text:
Liberalism: The God With No Name
God and morality are two ideas that don't have a very good reputation in contemporary society. Popular author and Very Famous Scientist Richard Dawkins offers a curt statement of the orthodox Liberal view of God:
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.
The Christian God, paradoxically, emerges at once as a fearsome arch-despot and oppressor of Mankind and as utterly impotent, an ontological nullity, a hallucination, a lie fabricated by mendacious priests in an effort to hold back the flowering of human self-fulfillment and the pursuit of Happiness. The privileged instrument of this rather sadistic enterprise was "morality", a set of arbitrary man-made rules with which the individual was bridled and saddled, and in the name of the non-existent God kept individuals cowed in servitude before kings and priests, stifled their creativity, repressed their sexuality, held back their earning-power and material standard of living, forbade their pleasures, and generally did whatever it could to frustrate their well-being at every turn. Morality forced a self-abnegating surrender of personal autonomy and authenticity to duty, and made happiness yield to social obligation. It forced women to marry and have children when they yearned for fulfilling careers outside the home, and obliged men to be men when they inwardly yearned to become women. In the illusory names of God, Nature, and Right, everyone was expected to put the needs of others before their own, and to accordingly sacrifice all their personal dreams and ambitions, and their authentic selves.
Today we are all far too Enlightened for any of that, of course. Through the revolutionary intervention of the hallowed Founding Fathers, and the heroic struggles of the women and minorities who followed in their wake, we have built a wall of separation between Church and State, caused all religious displays to be removed from the government buildings hitherto desecrated by their presence, and generally banished religion from the public square. Likewise, we have at long last come to see the folly, and moreover, the inherent illegality of "legislating morality", and frame all our laws according to the sole and supreme end of enabling each individual to do and/or acquire the things that he judges to result in an increase of his happiness, as long as he does not hinder others from doing the same. The ends that the individual chooses to pursue are, in this utilitarian conception, held to absolutely stand above any objective moral standards or value-judgments. As a standard reference-work on the utilitarian theory of human action has it:
The ultimate goal of human action is always the satisfaction of the acting man's desire. There is no standard of greater or lesser satisfaction other than individual judgments of value, different for various people and for the same people at various times. What makes a man feel uneasy and less uneasy is established by him from the standard of his own will and judgment, from his personal and subjective valuation. Nobody is in a position to decree what should make a fellow man happier. [...] The ultimate end of action is always the satisfaction of some desires of the acting man. Since nobody is in a position to substitute his own value judgments for those of the acting individual, it is vain to pass judgment on other people's aims and volitions. The critic...in dictatorial arrogance blithely disposing of his fellow's will and aspirations, declares what condition of this other man would better suit himself, the critic.
In keeping with the democratic and egalitarian sensibilities of the age, each idiosyncratic individual want and preference is both equally meaningless and somehow sacrosanct, at once beneath and above scrutiny. As the Supreme Court of the United States wrote: "at the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." If you don't want an abortion, don't have one. Stop being so judgmental. Just who do you think you are, anyways?
God, then, is dead, and everything is permitted, as long as it causes no harm; the message triumphantly blares out of every Cathedral apparatus day in and day out. But a close inspection of the facts suggests that things are a bit more complex than what superficially meets the eye. Dalrock recently uncovered a really striking feminist exhortation to women in troubled marriages to leave their husbands at once:
Go, even though you love him. Go, even though he's kind and faithful and dear to you.
Go, even though he's your best friend and you're his.
Go, even though you can't imagine your life without him.
Go, even though he adores you and your leaving will devastate him.
Go, even though your friends will be disappointed or surprised or pissed off or all three.
Go, even though you once said you would stay.
Go, even though you're afraid of being alone.
Go, even though you're sure no one will ever love you as well as he does.
Go, even though there is nowhere to go.
Go, even though you don't know exactly why you can't stay.
Go, because you want to.
Because wanting to leave is enough.
Ostensibly, this advice is given in the interest of maximizing the happiness and want-satisfaction of the women it is offered to- but its reasoning is far removed from the hedonic calculus of utilitarianism. A woman "wants" to leave her husband, and therefore must- no matter the personal costs involved, and moreover, in active, determined spite of any competing want not to. She is to do what she wants, whether she wants to or not. "Wanting to leave", then, isn't a matter of abandoning oneself to desire, nor of rationally weighing costs and benefits, pains and pleasures, but of ruthless Stoic self-overcoming, heroically selfless action in the service of a duty as opposed to indulgence of the pleasure principle. In short, what we're looking at, far from mere hedonism, is a morality in its own strange right. The same Liberty that vindicates the right of individuals to choose their own ends and define their own concept of existence, it seems, does not merely permit; it commands what it permits. Beneath the surface of utility-maximizing gratification of inscrutable private wants and tastes, there lies a public morality with public obligations to which the individual is attached on an a priori basis independently of her will, a Divine calling that the individual is in no position to refuse, since it derives not from idiosyncratic personal desires and preferences, but from the nature of things, and from a higher power.
Is this all so much overwrought interpretation on my part? The author decisively removes any doubt:
I didn't want to stay with my ex-husband, not at my core, even though whole swaths of me did. And if there's one thing I believe more than I believe anything else, it's that you can't fake the core. The truth that lives there will eventually win out. It's a god we must obey, a force that brings us all inevitably to our knees.
It should be underscored that these statements were made not in a personal memoir or confessional, but in the context of authoritative advice addressed to others, a public exhortation prescribing objective normative standards of conduct. The author is not merely recounting the subjective reasons why she forsook her own marital vows, but arguing why other women ought to. Evidently, the Liberal taboo against being "judgmental", and the associated utilitarian conception of values as inscrutably subjective tastes and preferences that can never be meaningfully rank-ordered, applies only when those values are judged and rank-ordered according to Christian standards. The woman who decides to abandon her family exercises a sovereign individual right to define concepts of existence and mysteries of life that stand beyond the very possibility, let alone the legitimacy, of rational scrutiny. But the woman who, upon considered deliberation, decides not to- she can expect swift and severe judgment from a whole swarm of advice columnists, psychiatrists, daytime-TV hosts and panelists, sex educators, and other public and private busybodies, all of whom render their verdict with the full weight and imprimatur of accredited science behind them, and pontificate as authoritatively as any Pope ever did.
Moving along from this particular case-study to the general, here are a few general theoretical propositions:
-There is no such thing as Liberalism. No human society actually does, or possibly can, leave the conduct of its members up to the caprice of utility-maximizing satisfaction of random individual wants, regulated only by positive law somehow divorced from morality, nor is any society prepared to regard its highest moral values as so many private tastes among others with no possible standard for rank-ordering and judging between them. No society ever did, or ever will, allow that e.g. my desire to scratch my ass stands on a par with the desire of a volunteer to die for his country; and every society prescribes what it defines as the right way, and proscribes the wrong way, for its members to go about the "pursuit of happiness" at the level of both means and ends. Liberalism is a crock, a fraud, and an ideological ruse. The promised land of equal freedom for all individual choices and voices under the auspices of a value-neutral "rule of law" is a Schlaraffenland that has never been implemented anywhere and cannot be.
What actually exists in human history are regimes of public morality that, in the final analysis, command the types of conduct they permit; and Liberalism is but one such regime among others. What superficially appears as "freedom of choice", "Constitutional rights", "preference-maximization", etc. is nothing more than the transitory by-product of the process whereby Liberalism displaces competing regimes of morality. Here the individual is permitted (and required) to ostentatiously break and/or insult the moral rules and strictures of the old regime- rules that have already been condemned to nullity, desuetude, and illegitimacy by the new, Liberal regime. What is given such exalted names as "liberation", "empowerment", "creative destruction", "innovation", and so on amounts to no more than a sort of victory dance and public promulgation of the new moral regime (cf. Moldbug's remarks on the social semiotics of protest actions). Anybody naive enough to actually take these libertine-sounding boasts at face value and dare to take similar liberties with Liberal pieties can expect to be promptly ostracized, fired from his job, and prosecuted at law- just as he would have for doing so with respect to the pieties of the old moral regime back when the latter was still in effect. In short, the individual has exactly the same "freedom" as a slave who has been sold to a new owner, and thus released from any obligation of obedience to his former master.
-There is no such thing as atheism. No society, I have said, can leave the value make-up of its individual members up to the random idiosyncratic wants, tastes, and opinions of those individuals; such a society would quickly degenerate into a Hobbesian state of nature and remain forever stuck there.
Our societies, in any case, are certainly not prepared to try; the extremely aggressive moral absolutism and radically intolerant demand for conformity down to the smallest minutiae of thought and conduct that comprise the reality behind the Liberal banners of "diversity" and "choice" should speak for themselves here. The conspicuous unprincipled exceptions that the Liberal tradition makes to the various social-science theories and findings upon which it grounds its official doctrine of immoralism (the aforementioned utilitarian conception of values in economics; social constructionism and historicist relativism in sociology; Darwinian/evolutionary perspectives in psychology; etc.) constantly betray an extraordinarily strident and self-certain moralism. For the economists, all values are so many personal preferences, and any attempt to evaluate them in deonotological terms is so much irrational nonsense- and yet it is self-evidently true that policy-makers ought to respect the rights of capital, even though it may be the personal preference of those same policy makers to, say, socialize the means of production. For the sociologists, all values are so many historically variable man-made constructs, "ideological" appendages of the class and power structures of a particular society at a particular time with no universally valid contents- and yet social inequality is always bad, and you should be against it for some reason. For the evolutionary psychologists, all values reduce to the supreme telos of biological continuity- but birth control, sodomy, robotic sex-dolls, and open-door immigration are all to be celebrated and promoted, the Darwinian hoo-hah about "reproduction" notwithstanding.
Clearly, then, when it comes to values Liberalism surreptitiously makes certain reservations and sets certain limiting-cases with respect to the scientific naturalism it ordinarily extols. Some values, it seems, are trans-individual, trans-historic, and transcendent. Some values are more than inscrutable subjective tastes and opinions, but objective deontological precepts binding on every rational subject; they are valid for all time and every place in which those subjects may find themselves, regardless of local social dynamics; and they cannot be derived from brute matter, from the Darwinian nexus of unconscious biological drives and the physical properties of the physical environment to which the organism must adapt.
