or steal information. This is a simple, easy and inexpensive way to protect one computer at home or dozens in an office environment.
However, Google developers do expect hackers to eventually find ways to bypass the safeguards in the Chrome Cleanups app. That's why they are continuously updating all Google tools to ensure that users have the best protection available.
Though this is a whole new product for Google, it's not the first in their arsenal to protect its users from hackers. Google claims to be the safest web browser available on the market today. As one of the most popular web browsers on the market, it is estimated that 400 million users worldwide regularly use Chrome as their default browser. Google has taken its role in internet security seriously by continuously experimenting with new products that protect users. Below are a few other Chrome extensions that can keep your business safe from a security breach:
There are many other Chrome extensions that can help users to safely browse and shop online. The sheer number and complexity of these apps prove that Google is taking the war on hackers seriously. Each day, hackers work to find new ways to infect computers with adware, ransomware, and malware. The volume of these dangerous programs is staggering, not to mention the complexity of the programs. New and even more clever tricks are employed to try and get users to download infected code.
In addition to stealing passwords and personal information, these nefarious programs can cause your computer to slow way down or stop performing correctly. It can be expensive and stressful to deal with these hard-to-remove programs.
The Chrome Cleanup Tool can help! Plus, it's free and highly effective. It is well worth installing whether you have one or dozens of computers to safeguard from hackers.
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The Two Lukes
If one were to make a list of the Toronto Maple Leafs' rough patches, bald spots, and felonies over the last 30+ years – an epic, masochistic list of lists – the column with the most entries would likely be the Leafs terrible record of player development.
Quite an accomplishment for a franchise that went a decade without a single season over .500
Thinking back over my time as a Leafs fan, I believe the Leafs have had just three players land in the top three in Calder voting in the past 30 years - Wendel Clark, Felix Potvin and Daniel Marios.
I know we as a fan base are sensitive to mentions of trophy droughts, but a Leaf hasn't won the Calder trophy since Brit Selby won it in 1966 (the same year Toronto opened its second subway line and Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" held on to the top spot in the charts for over five weeks).
Part of the reason for this epic drought has to be the Leafs long history of rushing young players into the NHL: Gary Nylund, Jeff Ware, Drake Berehowsky, Luke Richardson, Steve Bancroft, Todd Gill, Scott Pearson, Jiri Tlusty, etc.
Now we can add one more name to that list: Luke Schenn.
I have no idea if Schenn might have benefitted from another year in junior, but his teammate Tyler Myers certainly did. Another year in junior might also have reduced the expectations and pressures put upon him in hockey mad Toronto.
From a cap management perspective, another year in junior would have given the Leafs another year of Schenn on an entry-level contract and one more year of development before Schenn signed his lucrative second contract.
As the league and NHLPA head into CBA negotiations the one thing I would like to see changed, possibly more than any other, is the right to have 18 year old North American born skaters play in the AHL.
If the Leafs had the option of sending Schenn to the Marlies instead of back to the Kelowna Rockets, I have a feeling Schenn wouldn't have been in the NHL as an 18 year old.
A few months ago on a Leafs podcast, I was asked what potential trade would come back to haunt the Leafs more - Kadri or Schenn. It's a difficult question. I think Kadri has a much higher upside – he will likely have one or two seasons in the 50 to 55 point range – but I think Schenn will have the longer career.
People often throw around Adam Foote as the best comparable for Luke Schenn, but I think the best analogy is Luke Richardson. Drafted early by the Leafs, into the NHL at 18, never lived up to his billing here, traded away at 22, went on to play over 1400 NHL games, many as a low-pairing stay at home defenceman.
I also think many Leaf fans in my generation look back at Luke Richardson, and now Luke Schenn, and wonder what could have been.


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From atop the No. 85 crane's cab 35 meters above Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction's (HHIC) Yeongdo Shipbuilding Yard in Busan, Kim Jin Sook has been protesting the company's December 15, 2010 announced plan of a reduction in the workforce, is supported on the ground by the Korean Metal Workers' Federation (KMWU).
Not long after HHIC gave notice to workers, the company's shareholders received dividends of 17.4-billion Won, more than three times the combined annual salaries of the 170 dismissed workers who have refused to comply. Over the past decade HHIC has made profits of 430-billion Won, and bought 15-billion Won in shares in another company. During the January strike, management reportedly fired 290 manufacturing workers.