It follows that there must be, for Liberalism- as for any morality- a transcendent originary font, a Sovereign final authority with overwhelming power and irresistible might that can endow moral precept with the character of binding law and universal duty incumbent upon every human subject, as opposed to private wants and tastes without force. This Sovereign authority cannot possibly be the State; the Liberal doctrine of the "separation of powers" decisively closes the door on the possibility of the State creating morals by Sovereign fiat. Not that the Liberal tradition actually believes its own humbug that "you can't legislate morality", which it does all the time (along with every other social order that ever existed, or will). Rather, under the "separation of powers", Liberalism reserves the right to define just which morals will be enshrined at positive law to the distributed apparatus of bureaucrats, physicians, entertainers, crusading women of colour, professors, non-profits, and other actors colloquially known as "the Cathedral", with respect to which the State per se is no more than an instrument, a dragoon, and a policeman.
This quasi-Brahminate bears no arms and has no self-sufficient power of its own, but rather claims the right to direct the exercise of the public power of the State. The Cathedral's claim to social paramountcy, therefore, would be totally empty, and elicit nothing more than derisive laughter from the public for its pretentiousness and punishment from the State for its insolence, as opposed to the apologetic deference it is presently accorded at every level, were it not one way or another grounded in a putative supra-human and Divine mandate. For all its hostility to (Christian) religion and (Christian) religious doctrine, it would be superficial and an abuse of language to call the Liberal regime "atheist". The Cathedral, like its predecessor, the Church, supervenes over all social affairs in the name of God- with the difference that the Cathedral does so in the name of a God that has no name.
The God with no name is the God of a civilization in which the scope and reach of political power is constantly inflating in the direction of approximating the total, and in the course of becoming more and more totalizing takes on a diffuse, depersonalized, and anonymous character.
The Christian conception of a personal God corresponds to a social order in which authority of any kind is given in well-defined, formal hierarchies that:
rigorously delineate social distinctions between subordinates and superordinates: e.g. women and men, children and parents, servants and masters, subjects and Crown, flock and Church
explicitly vest authority in natural persons: e.g. husband, father, lord, King, Pope.
Everybody knows just who exactly is boss in such a system, and there is always a boss. Since power is personal, embodied in a real person who has the last word in his sphere of competence, it can never be truly totalizing even, and as paradoxical as it may seem, when it is absolute- since it is inherently localized and bounded to the extent that it resides in this or that definite, particular individual.
The theological expression of this type of social order is the conception of a personal God that, while omnipotent and omniscient, isn't everything and anything, but a Creator rigorously distinguished from His creation. God, therefore, although He cannot be bounded by time and space, is nonetheless a definite entity that can be identified as such and given a name. Furthermore, His authority, while perfectly and exhaustively absolute, isn't totalitarian. Far from it: God disdains to intervene directly in human affairs for the most part, and even goes as far as to see fit to leave submission to His authority up to the free will of men, who are at perfect liberty to refuse if they are willing to hazard eternal damnation as the price.
In the modern democratic order, power is radically depersonalized, deindividuated, and dehumanized. Power no longer inheres in flesh-and-blood human beings, but Constitutional constructs with no human shape or face, the abstract machinery of the State apparatuses whose human operators are but so many interchangeable machine-minders with no inherent authority of their own. Following the teachings of the English Whigs, above all John Locke, the democracies hold that personal authority is a monstrosity, absolutely incompatible with liberty and the very existence of society; sovereignty is broken down into its constituent parts (legislative, executive, and judicial power) and then recombined in an impersonal and anonymous State mechanism in which, by design, no human being in particular is in charge or can be ("separation of powers").
This faceless Sovereign power is doubly anonymous in that Liberal ideology prevents it from being directly named as such. In polite Liberal discourse, it is very poor taste, almost scatological, to refer to the State by name, and downright scandalous to speak of "Sovereignty" (except in a strictly medical-diagnostic sense, viz. to designate a dangerous superstition that grips the unenlightened minds of Russians, Trump supporters, and other pathological people). Liberal ideology has it, after Locke, that the Liberal State machine was instituted in order to overcome the horrors of Sovereignty (the "arbitrary will" of the despot crazed by absolute power, which corrupts absolutely, and all that) and so must designate its own, formidable Sovereign power indirectly by way of various euphemisms, e.g. "democracy", "the will of the people", "Reason", "human rights", and above all, "the rule of law not men"- notions all defined in opposition to Sovereignty, and that, it is hoped, will one day banish the latter from the Earth.
All of this, of course, is an empty ideological boast and inversion of the facts. Time and time again the historical record has shown that when Liberalism or its variants (Socialism, etc.) promise to abolish Sovereignty (Marx: "the State will wither away"), they mean personal Sovereignty. Liberalism does not abolish Sovereignty or come close to doing that. On the contrary: not only is Sovereignty conserved in the process of being dismembered in the "separation of powers" and its components redistributed to a plurality of nodal points within the State cyborg (here to the so-called "people", there to the legislature, the President, the courts, the bureaucracy, the NGOs, the Ivies, etc.), the scope, reach, and destructive capacity of this power dramatically inflates to historically unprecedented, nearly God-like proportions. Among other factors that make this totalization of power possible, the following are germane here:
Personal Sovereignty in the form of e.g. "absolute" monarchy is limited in that power inheres in one man who, as one man, is hamstrung within the limits set by his physical body, which can only do so much, and in any case is doomed by the laws of biology to perish in less than a century. No such constraints apply to the abstract machinery of the Liberal State, which can grow as expansively, accomplish as much, and endure for as long as it can find functionaries to operate it (and the latter are never in short supply!).
Personal Sovereignty, because it is embodied in a concrete person who can be identified and named as the Sovereign, is localized and situated, and is therefore, to at least some extent, particularistic. One is always head of this or that particular household, lord of this or that manor, King of this or that country- but never father, lord, or King in general, since these names have no sense detached from their particular referents. Depersonalized and anonymous Sovereign power isn't encumbered by any of this, to the extent that it is depersonalized and anonymous. The euphemisms in which it cloaks and conceals itself- "democracy", "the will of the people", "Reason", "human rights", and "the rule of law not men"- are concepts of universal applicability not tied to any concrete situational referent in particular, and can be exported (i.e. imposed at gunpoint) anywhere.
The theological corollary of Liberal power (which, it should go without saying, is never made formally explicit) is to reconstruct the idea of God along similar lines. The personal God of Christianity is reconstituted in terms of an ineffable pantheistic principle; a totalizing and nameless All that is in all, and vice-versa. This nameless, faceless God exists only in, through, and as its Creation- in exactly the same way that the Liberal State is held, by Liberal ideology, to exist only in, through, and as the will of the so-called "people", and for the same reason.
The God with no name accordingly governs men not by personally issuing them commands that they can, in turn, refuse to obey, but through deterministic laws of motion that are immanent in human action itself, and which govern the course of human history according to an inexorable and irreversible trajectory of becoming, i.e. the progress of Reason towards its destiny ("the arc of history bends towards justice"). "Reason" isn't just a set of abstract speculative oughts and ought-nots that men can choose to ignore, but a real and causally effective force (Hegel: "the rational is real") that exerts a pull as irresistible as the laws of physics- as Ms. Strayed above put it, "a force that brings us all inevitably to our knees".
An important corollary is that where the one who defies the will of a personal God is a rebel and a sinner who deserves to be punished, the one who fails to conform to the dictates of Reason is pathological, a sick person who stands in need of therapeutic "help". Soviet psychiatry, far from an isolated "Stalinist" aberration, was in fact simply the most coherent and direct expression of the theory and practice of religious discipline in any Liberal regime.
Finally, the God with no name is an All that is in all. On the one hand, and as we have seen already, this means that there can be no possible degree of freedom outside the totalizing pantheistic All, which isn't just the Creator of the universe, but ontologically consubstantial with it. In other words, it is perfectly and exhaustively totalitarian. On the other hand, since this All is in all, in everybody, it follows that anybody can take it upon himself to pronounce authoritatively on its behalf, to interpret its will and moreover, impose that will upon others. This has the effect of unleashing, in the democratic society, a plague of SJWs, health and safety crusaders, and other self-appointed saints and holy Brahmins who devote themselves to endlessly harassing and tormenting their fellow citizens like swarms of horseflies. "Democracy" means that those on the receiving end of this treatment (which can range anywhere from institutional codes policing the smallest minutiae of thought and personal conduct to violent physical assault in the streets) must deferentially submit to it without complaint- even though those who dish it out to them are their legal peers and equals, and have no formally-defined priestly or, for that matter, any other form of authority.
This lack of formal authority, in turn, ensures that these saints are chronically insecure in their self-appointed status. Hence the intense competition, within their own ranks, in the form of the notorious "holiness spirals" in which each seeks to establish a claim to special grace through a display of extraordinary zeal, devotion, and virtuosity (above all, by purporting to discover hitherto invisible forms of "oppression" where nobody ever saw them before). The inevitable result of these contests is that their demands become ever-increasingly exquisite, bizarre, and intrusively meddlesome.
These excesses are presently in the process of metastasizing from the campus, where they were hitherto confined, to State and society at large. The traditional moral crusades that Christian religion used to episodically give rise to pale in comparison; where the latter might have demanded a local crackdown or two on streetwalkers or something for a few weeks before fizzling out, the priesthood of the God with no name, the SJWs- many of whom are released from productive work in order to make a full-time career of it, with salaries underwritten by the big foundations-seek nothing less than to redesign society from scratch according to a spec-sheet that is itself drawn anew with each holiness spiral. No aspect of life is too trivial, too intimate, or too privileged to escape being noticed and remade in the SJW's image-or banned altogether. Intelligent Libertarians ought to reflect on the present situation in light of Bob Dylan's words: "you're gonna have to serve somebody". If you have to serve somebody- and the foregoing analysis suggests that Dylan was correct- from the point of view of Libertarian concerns the best bet by far is subjection to traditional government under the inherently moderate auspices of throne and altar. It might mean less porn and weed, less anomie and alienation, and more time spent at Church and with your family and fellows each week; it might mean less voting, and less weighing in on matters of State that don't concern you; but it will also mean liberty based on a rock-solid foundation of natural social arrangements and relationships- real liberty, not the high-sounding but fraudulent promises of paper Constitutions and Bills of Right that, in the final analysis, amount to so many charters authorizing the State and the Cathedral to take away your rights.