On July 9, 2011 175 "Hope Buses" and 50 vans, a figure approximating the total number of days of Kim had been occupying Crane No. 85, arrived at Busan's Central Bus Terminal carrying approximately 12,000 riders from cities and regions across South Korea, including Gwangju, Pyeongtaek, Daegu, Suwon, and Seoul. While the Hope Bus riders were met en route by 2,000 police officers blocking the last 700 meters to the Yeongdo Ship Yard with a temporary barricade and a mixture of liquid tear gas and pepper spray, nearly 3,000 of the Hope Bus riders remained steadfast throughout the night and the monsoon rains determined to act as witnesses in behalf of Kim Jin-suk. As a point of comparison, the first Hope Bus caravan held on the 158-day of the HHIC struggle was comprised of approximately 750 participants who joined nearly 7,000 workers and local citizens demonstrating. At the time, 100 unionists had roped themselves around the crane's base and the number has since declined due to illness and other factors raising concerns about the nature of Kim's isolation.
On July 30, the numbers for the third Hope Bus caravan climbed to 15,000 people. Leaders of faith including Protestant Churches, Buddhist Orders, and Catholic Dioceses from all over South Korea, members of the press, university professors, lawyers and leaders of civil society joined together to demand a just resolution. Mid-July to August is a time when many South Koreans take their summer vacations, and observers found it striking that growing numbers of non-unionists were willing to take their time and pay the 30,000 Won roundtrip bus fare to support Kim Jin Sook.
On August 27-28, a fourth Hope Bus caravan with an estimated 5,000 individuals supporting both the reinstatement of the discharged HHIC workers and conversion of temporary workers to regular workers changed course and headed to Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd Seoul Headquarters, and Seoul's downtown Gwanghwamun.[1] They were met by a Seoul Police Agency deployment of 9,000.
In September and October, venues of support continued to vary and statements of support emanated from those participating in the funeral procession of Lee So-seon, the mother of South Korea's revered labour activist Chun Tae-il. Her son was a garment worker whose self-immolation in 1970 in protest of sweatshop working conditions sparked nation-wide protests and is now commemorated as a national hero. It also included a pledge of support from a group of 1,543 South Korean film workers traveling to South Korea's Busan International Film Festival, Asia's largest and increasingly significant film hub, via a self-declared Hope Bus. And, on October 8 at 9:30 p.m. ET, Kim Jin-suk spoke at the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) general assembly addressing "friends who fight in Wall Street, in the heart of neoliberalism" via her mobile phone and human mic about the HHIC situation saying, "We are fighting the same fight."
Unionists point to one factor contributing to the growing popular concern for Kim Jin-suk: the collective memory of Hanjin Union leader Kim Ju-ik's suicide while on the same Crane 85 during a 2003 strike against HHIC's layoff of 650 workers, and the death of imprisoned Hanjin Trade Union President Park Chang-su in 1991. At age 51, Kim Jin-suk enjoys a longstanding reputation that stems from her stint as a skilled welder after graduating from Korea Shipbuilding and Engineering Corporation's training institute for women in 1981, leading to her election in 1986 as the first woman shipbuilding union representative (Heavy Industries took over KSEC in 1989). Her perseverance as a labour activist for the past three decades inspired many others, among them the late Kim Ju-ik.
Further clues to the growing support for Kim Jin-suk and the HHIC workers is provided by labour scholars including University of Washington Professor Hwasook Bergquist Nam, who have documented Kim Jin-suk's extraordinary contributions to labour history in South Korea. They contextualize Kim's place in a shifting gendered division of labour in which union organizing centered on men's claims as heads of households demanding a family living wage has been challenged since the 1980s. Indeed, Kim Jin-suk has emerged in the past decade as the champion of irregular workers, the majority of whom are women. If the themed Hope Buses are indicative, solidarity also extends to caucuses of workers differentiating themselves according to regions, special interests and constituencies (including: human rights, disability, LGBT, civil society) all united in a motto aspiring to "A World without Redundancy Dismissals and Precarious Work."
Public demonstrations of this size and variety, characterized by inter-regional and cross-sector participation, have not been seen since the summer 2008 candlelight vigil demonstrations, which grew to nearly 100,000 in South Korea's major urban centers. Indeed, a Ministry of Employment and Labour (MOEL) report cites 2010 as the most stable in terms of industrial relations where wage and collective bargaining was concluded without resorting to a strike since the IMF bailout. As a result of labour statistics that will indicate that the year 2011 will prove otherwise taken together with the unprecedented nature of the public's involvement in the HHIC action, attention has turned to the responses of civil society leaders and lawmakers to widespread employment and labour issues that undergird the strike.
Drawing the Attention of Lawmakers
Reports from the Korean Women's Development Institute (KWDI) that provide a longer view of the past decade indicate a shrinking middle class that perhaps contributes to an upsurge in popular support for strikes and links to this year's student-led struggle to reduce university tuition fees, mounting criticisms of the South Korea-U.S. free trade deal currently debated for its constitutionality, and the low turnout which led to the defeat of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's referendum calling for an end to universal free lunches in school. Early analysis of independent candidate and human rights lawyer Park Won-soon's victory in the October 26 Seoul mayoralty by-elections following Oh's resignation indicates it was precipitated by the failure of the ruling Grand National Party's (GNP) campaign to "end welfare popularism." Regardless, Park's win by nearly 10 percentage points over the GNP candidate, Na Kyung-won, suggests close public scrutiny will continue in the runup to April's general election and the December 2012 presidential election with the handling of the HHIC situation and other major issues pertaining to the economy, labour and welfare as signature issues.
To date, lawmaker's involvement with the HHIC case has resulted in arrest warrants for union leaders issued earlier this summer and the arrest and fining of 50 supporters for the second Hope Bus caravan, including Progressive New Party Former Chair Shim Sang-jung, National Farmers Federation Chair Lee Gwang-seok, and Democratic Labour Party Chair (DLP) Lee Jung-hee, who had to be rushed to the hospital after being tear gassed. HHIC's management has pursued a lawsuit against the workers and individuals for 5.3-billion Won in damages under South Korea's Penal Code 314, or «Obstruction of Business."
Responding to public pressure, the National Assembly's Labour Affairs Committee stepped in during the summer and twice urged HHIC's Chairman Cho Nam-ho to explain the labour dispute, but he remained overseas for the month of July through August 7 citing business reasons. According to KMWU, this hearing on the Hanjin mass dismissals marks the first time in 14 years, since Hanbo Group Chairman Chung Tae-soo, that a chaebol chairman has been called to appear before the National Assembly.
During the second and third Hope Bus caravans and throughout the course of the hearing, references surfaced to HHIC management's violation of the internal agreement of 2009 on employment and protection against outsourcing, which stipulate that workers at the South Korean plant not be fired as long as its overseas plants remain in operation. The 2009 agreement was brokered by the Busan Regional Labour Office following HHIC's previous attempt to restructure and lay off 600 workers. Not only has HHIC-Philippines been busy, but projections of sales for 2012 have also been positive. The Subic Bay shipyard has secured shipbuilding orders for 56 vessels, mostly bulk carriers, worth $4.8-billion. In his August 18 appearance before the National Assembly's Environment and Labour Committee, Chairman Cho stood by HHIC's decision to fire workers, and suggested more time was needed to resolve management issues.
As lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties increasingly become involved in securing a resolution to the HHIC situation, including in October drafting a parliamentary mediation proposal to reinstate 94 of the laid-off workers, disagreement continues over matters that include the recalculation of severance pay for all 400 workers, compensation for hardships incurred by workers' families, and management's insistence on an apology from Kim Jin Sook. Meanwhile, joint actions and messages of support flow in from abroad, including the Philippines.
HHIC Philippines
In light of and despite challenges to solidarity resulting from intraregional differences, workers at the plant in the Philippines launched a comparable "Caravan for Decent Work and Human Working Conditions" and on July 3, 50 vehicles traveled to both the Korean Embassy and the Hanjin National Office in Fort Bonifacio. Report during Hope Caravans from members of the South Korean delegation to the Philippines consisting of Kim Kyung-choon, a dismissed HHIC Busan worker, and Chong Hye-won, of the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) relay resonant concerns across plants over workplace safety and other labour rights violations.
According to Building and Woodworkers International's (BWI) Migration, Gender, and Campaign Director Lee Jin Sook, whose role had formerly been to facilitate a construction network project working with Hanjin workers, solidarity with affiliates such as the National Union of Building and Construction Workers (NUBCW) predates the formal launch of the HHIC Philippines Workers' Union (HHICPIWU) on July 6 2008. Lee notes efforts as far back as 2003 to develop a bilateral campaign between HHIC South Korea and Philippines, and across shipbuilding and construction sectors. Lee says, "As companies evolve and become involved in different sectors, this initiative is a good example of the kinds of multi-sector, multi-national union initiatives that will be needed in the future."