text:
It's strange that I'm personally writing about Thinking Digital Conference (another one of Codeworks' conferences), yet I didn't write about DIBI. I think the only reason is even though I was working on the team for Thinking Digital I wasn't in on the talks throughout the couple of days. I was happily working away with the films crews, our own J6 and with Sara Allison from Microsoft so that they could both get the most out of the conference. Working with the film crews is so great as you get to spend a little bit of time with each speaker notably David Siegel, Mary Ann de Lares Norris from Oblong, Joi Ito, Ken Banks, Tom Wujec were some of the faces I managed to have a chat with.
Christian Payne managed to stalk me via Gowalla and I found him to be one of the funniest guys I've ever met more so as he gave me one of his business cards with a photo of his dog having a wee on it (there were other strange one i.e. of him half naked – I opted for the dog!)
All in all it was a great week, so many friendly people, so much networking so many good talks! It was also interesting for me to see how many people from DIBI were at Thinking Digital, it was great to catch up with you all.
During the day Tim Allison from the IDI worked on a little project which was played in the closing session of Thinking Digital 2010 which can be seen below;

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Optimization Techniques
Algorithms for optimizing real functions of several variables subject to equality and inequality constraints. Convexity properties of functions and sets, linear programming, simplex and interior point methods, integer programming, branch and bound algorithm, transportation problem, necessary and sufficient conditions for nonlinear function optimization, Newton and quasi-Newton methods, Lagrange multiplier conditions, Kuhn-Tucker conditions, dynamic programming. Department Managed Prerequisite(s): Undergraduate level MTH 2320 Minimum Grade of D and Undergraduate level MTH 2530 Minimum Grade of D


text:
Philadelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/22/2014 -- PRC Book Printing Service is now offering offset book printing for winter 2014. Fast, affordable, high quality results make offset printing the printing method of choice for books, magazines, and many other print products. PRC has benefitted authors as well as publishing companies and advertising agencies that need offset book printing.
Authors with a big project like a graphic novel, cookbook, coffee table, children's books, or photo book can use case bound or hard cover book printing. Specify thickness and dimensions and choose from cloth, leatherette, fabric, or laminated covers. Perfect bound printing works great for soft cover print catalogs or directories, while saddle stitch printing works best for booklets and smaller children's books. Calendars, Wire-O, coil books, and comb binding are also available. PRC will take any project and customize their services to fit each client's needs.
Children's book writers will find a wide range of options at PRC. Board book printing is a good fit for early childhood books with a small amount of words. The thick pages will also be easier for young hands to turn. China has laws in place regulating the inks used in children's books. PRC's soy based inks are the safest option for the young readers.
Talk to PRC Book Printing Service for guidance on creating the perfect product. They will help customers through every step of the process in the manufacturing of their books. Not sure what materials or process would be best? PRC gives writers step by step instruction to assist in making the right decisions.
Environmental responsibility is important to PRC. The company offers FSC certified recycled paper and soy-based ink in an effort to create an eco-friendly product.
For more information on different types of offset book printing, visit PRC online or call 888-725-7817.
About PRC Book Printing Service
American-based, PRC Book Printing Service has been working with two Chinese printing partners for the past 10 years. PRC Book Printing Service will handle any type of print project a person has in mind. The book printing company is devoted to delivering high quality print services at the most affordable prices possible. That has been the key to the company's success throughout its existence. PRC Book Printing Service is dedicated to giving customers complete satisfaction through steady, personal communication and reliable project management that will complete any job before the deadline.
For more information, please visit http://pearlriverchinaprinting.com/.


text:
Thursday, August 4, 2011
2 comments:
- MG said...
i read that you like reading the book, the Secret, hehehe. I love that book too, nwei just like what aw of attraction is trying to teach us, be positive..
losing bf is painful, but if you are positive enough its a chance to have a better bf. ^_^
- August 6, 2011 at 6:50 AM
- Jc said...
aww thank you for this comment! I have been trying to be positive but its hard when i'm going through this! But I am getting better and pulling myself to being happy! Also being positive and loving yourself and every one is the secret to. Thank you for saying that its a chance to have a better bf it means a lot to me!
- August 7, 2011 at 12:31 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Whether you've been in ministry for years or are just starting the journey, you have educational opportunities. Let us serve you as you serve others.
Regionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), Life Pacific College (also known as LIFE Bible College) is a remarkable institution deeply rooted in the history of The Foursquare Church. The school exists to support the transformation of students into leaders prepared to serve God in the church, the workplace and the world. Located in vibrant Southern California, LPC provides traditional undergraduate programs, non-traditional degree completion and graduate programs.
Ignite is a two-year residential program. An extension of Life Pacific College (also known as LIFE Bible College), Ignite offers academic training combined with focused discipleship in addition to local and global outreach opportunities.
ELN is a nationwide network of church-sponsored programs. According to the ELN website, these programs are "based on a model of full-time 'immersion discipleship,' designed to take students who are passionate about Jesus and the world, and help them become mission-ready leaders." All ELN programs have a three-part emphasis: head (academics), hands (ministry) and heart (mentorship). These programs, which are generally one to two years, are designed for college-age students.
Foursquare Missions International (FMI) offers training for short and long term missions work as well as urban ministry training and cross-cultural training for a U.S. context.Learn How You Can Answer the Call to Go
Interested in becoming an affiliate school? The Foursquare Church values the contribution of other institutions to the education and training of Foursquare leaders. Partnerships bloom with compatible schools that provide opportunities for Foursquare ministry students to obtain essential theological training and practical preparation in supportive environments. These schools formally apply and partnerships are reviewed annually for renewal. If your institution would like to be considered, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.View Current Affiliated Colleges
Ministry Training Institutes provide Foursquare churches with the opportunity to invest in leadership the way Jesus did, with relational teaching and opportunities for hands-on practice. They offer a cost-effective and convenient option for ministry training, ideal for leaders and laypeople alike.
In 1922 Aimee Semple McPherson founded Angelus Temple Training School, which later became known as L.I.F.E. Bible College and now as Life Pacific College. The purpose of that original Foursquare training institute was the same as the mission of our contemporary Ministry Training Institutes—in Sister Aimee's words, "the practical training of evangelists for the harvest fields of life."
Review the application process, then download the scholarship application that interests you; simply fill it out completely and mail it back!
A total of six scholarships are available for the 2018 school year. Women currently pursuing higher education in preparation for ministry leadership are eligible for one of the following Alabaster House Legacy Scholarships:
Please note: For each scholarship there is a maximum lifetime award of up to $2,500.
Direct inquires to:
Women in Ministry Leadership
1910 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 700
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Contact Yadira Jameson for more details.


text:
Welcome to page of the UA Public Affairs Committee! We were established in 2015 and though we're new, we have big plans to contribute to MIT student life.
Mission Statement:
"The purpose of the Public Affairs Committee is to educate MIT undergraduates about their potential impact in the public sector as well as to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with governmental entities in order to connect undergraduates with opportunities to make positive and meaningful impacts on society. "
We're currently working on:
- Getting the general student body more involved with local, Cambridge City, politics. We believe that every student should have the right to exercise their opinion in local politics and it is our personal mission to help students have their voice heard on a city - wide, and even national, scale.
- Continuously improving and expanding, The Terrabyte, a newsletter containing short news coverages from around the world. The Public Affairs Committee hopes to improve the general busy MIT student's knowledge about world affairs by making it simple for students to stay current with news. You can sign up to be debriefed on major stories that you should not go into the next week without knowing. To sign up, simply visit webmoira.mit.edu and search for theterrabyte.
- Inviting local politicians to speak with the MIT Community.
- Maintenance of the UA Advocacy Policy.
The chair of this committee is Elena Alberti '19 and Ashti Shah '20.
Get involved!
We're always happy see new faces. If you're interested in joining, let us know at firstname.lastname@example.com!
You can also get involved in civic life by registering to vote online if you have a MA driver's license here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr
or by mail with this form here: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Voter-reg-mail-in.pdf
Contact us:
If you have any questions about our committee, please e-mail us at email@example.com.


text:
Open House
The Official Blog of Biltmore®
More From Biltmore
- Our Team at Work
- Around the House
- Insider Tips
- The Vanderbilt Family
- New at Biltmore
- In the Historic Archives
- Things We Love
- On the Curator's Desk
- Biltmore In The News
Home Ideas & Inspirations
Wine & Food
Biltmore's Vineyard
Posted on 03/11/2012 by Bill Alexander
Our vineyard is nestled in a valley near the French Broad River on the west side of the estate. The first vines were planted in 1971. Varieties grown include Chardonnay, Riesling, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. All grapes are picked by hand, with harvests averaging 250 tons annually.
Beyond our estate vineyards, our winemakers take inspiration from George Vanderbilt's passion for selecting the best for Biltmore—from art to wine and beyond—as they choose quality grapes from a variety of regions. No matter the source, the majority of our wines are hand-crafted at our state-of-the-art winery in Asheville. Through our commitment to sustainability and locally-grown products, we are champions of the N.C. wine and grape industry and actively support local vineyards by purchasing fruit grown in N.C.Return to Blog


text:
The next Elderberries Clinic Cafe takes place at The Alnwick Garden on Tuesday fron noon.
NHS Health Trainers will attend the free session, which is aimed at people aged 50 and over, and they will give advice on healthy eating and health MOTs.
There will be a two-course meal for £1, served from noon.
Booking is essential, call 01665 511376 or 01665 511857.


text:
Yardley, PA (PRWEB) July 14, 2009
Direct Source, Inc. is proud to announce the launch of their new website DirectSourceInc.com. The new website offers a new design and new features, while offering the same great products and savings. With a 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back, Direct Source Inc. is sure you will find everything you need and more at a discount price. Direct Source, Inc. strives to bring their customers quality merchandise they can enjoy at a price they can afford. Take advantage of this great opportunity to order items for yourself as well as gifts for family and friends.
With a wide range of product offerings, Direct Source, Inc. offers affordable products at low prices. The vast amount of categories on the new site include general merchandise, senior discount products, hats, military items, pet products, home decor and kitchen and bath as well as many others.
A featured product, The Senior Discount Hat for only $7.95 has all the seniors talking. Thousands of seniors are wearing their famous Senior Discount Hat at restaurants, movie theaters, stores and even at the golf course to get the senior discounts that save them money! Wearing this Senior Discount Hap gets the cashier's attention. And with over 150,000 discounts available for Seniors over 50, the savings add up fast. Handsome, comfortable, genuine cotton cap is colorfully embroidered (not just a patch). The Senior Discount Hat is one size fits most with adjustable hook 'n loop band.
Direct Source, Inc offers a money back guarantee, "It's important to us at Direct Source that you are happy with your purchase. If you're unsatisfied with a Direct Source product, you may return it for a replacement or a refund of the purchase price (less postage & handling) within 90 days. You must be 100% satisfied or your money back, "say Ken Dorfman, president of Direct Source, Inc.
About Direct Source, Inc.:
Direct Source, Inc. was established in 1995. Advertising in leading publications including Smart Source FSI, Red Plum All Market Wrap, Red Plum FSI, AARP, TV Guide, USA Weekend, and many national publications. All of the products are exclusively available direct from the warehouse. The majority of the items are not sold in stores! That's how the remarkable savings are passed directly to you. Each year, hundreds of thousands of packages are shipped to customers and satisfaction is always 100% guaranteed or your money back. More information about Direct Source, Inc. and it's products can be found at Direct Source, Inc.


text:
The Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America in Chicago, Illinois, features early opening at 5 p.m. on Halloween night, with over 200 monsters wandering the grounds and sometimes showing up sitting next to people on the rides. They are especially prevalent around the haunted attractions. Some of the rides, such as the monster roller coaster Goliath, are challenging enough during the day, but are much scarier when ridden after dark.Continue Reading
Employees may be dressed up as mummies while loading riders onto the Demon's coaster seats. On the Krazy Kars, they may have on ghost costumes while they manage their ride. Some employees ride along with the guests, adding a bit of Halloween fun. Six Flags tend to take it easy on the little kids, with more spooky ghosts and less of the blood and gore. Guests never know when to expect a monster or ghost to pop out of the shadows or if the servers at the eateries are wearing witches hat and big crooked noses.
Guests are not allowed to wear costumes, face masks or full face makeup during Fright Fest. This is for safety reasons since loose masks and pieces of costumes can fly off when on a high speed ride. It's also so park officials can tell their employees apart from the guests.Learn more about Geography


text:
Good deal!
Reviewed By John L (WEST BERLIN, NJ) Reviewed for a 2006 Dodge Dakota —9/11/2016 3:14 AM
I ordered a rim for my 2006 Dakota. (I had a blow out and ruined a rim) It arrived in 2 days with free shipping. The price was great and it looks great!


text:
Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
* Tmall - announced that it has become an official partner of New York Fashion Week Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Find the perfect place from the worlds best selection of vacation rentals on HomeAway.
Our 2018 property listings offer a large selection of 181 vacation rentals near İçmeler. From 110 apartments to 41 villas, find a unique house rental for you to enjoy a memorable stay with your family and friends. The best places to stay near İçmeler for a holiday or a weekend are on HomeAway.
HomeAway offers a large selection of vacation rentals near lovely places in İçmeler. From HomeAway travelers, the most popular points of interest to stay for a holiday trip or just for a weekend are:
But there are many other points of interest around İçmeler listed on HomeAway where you can find your place to stay. Please use our search bar to access the selection of vacation rentals available near the point of interest of your choice.
Yes, of course. HomeAway has 110 apartments in İçmeler. Our other popular types of vacation rentals in İçmeler include:
Absolutely, HomeAway has 27 near the ocean rentals in İçmeler. You have also many other possibilities in İçmeler area, including:
Please use our search bar to access the selection of vacation rentals.
Yes, you can select your preferred vacation rental with pool among our 128 vacation rentals with pool available in İçmeler. Please use our search bar to access the selection of vacation rentals available.
The ocean and other outdoor surroundings create an inviting atmosphere in Icmeler. Revered for its cheese making, spas and seafood, this city is both upscale and relaxing. A vacation rental can help make your stay complete—many rentals come with a kitchen and laundry facilities.
Have time to spare and looking for things to do around Icmeler? Visitors searching for nearby cultural experiences can spend an enlightening afternoon at Halici Ahmet Urkay Museum or Marmaris Museum. To appreciate the outdoor scene, make time for beaches like Icmeler Beach and Turunc Beach and green spaces such as Ataturk Park and Cleopatra Island.
Stop by Marmaris Dolphinarium-Aquapark, Aqua Dream Water Park and Atlantis Water Park while in the area. You may also want to visit Amos Beach, Blue Port Shopping Center or Marmaris Amphitheater.


text:
Confession: I am an incredibly squeamish cook. Mostly because I am an incredibly squeamish person.
I don't do blood. Even in small amounts. Lets put it this way, I once passed out when changing my earrings after a new piercing because there was blood on the earring post. And we're not talking a lot of blood by any means. We're talking a few drops.
I don't do blood. Even in small amounts. Lets put it this way, I once passed out when changing my earrings after a new piercing because there was blood on the earring post. And we're not talking a lot of blood by any means. We're talking a few drops.
Any amount of blood and down goes Nichole.
I fully accept that if I were in any type of real life Hunger Games or in a real post-apocalyptic world, I'd be one of the first people to die. I couldn't kill any animal if it handled me a gun, wore a target and stood directly in front of me. HG Reference: I'd be all over the nightlock berries in a heartbeat.
I also can't handle pretty much anything that is considered gross. Or that I have deemed gross. Cutting off chicken fat on raw chicken makes me shudder. The juices that chicken or any meat is packed in also makes me shudder. Fishy smell = shudder.
This makes for some interesting times while preparing dinner or packaging up food to be frozen. So I decided to share with you my silly cooking confessions from least to most ridiculous.
Veal: But it's just an iddle-widdle baby cow! Adult cow - I'm okay with it. Well, kinda, but we'll get to that later. My stomach honestly flips over at the thought of eating veal. Yes, I realize this limits a few recipes from my list of things to try, but I'm more than 100% okay with that. Eating babies is wrong!
Lamb: Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow. This is what happens in my head every time I see or hear of someone eating lamb. It's always in a sad pitiful voice. The thought of eating lamb has completely grossed me out for years. I tried it once and I just couldn't get past two bites before Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb was honestly drowning out all other sounds around me. I have agreed to, however, try it again in the form of a burger to please Tom. We'll see how that goes.
via publicdomainpictures.net
Fish: I only like a few different types of fish as it is, but if any of them ever came to me (cooked or not) with their head still attached, I'd lose the contents of my stomach. Yes, I completely understand that obviously fish come with a head and eyes but I absolutely refuse to ever see them that way. The fish I eat comes in nicely prepared filets okay?!
Lobster: I do like lobster and I will eat it. I just refuse to kill it first. My food or future food does not need to come to me while it is still alive (I have one exception, kind of). I like dead food. It's nicer that way. The though of stabbing/cutting/whatever the hell it is that you do to kill a lobster before cooking it, is just not okay in my book. I'm not lying, I'm involuntarily shuddering just while typing this because I hear the noise in my head. I can't even watch it on television.
via eastcoastgourmet.com
Crab: The kind of exception. Look, I'm from Maryland. Old Bay seasoning runs through our veins and steamed crabs are a staple dish of summer. I've ate crab as long as I can remember, but I have some requirements first. (1): I prefer to purchase them already steamed. I do realize this increases the price, but like Mr. Lobster above, I just can not bring myself to put a live crab into a pot of boiling water. Its wrong! However, I can watch others do it. Something about being slightly removed from the situation makes it okay. And (2): It can't be looking at me. Stop laughing. I'm serious! While I'm completely okay with ripping the shell off the crab and pulling off his legs (because he's already dead!), I can't handle eating steamed crabs if its looking at me. I have to turn them around first. And somewhat related, a softshell crab honestly makes me kind of nauseous. It's a crab that MOLTED! Blech!
via marylandmeals.com
Shrimp: Lets put it this way, Mr. Shrimp better never show up to me with his head on. It's bad enough they look like bugs to begin with but good lord the last thing I need to do is ever see the face of the 'bug' I'm about to eat! Ironically though, since fresh shrimp typically don't come de-veined, I can handle that. I'm not going to lie to you, its completely disgusting to devein a shrimp (or to eat one with the vein intact), but I am okay with doing this for some reason. And by okay, I mean I can actually do it without gagging. Not that I find it a pleasant experience at all.
Turkey: I have a hard time preparing a turkey on Thanksgiving. I understand people use the parts that come in bags which will not be named for other things but dude, thats just gross. I'm all for using all parts of an animal (pink slime aside) but they need to sell turkeys without the extra parts. Its hard enough for me to reach into those cavities to add herbs and fruits and you seriously think I want to pull a bag of assorted innards out of there? HELL NO!
via turkeyoff.com
And the most embarrassing: CHICKEN: I have multiple issues with Mr. Chicken. Lets start with the breast. First off, for the love of God chicken processing companies will you please stop pumping the chickens full of hormones? I don't need a 9 inch long and 5 inch wide chicken breast. It's just not natural! Second, the bloody vein in the chicken breast...that's just gross. I have to disfigure my chicken breasts all of the time because it grosses me out so badly. And generally, just the slimy feeling of chicken breast makes me slightly squeamish.
And finally: ROTISSERIE CHICKEN. Yes, this is the most embarrassing cooking confession for me. ::hangs head in shame:: It honestly grosses me out a bit to pull the meat off a fully cooked rotisserie chicken. Why? Because he has a chicken shape still! This is also why my uncle carves the turkey on Thanksgiving. I mean, I can do it, but I really don't like to.
via runwaydaily.com
To be fully honest, its hard for me to stomach eating any type of protein when I think about how they are handled up until the time of their death. I believe I may have mentioned this before, but in my dream world, I'm quite the pretentious food snob.
I have unlimited amounts of money. I have a fully running farm with humane living conditions for the animals who are also humanely slaughtered and cut into desires parts by someone with a stronger stomach than myself. There is an incredibly large vegetable garden with absolutely everything I'd ever need. There are also fresh herbs and a separate dairy facility. And we never purchase anything from the grocery store unless company is coming.
I hope you've enjoyed laughing at me this Saturday as you read my silly cooking confessions. But the real important question is, what are yours? :-)