In September, representatives from HHICPIWU and NUBCW visited South Korea to attend BWI's regional conference. In addition to the issues brought forward by the HHIC Busan workers, members elaborated on the differences in workplace conditions and respective government responses. They concurred with findings in labour group Partido ng Manggagawa's (PM) report that 5,000 accidents and at least 31 deaths have occurred due to poor working conditions since Hanjin began its Philippines operation in 2006. The night before the third Hope Bus caravan, a job-related death of a worker at the Subic Bay plant was announced bringing the total to four as of January 2011. HHICPWU says an average of 5 accidents per month have been reported this year; A sample report included cases of broken fingers and limbs, severe burns, and occupational diseases. They are urging the building and proper staffing of a 190-bed hospital inside the facility as recommended by the Philippine Senate Labour Committee Chair following a February 2009 visit, as required by the Labour Code, and a follow-up Department of Labour and Employment investigation.
The situation of HHIC workers is gaining attention domestically in both South Korea and the Philippines, as well as internationally as it has raised questions about whether South Korea is a good place to do business and on the behavior of Korean multinationals. KMWU's Chong Hye-won confirms protest letters have arrived from nearly 70 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe. These include letters of support from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, India, Norway, Pakistan, and South Africa. During the summer, U.S.-based AFL-CIO cited the events at Hanjin in their request to U.S. representatives to refuse consideration of the proposed free trade agreement with South Korea until the fundamental rights of South Korean workers to organize and bargain collectively are respected. Some are citing this growing spotlight on HHIC together with the protest of naval base construction on Jeju-do as comprising some of the biggest issues confronting Lee Myung-bak and the ruling coalition.
Precarious Workers and South Korea's Neoliberalism
The HHIC situation is an important test case for the multiple union system/union pluralism that went into effect in South Korea on July 1, allowing multiple labour unions at the same company. Within the first two weeks of July, 167 new unions have been created. An agreement announced between HHIC labour and management in late June included canceling criminal cases and accusations on both sides. But the refusal to withdraw the layoffs is said to have spurred divisions among unionists regarding representation. According to a Labour Ministry report, a total of 91 per cent (152) of these conflicts arose iin workplaces that already have a union, and involve metalworkers' and builders' unions.
In 2009, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concerns about the effects of the amendment to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act (TULRAA) that regulates the formation of trade unions as well as collective bargaining on the labour relations environment, including the multiple union system and the banning of wage payment of full-time union officials who in turn can only be recipients of paid time-off for union activities. Some unionists have indicated enthusiasm for the establishment of new unions for workers in companies that are said to have installed a phantom union under the previous "one company, one union" rule, while others are concerned about labour laws that prohibit labour solidarity or otherwise impede the unfolding of labour-labour conflict. Some like Oh Min-gyu working on behalf of the national council of Temporary Worker Unions, whose founding in 2000 addressed the growing trend of labour casualization under IMF influence, point to the ongoing practice of illegal dispatch employment and the difficulties that temporary workers and subcontracting workers have in gaining recognition and benefits as workers.
As a result, some experts say that the HHIC case is best understood as a response to changing employment conditions in South Korea since the economic crisis of 1997, noting the comparable changes in the U.S. in the 1980s when work became less stable and corporate demands for flexibility undercut expectations of lifelong employment. International Labour Organization (ILO) documents point to the fact that precarious work in South Korea over the last decade includes a differentiation between short-term and fixed-term work, special employment, and indirect employment where employee relations are disguised. (South Korea joined the ILO in 1991 and the OECD in 1996.) Earlier this summer, minor opposition People's Participation Party (PPP) Chairman Rhyu Si-min issued a related apology for policies he enacted while serving in the previous Roh's administration.
A representative of one of South Korea's largest umbrella unions, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' (KCTU) International Director Ryu Mi-kyung points to the Act Relating to Protection, etc. for Dispatched Workers, which was adopted February 1998 that legalizes temporary work (dispatched work) for jobs requiring expertise, special skills or experience enacted by Presidential Decree. The Act in essence has denied equal treatment of permanent and fixed term workers for over a decade.
Not long after the Act went into effect making working conditions more precarious rather than offering protection or placing restrictions on new forms of temporary work, the E-land union comprised of both irregular and regular workers launched a struggle to protect contract cash register workers who had been employed by the company for over 18 months against layoffs. Scholars like University of British Columbia Professor Jennifer Jihye Chun cites the E-land case as a successful precursor to the current HHIC situation.
The range of Hope Bus Riders is further telling of the situation South Korea's precarious workers have inherited. They include ten workers fired from the Ssangyong Motor in 2009. The worked averaged 10-15 years at the factory. They joined the Hope Bus Riders together with workers from the 77 day Pyeongtaek auto plant strike against mass layoffs and those engaged in long-term struggles from YPR (the major supplier of piston rings for Hyundai Motor diesel engines and four other major auto assemblers) and Valeo Compressor. Ssangyong Motors has been acquired by India's Mahindra Group, but measures to hire laid-off workers have still not been forthcoming. An estimated 400 workers still remain on 'unpaid leave').