text:
by Jo Lease
(Lancaster, PA, USA)
9/16/2014 (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) - Looking for vendors for birds/bird related items for Lancaster Bird Expo. A Holiday Birdie Bonanza with birds, supplies, guest speakers and rescues. Visit www.lancasterbirdexpo.com for more info.
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Vendors Wanted.


text:
More Than Words: The Associated Press Stamps Out Homophobia
This article basically talks about how the AP Style Book talks about why the suffix "phobia" is not allowed to be used in journalist writing anymore. Why? Because they think that the term is "politically and socially incorrect." It then focuses on the word 'homophobia' talking about what the words means and how it is portrayed in social constructs and why it is taken to such extremes. The article used a tweet from Morgan Freeman saying; "I hate the word homophobia. It's not a phobia. You are not scared. You are an asshole." The article then plays devils advocate saying; "The AP editors drew attention to a worthy problem, but by trying to solve it by subtraction, they deny its complexity, and in the process pass up the kind of inventive linguistic challenge they should be embracing."
The Kitchen Table #394 – Ending Homophobia In Magic
This article follows a man named Abe Sargent and his experience with homophobia and the societal views that people have on it. However, he put a twist on the whole thing. He was in fourth grade and he told a lie; that he was gay and he was called a bunch of names like "Gay-braham" and "Gaybe." He continues to make his article personal by continuing his journey through being gay by talking to people, realizing people's views on being gay, and hiring other people in the LGBT community to see how they relate to other people. He does something really interesting at the end with a P.S. He critiques the word homophobia. He basically says that the word homophobia is a word that leaves many people out like transsexuals or transgendered.


text:
During the Holocaust, the SS murdered at least 152,000 people at the Chelmno killing center, about 30 miles northwest of Lodz, Poland. It was the first stationary facility where poison gas was used for mass murder of Jews. The killing center consisted of a manorial estate in the town of Chelmno and a nearby large forest clearing. Camp staff and guards were housed in other buildings in town. The estate and the forest camp were encircled by high wooden fences.
The SS and police began killing operations at Chelmno on December 8, 1941. Initially, the victims were Jewish residents of nearby areas transported to Chelmno by truck. SS officials, often wearing white coats like physicians, told the deportees that they would go to Germany as laborers, but first had to bathe. The Jews were led into the house where they were forced to undress and hand over their valuables. Guards directed the naked prisoners down a ramp into the back of a large truck that could hold 50-70 persons. When the truck was full, the doors were closed and sealed. A mechanic attached a tube to the van's exhaust pipe and started the engine, pumping carbon monoxide gas into the truck to kill the prisoners by asphyxiation. After the tube was detached, the van, now full of corpses, was driven to the forest camp, where the bodies were dumped into mass graves. Any prisoners still alive were shot.
On January 16, 1942, the SS and police began to deport Jews in crowded freight trains from the Lodz ghetto to Chelmno. These transports included Jews originally from Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, and Luxemburg. Other victims murdered at Chelmno included thousands of Roma (Gypsies), as well as several hundred Poles and Soviet prisoners of war. Several dozen Jewish prisoners were forced to remove corpses from the gas vans and bury them in mass graves. Because the graves quickly filled and the smell of decomposing bodies began to permeate nearby villages, in summer 1942 the SS and police ordered that bodies instead be burned on open air "ovens" made of rail track. Periodically, SS and police officials would murder these forced laborers and replace them with new arrivals.
The SS and police conducted killing operations in Chelmno until March 1943 and then again for a brief period in June-July 1944 to facilitate the liquidation of the Lodz ghetto. Beginning in September 1944, a group of Jewish prisoners was forced to exhume and cremate any remaining corpses from the mass graves to obliterate evidence of mass murder. The SS and police shot about half of the 80-man detachment after this work was done. The Germans abandoned the Chelmno killing center on January 17, 1945, as the Soviet army approached.


text:
Imprint: Australian Scholarly Publishing
Book Life: The Life and Times of David Scott MitchellBy Eileen Chanin
Australia's greatest book collector, David Scott Mitchell, gave his extraordinary library and a bequest for its development to the people of Sydney and the world.
This is the first comprehensive account of his life and what, how, and why he collected, told through his books, reading, and contemporary correspondence.
Mitchell's life and his collecting opens a window on the world of ideas, literature, libraries, and philanthropy in the nineteenth century.
Now available in paperback!
Shortlisted for the Australian Historical Association's Magarey Medal for Biography.
The judges' citation:
'Eileen Chanin's biography of David Scott Mitchell offers a fascinating rendition of the life of the man who bequeathed the nation its finest library of Australiana. Thoroughly researched, Chanin leaves no stone unturned in telling the story of Mitchell's life. She presents a panoptic view of this often-shadowy figure in his full historical context. Book Life provides a compelling account of the intellectual and bookish circles of colonial Sydney and contains many valuable insights regarding the culture of collecting.'
Categories: Australian History, Biography


text:
Sign in to retrieve a saved callback list.
Scores based on 86 reviews
Invoice history based on 66 reviews.
We established our business in 1993 and it has grown from strength to strength through recommendation. our policy has always remained the same. The small job is as important as the bigger job. Our goal is to give a good service, value for money, honest advice and quality workmanship.
We now provide lightweight tile roofs for conservatories, with this you do not require an extension onto your conservatory and it provides you with adequate temperature year round.
Newcastle under Lyme, Stafford, Newport, Stoke-On-Trent, Newcastle, Staffordshire, Whitchurch
mitchell baum


text:
Big Data & Analytics
Data Governance
Data Management
Big Data & Analytics
Data Governance
Data Management
search goes here
Cynthia Hardy Young
Cynthia Hardy Young's strong business acumen is the result of leading turnarounds, managing profit and loss of multi-billion dollar divisions in publicly-traded companies and practicing as an attorney in law firm and corporate environments with an emphasis on corporate defense, directors' and officers' liability and risk management.ExperienceYoung is the President of Encompass Insurance, a $3 billion division of Allstate Insurance that sells personal lines products through three brands. Encompass has 10 geographic regions and 2 million customers, and its products are sold through a network of more than 5,000 independent insurance agencies across the United States. As President, Young has overhauled strategy. She has transformed the business with revamped technology, operations, sales, claims, finance, strategy, marketing and communications capabilities. Young has reduced expenses by $100 million, delivered average returns of 12.5% 2006 2008 and grown targeted segments while reducing non-targeted segments. Young also has raised employee engagement while upgrading, developing and exporting talent across the Allstate organization.Young's prior executive roles include serving as President, Personal Lines Division, Hanover Insurance and Vice President of Product Management, Personal Lines, The Hartford. At Hanover, Young led a $1.5 billion operation and laid the foundation for a successful turnaround by rebuilding the senior management team, building and launching a new product, improving operations and increasing employee engagement. At Hartford, Young had profit and loss accountability for a $1.2 billion region and was responsible for product, pricing and underwriting of personal lines products sold through the agency and direct channels. Young also held various profit and loss management roles at Hartford and Progressive where, as a product manager, she delivered solid profit margins and growth.As an attorney, Young handled claims made under community bank directors' & officers' liability, bankers' blanket bond, trust errors & omissions and employment practices liability products in Progressive's Professional Liability Group. She also was a litigation associate at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, the second largest law firm in the world, where she focused on defense of Fortune 500 companies.Young has a keen appreciation for stakeholder interests. She is adept at building and managing regulatory relationships at all levels, building advocacy among corporate constituencies and advancing national, state and local policy issues.Young is the only African-American female in the United States running a multi-billion personal lines operation for a publicly-traded company. She is a respected leader, frequent speaker at industry and community events and is often quoted in trade journals.After receiving her B.S. in Economics from Xavier University of LA, Young received her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame School of Law.Affiliations & HonorsBoard Member, Communities in Schools of Chicago, Strategic Planning Committee and Programming CommitteeMember, American Bar Association's Business Law Section, Corporate Governance Committee & Corporate Director Diversity CommitteeGraduate, Boardroom Bound® Boardology Institute; profiled in the groups National Director/Candidate Database©Boardroom Bound® Chicago Friend
Like what you see? Make sure you're getting it all
Authoritative analysis and perspective for data management professionals.
Information Management
About Us
Contact Us
Site Map
Information Management's Glossary
RSS Feed
Privacy Policy
Subscription Agreement
Content Licensing/Reprints
Advertising/Marketing Services
© 2018 SourceMedia. All rights reserved.


text:
Christina Aguilera caused quite a stir when she she performed her classic hit "Fighter" on The Voice this week in a tight corset, sans pants. Has Xtina started a new trend? Hardly! Celebs like Vanessa Hudgens and Nicki Minaj have been rocking the no-pants look for awhile now.
Aside from Christina's no-pants look this week, another hot spot to find celebs rocking this continuing trend was the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. From Vanessa to Lindsay Lohan, many stars took the opportunity to lose the pants, beat the desert heat, and look hipster chic!
Check out the gallery we've compiled of some of our favorite no-pants looks over the past year. Are you finally ready to drop the pants and rock this look? Let us know in the comments!


text:
(This post is part of the 2014 TCG National Conference: Crossing Borders {Survive| Thrive} blog salon curated by Caridad Svich.)
My talent agents can't be bothered: "It's Spanish! It all sounds the same!" My family cares even less: "Ya cállate con todo ese thee-ate-her artist crap and pass the adobo for the pernil!" Rejection is routine in this crazy business we call show but as a Dominican-American actor and writer, finding the formula to break through a current market that primarily caters only to a specific Hispanic demographic extends the limits of my patience.
For every Latino actor or writer on television shows like The Bridge, Modern Family or the always reliable, Law & Order: SVU, there are dozens of productions without. Up and coming Latino networks such as El Rey and NUVOtv show promise in regards to showcasing a diversity of Latino programming but struggle in viewership. In the now rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic market, bi-lingual talent depends on Spanish speaking television and radio commercial production almost as much as English. And yet… tune into any of the highly-rated Spanish speaking national networks, and you'll come across programming that is geared mainly towards the Mexican community. The majority of recent immigrants are primarily Mexican, and as such, they have become the primary consumer. Networks and mass media bombard us with what they feel is "familiar," but Mexico is not the only country that represents or defines our Latino heritage in the United States.
I spent over fifteen years in Texas and many a time found myself praying to find a Caribbean restaurant that made tostones or a good mofongo! As much as I love Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, I would have given my kingdom for a nice, flat toston fried to perfection and ready to dip in a side of garlic sauce. Sure, I could have bought the platanos, cut and fried them myself… but I also wanted to live another day. No Dominicans in Texas, you say? Not the case. It was definitely finding a needle in a haystack, but with tenacity and persistence, I discovered a small community of Dominicans who mostly remained to themselves. Perhaps this is the challenge. If we isolate and insulate our communities, how are we to be heard? Supply and demand does affect what is being given, but supply can also be influenced by our unified and persistent demand for diverse programming.
Once I broke into the business of television and radio commercials in Texas, I was repeatedly asked to tweak my Caribbean sounding Spanish in order to sound more "neutral." I quickly discovered that "neutral" really meant Mexican. The way advertising companies look at it, markets like Texas and California are primarily Mexican or Mexican-American; therefore the person representing the product being sold should sound like it. Tune into primetime and it's either a Mexican Telenovela and/or show. If it's not Mexican it's certainly made to sound as such. Where do I, as a Dominican-American, fit in? Must I stray from my authentic, Dominican voice in order to book more work in Spanish?
Growing up in the New York City of the 80's, my mother and I were exposed to programs from all over Latin America: Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico… Through the years we got less diverse programming and more of a homogenized vision. The current, number one primetime program on Spanish television is a Mexican Telenovela. It even beats out English speaking programs. Keep watching those telenovelas and you will even notice actors from all over the world speaking in the same, Mexican dialect.
Because I lived in Texas for so many years, I geared my early work as a Latino actor and writer towards the Mexican. This was the primary audience therefore the primary consumer. However, it got to a point where it just didn't feel authentic. I was able to make a living and explored and learned about a culture full of vast history and gorgeous folklore, but my true voice was dormant. Regardless of what market studies showed and what was being presented as mainstream, I decided to go against the norm and write a contemporary, Dominican-American story. Thus the play, La Luz De Un Cigarrillo (Ashes Of Light) was born.
Dominican is the world familiar to me: a life filled with bistec and tostones. Characters such as my mother who hoards a collection of Dominican candy in the freezer, carefully wrapped in aluminum foil; the downstairs Dominican neighbor who swears she's being haunted by the ghost of her "degraciao y aqueroso" dead husband. The Dominican super who gifts everyone a can of Spam for Christmas… The Dominicans in my world don't speak polished Spanish. Not all the "S's" and "R's" are pronounced correctly. Fast and furious rhythms in its musicality; poetic and colorful in its Caribbean influences… La Luz De Un Cigarrillo is about a Dominican-American family dealing with issues rarely touched upon in Latino culture: sexuality and the unbreakable, yet often challenged bond between mother and child. Once the play is written and ready to be sent out, I submit it everywhere I feel appropriate. Not many places in the U.S. to submit plays in Spanish; certainly not Dominican stories.
The Dominican market has rarely been tested in the United States. When was the last time you saw a Transformer morph into a platano? Yet the rarity and uniqueness of the material is the very thing that attracts me to it. Perhaps it's the goat choosing the mountain, as they say. Meanwhile… bills must be paid. The market calls for "neutral" Spanish and I shall give it. As an actor, if you are unable to pull this off you are less likely to book Spanish speaking jobs. I continue to submit my Dominican play while booking work sounding like a Mexican. A platano and taco rolled into one!
Two years later persistence pays off. La Luz De Un Cigarrillo (Ashes Of Light) lands a production at a theater in my hometown of New York… a city with a large amount of Dominican and Dominican-Americans. The play has an extended run, critical raves and a long list of awards. Dominican or not, this is a rare feat in the New York Latino theatre scene. Inspired by its success, I translate the script to English in hopes that regional theaters known for producing Latino works may possibly set me on the path of attracting a broader and more mainstream audience. Interesting responses follow: "Are you willing to make the family Mexican-American? This would widen your audience!" And my personal favorite: "We LOVE In The Heights and did a production of it last year! Thank you!"
Although the play is well received in New York, some theaters outside of the city hesitate to showcase a Dominican-American family in communities where there may not be many Dominicans to target. I persist in my submissions thinking both in and outside the box (Dominicans in Kansas, anyone?). I start to receive calls and emails from folks who take an interest. Universities and theater companies in Chicago, Buffalo, Arizona, Atlanta… To my surprise, most of the places showing interest are linked to bi-lingual communities and/or students that are actually not predominantly Dominican. Holy Elote man! When I enquire why this has not been done in the past the answer is unanimous: "Nobody's written it. And if so, they've certainly never persisted enough." They are elated to have a contemporary, Latino product that goes beyond the familiar. To many who reside in places outside of New York or Boston, the Dominican Republic is only synonymous with all inclusive resort vacations and bachata music. Once the play receives productions outside of New York, the audiences that flock to it are not just Dominican or even Latino. I receive emails from Mexicans, Argentines… Canadians… Even French and Moroccan! Yes, the dialect is different (thank you, subtitles!) but the themes and topics within the play are universal and cross all boundaries making it accessible to most if not all that experience it.
Inspired by the success of La Luz, I write yet another Dominican play: Barceló Con Hielo (Barceló On The Rocks): A story of a man coming to terms with the inner demons slowly destroying his body and the relationship with his children. I submit the play to the MetLife Nuestras Voces national Latino playwright competition. It wins first place and is currently enjoying an extended run at Off-Broadway's internationally recognized Repertorio Español. It has even received raves from English-speaking critics! Interestingly enough, Repertorio Español is a theater company that showcases a diversity of Latino material: Everything from the Mexican play Vagón to the Cuban Aire Frío and over to the Chilean La Casa De Los Espiritus. All of these plays carry their individual cultural token but at the same time universal themes and topics that any Latino, or human being can identify with. It would be ideal for our mainstream media to head in this direction.
With persistence and push, my plays seem to be finding their own niche; creating a mainstream of their own by reaching to the masses not just with the familiarity of a specific dialect but with stories that open the door to conversations in our communities as a whole. When I first decided to write La Luz De Un Cigarrillo (Ashes Of Light) I had no idea it would get produced. I wrote it on faith and need. The need I personally had to hear my dialect and rhythms on stage. As a bi-lingual artist, I needed to go with what I felt closest to. Create my own material and break in via a slower but perhaps truer path. At the same time, it was clear this needed to be a story that everyone could access.
Recently I caught a national laundry detergent commercial airing on a Spanish network. There was a Latino family being showcased. The husband spoke in an Argentine accent and the wife spoke in a Puerto Rican one. Although the accents were different the words were clear and information clearly delivered. A ray of hope in this melting pot called the United States.
For the most part, the English speaking market continues to view Latinos as just one culture. I've gone to many an audition where the casting director automatically assumed I was Mexican. When they are told I'm Dominican they have asked: "What part of Mexico is that?" We must remind the world that we are a diverse culture by providing and supporting work that showcases this very thing. I'm hungry now. Time for some tripa tacos! Or perhaps a mangú with huevo frito and some migas on the side… I hear there's a Cuban-Mexican fusion restaurant opening up on the lower east side of Manhattan… Tostones and chilaquiles under the same roof… ¡ÓRALE¡ and ¡WEPA!
Born and raised in New York City, with roots from the Dominican Republic, Marco is a graduate of La Guardia High School For the Performing Arts in NYC and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Southern Methodist University. He has acted, written, produced and/or directed hits such as Pico de Gallo, Heaven Forbid(s)! (named Outstanding New Play by The Dallas/Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum) and the Southwest Premiere of Rick Najera's Latinologues, which later moved on to Broadway. His short screenplays, Silence, Mariscal and Covenant all placed 1st at the NYC Midnight international screenwriting competitions. His play, La Luz De Un Cigarrillo (Ashes Of Light), received an extended by popular demand run at New York's Off-Broadway LATEA theater, Lehman Stages and Dominican Republic's Teatro Las Máscaras. It is the recipient of 5 HOLA, 4 ACE and 3 prestigious Soberano awards, including Outstanding Achievement In Playwriting and directing. La Luz De Un Cigarrillo(Ashes Of Light) has been published in both Spanish and English editions by NoPassport Press and has been added for study to the 2013-2014 University Of Puerto Rico Spanish department curriculum as well as the 2013-2014 Spanish and Caribbean Studies Department Curriculum at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Marco Antonio is the recipient of the distinguished Cultural Arts & Entertainment Award given by The New York State Hispanic Court Officer's Society. His most recent play, Barceló Con Hielo (Barceló On The Rocks), won the MetLife Nuestras Voces Playwriting competition at Repertorio Español in New York City and is the recipient of the 2014 HOLA award for Outsanding Achievement In playwriting. Barceló Con Hielo is currently enjoying an extended run at Repertorio Espanõl. www.marcoantoniorodriguez.com