The Hope Bus Riders also include thirty in-house subcontracting workers at the nearby Hyundai Motor Ulsan plant, the world's largest automobile factory, who lost their jobs after demanding conversion from irregular dispatch worker status to regular worker status. In the case of Hyundai workers, KCTU's Ryu notes a ray of light for those affected by indirect employment or disguised employee relations following a July 2010 ruling to reinstate the workers. The Supreme Court ruling says, "Hyundai Motor's in-house subcontracting corresponds to illegal temporary employment disguised as subcontracting and as such, the court views those workers who have been employed for more than two years as being directly employed by Hyundai Motor according to the Temporary Workers Act." It also states, "Whereas other temporary workers, including contract and dispatch workers, have legal protection, no regulations exist for in-house subcontracting."
Large corporations involved in industries such as automobiles, shipbuilding, electronics and steel are increasingly engaged in in-house subcontracting, paying half what regular workers make. Workers are concerned about a growing trend toward "no regular employee factories," and demand that the Temporary Workers Act be enforced to place limits on work included under this classification.
HHIC Situation Highlights Asia Region Trends for Labour
Of the 20,000 workers employed in HHIC Philippines, expected to increase to 25,000 in 2012, NUBCW says a majority are employed by 101 subcontractors. Affiliates across BWI's Asia-Pacific Region, whose country members include the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and East Timor, have expressed concern about how the movement of capital, transfers of technology, and restructuring of employment relations to create vulnerable employees are effected by trilateral arrangements. NUBCW National President Ernesto Arellano speaking on the HHIC case says, "Only 19 of these 101 subcontractors are legitimately registered with the Philippines' Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE), and the HHICPW registration as a union with the government is still pending due to these disguised employer relations that are in violation with Article 270 of the Labour Code of the Philippines." Arellano adds, "Based on our survey, none of these registered 19 subcontractors have sufficient capitalization or heavy machinery required to fulfill the scope of work required under contract filed with DOLE." The survey finds that Hanjin is supplying the subcontractors with capital, machinery, materials, and buildings, and that it is controlling stockholders. It notes that the workers who do the assembling are recruited from throughout the Philippines by HHIC management and trained in South Korea. Both Arellano and Chong suggest that HHIC's diagnosis of redundancies is a misnomer as projections of an increase in the HHIC Philippines workforce by 5,000 are deemed necessary, while HHIC South Korea attempts to restructure and terminate employees without liability and conditions for secure employment are diminished in both countries.
Among those in solidarity with the HHIC workers are migrant workers in South Korea and Korean workers employed overseas. South Korea currently has agreements in place with 15 migrant-worker sending countries participating in the Employment Permit System (EPS), and was conferred a first place in UN Public Service Awards (UNPSA) in the category of improvement in areas of transparency of foreign workforce selection and introduction process, human rights and illegal overstaying of workers. EPS is intended to ensure the application and observance of labour laws and policies. While commendations of South Korea's foreign workforce policy in comparison with China or the U.S. have been forthcoming, industry-wide and industry-spanning unions, including the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) and the Migrant Trade Workers Union (MTU), and global unions like BWI are increasingly concerned about the rights of migrant workers who are often excluded from company-based unions in the Asia Pacific region.
Speaking on both the union's global priorities and its regional migration project BWI's Lee says, "The reality for our sector is that increasingly the workforce is becoming migrant and the work is becoming temporary. We are working with our affiliates to not only recognize the rights of migrant workers, but also develop policy on organizing migrant workers into trade union structures." Lee clarifies,
"It's easier in some countries than in others, where priorities have been to organize national workers. But as sectors have changed to the extent that in some places forty per cent of the workers in construction sites are migrants, it's important for unions to develop pro-migrant worker policies, and for the inclusion of migrant workers rights in collective bargaining agreements so that wages and working conditions are the same for migrant workers and national workers."
A recent BWI, KFCITU, and MTU supported work-out case that illustrates shared cause for concern involves Vietnamese migrant workers working for Taehung Construction, a subcontractor for Hyundai Construction constructing a container wharf in Incheon, South Korea. Vietnam accounts for 25 per cent of the total number of migrant workers in South Korea and has participated with South Korea's EPS program for the last six years. Prosecutors are claiming the workers went on an illegal strike for what organizers call a work-out demanding reinstitution of three free meals, implementation of guaranteed minimum meal and break times, and weekends off as stipulated in their employment contracts.
Migrant workers in the Taehung case further contend that compared with their counterparts, who may be earning 100,000 Won per day for an 8 hour shift, they and fellow workers in Subic receive an estimated 38,000 Won (a minimum hourly wage of 4,110 Won multiplied by 8 hours) for 12 hour shifts, and are sometimes required to work two or three shifts in a row despite a Monday to Friday work week contract. With the support of the unions, workers are fighting the charges of obstruction of business and inciting of violence for the two walkouts by citing Taehung's violation of South Korea's Labour Standards Act.
The October 22 Irregular Worker Rally highlighted numerous cases where corporations are being negligent in fulfilling legal obligations to contracted workers.
Attended by unionists from MTU and STU (Seongseo Industrial Complex Union in Daegu) and several others, MTU President Michel Catiura spoke on the difficulties of realizing a 'one labour vision' that can be overcome by sharing an analysis of the challenges facing approximately 400,000 of 600,000 migrant workers employed in South Korea who perform work characterized as 'dirty, dangerous, demeaning' and short-term. A relevant bill allowing migrant workers a one-time contract renewal provided that they remain with the same employer is pending review in the National Assembly. MTU's position on the bill is that it can signaling a move in the right direction, however, difficulties with EPS approving workplace change requests and a general lack of oversight of work conditions and observance of the Industrial Safety and Health Act remain areas of concern. Others concur and suggest that a more significant area of reform is provisions in the Labour Standards Act that do not apply to workers in the farming or fishing industries.
University of North Carolina Professor Arne Kalleberg, who has written extensively on contemporary labour issues, points out in his American Sociological Association Presidential Address of 2008,
"These standard employment relations have historically been the basis for labour laws and social protections. Employers often try to dismantle these standard employment relations by hiring temporary and dispatched workers and by subcontracting and outsourcing work in order to avoid responsibility for workers' protections."
He suggests, "Addressing these issues requires a cooperative effort on the part of the government, business and labour who must realize that providing business with the flexibility they need and workers with social protections from the insecurity produced by business flexibility are both necessary and will benefit all parties."
The issues of precariat labor are, of course, by no means limited to Korea and the Philippines. Some analysts estimate the precarious in the U.S. to be 29 per cent of the entire workforce, and many such as Kalleberg are proposing that South Korea's government could learn from countries like Germany or Sweden in terms of developing policies to address these issues. For HHIC workers, recommendations include regularizing all workers and restricting the category of work that permits temporary workers, while some supporters urge HHIC to follow the lead of German automaker Volkswagen. In contrast with the Hyundai case last year, the largest European carmaker hired 400 dispatch workers as regular employees and agreed to a wage deal to keep pace with inflation.
Others like Lee suggest that in addition to improved government policies, stronger organizing is needed to keep pace with global companies like HHIC that increasingly move their operations across countries and sectors and apply different labour standards in different locations, as recently illustrated in the IKEA manufacturing workers' struggle in the USA. Rather than adhering to the European minimum wage standard and the five-week government-mandated vacation period or to international labour standards, fulltime workers for the Swedish company employed in the U.S. start at 8 dollars an hour with 12 vacation days. This summer 72 per cent of the workers voted to form a union at IKEA's Danville plant. Lee also suggests the necessity to examine how regional or bilateral migration affects short-term contract workers as they move from country to country. BWI, for example, has shifted its strategies for regional exchange networks from organizing migrant workers in destination countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong towards developing bilateral and regional organizing campaigns with sending countries of origin.
Despite Minimum Wage Increase Announcements,
Precarious Work Concerns Mount
There are indicators of worsening economic and employments conditions in South Korea as an increasingly precarious labour market coincides with widening disparity in ability to afford education, healthcare and housing. South Korea is Asia's fourth-biggest economy and the top 20 per cent of income earners take home nearly three quarters of the earnings reported. In light of this, the Minimum Wage Council announced over the summer an increase in the minimum wage rate of 260 Won, bringing it to 4,580 Won per hour. The Minimum Wage Alliance, including both the KCTU and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), contends, "The [new] minimum wage fails to take account of reality facing low-paid workers." Its argues that the new minimum wage is insufficient as it is taken as an upper limit of wages for precarious workers who might receive only half the wage regular workers receive, and who call for a raise to 5,410 Won that is more in line with the average wage of all workers.
Meanwhile, the government has released a report that the jobless rate among those aged 15-29 was 7.6 per cent this summer, down from 8.3 per cent a year earlier. However, some analysts suggest these numbers not only obscure the decline of the middle class, but also hides several mismatches that are especially important to understand now regarding precarious work, and why so many young workers and mothers are becoming Hope Bus Riders. According to research conducted by Prof. Kalleberg, mismatches include: over-education where college graduates are unable to find skilled jobs in the economy; earnings mismatches where people work in jobs that do not provide sufficient levels of wages to satisfy their needs and those of their families; work-family mismatches in which people lack sufficient job flexibility to care for their families' needs; and under-working in which people are not able to work enough hours to earn enough to fulfill basic needs. Kalleberg states, "Precarious and insecure workers are especially vulnerable to earnings mismatches and work-family mismatches."