text:
Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity is the largest exhibition devoted to the artist held in London since 1913. The show explores Lawrence Alma-Tadema's fascination with the representation of domestic life in antiquity and how this interest related to his own domestic circumstances expressed through the two remarkable studio-houses that he created in St John's Wood together with his wife Laura and daughters.
The tours include exhibition highlights and insights into the fascinating life and career of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Doors open at 6pm for a complimentary drink before the tour starts at 6:30pm
Daniel Robbins is Senior Curator, Museums with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and is responsible for Leighton House Museum and 18 Stafford Terrace, two of London's best-loved house museums. He has organised many exhibitions and has contributed to numerous catalogues and publications around nineteenth-century art, architecture and design, including the authorship of the companion guidebook to Leighton House Museum published in 2011. He was also responsible for leading the award-winning project to refurbish and restore Leighton House, completed between 2008 and 2010.
>>Tickets are non-refundable; for further enquiries please contact Leighton House Museum at email@example.com


text:
Diet Coke and Mentos Geyser (Part 2)
Lesson 8 of 9
Objective: SWBAT plan and conduct a fair test using predetermined variables and outcomes and record measurement data.
In this lesson, students will be taking the materials the class voted for, and turning their ideas into a scientifically testable question.
I pass out the investigation sheets and have students glue them into their notebooks. I give them a few minutes to answer the first three questions on their own, before sharing answers in small groups, then with the whole class.
Resources (1)
Resources (1)
I take my class outside, where I've taped measuring tapes to the wall, one for each group. I confirm with each group they figured out who would do what in a fair way before distributing materials.
After each group completes their test and records their data, they'll begin graphing their results. When all groups are done testing, I'll bring them back inside.
Drawing conclusions is not something we've talked about this early in the year, so I will give them a little extra support here. I'm looking for something like "The more Mentos you put in, the higher the geyser," or "More than five Mentos does not change the height of the geyser." Students will then be expected to cite their evidence that supports their conclusions.


text:
Reviews for Bradley
February 2017 | Private Adaptable Gallery
Bradley was responsive and helpful from our first connection right through to check-out. He was quick in responding to all my questions and ensured we had all the amenities we needed. The room was clean and bright as advertised and was just the right size for our needs, the location was unbeatable, and the price was right. Altogether, excellent value for money.
December 2016 | Vancouver Art And Leisure
Our student film crew had an absolutely marvellous experience at the VAL. Our hosts were immensely accommodating and the space is just so fantastic and versatile. There were no complaints from anyone on our team and we would gladly recommend it to anyone else looking for a venue!!
December 2016 | Private Adaptable Gallery
Bradley is a clear communicator and a considerate host. The location is great and the room itself is setup thoughtfully to accommodate basic event needs. Bradley is friendly, relaxed and easy to work with. Overall, excellent value for the price. I would rent this space from Bradley again in the future. Tips: - if your event relies on high speed wifi, check in before booking to make sure your devices work in the space
September 2016 | Private Adaptable Gallery
Bradley has to be one of the coolest guys around. He went above and beyond to help us make out art show a success. He was very accommodating to all our needs... We loved him as much as we loved the venue space.
September 2016 | Vancouver Art And Leisure
Flexible with everything including multiple times to view the space prior to our production and going above and beyond by connecting us with other local artists. We ended up having to stay later than expected on our first night and the VAL team was overly accommodating to our needs.


text:
Joseph A. Esh, PGA
Main Address:
Under Armour
1020 Hull St
Baltimore, MD 21230-5356
1020 Hull St
Baltimore, MD 21230-5356
Joseph Esh is a PGA Professional in Baltimore, MD. The PGA of America comprises nearly 29,000 PGA Professionals with one singular goal in mind - to make the game of golf more enjoyable for you.
Services Offered:
- Play Golf of America Participant
Welcome to Golf Month
National Awards
- 2006 PGA President's Council on Growing the Game
Home » Golf Courses » Montana » Missoula » » Joseph A. Esh, PGA
PGA of America Championships
Le Golf National
Guyancourt, France
Bethpage State Park, Black Course
Farmingdale, New York
Oak Hill Country Club
Rochester, New York


text:
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Gift Guide: For the Beauty Guru
22 comments:
I've been looking at different curling wands... this one looks great! Awesome list.ReplyDelete
I loveall the products you selected!!!ReplyDelete
Be Happy with Fashion
Ooh, I love these beauty gifts, too fun!ReplyDelete
I LOVE receiving beauty gifts! These are all hits!ReplyDelete
xo | The Fashion Forecast
cute makeup bagReplyDelete
Love that curling wand!ReplyDelete
xo, tasha
twenty-something blog
Great gift guide.ReplyDelete
Blonde in Cashmere
Is it worth buying the one with 3 barrels? I use a 1" barrel now, I am just curious if it is worth getting the set with extra barrels.ReplyDelete
Thank you! Great gift guide all were on my list to get and buy already!!!Replies
Hey Brittany,Delete
Yes I think it's worth it!! I like the other two barrels, especially for beachy hair, I just don't use them as often. The good thing is that you can switch them out depending on what you want and each barrel so high quality.
Love them allReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2015 at 5:31 PM
So random, but how do you keep your curls in tact over night? Do you sleep with your hair down or pin them up a certain way? Thanks!ReplyDelete
Great picks! Love the beauty blender and the contour kit!ReplyDelete
I love that gift stuff. I wish someone would bring them to me.ReplyDelete
I have the same coutour kit:PReplyDelete
Shall We Sasa
I tried that Anastasia contour kit but I didn't love it. I ended up with the cover fx oneReplyDelete
The color palette
Love every single one of these picks!ReplyDelete
I love getting face masks in my stocking, they're great gifts!ReplyDelete
xoxo, SS
The Southern Stylista
I really want to take the plunge and buy that curling iron! Looks awesome!! xoReplyDelete
Cool things!ReplyDelete
Cool! This list is so inspiring, especially for the one who use lots of makeup in daily basis yet still quite kooky to it like me XD heheReplyDelete
Naïve Live
Follow the blog on Bloglovin
Great gift guide! That contour kit is my favorite :)ReplyDelete
xx Kathryn
I really need this curler in my life! I know it's a gift guide, but I really want to get this for myself haha ;)ReplyDelete


text:
What kind of chair is good for back pain?
When looking for chairs and recliners, one of the main things you should know is what kind of position are you comfortable in? Do you like to sit or "sit back"? If you are just sitting on the chair, a very comfortable way to deal with your back pain will be to look for chairs with good lumbar support. It is very crucial that you never just recline back by putting force on your back, or lean ahead completely for that matter.
On the other hand, if you want to rest your whole body in a sleeping position or a semi-sleeping position, you could opt for lounge chairs with or without ottoman. These lounges should be very soft to touch, but the back should be strong so as to support your entire back in a locked position.
Back pain eventually leads to disability
Did you know? More than 10 percent of men and about 8.7 percent of women will suffer from back pain in their life, and a research[1] done in University of Queensland's School of Population Health (Australia) suggests that it is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Employees in US lose their work days more due to growing back pain than due to any other illness or condition. More specifically, almost 1 in 10 people.Credit: Pixabay
Although the exact reason or reasons is not clear, much has to do with how people sit on the chair, what their daily chores are and also their occupation. Those who sit on the chair for longer hours can expect their back to ache. In other words, sitting is the new smoking.
1. Perfect Chair for Workaholics - Think ChairCredit: Amazon
The THINK fabric chair from Steelcase is actually the real deal when it comes to choosing the best chair for working all day at work or your home office.Credit: Steelcase Asia
This responsive and innovative chair comes with a guaranteed 300 pounds weight performance. The lumbar support is automatic. As you move on your chair throughout the day, lean back, lean forth and adjust yourself continuously, its brain learns what you need - then adjusts itself to give you comfort and give your back support. It has a very clean, sleek and thin streamlined design and compliments your body too.Credit: Steelcast TV via YouTube
The lumbar support in the chair is easy to adjust based on the position of your back.
As you edge in and out from the chair, the chair flexes its seat edge. This not only relieves the pressure on the back of the legs, also provides extra support on the lower back.
Think Intelligent Chair (video)
2. Viva Office - Extra Padded Bonded Leather Chair
For the 2014 Holidays, Viva Office is offering 53% discount on this exact model. This is over $180 in just discounts. Technically modeled as VIVA06051, this bonded leather computer chair is fit for desk office. Easily adjust the height and the intensity of lumbar support. Rated 5 stars and voted the best chair for the price.
- Leather smells so great
- Authentic strong Nylon base
- Headrest cushion, back rest cushion
- Waterfall design of the seat edge provides pain-free legs and ankles
3. Intex Recreational Lounge with OttomanCredit: Amazon
Whenever you like to come out from your room and chat with people, see the TV in the living room or just read a magazine, this lounge recliner with ottoman is the perfect set for dealing with back pain.
One of the best features is that it also comes with a coffee cup holder. It can hold coffee, tea, paper cups, water bottles and even a cup of popcorn - perfect for watching TV and movies. Everything is made of durable vinyl which is waterproof and stainproof too.
Amazon Price: $33.25 $23.99 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 23, 2014)
Money Saving Tip: You don't need to buy their air compressor/pump to inflate this couch. Your vacuum cleaner will do it.
Does smoking increase back pain? Yes!
It does. According to the back pain fact sheet[2] by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (a component of NIH within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), smoking promotes the pain and actually stops the healing of lower back.
If you are a smoker, try to reduce or quit completely because smoking stops the blood flow to the spines and deteriorates the spinal discs.
4. Acme Recliner
Amazon Price: $319.00 $179.00 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 23, 2014)
Exercising your core is very easy and effective for back pain
Sitting all the time is not the way out, though. Whenever you can, you have to get up, walk, David Pasion, an MPT at Emory University Healthcare Physical Therapy says that the most important thing you can do to isolate and work the Transverse Abdominis is to do whatever exercise you can do to keep your gut contracting and relaxing.
This means, being active more often, doing crunches, lifting heavy weights and even bending down to clean your room etc. The more you do this, the more your muscles respond. This method used in conjunction with sitting on a very comfortable chair for your back will eventually reduce the chances of back pain and relieve you in time.clean your room and do your chores. According to the fitness experts and doctors, the Transversus Abdominis muscle is the one most important muscle responsible for core stability and back pain. If we know how to move it, exercise it and work it out by isolating it, it will lead to contraction and relaxation of other abdominal muscles as well. This will keep both your core and your back in check.
5. Dorel Splitback Futon for Living Room
Amazon Price: $338.99 $179.00 Buy Now
(price as of Dec 23, 2014)
Honestly, it is a perfect combination of art and ergonomics.


text:
EDCI 506 Governing and Administering Week #5Friday, September 28th, 2012
Governing and Administering
Why are higher test scores sometimes difficult for students (and teachers) to produce?
In the video that we watched the special education teacher mentioned how a lot of times standardized tests are not focusing on the little gains in students' education, instead they are only looking for major gains, and that was frustrating to her. She discussed how the student, herself, and other colleagues have worked really hard to make progress, and that they are making progress (Foundations). The standardized tests are ones that only assess the child on one day out of the whole year, which the teachers in the video thought made for a bad system. Another teacher that the video highlighted said that the test does not know her students like she does, if they are sick that day, or if their parents are going through a divorce the test does not know that information. She said she gets to assess them all year round, which is what standardized assessments should be doing (Foundations). All of these reasons are many reasons as to why it is difficult for students and teachers alike to produce higher test scores. There are so many factors that go into producing high test scores such as family life, wellness of the particular test day, amount of sleep the child has had, has the child eaten that day, what is going on in the students social life, their motivation level, and many other factors.
Do you think the NCLB Act is an effective and accurate way to measure school and student performance?
Personally, I do not think that NCLB has an effective and accurate way to measure school and student performance, and there are a lot of other people who agree with me. One reason why I do not believe it to be effective and accurate is because it is only one test on one day out of the entire school year. The amount of factors that go into a student performing well, which will ultimately reflect upon the schools performance, are many. For the student, they may be having family problems, they may be sick, they may have distracting thoughts about other areas of their life, there are so many factors, that one test on one day just cannot capture all that a child can do. This idea that one test on one day of the year is not enough, is supported by the video we watched for this week (Foundations).
Another reason why I do not believe it to be an effective and accurate way to measure performance is because all students are different and perform at different levels, but yet they are all expected to meet a minimum standard. For example, a child may have been 2 grade levels behind in performance, made huge gains during the year and are now currently are performing only a half grade level behind, but the standards according to the NCLB act do not capture those types of gains. Diane Ravitch agrees with me, she says "I try to encourage people who study child development to speak up, to say, this is wrong, children develop in different ways and at different paces and respond differently to different experiences. Standardized tests can't be the measure of all things that have to do with children" (Educational Leadership, 2012).
A third reason why I do not think the NCLB act is an effective and accurate way to measure student and school performance is because it is only measures the minimal competency levels and only measures specific subjects. In some of my other courses at UMW, we are discussing the multiple forms of intelligences; if a child is not very good at math, but has a lot of intelligence in the musical areas, does that mean they child is not intelligent in any areas according to standards? There are many reasons why the NCLB act does not provide effective and accurate forms of performance measurements from the students and school, but these are just a few of my ideas.
What will you do if a student with a disability is in your classroom? How will you meet their specific needs? Who will you consult for assistance?
I am assuming that at some time or another in my teaching career I will have children with disabilities in my classroom. I think and hope I will treat them as fairly and as equally as possible and make sure that I am including them in all of the lessons, which I will make appropriate for their specific level. I think that I would do more research on whatever disability they may have, and try to understand it to the best of my ability. I would also find research based instructional tips that deal specifically with students who have the same or similar disability and use those in my lessons to better my instruction and to better meet the needs of that child. Of course I will accommodate the assignments and evaluation processes where necessary, and will also modify the curriculum where necessary. I also hope to have a very collaborative relationship with the special education teacher, and any other specialist that can guide me in how to better serve all children, but especially children with disabilities.
Think of a few teaching reforms that are currently taking place in a school, district, or state. Which reforms do you think will stick? Why? Which instructional practices have remained constant? What factors contribute to their persistence?
One reform that has changed teaching practices is the accountability reform that coincides with the NCLB Act. I do not think that this reform will stay around because I think it is going to be nearly impossible to have all children in the U.S. meet the proficiency standards set for English and Math by 2014. In a New York Times article (2011), Larry K. Shumway, a Superintendent in Utah, is quoted saying, "Pretty soon all the schools will be failing in America, and at that point the law becomes meaningless." I think that it has stayed around this long so far because of its good intentions, and also because of how difficult it is to change national reforms like this.
Another teaching reform that is very controversial is tracking. Tracking has been going on for a long time. Our textbook dates tracking back to the colonial periods and before, it reads, "The colonists at first recreated the socioeconomic class-based dual-track school system that they had known in Europe. Boys and girls from the lower socioeconomic class attended primary schools… Meanwhile, the upper-class boys attended Latin grammar schools… (Orstein, Levine, & Gutek, 2011, p.128). Currently tracking is a system being practiced in many schools across America. Children are being identified as advanced and therefore take advanced classes in all areas, and the same goes for underperformers. But are these children who are identified as advanced and college material really advanced in ALL areas? And are the underperformers really underperforming in all areas and are bound to blue-collar jobs? There are many pros and cons to a tracking system and that is why I think it has been around for so long. Jeannie Oakes is a scholar in the area of tracking and has written many books on the topic. In one of her books, Keeping Track, she discusses the viewpoints of people for and against tracking. One of the reasons for it is because it helps teacher be able to tailor their lessons to a more specific population, and it also might make the students feel more comfortable by being surrounded by peers with similar abilities. A reason against tracking it because it makes the self-fulfilling prophecy come true; a teacher's expectations about students will become reality (Oakes, 1986). Tracking is a system that has been around for a very long time and will continue to stay around because many people see the system as beneficial.
Here is some more information on tracking from Jeannie Oakes perspective. You do not have to read the whole thing, but it has a lot of good information if you wanted to know more about tracking.
Dillion, S. (2011, August 14). State challenges seen as whittling away federal education law. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/education/15educ.html?_r=0
Dodge, A. & Ravitch, D. (2011). The resourceful school. Educational Leadership 69(4). 54-58.
Foundations: aligning instruction with federal legislation (Video file). Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Retrieved form http://college.cengage.com/education/resources/students/video_cases/protected/hmfm_education/index.html?layer=act&src=qtiworkflowflash_vc42_screen.xml
Oakes, J. (1986). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality (2nd ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Ornstein, A.C., Levine, D.U., & Gutek, G.L. (2011). Foundations of education (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.


text: Group B streptococci colonize the nasopharynx, digestive tract and vagina. Most isolators are identified as S. agalactiae. Despite the fact that the microorganism can be isolated from the vagina with 25-45% pregnant women, the main reservoir is considered to be the digestive tract. In terms of serology, group B streptococci can be divided into serovars Ia, Ib, Ic, II and III. Serovar bacteria are trophic to the tissue of the central nervous system and respiratory tract and most often cause meningitis with neonates. The way of contamination is the advancing of the fetus through the generative passage infected by streptococci.