These observations come at an interesting time as South Africa unveils its New Growth Plan (NGP) introduced by Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel based on a favorable assessment of several Asian economies, while recent reports circulate of the impact of increasing rates of Asian women across Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea who choose not to marry and a rise in divorce rates. Prof. Chun combines these to suggest an analysis of the gendered labour situation in South Korea: "Despite the male-bread winner ideology shared culturally amongst South Korea's government policy makers and even amongst some women workers themselves, women are in many cases the primary wage earners and heads of households and continue to experience the largest gender pay gap of any OECD country." Taken together with the HHIC Hope Bus riders' attempt to highlight the plight of precarious workers, this suggests the need to examine more carefully the nontraditional, hidden and disappearing forms of employment and mismatch that reliance on unemployment figures, schemes for growth for cutting unemployment rates and curbing trade unionism can render invisible. •
Tammy Ko Robinson is a Professor at Hanyang University, and contributor to The Hankyoreh. This article first appeared on the Asia-Pacific Journal website.
Socialist Project | The Bullet.


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We have sold a property at 26 1735 PRAIRIE AVE in Port Coquitlam.
Stunning Westcoast contemporary 4 bedroom/4 Bathroom executive townhomes. Stunning architectural design on the outside and designer interiors. All homes feature 2 side by side car heated garages. City assessed at over $600,000!3 Bedrooms upstairs with 1 on the main level for in-laws that don't like stairs. Master bedroom has vaulted ceilings, ensuite bathroom and huge walk in closet. Patios on both main and upper floors. Kitchen boasts Soft close maple cabinets, quartz counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Large open concept living with 2 fireplaces, wrought iron accents and built in central vacuum for ultimate convenience. Manicured yard great for pets. Close to shopping and transit and move in ready anytime.


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Rating overall
One of the best resorts in France. Great freeriding with powder and full-on, freestyle terrain. Shame it's pricey and packed with skiers.
Great tree runs & good off-piste
Parks & 2 halfpipes
Lots of trees & open pistes
Lift count : 3 x Cable-cars 6 x Gondolas 20 x Chairlifts 39 x Drag-lifts
Pass (Low/High Season) : 0 Season pass
Serre Chevalier Main / Serre Chevalier
Serre Chevalier is one of the best places to ride in France. This great resort has heaps of major terrain: tight, open trees to weave, extreme drop-offs to get the adrenaline going, big bowls, countless banks and gullies, super-fast flats to push the hair back, hits everywhere, and a giant, natural funpark - all located next to a few unassuming, old-fashioned French villages (with a hint of the new here and there).
As one local rider once put it, 'Who needs funparks when this place is a complete funpark at every level and distinction!' It's not the highest resort in the world, so snowcover can sometimes suffer, but things are usually pretty damn fine.
The boarding area runs along the Le Grand Serre Chevalier range with the large town of Briançon at one end and the old village of Le Monetier at the other. In between, the villages of Chantemerle and Villeneuve provide the most convenient access to the slopes and are the most popular with holidaymakers. The slopes around Briançon get a huge amount of sunshine although don't get the snow cover of the other areas. Chantemerle and Villeneuve areas are the most popular and extensive areas, whereas you can always find some untracked spots in the less-popular Le Monetier.
A few years ago, the resort was purchased by the Compagnie des Alpes who own Tignes, Saas-fee, and Chamonix amongst others, and a lot of cash is set to be invested over the next five years to improve the already good lift system.
Once you've shredded all the trees you can head to La Grave in just 30 minutes, and Montgenevre isn't far from Briançon.


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Court reject Beyonce's appeal, $100 gaming lawsuit going to trial
Beyonce Knowles-Carter has failed to have a lawsuit against her dismissed by court. The singer allegedly exited a deal to make a game with Gate Five in 2010, causing the company serious losses in the process.
The studio claim Knowles backed out of a deal to make Starpower: Beyonce. The title aimed to take advantage of motion-controlled dances games that have proven wildly popular over the last few years.
Gate Five is said to have let 70 employees go as a result of the deal breaking down, as well as losing $100 million in profits.
Beyonce suggests she didn't commit due to the project's lack of funding. Gate Five go against this claim, suggesting the global superstar understood it was about to secure additional money for the project. In the wake of cancellation, the company is suing for $6.7 million in compensation and $100 million in damages.
This is all set to receive trial in front of a jury. Oh-oh-oh.


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Find the Gods of Anything.
Looking for a particular God? Can't remember the name of that demon? Search the Holy Database™
Many gods have more than one name. Our magic Godseeker sprites will automatically check known aliases and suggest the most likely alternatives.
Not sure of the spelling? Try entering just the first three or four letters of the name. Examples: JUPITER, JUPI
You can also try searching for gods of particular things. Try entering a subject such as 'rain' or 'war'.


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For Primrose parents, it's not unusual to hear after-school tales of Benjamin, Katie, Molly, Libby or Erwin from their children. These aren't classmates; they're five of the 12 Primrose Friends puppets that teachers use every day to enhance learning and build character.
Puppets are fun for kids, but they're much more than that. Puppet play is a proven early learning tool that helps children develop their cognitive abilities and social-emotional skills.
The Primrose Friends help teachers introduce abstract concepts, inspire critical thinking and encourage problem-solving, says Dr. Lauren Starnes, vice president of early childhood education, research and development. They help children develop vocabulary, practice regulating their emotions and gain confidence.
Perhaps most importantly, the puppets model character traits that provide the foundation for Primrose's Balanced Learning® curriculum: generosity, cooperation, friendship, respect for others, fairness, keeping promises, caring, honesty, conservation, courage, citizenship and responsibility.
How Puppets Are Used in the Primrose Classroom
The Primrose Friends each represent an important character trait and serve as valuable aids for teachers working to instill positive behaviors. For example, Katie® the Cat embodies cooperation and interacting harmoniously with others. So if children are having trouble sharing, the teacher can pick up Katie and talk from her perspective, Starnes says. Katie the puppet might say to children, "It's important that we care about our friends and that we think of nice ways we can share with one another. I like to share my paints with Erwin."
The Friends can provide emotional support for children when they need it. If a shy child is hesitant to talk in front of the class, the teacher might take out Percy the Rooster, who symbolizes courage, and ask, "Do you want Percy to help you tell your story?" Children often find it easier to share their thoughts or feelings through puppets, Starnes says, and they relish the opportunity to think creatively and express themselves.
"They use their imagination and adapt what they're doing socially to fit the character's personality," she says. "In doing that, they're internalizing the character trait. Those elements of being a caring, compassionate citizen of the world are a cornerstone to the Balanced Learning curriculum."
The Primrose Friends help teach academic lessons, too, through each puppet's classroom role. For example, Benjamin® the Bear monitors the weather every morning, and the children dress him appropriately for the day. Billy® the Duck loves music and likes to dance during Harmony & Heart™ music lessons. Each character has a book, one version for infants through age 2 and the other for age 3 to kindergarten.
"These characters reinforce academic content, and they reinforce social and emotional content," Starnes says. "It's a lot less intimidating when a puppet reminds us what it is to be a good friend than when a teacher does."
The Child Development Science Behind the Puppets
Research on how children learn has shown that puppets bring a multitude of benefits: Used strategically, puppets increase classroom communication, strengthen teacher-student interaction, establish a positive classroom climate, and help children feel more engaged, motivated and relaxed. All of this helps children to reach important developmental milestones.
Puppets help children understand and retell stories, both of which are important early literacy skills. They're accessible to children with different learning styles and needs, including children on the autism spectrum and those learning English, Starnes says. Puppets can even boost attention span.
"Research shows that children's attention is heightened by the use of puppetry," Starnes says. "We see greater recall of new information and skills."
Importantly for parents, puppets give children an opportunity to express thoughts and feelings that may be difficult or uncomfortable. As famous puppeteer Fred Rogers once said, "Pretending through puppets is often a safe way for children to talk about things that really concern them."
Bringing Puppets to Life at Home
For that reason, it can be helpful for parents to incorporate puppets at home, Starnes says. They don't have to be fancy; sock puppets or puppets made from paper sacks work well. "They're a great way for parents to see and hear what the child is thinking and learning."
Children can use puppets in play, acting out scenes and pretending to be different characters. Parents can use puppets to ask their children what they're feeling that day or what they think about an upcoming event that might be exciting or scary.
Interestingly, Starnes says, even when young children understand that the adult is the one really speaking, not the puppet, they still watch the puppet and interact with it.
"When the puppets are reinforcing what the adults are saying, it gives that element of fun and adventure," she says. "We want children to be curious learners, and we want to maintain that sense of wonder."
For more on puppets in the classroom and at home, check out: