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Dan Pink is hot these days within NAIS– the keynote speaker in March for the annual convention, he was excellent. His book is a very user-friendly introduction of what to think about when considering what the fast changing world will demand of us in the years to come.
August 2008
August 29, 2008
Daniel Pink and Good SchoolsPosted by Jonathan Martin under General
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August 26, 2008
Marzano on Research-Based Instructional StrategiesPosted by Jonathan Martin under General | Tags: Marzano, Research Based Best Practices |
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Classroom Instruction that Works, the book is called, and it is a very valuable primer, it could be a terrific school-wide bible and centerpiece for referencing what is research based teaching excellence. It consists of very good, solid, meta-analysis of hundreds of research reports. Comparing and Contrasting, Quality Note-taking, Recognizing Student Achievement, Promoting Student Effort, Homework, Quality Feedback: they really do make a real difference.
Now, three caveats:
1. Marzano's 'scientific' agenda is explicit, and induces in me a conflicted response. He is determined to shift the field of teaching "from an 'art' to a 'science.'" For me, whose ten year teaching career began right out of college, and for which I never had a teaching credential or 'scientific' teaching preparation, I was always proud of the 'art' of my teaching: inspired, inspiring, engaging, vigorous, intellectual, problematizing, richly relational– but never, I thought, never 'scientific.' And yet, here I am, ready to embrace the significance of research supported instructional strategies– and I am, ready to, but still seeking to reconcile or synthesize them with the value of teaching 'artistry.' What does this mean in practice? In hiring, it means I will still value, still eagerly hire an artistic teacher (uncredentialed, unschooled in the research, but passionate about subject, energetic and engaging interpersonally), but I will ask, insist, that these folks be serious about studying Marzano, and utilizing this kind of research in lesson planning, and I won't consider someone who in some way indicates a lack of interest or readiness to employ research-based strategies.
2. Achievement here in Marzano is a pretty narrow concept– it is about standardized test scores. Everything recommended in the book, every research-based strategy, is established upon the evidence it raises test scores, but we can worry that there is more to learning and school than that. What about motivation, what about curiosity, what about compassion, what about creativity, what about mental health, what about participation, what about the many things we want instruction to accomplish that are not measured by test scores?
3. As Marzano himself acknowledges, even calls attention to, there is no differentiation here for grade levels or aptitude. A struggling LD student in first grade and an IB honors student in 12th grade might, we could guess, benefit from dramatically different instructional strategies, yet this book offers no such differentiation. Marzano writes that "teachers should rely on their knowledge of their students, their subject matter, and their situation to indentify the most appropriate instructional strategies [from amongst the ones in this work]."
Marzano appears very much to this writer to lay a good claim to being the Jim Collins of educational research. I realize they are different in their approach to research: Collins and his team do original, long-term, rich research, whereas Marzano uses the tool of meta-analysis of exisiting research. But they parallel each other in the seriousness of their following the data: there is no agenda, no bias, no pre-condition– they want to wallow in as deep a data pool as they can, and from the deep data only generate the significant strategies. (They are both based in Colorado, too.).
Marzano organizes his book into 9 suggested strategies (some of which are awkwardly combined pairs of strategies), each with its own chapter, and then five more "specific type of knowledge." What he calls "The Nine" I think could be considered as 18 or 19 in total. I am choosing to focus my discussion on about dozen of them, organized in the order he offers, which roughly corresponds to the significance of each, i.e. the size of impact they make on student achievement, from most to least.
1. Identifying Similarities & Differences, (or Comparing & Contrasting)
This teaching "strategy" tops Marzano's list, with by far the greatest impact on student learning, which comes as a bit of a relief to me, a former English and History teacher who has assigned many, many compare and contrast essays in my time. The found impact is enormous– an average effect size of 1.61, or a percentile increase of 45 points! Admittedly it is a pretty large category– so large that you can start to wonder whether it a bit tautological to say that it is a recommended instrutional strategy, it being so central to all teaching. Contained within the category are Venn Diagrams, C&C essays, and learning of metaphor and analogues. To whit: "Researchers have found these mental operations to be basic to human thought. Indeed, they might be considered the 'core' of all learning." Yes. Certainly, making metaphors and finding analogues are intellectual projects that define us as humans, and we do need to teach this, explicitly and emphatically. A tad self-evident, but essential to be sure.
2. Notetaking
Students who know how to, and have been taught effectively to, take notes, will be significantly more successful. This is true too of the closely related and intertwined work of summarizing. Some points: Verbatim notetaking is the least effective way to take notes; notes should be considered works in progress; notes should be used as study guides for tests; the more notes that are taken, the better. (I have a vivid memory of being a freshman in college, preparing for my first final exams, and being a bit overwhelmed by the vast quantity of information in my Comp. Gov course. I spent about 8 hours rewriting all my lecture notes into my computer, and was subsequently stunned by the mastery I felt during the exam.) "Although we sometimes refer to summarizing and note-taking as mere 'study skills,' they are two of the most powerful skills students can cultivate. They provide students with the tools for identifying and understanding the most important aspects of what they are learning."
3. Reinforcing Effort
Carol Dweck's book, Mindset, is quite in vogue this year, and it should be. Her research very powerfully demonstrates the significance of how we think about our abilities, and if we just can persuade ourself to believe that if we try hard enough to do something, our performance dramatically improves. It is the same here: A student's "belief in effort is the most useful attribution" for success. "Not all students realize the importance in believing in effort," but "students can learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort." "Reinforcing effort can help teach students one of the most valuable lessons they can learn– the harder you try, the more successful you are."
4. Recognition of Student Accomplishment
Marzano really dives into this complicated subject, and jumps into the fray regarding praise, rewards and intrinsic v. extrinsic motivation. Many of are steeped in Alfie Kohn's fierce advocacy for exclusively intrinsic motivation, and so it greatly appreciated that Marzano explicitly speaks to Alfie. Marzano does accept Kohn in that there is evidence of rewards creating a small decrease in intrinsic motivation when measured by students' "free time activity" but not when measuring students attitudes or ability/achievement. To summarize: "rewards do not necessarily have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation; reward is most effective when it is contigent on the attainment of some standard of performance; and, abstract symbolic recognition , especially praise, is more effective than tangible rewards." "Providing recognition for attainment of specific goals not only enhances achievement, but it stimulates motivation." This really resonates here: I don't like prizes or rewards, and don't want gimmicky motivators, but praise matters– it impacts– especially when it is specific, contigent, spontaneous, and attributes success to effort.
5. Homework
Homework adds value, the research establishes. We are all enaged in the 21st c. "homework wars," thanks in part again to Alfie Kohn, but the research of Marzano, with much reference to Duke's homework guru Harris Cooper. Points to consider, all of with which I concur: it should ratchet upwards with advancing grades, but should start as early as second grade; parental involvement should be minimized; homework purpose should be clearly articulated; if homework is assigned it should be commented upon; and schools should establish and communicate a homework policy. Homework is a good thing, and the 10xgradelevel rule is a really useful rule of thumb.
6. Nonlinguistic Representation
Learning via multiple modalities is common currency these days: let's provide, insist, students engage with and master concepts via approaches other than verbal/linguistic. Draw a picture, create a diagram, act out a performance: create visual/symbolic and bodily/kinesthetic learning opportunities for everything complex. And, it is not just a good idea: the research supports it strongly. "Probably the most underutilized instructional category of all those reviewed in this book– creating nonlinguistic representations– helps students understand content in a whole new way."
7. Cooperative Learning
Do it thoughfully, avoid ability grouping, do it sparingly, keep groups small, and student learning does improve. "Of all classroom grouping strategies, cooperative learning may be the most flexible learning and powerful." I would add that today's digital tools can really enhance this approach; student chat rooms, peer review, classroom bulletin boards, asynchronous classroom discussion all can make for high quality cooperative learning. The student work demonstrated by English teacher Jonathan Howland at Urban School for instance, where his students posed to each other textual interpretations and got engaged in so-what and problematizing naysaying (see Graff) discourse really helped them sharpen their writing and argumentation, and it is all done, or mostly done, digitally.
8. Providing Feedback
Powerful it can be. Marzano refers to another meta-analysis, of nearly 8000 studies (!): "the most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simples prescription for improving education must be 'dollops of feedback.'" Marzano makes these points: "Feedback should be corrective; timely, specific and criterion referenced; and students can effectively provide some of their own feedback." Rubrics, Marzano goes on to point out, can be a valuable tool for feedback.
9. Questioning
Like Wiggins and Graff, two others I have been reading lately, the point made here is that research supports instructional strategies by which students really organize their learning around key, critical, higher level, analytical questions. Wait, pause, before accepting students answers– and use questions throughout as a framing technique and followup. Ask students to critique in order to sharper their questioning and analysis.
10. Vocabulary
Delving into what Marzano calls teaching specific types of knowledge, I want to call attention to two of his five key points. First, he presents a strong research backed case for teaching vocabulary "in a systematic way at virtually every grade level." He engages with, and counters, the argument which I have been a fan of at times that reading alone– sustained silent reading it is sometimes called– will do enough to, or even will better achieve the goal of bolstering vocabulary. Instead, he says "students must encounter words in context many times to learn them, instruction in new words enhances learning those words in context, one of the best ways to learn a new word is to associate an image with it, direct vocabulary instruction works, and finally, direct instruction on words that are critical to new content produces the most powerful learning." Sign me up for support of more frequent, more concentrated vocabulary instruction.
11. Organizing Ideas
Finally– and forgive my long-windedness– I like Marzano's discussion of what he calls "organizing ideas," and I think he gives it short shrift. Details are important, and another section of this chapter deals with how to teach details, but I am more drawn to the case for having students use "generalizations" to organize their ideas, and to understand why we bother with details in the first place: to support general ideas or propositions with supporting facts. I also like the connection here to Graff, whom I wrote about yesterday, and who is a great advocate for the theory we must teach to think via argument. To quote Marzano: "The biggest conceptual change comes when students must provide a sound defense or argument for their position."
August 22, 2008
Schools for Visiting: How are they Chosen?Posted by Jonathan Martin under General
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Many will wonder are schools selected for visiting? Well, first and most simply, they are coming from my own first-hand knowledge of Bay Area schools, schools where I already know administrators whom I can prevail upon to welcome me.
Second, I will be expanding my outreach to schools which I know of to have "good" qualities worthy of observing. Examples would be IB schools, schools featured in the recent Ed. Leadership issue on "reshaping high schools," schools known for innovative programs.
Third, I welcome nominations and invitations. Like me to visit a school or your own. Recommend it to the school's administrator to invite me, or nominate yourself.
August 22, 2008
Graff's Clueless in AcademePosted by Jonathan Martin under General
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I've long been a Graff fan–I thought his Beyond the Culture Wars: How Teaching the Conflicts Can Revitalize American Education the best treatment of how to teach the so-called Culture Wars, to bring them right into the classroom and make them part of an engaging curriculum.
His latest isn't as good– Clueless in Academe makes a fine, but small argument, and might have been better in a shorter version, an Atlantic or Harper's magazine article, perhaps. But though smaller than the size of the book, the idea at its heart is really a helpful handle on the question of why don't students "get" academic argument. Because we don't teach it, Graff says; we treat the somewhat artificial and certainly alien construct of academic argument as somehow implicit, when it needs to be made explicit and modeled before students can be effectively initiated into the "game of persuasive argument," or what we might call the land of "Arguespeak."
His target audience is for teachers of introductory college students AND, even more so I'd argue, most high school students. He tells a funny story that resonates here about sharing with new college students articles from Allan Bloom and bell hooks, and finding his students couldn't differentiate between them because they were equally foreign in the abstraction of their argumentation. He cites Gardner on the point that students are often "insensitive to the vocabulary of argument: 'contend,' 'hypothesize,' 'refute,' and 'contradict.'" And there is the "problem-problem." Academics know that their work depends on "problematizing" texts or topics so as to have an angle for argument and analysis– to answer the so-what question– but students at the outset are often only frustrated by why we are asking them to make a problem out of something seemingly simple. (This is not news to any of us who have taught high school students, I realize, that they are sometimes frustrated by problematization, but sometimes we as teachers get frustrated with their frustrations, rather than realizing they are predicated on our lack, Graff suggests, of laying a metacognition understanding of why we problematize in the first place.)
I enjoy Graff's reassertion that argumentation is at the heart of persuasive writing and clearer thinking; it offers a stimulating connection as well to Grant Wiggins work, and his lesson that we must construct our units around "essential questions," and essential questions must be things that can and are argued about, vigorously, ideally outside the classroom as well as in it. That is good teaching for understanding for Wiggins, making it paramount for both writers. Graff says "Conflict and controversy should be made more central for the curriculum." He laments, pointedly, that "most American students go through their entire high school and college careers without ever witnessing a debate between their teachers."
The real practical suggestions come in the chapter/essay, Why Johnny Can't Argue. Here, Graff grapples with what we all have in high school, and middle school, writing: its flatness, its tone of summary or perfunctory recitation. The teaching trick, (and I know this is not revelatory, many of us do it all the time, but it is important) is that "students write better when they have conversations to enter.. the key point is that in order to make your own argument, you have to write someone else's voice into your own text." Introduce and emphasize, push hard upon, the "so what" question: a reader over your shoulder, pressing your thesis: so what? Who cares? Plant inside your text a naysayer. "Instructing students to write a naysayer into their text is the single most effective device I have come up with in teaching writing."
Teach the controversy, put argument into the heart of the curriculum, wrestle with essential questions, and have kids write as conversants in the "volleyball" game of intellectual discourse, explicitly introducing them to arguespeak. Their thinking will clarify, their analysis sharpen, their engagement grow, and their preparation improve.
August 19, 2008
Thompson, The Pressured Child, and ShadowingPosted by Jonathan Martin under General
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As noted, Michael Thompson and this book are major influences on my project.
Michael has long been an inspiration– there is no better counselor about children's social/emotional lives. Michael, (and I call him that because I did get to know him well as a member of his small group at a week-long conference in 2000), blends a vivid memory of his own childhood with an acute perception of the trials and struggles of growing up and an astounding degree of compassion and sensitivity. His works, particularly Best Friend, Worst Enemies, are for this school-leader the bible about children and their development.
In The Pressured Child (2004), he tackles the elusive subject of what makes a student successful in school. To best understand their experience in school, Michael "felt the need to shadow students" across the course of a school day. As quoted in the blog heading, and in what is something of a motto for this blog project, he writes at the end of his introduction: "A critical part of our job as educators and parents is to understand a child's daily experience in school… Let's go back to school."
Michael writes he is there to shadow one student, but to learn from all. As a child psychologist, his focus is a bit different from that of this educational administrator: he is primarily concerned with observing the students: their affect, attitude, and strategies.
School, as Michael sees it, is difficult for all students– every bit as harsh as life, deeply flawed places, a high stakes game, challenging places, an Appalachian Trail like hike of endurance, blisters, perseverence, and exhaustion. Don't you dare condescend or patronize a high school student– or envy them their playful, free from responsibility existence. It is grueling having others set your schedule, having to be at the mercy of teachers (not all of whom you respect), and making your way through the alternatingly demanding and boring routines. "No one has an easy time of it in school. "
[Myself, I don't know. My first reaction is Not-me! I loved high school– well, on deeper reflection, let's say I got to a point somewhere in the spring of my 11th grade (nearly 3/4 of my way through it, I suppose I should acknowledge) where I felt very confident, very connected, very engaged, and very stimulated by the life of my school. In that spring, and for most of my senior year, I wanted to be at school all the time; I was entirely enthralled with my studies, my friends, and my student activities.
But even then, even at the height of my high school experience, Thompsonian experiences still existed, in plenty. My Math teacher in both 11th and 12th grades, the same one, was a horror, and at times senior year I was in almost open defiance of her petty demands of me; I was at a bit of a loss for what was expected in my 12th grade honors philosophy class; I had a series of melodramas in relationships with old friends and new girlfriends. And I haven't begun to grapple with the difficulties of my 9th and 10th grade years. Thompson is right, and it is important to note: even for students who do, genuinely, like school, and are good at school, school is not exclusively an "easy time of it." (And, this mini self-lesson also teaches us to be suspect of our first blush nostalgia– it is easy to say to ourselves or our kids "I LOVED high school" and be in enormous denial about so much of it.)]
But as much as he is focussed on the kids themselves, at times his insights on children and adoloscents have, of course, important implications regarding the goodness of schools.
Ultimately, the hallmarks of Thompsonian good schools can be reduced to two:
People and Purpose.
People: A good school is a genuine community, a social environment where kids are connected to each other in genuine ways, AND, that kids and teachers have an ongoing, "meaningful, reciprical relationship." This is something that kids "crave," they seek out, and they constantly monitor. The critical concept of trust stands in for this meaningful relationship: "the sense of trust between teachers and students turns out to be an excellent measure of the quality of the days experience… the drama of trsuting or not trusting the teachers and the school plays out in the lives of children throughout their years in school. The teachers they trust they describe as 'nice,' 'fair,' 'funny,' 'strict but good,' or even just 'okay.'" Children, Michael writes in summation, are "always searching for a relationship with an adult that is challenging and supportive for them. It's also crucial that it's clear that the relationship means something to the frown-up too… Every child is looking for a teacher who finds her special."
Speaking for myself now, I am sure manyof us remember our school years with the greatest enthusiasm for those teachers with whom we shared a genuine relationship. Teachers, or coaches, or sometimes administrators or staff: in any case, those adults who we really connected with. My seventh grade Social Studies with whom I enjoyed the Current Events Club; my tenth grade Spanish teacher whom I often bicycled to school alongside; my studiedly eccentric US History teacher who challenged my to think harder and get past my superficial and trivial historical understanding; the school registrar (later college counselor) with whom I bonded with over our shared passion for liberal politics.
Purpose: At a good school, students enjoy a meaningful curriculum and an authentic education. "Children want to feel successful," they are "always searching for feelings of mastery," and more than that, "they want to feel useful." It is "our job to provide them with meaningful experiences of mastery." Good schools avoid the trap of putting students through the "many years of enforced uselessness brought about by our extended educational process."
There has to be purpose explicit and engaging for good schooling: "If a high school teacher does not have an answer for the question [why do we need to learn this], other than some boring response such as 'it's required,' or 'it's on the APs,' or 'you'll need it in college,' then she has failed the test of wisdom." Children, like everyone (!), needs to feel a "growing sense of power…: physical strength, social competence, intellectual mastery, and personal efficacy." When this happens, all too rarely, for students, "the student is incredibly excited, and she will try to reproduce that feeling again and again."
(An interesting aside from Michael reveals his disdain for substitute teachers: as well meaning as they may be, they are not in a position either of genuine relationship or of, most times, meaningful lesson-giving. "A majority of classes led by substitutes are a waste of the students' time." He comes pretty close to suggesting what I know is the preference or default practice at some independent high schools– providing a free period may be a better use of the time of these young adults than a substitute teacher's lesson.)
A few last words about Michael's practice of student shadowing: Michael's reporting is more critical than is my intent– he is very much focussed on revealing how challenging school is for kids, and my intent is to observe and share best practices in action. Michael doesn't ever communicate, to this reader anyway, any hard or fixed "rules" of shadowing: he chats with students, he talks to teachers, he follows up on questions with later inquiries. And, he finds shadowing hard– he gets restless, he get frustrated, he gets tired. All of which he reports to us, the reader, so we can experience the feeling of student-hood.
August 19, 2008
FAQ's: School Visits and Student ShadowingPosted by Jonathan Martin under General
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What are the goals and purposes of the school visits, student shadowing, and blog?
The primary goal is to share observations of contemporary best practices of good, 21st century high schools, and invite feedback and on-line conversation about them, in order to better reflect upon and advocate for 21st c. K-12 education, the mission of my website http://www.21k12.net. More personally, I have the aim of leading K-12 schools over the course of the next thirty years, and I think this project will help me grow to be a better school-leader, and my future students will have the visited-schools to thank.
Is this a commercial project?
No, there are no fees associated with this project, and there is no intention or expectation of it being a revenue generating project.
Is this intended for parents who are school shopping/comparing?
No. This site will not compare, rate, rank, or evaluate schools, and the site will not be promoted/distributed to consumer parents. Some, many, or most schools might end up being masked in identity anyway. This is intended as an educators' site, reporting and reflecting on observed best practices.
What would be a typical school visit by Jonathan?
There may end up being no typical visit, but looking forward, my ideal visit will be one where I am able to spend an entire school day shadowing a school-identified student, preferably a junior. Of course, I will not follow the student into any restroom or into a private conversation, and we can arrange a time for the student to have a break—though I'd prefer the break not be at the student's lunch-time. At day's end, I am happy to sit and share observations/reflections and answer questions with administrators and/or school faculty—but this is not a required element, only at the school's request.
Will names identified?
Student names will never be identified; students will be referred to only by pseudonyms. Teachers will not be identified unless schools or teachers request they be identified. As for schools and administrators, in keeping with Sara Lawrence Lightfoot's approach in her classic book, The Good High School, I prefer to identify them by name, but I will happily defer to a school's request to be 'masked.'
What will be the Frequency of blog posting?
If the school prefers/requests I will do just a single blog entry at day's end, but my preference is for streaming/live blogging, posting multiple entries hourly. This second option provides for the school's potential of a real-time interactive experience, as school constituents, whoever the visited school wishes, can participate by reading (and responding) to blog entries as they happen over the course of the day. The blog allows for easy posting of responses to blog entries, but I can and will also monitor/moderate the responses, to ensure their appropriateness.
Who is Jonathan Martin?
Jonathan is an experienced school administrator and writer; he holds degrees in political, religious, and educational leadership, including a MA in Ed. Admin. from USF. For the past 9 years he headed Saklan Valley School, an accredited PS-8 independent school in Moraga, California; prior to that he headed Maybeck High School in Berkeley, California. In the present year, 2008-09, he is on sabbatical and is reading, training, and blogging as part of a year's commitment to professional growth. For a complete bio, C.V., educational philosophy statement, and selected writings, please visit Jonathan's website at http://www.21k12.net/ .
Has Jonathan blogged before?
Not a lot. Jonathan wrote frequently, of course, on-line for his school's website. Recently, Jonathan maintained a three day blog totaling 10 entries and 3700 words at the Urban School Center for Teaching Innovation TechSymposium.
What will be the tone of the blog?
The tone will be respectful, professional, and constructive. At times, it will also be personal, as I relate observations to my own experiences. The predominant tilt will be toward reporting on observed good practices ("I like how this lesson displays evidence of backward design" with specifics). You might call this approach: "catching them doing it right." At times, there may be very mild inquiries: "I wonder if they should extend/adapt/modify this" or "Perhaps they might consider." To quote this project's inspiration, Lawrence-Lightfoot, this is for the most part a "search for goodness—exemplary schools that might tell us something about the myriad definitions of educational success and how it is achieved."
What are its inspirations?
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot's wonderful portraiture of exemplary secondary schools in her 1983 The Good High School; Michael Thompson's The Pressured Child and more particularly, his experiences reported therein shadowing high school students; Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age; Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future; Sternberg's The New Three R's; NAIS President Pat Bassett's call for a renaissance for educationally sustainable programs at our schools; and the research and best-practice advocacy on learning of Wiggins, Marzano, Sternberg, Darling-Hammond, and Bransford.
To quote Michael Thompson's explanation for his decision to shadow high school students for his Pressured Child: "A critical part of our job as educators is to understand a child's daily experience in school… Let's go back to school."
August 18, 2008
School Visits: The Framing QuestionsPosted by Jonathan Martin under General
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These are the questions I will be using to frame my viewing and observations on visits to schools, and the questions I will be answering, with positive examples, in my blog entries reporting on my visits.
In what ways is this school demonstrating teaching and learning in the form of research based 'best practices' (with particular reference to the research of Wiggins, Marzano, and Bransford)?
What examples are there of the practice of authentic education: student attention to, and developing mastery of, real world applications and experiences? In what ways are students authentically "doing" the subject?
How does the teaching and learning at this school exhibit an educational program particularly well designed or suited for the 21st century—especially as defined by the writings of Wagner, Friedman, Pink, & Gardener?
In what ways is this school using digital tools in an integrated or seamless way which genuinely enhance student learning?
In a fast-changing and rapidly globalizing 'flat' world, how does this school's teaching and learning demonstrate an "international-minded" instructional program?


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GPS Hospitality is replacing its short-lived Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen at 2207 Shorter Ave. with one of its Burger King franchises (currently located on the other side of the four-lane at 2214 Shorter) in West Rome. Last summers, plans were filed with the city of Rome for a $325,000 renovation. A major part of the work got under way on Monday. GPS has nearly 400 restaurants in its arsenal including Burger Kings on Turner McCall, on North Dixie Drive in Cartersville, on Adairsville Highway in that city and on U.S. 27 in Summerville. The only local Popeye's in on a. 53 in Calhoun.
Some celebratory beers: A salute to two new players in Rome's rising craft beer market. Rome City Brewing Co. at 325 Broad St. marketed is first anniversary of crafting hometown beer on Wednesday. The Foundry Growler Station also marks one year with a party Nov. 17 at 255 N. Fifth Ave. with specialty beers, the Swift & Finch coffee truck, food from its new kitchen and bands.


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Senegal is a scenic country located in the western part of Africa. The total population of Senegal is 11,987,121(2006 eastern standard time). The economy of Senegal is principally dependent on agriculture, fish processing and mining industry.
Senegalese economy
Agriculture, fish processing, and mining accounts for major portion of Senegalese economy. Nearly seventy percent of the overall workforce in Senegal are engaged in agricultural sector, specifically in farming. This is because of irregular rainfall, agricultural production in Senegal fluctuates.
Major agricultural products include millet, sorghum, rice, sugarcane, peanuts, and cotton.Senegal is rich in natural resources like phosphates and iron ore. Senegalese industry is primarily dependent on phosphates mining, fertilizer, petroleum refining, and manufacturing.
Senegal exports fish products, petroleum products, peanuts, cotton and phosphates and imports foods and beverages, fuels, and capital goods.
Trading partners
Leading trading partners of Senegal include India, France, Italy, Mali, Spain, Gambia, Nigeria,Guinea-Bissau, and Thailand.
In 2005,
GDP (Gross Domestic Product) :$20.44 billion
GDP Real Growth Rate: 5.2%
Inflation: 1.7% and unemployment rate was 48%.
The currency of Senegal is West African CFA Franc (XOF), which is divided into 100 centimes.
Currency exchange rate as on 21st September, 2007:
1 US Dollar is equal to 467.899 CFA Franc BCEAO and 1 CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF) is equal to 0.002137 US Dollar (USD).
Last Updated on : 25th June 2013


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The North Coast SBDC offers 50 to 100 workshops a year in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties on a variety of topics. Learn about the Business Basics Series. Visit the calendar for schedule and online registration.
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Learn at your pace and on your schedule. Visit the online training & tutorials page.
Special Programs & Series
Take a workshop series to gain skills useful to all business owners, or dive into a Flight: a 3-6 month learning program for low-and-moderate income entrepreneurs in special industries and groups.


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Now that Thanksgiving has come and past, it is time to Christmasify the house. The hubs and I have been busy decking the halls, we have the lights up outside, the tree up inside, and the stockings are hung by the fire. Sadly our table was feeling left out. This cute Christmas Pom Pom Tree will make the perfect centerpiece.
Here's what you'll need to make your own:
- Styrofoam Cone
- Pom Poms
- Aleene's Tacky Glue
- Wooden Candle Stick
- Paint
- Paint Brush
- and an Ornament or Star for the top
- A little bit (okay, maybe a few hours) of time. But the results make it worth it.
Start by gluing pom poms to your Styrofoam Cone. I am not going to lie, this is the part that will take a little time.
Glue your Ornament or Star to the top of your tree. To use an Ornament, I took off the metal top, and then hollowed out part of the point of the tree a little so that the top of the ornament could fit down in it a little.
Next I filled the top of the tree by gluing a few extra Pom Poms around the ornament.
Paint the Candle Stick to match your tree, and wait for it to dry.
Finally, glue your Candle Stick to the bottom of your tree, let dry, and the display!


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As a recruiter of digital talent in the energy sector, we know software development and engineering professional roles cover a broad spectrum of technology disciplines. The needs are high for hybrid software developers fluent in languages like Java, C#, PHP, JavaScript, and SQL. In this article we'd like to share our insights about the factors involved when looking for the perfect role as a web development professional and provide some considerations for employers on locating the right talent for your business.
Although some technical expertise are scarce, we find the toughest part of securing the right talent is not only assessing their technical skills, but finding their motivations and the softer skills essential to be successful in communicating their knowledge and negotiating solutions whether the roles are at a software vendor or in-house within an IT organisation.
The type of organisation and development environment is normally a good indicator for recruiters in finding the appropriate soft skills that provide the framework for a software developer, solutions architect, applications engineer or web designer to perform well for that business.
Web and software consultancies that work for the US oil and gas sectors offer a great opportunity for early and mid career professionals to gain a broad knowledge and are ideal for those that thrive on deadlines, problem solving and inventing solutions. However, working in a corporate environment for one client throws up different challenges as the people networks maybe more formal and involve working across a matrix of departments and stakeholders.
The market demand for software engineers is not as high as it was before the decline in the oil price that began 24 months ago, however, positions do become available. Corporate recruiters at these organisations are often looking for professionals who are performing a similar role already and may look for those currently working in the industry, however, technical skills are very transferable in the digital sector so candidates that can demonstrate successful projects completed at vendors to the corporate sector will be looked upon favourably.
With pressure on businesses in the energy sector to deliver cost and lean efficiencies there has been a noticeable increase in web start ups and specialist consultancies to whom projects are outsourced. The established enterprises where pressures from governance can slow down some innovation projects see the benefit of working with more flexible players especially on SaaS product developments.
These small to medium organisations offer candidates some really exciting opportunities but their focus is on delivering brilliant and unique solutions for the clients not scouring the market for the best in talent. These organisations build up great relationships with recruitment agencies like Petroplan as we work as their people partners with our expertise in identifying and engaging the right talent with the aptitudes to succeed in a flexible work-culture.
We've already mentioned the importance of communications skills in technology environments whether that's with colleagues in larger enterprises or with clients. So what do we mean?
For example, applying tact assertively to ensure a client whether internal or external to your team is getting the solution they need is really critical. This is in ensuring you can describe and agree on specifications to manage expectations that get the project completed in an acceptable time period.
Empathy is also really important. Being able to see a situation from the end-user's perspective will involve active listening. Non technical users often won't find articulating their own needs very easy or may not know the right questions to ask
Being flexible will also build trust with owners of a project, requirements will shift but the confidence built during the scoping period will also be invaluable in insuring against scope creep that may put a project over budget and time.
If you work to deliver projects that have a screen based presence, such as desk top applications or mobile interfaces, the ability to think visually and demonstrate what an application will look like is useful to confirm if the application will realise the end user's goals.
Finally, a handle on project management is a must. Even if a role does not involve overall responsibility for a web project, demonstrating how you have experience of prioritizing tasks and dealing with the deadlines of others will set you apart as a candidate, in medium size organisations – where project management is not a department but a way of thinking.
If you are a job seeker then Petroplan is a good link to the less obvious opportunities as many tech businesses have cut back on in-house resourcing, likewise as an employer we can put you in touch with the networks of active and passive candidates quickly. As we have already outlined, to us the culture at an organisation and its potential fit with a candidate's motivations and softer skills will have been assessed in advance of any vacancy specific conversations.
Although we have a deep understanding of the markets in Houston, Boston and Dallas, as key oil and gas hubs, our network uses online sourcing too to keep in touch with the best talent that cares about their online brand and social networks. The kind of talent that is perfect for the next generation of web challenges in the energy sector. If that sounds like you or you are looking for your next team player get in touch. Josh Chavez is a specialist recruiter for web development roles you can get in touch on 832-779-4602


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I had a few hours spare on Sunday so I finally gave my old Game Boy Pocket a good clean, and whilst doing that threw in the nonfinite v2 backlight panel that i've had lying around for a while (it was intended for a wonderswan, but I never got around to it.
Anyway, at every UK expo there is a vendor that sells lots of modded Game Boys and UKMike is always saying he wants one, but won't pony up their rates, so I said I'd throw it together for him.
The only problem is, it looks really nice and plays even better and now I want to keep it! ;-)
If anyone gets the chance to get hold of one of the nonfinite backlights I heartily recommend them, they're cheap and really good, and the newer kits don't even require you to cut away the case (although it's only a minor amount that you have to do anyway) It's bloody easy, so everyone should do it, anyway, here are some pictures
In total, I paid £6.50 (inc postage) for the grimy game boy, nintendo soccer, and a blue game boy advance carry case and the backlight was about £11 (inc postage) so for the sake of an hour with minimal tool skills you can do it a lot cheaper than the £40 charged at the shows


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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
As I wandered about in my futile quest for the Holy Grail I noted a boy of about 10 pestering his father over film selection. The precocious little snot wanted to rent an R rated film that incorporated gratuitous sex and violence in conjunction with some poor schmuck in a rubber monster suit. Dad wasn't buying his offspring's arguments, finally stating that no means no. I applauded old Dad for his diligence. Here was one young fellow that was unlikely to clutter the rear seat of a squad car in six years or so.
Being bored, it occurred to me to wonder just why R rated films were displayed within easy reach of someone who was not allowed to watch them, which is easy: Money, that's why. Then I wondered just where a patron would go to find a G or PG rated film, how many there were and even if there were any at all. Back when I was a precocious little snot of ten unbelievably fortunate years we didn't have R rated films, we had the Motion Picture Production Code. We didn't even have DVDs; we had books, some of which could get pretty racy. I remember this one time when I showed Mom something I found on the book rack...
To put things into a little perspective here, let me remind everyone that Mom lived through the great depression. It wasn't any fun, but those who did it learned a few things about hard work and personal responsibility. Mom then put herself through college by working all summer and attending classes the rest of the year. Well sir, one fine day Mom came home from school with a book tucked under her arm that she was required to read for English class. The book was Look Homeward, Angel and her mother took one look at it and wouldn't allow Mom to read it. Mom's old married with three children aunt read it and told Mom what the book was about to Mom could pass her exam - she got a C, which wasn't like her. Mom was 22 years old and attending college when this happened. My point here is that Mom's family continued to look out for the welfare of their children even after the children were adults, which kind of says something about the family. Spiritual and moral well being were important to them, and Mom inherited this characteristic.
Mom taught me to read. The public school system wasn't getting the job done (they failed with my brother Shotgun Bob as well) so when I complained that I wanted to learn to read, Mom naturally started teaching me. She was aided and abetted by her mother, Grandma Schoolteacher, who really did teach elementary school and who did not allow any child to fail anything in her classroom. Hard work and diligence, you see, could make up for most anything. Grandma Schoolteacher taught me to write as well, and then I was turned loose on an unsuspecting public school system. Anyway, having learned to read I would happily devour everything I could get my dirty little hands on, and that's when I discovered the book rack at Lane's Drug Store.
Lane's was a local chain that no longer exists today. If it did, it would be a Walgreen's competitor. Right up front next to the magazine rack there was a moderately sized rack of paperback books all priced at 40 cents or so. So I'd get 50 cents from Mom and buy some good science fiction like Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint, The Beast Master and The Eyes of the Overworld. Everything went just fine until one day I was attracted by the cover of a book right at eye level.
Being a little curious about just what a "private hell" might be and why a half naked lady was on the cover, I waited around until Mom came to collect me before showing her the book and asking.
The offensive volume was removed from my hands and I was escorted out to the car and instructed to wait while Mom went back inside to talk to the manager. I don't know what Mom said, but I couldn't find the book again, Mom wouldn't tell me what it was about and Dad remained quiet when I related the whole business to him over breakfast. Eventually I was told to drop the subject or else.
I don't blame Mom for giving the manager at Lane Drugs a good look at just what "private hell" might be along with a lecture concerning literature that's suitable for public display. What I wonder about is this: If we had more censorship for children, would the quality of the United States eventually increase? I kind of think it might, but censorship would have to extend to advertising and I'm betting that anything that restricted advertising would immediately be challenged under freedom of speech. Not that anything like this would ever actually happen, but what if it did?
4 comments:
- North said...
You can't legislate morals.
Merry Christmas!
- December 21, 2011 at 4:36 PM
- Unknown said...
When I read the word "lanes" I swear I could immediately remember the smell of the store.
I grew up with little or no censorship and I was an adult early. No prolonged childhood for me. I don't think that was the best plan.
My personal censorship runs along a different path, I am infuriated by those little placards at the grocery store covering the Cosmopolitan magazines with racy headlines while directly below them are the Enquirers & Stars showing pictures of people in as embarrassing a shot as possible while rating the worst; bodies, lives, personalities and marriages. I find that much more obscene and will happily move the placards to their rack for better coverage.
- December 23, 2011 at 11:45 AM
- Mad Jack said...
You can't legislate morals.
Sure you can. It just doesn't work out the way the legislators believe it will.
What I was driving at, albeit in a circuitous route, is that society in general and merchants in particular could make things easier for parents who really do want to apply a little censorship to the media their children consume. Those parents that are more permissive can easily by-pass censorship.
I don't know if this would make a large difference or not, but as lousy as the world is today something might be better than nothing.
- December 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
- Mad Jack said...
No prolonged childhood for me.
Sorry to hear it. I didn't have a typical childhood either.
I agree with your observation about Cosmopolitan versus The National Enquirer. Neither publication has any societal value, never mind literary merit. People publish this drivel for the same reason outlaws produce and sell marijuana - there's a market for it. And the argument against the market is nonsensical - if nobody bought it... Hell, if circulation was cut in half for three months running the advertisers would pull their ads and the publications would go under.
Compare those two with The Economist.
- December 23, 2011 at 12:22 PM


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|This centre is a member of The LSE Research Laboratory [RLAB]: CASE | CVER | CEP | SERC | STICERD
Abstract for:
May 2011
Paper No' SERCDP0080: | Full paper
Save Reference as: BibTeX File | EndNote Import File
Keywords: Agglomeration externalities; natural advantages, migration
JEL Classification: R12; J61; N94
Is hard copy/paper copy available? YES - Paper Copy Still In Print.
This Paper is published under the following series: SERC Discussion Papers
Share this page: Google Bookmarks | Facebook | Twitter
Abstract:i. This discussion paper is a completely revised version of SERCDP0047, published April 2010.
This paper argues that agglomeration externalities are important even in the rural periphery. The analysis focuses on the forced relocation of more than a tenth of the Finnish population after World War II. Using the details of the resettlement policy to construct instrumental variables for wartime population growth rate, I find that an exogenous increase in municipality's population had a positive effect on later population growth, industrialization and real wages. These findings are consistent with the presence of agglomeration externalities and inconsistent with other popular explanations for the spatial distribution of economic activity.
Copyright © RLAB & LSE 2003 - 2020 | LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE | Contact: RLAB | Site updated 25 May 2020


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16.2: The CGS Electrostatic System
- Page ID
- 5516
Definition. One CGS esu of charge (also known as the statcoulomb) is that charge which, if placed 1 cm from a similar charge in vacuo, will repel it with a force of 1 dyne.
The following exercises will be instructive.
Example \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Calculate, from the SI electricity that you already know, the force between two coulombs placed 1 cm from each other. From this, calculate how many CGS esu of charge there are in a coulomb. (I make it 1 coulomb = \(2.998 \times 10^9\) esu. It will not escape your notice that this number is ten times the speed of light expressed in \(\text{m s}^{-1}\).) Calculate the magnitude of the electronic charge in CGS esu. (I make it \(4.8 \times 10^{-10}\) esu. If, for example, you see that the potential energy of two electrons at a distance \(r\) apart is \(e^2/r\), this is the number you must substitute for \(e\). If you then express \(r\) in cm, the energy will be in ergs.)
Coulomb's law in vacuo is
This differs from our accustomed formula (equation 16.1.2) in two ways. In the first place, we are using an unrationalized definition of permittivity, so that the familiar \(4\pi\) is absent. Secondly, we are choosing units such that \(4\pi \epsilon _0\) has the numerical value 1, and so we are omitting it from the equation.
While some readers (and myself!) will object, and say that equation 16.2.1 does not balance dimensionally, and is valid only if the quantities are expressed in particular units, others will happily say that equation 16.2.1 shows that the dimensions of \(Q\) are \(\text{M}^{1/2}\text{L}^{3/1}\text{T}^{-1}\), and will not mind these extraordinary dimensions.
Electric field \(\textbf{E}\) is defined in the usual way, i.e. \(\textbf{F}=Q\textbf{E}\), so that if the force on 1 esu of charge is 1 dyne, the field strength is 1 esu of electric field. (The esu of electric field has no name other than esu.) This is fine, but have you any idea how this is related to the SI unit of \(\textbf{E}\), volt per metre? It requires a great deal of mental gymnastics to find out, so I'll just give the answer here, namely
\[\nonumber 1 \text{CGS esu of} \ \textbf{E} = 10^{-6} c \text{V m}^{-1},\]
where \[c=2.997 924 58 \times 10^{10}.\]
Now the vector \(\textbf{D}\) is defined by \(\textbf{D} = k\textbf{E}\), and since the permittivity is held to be a dimensionless number,\(\textbf{D}\) and \(\textbf{E}\) are held to be dimensionally similar (\(\text{M}^{1/2}\text{L}^{-1/2}\text{T}^{-1}\) in fact). Further, since the free space permittivity is 1, in vacuo there is no distinction between \(\textbf{D}\) and \(\textbf{E}\), and either can substitute for the other. So the conversion between CGS esu and SI for \(\textbf{D}\) is the same as for \(\textbf{E}\)? No! In SI, we recognize \(\textbf{D}\) and \(\textbf{E}\) as being physically different quantities, and \(\textbf{D}\) is expressed in coulombs per square metre. Awful mental gymnastics are needed to find the conversion, but I'll give the answer here:
\[ 1 \ \text{CGS esu of} \ \textbf{D} = \frac{10^5}{4 \pi c} \ \text{C m}^{-2}.\]
Once again, please don't blame me – I'm just the messenger! And be warned – it is going to get worse – much worse
Potential Difference
If the work required to move a charge of 1 esu from one point to another is 1 erg, the potential difference between the points is 1 esu of potential difference, or 1 statvolt.
It is often said that an esu of potential difference is 300 volts, but this is just an approximation. The exact conversion is
\[1 \ \text{statvolt} = 10^{-8} c \ \text{V}.\]
If the potential difference across the plate of a capacitor is one statvolt when the capacitor holds a charge of one statcoulomb, the capacitance of the capacitor is one centimetre. (No – that's not a misprint.)
\[ 1 \ \text{cm} = 10^9 c^{-2} \text{F}.\]
Here is a sample of some formulas for use with CGS esu.
Potential at a distance \(r\) from a point charge \(Q\) in vacuo = \(Q/r\).
Field at a distance \(r\) in vacuo from an infinite line charge of \(\lambda \ \text{esu/cm} = 2 \lambda /r\).
Field in vacuo above an infinite charged plate bearing a surface charge density of \(\sigma \ \text{esu/cm}^2 = 2 \pi \sigma\).
An electric dipole moment \(\textbf{p}\) is, as in SI, the maximum torque experienced by the dipole in unit electric field. A debye is \(10^{-18}\) esu of dipole moment. The field at a distance \(r\) in vacuo along the axis of a dipole is \(2p/r\).
Gauss's theorem: The total normal outward flux through a closed surface is 4\(\pi\) time the enclosed charge.
Capacitance of a plane parallel capacitor = \(\frac{kA}{4 \pi d}\).
Capacitance of an isolated sphere of radius \(a\) in vacuo = \(a\). Example: What is the capacitance of a sphere of radius 1 cm? Answer: 1 cm. Easy, eh?
Energy per unit volume or an electric field \(= E^2/(8 \pi)\).
One more example before leaving esu. You will recall that, if a polarizable material is placed in an electrostatic field, the field \(\textbf{D}\) in the material is greater than \(\epsilon_0 \textbf{E}\) by the polarization \(\textbf{P}\) of the material. That is, \(\textbf{D}= \boldsymbol{\epsilon} \textbf{E} + \textbf{P}\). The equivalent formula for use with CGS esu is
\[\textbf{D}=\textbf{E} + 4\pi \textbf{P}\]
And since \(\textbf{P}= \chi_e \textbf{E}\) and \(\textbf{D} = k\textbf{E}\), it follows that
\[k= 1 + 4 \pi \chi_e.\]
At this stage you may want a conversion factor between esu and SI for all quantities. I'll supply one a little later, but I want to describe emu first, and then we can construct a table given conversions between all three systems.


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I read an article recently that was called something like 'tips for dealing with depression'. It said all the usual stuff, like eat better, exercise, think happy thoughts, blah blah blah. If you can do all those things, you don't have depression. That article made me so mad. Especially the bit about how if you have a friend with depression you should not 'encourage' their 'bad behaviour' by trying to make them feel better. It even said that you should avoid a person who is displaying 'self-pitying behaviour' and only spend time with them when they are being, essentially, normal.
When you shun, chastise or socially isolate a depressed person, you reinforce all the things that the illness makes them feel about themself. You make them feel weak, pathetic, worthless. That perhaps the world is better off without them. This is a dangerous ploy that will not help a depressed person.
What helped me, more than anything, was being reminded that there were people who would be there for me no matter what. I know that there were some who lost patience with me, who would see my downward spiral and think 'bloody hell, here she goes again, why doesn't she just get over herself?'.
When I come to you and I am depressed, I don't want you to try to fix it, because you can't. I just want you to tell me that it is ok, even normal, to feel this way. That it does not make you think less of me. That it does not mean that I am a weak or defective person. It is the equivalent of throwing a rope to a drowning person. It is an anchor to what is real. Please, just be there for me.
Do not tell me to cheer up – I would if I could. Do not tell me that I have nothing to be depressed about – I know that. I know that what I feel is irrational. I did not choose this, I am not doing it for attention and I can't just make it stop. If I could, I would. I need to be reassured that I will not feel like this forever.
The time to fight is when you are having a good day. That is when you make decisions to make changes. For some, medication is the only way to get out of the hole. But if you go that route, you must take your meds every day and stay on them unless your doctor tells you it is ok to stop taking them. If you take them sometimes or miss a few you will most likely end up feeling much worse.
There are some things you can do when you are having a good day that will help you in your battle. Exercise, eat well, avoid alcohol and caffeine. The things that are consistent with good mental health. These can help you feel well for longer. I have given up sugar and alcohol. Alcohol depletes important nutritional factors for good mental health. Yes, it is a depressant, and yes, binge drinking is bad. But read the literature. Alcohol should be avoided if you are serious about feeling better without drugs. Caffeine should be avoided if you suffer from anxiety. And refined sugar is a villain in the mood stakes, as well as being bad for your general health.
Tryptophan is your friend. Leafy greens, poultry, dairy products, nuts, fresh fruits and anything with omega 3 oils. http://myhealingkitchen.com/category/medical-conditions/depression-medical-conditions/ has some recipes and articles on foods that help manage depression.
Avoid additives. Go simple, healthy, homemade and where possible home-grown. A body that is balanced and healthy is the logical home of a brain that is balanced and healthy. I wonder how many people could feel better just by eating to give their brain the best chance of achieving this balance.
Don't expect too much of yourself. Sometimes the hardest thing is to be kind to yourself when you believe you don't deserve it. Take quiet time when you can. Be grateful when you can – count your blessings.
I have days when I just move from task to task and keep busy, afraid of what will happen if I stop to think. I have moments where I feel pure joy and wonder how it is possible to feel anything else. Music helps. Gardening helps. My family and friends help.
I am not saying that everyone should be able to eat their way to better mental health. For some people medication is a suitable solution that can give you your life back and perhaps even save it. What I am saying is that others might be able to get relief from the things that have helped me. That there are options out there if you want to try to achieve recovery without drugs. But first you need to know your enemy, and you need to have reinforcements on your side.
Remember that each time you deal with it you gain valuable information that will help you beat it in the end. Learn the sound of its voice. Learn to know when it is creeping up on you. Learn its different faces. Learn how to shut it down.
Love, luck and strength to you all in your battles.
PS I now have a new, less stressful job and the weight I gained while on the medication is starting to come off. I have loads of energy and I sleep well. I still have bad days, but I am hopeful. The future stretches ahead of me full of promise and potential.


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Tell us a little about yourself.
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At burton and Burton, we stock an abundance of Thanksgiving supplies at wholesale prices. Wholesale Thanksgiving supplies and decorations from b+B can help make your preparation easy. Goodness knows, with a turkey in the over and stuffing on the stove, you'll want to save time and money.
At burton + BURTON, we offer a huge selection of wholesale Thanksgiving supplies. With supplies ranging from balloons, plush, decorations, and gifts, burton + BURTON has it all. At burton + BURTON we value our customers, and provide only the finest in Thanksgiving supplies.


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OWoN: The Chinese are coming. With Bucks, a lot it seems.
This is fascinating, kids from China in America as students who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars, and usually have more than one. (After all, you don't want to park your Jaguar in the school lot, do you?)
These are the children of the upper crust (a whole lot less than 1%) of China, whose parents are high Party members, major industrialists, and I'm not sure what else. They are here more or less on vacation in the US with the rationale of going to school and practicing their English, with a monthly allowance equal to my yearly income and then some.
What's shown here is how in a society supposedly built on Marxism, the real fact is that it's a setup of elitism, corruption, and complete ripoff of everyone else, with that elite kept in power through all the great tools of a police state. The parallels with medieval nobility are pretty tight. These are the children of the barons, dukes, and princes, while 98% of Chinese (or thereabouts) are the peasants.
I look at China and Viet Nam and think that Marx must be spinning at high RPM in his grave. These societies are the opposite of what he wrote about, but they still call themselves "socialist". Here's the real super irony- in the USA we have far, far more socialist practices going than there are in these countries!
Recent Posts
Chinese Kids Driving Supercars
3 comments :
Indeed, YES!! WELFARE is a socialist plank. Thanks to LBJ, after Pappy-Shrub murdered JFK!!ReplyDelete
I guess excess is not just for Wall Street.ReplyDelete
A bigger city north of me had an article about this very thing in it last year. How the kids come here to university and go buy fancy cars and clothes. They are smart kids in school and if their folks have the money to burn, who are we to judge. No, I do not think it sets a good example.ReplyDelete
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You Are the Store
Customer Service
YOU are more important to the buying process than product selection, fixtures, lighting and the colors used in the store. Even if some of the other factors aren't perfect, YOU, and how YOU interact with the customer, can save the day and the sale. The emphasis of this article is on how customer service can enhance the customer's museum visit and make more money for your institution.
By some estimates, eighty-five percent of the visitors entering a museum store don't know exactly what they want to buy. For many, especially tourists, they probably have never been in your store before. For others, changed product selection focusing on new or traveling exhibits makes the store look quite different. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY! These customers need and will appreciate your attention, and will judge the store more by this interaction than by the product selection or other factors mentioned above.
Customer Service Builds Loyalty and Sales
Make no mistake; your customer service will be judged against a standard in the customer's mind that includes experiences from a far broader range than just other museum stores. How do you measure up against other retailing experiences? What are some customer service lapses that annoy you the most? Is there any reason why these have to be repeated in your store? What can you do to make sure they aren't?
What customer services do you like best? Which give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? Think about stores that you have patronized for more than three years. What is it about those stores that keeps bringing you back? I'll bet many of the factors are person-to-person interactions. Are they doing anything in their stores that you can't do in yours?
The goals of good customer service are to increase the number of visitors who make a purchase and the size of the purchases.
Why Is Customer Service So Important?
- Retailing has become a service business. Product and the experience are now equal considerations in the customer's mind.
- Around the world, institutions are working on their customer service and you can't afford to be left behind.
- Superior customer service leads to incremental sales. Simply put, incremental sales are those additional dollars spent by customers because of a positive shopping experience.
- Superior customer service leads to positive word of mouth advertising. Word of mouth advertising is the good things people say to others about your store. Even the largest institutions can't afford to buy the benefits that come from this type of advertising.
- Finally, customer service enhances the image of the institution.
Some key customer service factors are listed below. What you will not hear from me are hard guidelines on what to specifically say within 'x' number of minutes or so many feet after a customer enters the store. Customer service has to be tailored by each store to fit well with the customer's expectations, the institution and store personnel. I suggest you take the following factors and mold them to your institution, train and retrain your staff and lead by example.
1. People buy people they don't just buy product.
This is the single most important, overarching factor. Customers, including tourists, like to get to know the sales staff. How long have they been with the institution? Where are they from? What are their favorite products? Do they have any interesting anecdotes to share? Has someone famous been in the store recently? This experience can be enhanced with the use of nametags.
2. The customer is always right.
Is the customer always right? Of course not, but the customer is always the customer and they should feel like they are right. There is no value in arguing with the customer. Arguing only leads to negative word of mouth advertising with your side of the story probably not related in an accurate manner. There is an old retail adage: If a customer has a good experience they will tell three people, if they have a bad experience they will tell ten. Bad news travels fast!
One of the areas that most leads to bad feelings is the product return policy. Make sure your return policy favors the customer, is administered fairly and that your staff is empowered to interpret the policy to meet the demands of the situation.
3. Customer service is different things to different people.
Just as your return policy should have the flexibility to meet different situations, your overall customer service should also be flexible. To some older customers, good customer service might include brighter lighting, a settee to rest weary legs, wide aisles for safe browsing and signage with larger fonts. To others it may be package delivery to their car in the parking lot, the tour bus or their hotel. To a local, it may be a layaway plan so they can pay over an extended period of time. Know your customers, and how their profile changes throughout the year, and adapt your customer service to these changing needs.
4. Value the long-term repeat business of your customer.
Too often, in the museum store business, we assume that too large a percentage of our business comes from non-repeating tourists rather than local repeat customers. I believe a greater percentage of sales come from repeat customers, such as the schoolteacher escorting their classes to the museum or the museum's volunteers, than we realize. Identify and recognize these repeat customers, and cater to them.
5. Your actions speak louder than words.
Under promise, over deliver.
6. Don't judge a customer by his or her appearance.
It has happened more than once that someone dressed in a coat and tie is a shoplifter and the person who looks a bit raggedy is wealthy and very interested in the mission of the museum and your product selection.
7. Your appearance matters.
Weather we like it or not, how the sales staff is dressed affects the buying attitude of the customer. Art, history and heritage site store employees, for example, should be dressed in a manner that enhances the image of the institution. Salespersons in a children oriented museum can reflect that atmosphere by dressing more casually, perhaps wearing t-shirts that are for sale. First impressions do count, especially if the visitors have a relatively short time to spend in the store.
8. Listen to your customers.
We have two ears and one mouth, which are reflective of about the percentage of time we should be listening versus talking. A customer with a complaint or a suggestion is a blessing because they generally raise valid issues that are actionable. In other words, they have given us a view from another perspective, into an area in which we can improve.
9. Customer service is a matter of perception.
It is less important what you do than how it is perceived. A simple gesture for one customer, perhaps holding an item behind the counter until the end of the day, can be greatly appreciated, while another customer considers a more difficult task routine. Try to train your staff to be attuned to the individual needs of the customer and provide them with flexible guidelines to meet those perceived needs.
10. Busy but available.
'Busy but available' is a customer service philosophy that suggests a staff person be kept on the sales floor, especially during active times, busy doing things (restocking, straitening, dusting), but at the same time trained to be available to the customer. If you agree with me that customers don't reach, bend, read or ask questions, this person can assist them in these areas and enhance their buying experience.
In today's retail world the golden rule is to treat the customers as they want to be treated not necessarily as we want to treat them. Hopefully, in most cases they are one in the same.
(This article was originally written for Heritage Retail and will appear in their spring 2001 issue. This U.K. based magazine is published three times a year and has an international focus on all aspects of heritage site retailing.)
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Dear Parents and Students
Thank you to everyone who has already submitted their application for a place in our Sixth Form. If you haven't already done so, please bear in mind that it would really help us if you could submit your application by midnight on Sunday, 14 February. Applications can be made here: http://www.ccs.northants.sch.uk/sixth-form/applying-for-a-place-in-sixth-form/
If you'd like to keep up with Sixth Form news, please follow our brand new CCS Sixth Form Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/CCS_Sixth_Form
Have a lovely half term holiday; remember, the more work that is done now, the easier the summer will be!
Kind regards
Sue Haines
Head of Sixth Form


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Adele wins big at Grammys topped with major performance
HollywoodNews.com: Adele is officially back in the game as she not only won a ton of awards at the Grammys last night, but she also scored with her performance that had everyone there appreciating her talent.
Adele won the six awards for which she was nominated which includes album of the year, record of the year, and song of the year for her second album, '21,' states RadarOnline.com.
Other big winners for the night included The Foo Fighters who took home five awards as well as Kanye West, who was not in attendance, but did win four awards.
Do you agree with the winners?
Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.
Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News
Image by PR Photos


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SEA Marine Yacht Sales welcomes new yacht brokerage listings and offers. We also provide expert assistance in surveys and opinion of valuation. Our brokerage service includes custom built boats as well as other high quality listings.
We are in the process of updating our brokerage listings on our website. In the meantime, you may view our complete listings on YachtWorld.com.


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If you were hoping to use your new Samjiyon tablet, manufactured in North Korea, to do typical tablety things like stream video or read the news, then you're out of luck. Geekosystem reports that the new device, which runs on Android, doesn't actually include the Internet–strange, since when Google's Eric Schmidt visited the country it went to such great pains to make its citizens look soooo tech-savvy.
Instead of being able to connect to wifi and stream reruns of The Hills, North Koreans can use the tablet to access preloaded government propaganda in stunning detail and play a slingshot game modeled after the popular Angry Birds franchise. There's also a basketball game, because we all know how Kim Jong Un feels about that sport.
As Geekosystem points out, at least the money spent developing the Samjiyon didn't go towards a nuclear arms program–though it probably would've been better if it went towards, say, feeding the starving population.


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On August 13, 2002, Judge Alex Kozinski took the bench in the Ninth Circuit courtroom in downtown San Francisco to hear oral arguments in Kremen vs. Cohen. Kozinski is a maverick, which was apparent to everyone when Reagan appointed him to the Ninth Circuit bench in 1985. Widely admired for his brusque rhetoric, he had graduated from UCLA Law School a mere ten years earlier, thus becoming the youngest appointee to the U.S. appellate bench. Born of Rumanian immigrants in Los Feliz, a Latino suburb northeast of LA, he was known for writing clever, biting opinions, and suffering fools with very poor grace.
Perhaps foreshadowing the outcome of the case now before him, about ten years earlier Kozinski had authored the blunt opinion that gave Cohen a pyrrhic victory in his appeal from the San Diego bankruptcy fraud convictions. Kozinski's opinion reversed one of the three convictions and remanded him for resentencing by Judge Judith Miller. The same Judge Miller who Cohen had called a "cunt," something she probably hadn't forgotten when he stood before her again a couple of years later. Despite Cohen's appellate victory, Judge Miller sentenced him to the same term of years as she had at the conclusion of trial. For some reason, Cohen thought his first encounter with Kozinski boded well for the outcome of the Sex.Com case.
Cohen had taken up the habit of calling me occasionally to incite my animosity toward Gary and to share his plans for causing Gary pain and expense. Sometimes, when he was very proud of his cleverness, he would disclose his litigation plans, and in such a mood he told me about his lawyer's theme for the appellate argument. It didn't sound like a good theme, and I was sure he'd never use it, so I was surprised when Cohen's lawyer stepped up to the podium in the beautiful Ninth Circuit chamber and spoke his opening line.
The atmosphere was hushed and decorous for what those involved knew was a momentous hearing. Several reporters, and bigwigs like Phil Sbarbaro of NSI, were in attendance. The appearance of the courtroom was truly splendid, the most dazzling I have ever seen. The stonemasons and cabinet-makers of the FDR era had outdone themselves creating a temple of justice. Everywhere the eye wandered it settled on sculpted marble and fine woods carved with complex designs. The lights were concealed behind stained glass. The three judges, with Kozinski in the middle, sat in high-backed leather swivel chairs, black-robed and charged with power, surveying the lawyers and the gallery from their exalted position.
Mike Mayock, who had argued Cohen's criminal appeal years before, addressed his opening line directly to Kozinski. To my immense surprise, he said just what Cohen had told me he would say: "Judge Ware was sucker-punched."
Kozinski's brow immediately furrowed, and a cloud gathered over his head. While Mayock was drawing his breath, Kozinski checked his advance with an abrupt response: "Wait a minute. You can't come here and call the District Judge a sucker."
Mayock tried to dig his way out of the hole Kozinski had put him in. He hadn't called Judge Ware a sucker, he pleaded.
Kozinski kept him on the hook. Yes he had called the judge a sucker.
When a judge speaks to a lawyer that way in open court, it's like being hit in the forehead with a fencepost. His brain stalls. If he's lucky, he does the right thing from pure instinct. Mayock wasn't lucky. His instincts failed him, probably because there was no right thing to do. A sucker punch hits the sucker before he has a chance to defend himself, and it was obvious to everyone in the opulent chamber that Mayock had been suckered by a master. Kozinski finished him off with a dose of disdain, demonstrating utter disinterest in his argument, allowing him to drown in disgrace. Cohen told me that Mike had a heart attack a short time later. Unlike past occasions when Cohen had reported that he or his lawyer had suffered a heart attack, this time I think it was true.
Jim Wagstaffe was up next, arguing for affirmance of Judge Ware's verdict against Cohen, and a reversal of the summary judgment for NSI. The atmosphere in the court relaxed as Wagstaffe efficiently recounted the story of how Cohen had stolen Sex.Com, laundered the proceeds through offshore banks, and was living in Mexico, a fugitive from Judge Ware's arrest warrant. Machiavelli said that victory makes everything all right, and it certainly was true of Gary's case against Cohen. Gary had gone from fighting an uphill battle to coasting downhill, and the nods from Kozinski and his fellow judges made it clear that Wagstaffe had little to worry about from Cohen's appeal.
Wagstaffe moved on to the appeal against NSI. Judge Ware had concluded that domains were a form of intellectual property too evanescent to form the basis for a conversion claim, because they weren't "merged with a document." Thus, Gary's search for a "document of title" had expanded. In the trial court, I had pointed to the registration documents Gary filed to obtain Sex.Com, and the falsified documents Cohen submitted, combining Gary's name with Cohen's email address to "spoof" NSI. They had looked like "documents of title" to me, but Judge Ware had not even considered them. Wagstaffe took my argument further, pointing to the entire Whois database as the fundamental document that makes all domains a form of personal property.
Through Gary's growing influence, he had gotten a variety of cutting-edge legal organizations to support his fight, like the Electronic Freedom Foundation, that had never been interested in the cause before. Kozinski and his fellow judges had received numerous amicus briefs attacking NSI's arrogant position, but more than scholarly legal opinion was in the air.
A wind of change was blowing through the courtroom, as the barometer of public opinion came into harmony with the facts of Internet life. What had been esoteric in June 1999 when I joined the case, and remained obscure in May 2000 when Judge Ware dismissed NSI, had since become common knowledge. Computer printers were on every desktop, ready to turn online documents into hardcopy. In truth, printing itself was irrelevant, as electronic documents had become ubiquitous. Our society had moved beyond reading its email to drowning in spam. The very word "document," was losing meaning as people Googled for facts they once would have looked for in books, newspapers, libraries or archives. Taxes were filed online, paper airline tickets were an anachronism, and even the federal courts were requiring lawyers to learn the new "e-filing" system. By fall, 2002, Internet domain names were being registered at a rate that was accelerating exponentially, generating millions of dollars in registration revenue. Meanwhile, NSI was still trying to hide behind the lack of a "document."
The danger of Internet fraud had also ceased to be theoretical. Newbie websurfers everywhere were falling prey to Nigerian inheritance scams, offshore casinos, and phishing scams that forged whole financial websites to extract precious personal data. Identity theft had become the fastest-growing crime in the nation, aided by insecure databases and loose verification procedures. Forgery and false impersonation were becoming the signature crimes of the computer era, and the courts were beginning to see more cases like Gary's, where con artists directed their deceptions not to the owner of property, but to those in charge of their property -- the banks, the credit reporting agencies, and of course, the domain name registries.
The domain name business had also changed. NSI had lost its monopoly on domain registrations, and with it the mystique of being a government contractor performing a unique function. Nor was it any longer a wet-from-the-womb dot-com brimming with electronic cash. It was a mere small-cap subsidiary of a big company called VeriSign, for which domain registrations were a drop in its revenue bucket. New companies like Godaddy and eNom had made mincemeat of NSI's registration business by cutting prices and providing a decent level of customer service. NSI's argument that it would be too burdensome and costly to impose oversight obligations on registrars had been shown to be ridiculous.
Kozinski received Wagstaffe's arguments welcomingly, asking questions that brought out the strongest points in Gary's favor. When Dave Dolkas stood up to argue NSI's defense of Judge Ware's decision, Kozinski's mood changed. When Dave said there was no document of title, Kozinski's response wasn't polite. What about the Whois database? NSI had total control over that record. It was printable. It recorded the names of domain name registrants, and all of their information. Why wasn't it a document? Wasn't it NSI's property? Wouldn't NSI have a claim if someone injured that property? Dave seemed puzzled. Maybe, he ventured, it would be trespass? Kozinski seemed appalled by the response. Dave's habitual thinking patterns had apparently reached the limit of their utility.
Kozinski's questioning then moved Dave further into unfriendly territory -- the topic of the forged letter. Ellen Rony's analysis finally received its due. Citing what Ellen had called "red flags" that should have raised questions, Kozinski rejected Dave's argument that NSI couldn't have discerned fraud from the face of the letter. He pointedly asked if it wasn't strange that a company called "Online Classifieds" would lack an Internet connection, as the forged letter asserted. As the pace of Kozinski's attack on NSI's position moved to a brutal conclusion, Phil Sbarbaro, his bald spot jerking and his pin-striped suit a jumble of conflicting lines, began shifting uncomfortably in his seat. By the time Dave sat down, NSI's position had been utterly rejected by the enfant terrible of the Ninth Circuit. Phil sprang from his seat and darted from the courtroom, pushing through the massive red leather doors without reverence for the dignity of the court. Although I called to him as he blew past, "Hey, Phil," he was not interested in exchanging pleasantries with an old enemy, and ignored me completely.
After the hearing, I congratulated Wagstaffe on his argument, and maneuvered my way around Idell. I was standing by the ornate elevator, wrapped in an old-fashioned cage, when Gary came out.
Gary swung his bulk a little side to side and tossed me a question, "Whaddja think?"
I answered politely, "I think it was good for you."
Tara, who had appeared at my elbow, leaned forward to interject "I think it was great for Charles!" Like giving a vial of nitroglycerine a sharp rap, her remark had an instantaneous effect.
Gary's eyes exploded into bulging orbs of rage as his reply flew forth from his goatee-encircled mouth: "Well, you really fucked up Wells Fargo! Idell has the proof!"
Ah yes, the bittersweet pleasure of hedging your bets. Gary's victory over NSI was tainted by the painful thought that he had just lost leverage against me. I had been vindicated by Kozinski's endorsement of my reasoning. The court could now lift the stay of my lawsuit, and he would no longer be able to accuse me of malpractice for not filing a stupid negligence claim against NSI. Negligence! How absurd. For after all, what could NSI have negligently damaged but Gary's property? As I had always said, Sex.Com was either property, or it was nothing.
Jim DeSimone was delighted to hear about Kozinski's performance, whom he reminded me was UCLA alumnus. I took a few calls from clueless reporters who didn't know how to read a docket sheet and still thought I was Gary's lawyer. Cohen called, but when I told him about Mayock's terrible performance, he still expressed optimism, and looked forward to reading the opinion. Cohen didn't have long to wait, but the panel's unanimous opinion couldn't have been worse for him. If there had been a baby in the bathwater that Mayock had presented to the panel, they ignored it entirely, because all of his arguments were sent unceremoniously down the drain with a one-line opinion published in early October 2002. "In light of Cohen's status as a fugitive from justice and his egregious abuse of the litigation process, we exercise our discretion to dismiss his appeal." In response to this news, Gary told Wired magazine, "It shows sometimes justice prevails."
I was hoping that I, too, would receive a little justice from the Ninth Circuit, in the form of an opinion vindicating my position on the property character of domain names, but the distance from the cup to the lip once again proved elastic. When Kozinski's opinion came out, it was not unanimous, and it was not what I had hoped. The other two silent judges apparently got the memo that NSI was supposed to win the case, and tried to derail Kozinski's common-sense efforts to treat NSI like any other civil defendant. In an opinion that didn't attempt to conceal his outrage, Kozinski revealed that his two fellow robe-wearers had decided that the issue he saw as an utter no-brainer -- that domains were property under California law -- was actually a great big open issue that required them to solicit an opinion from the California Supreme Court. He was livid, because these judicial nincompoops had actually forced him, the panel leader, to "certify a question" to which the answer was utterly clear. Kozinski thus loaded the certification with an extended rant that listed all of the reasons why the California Supreme Court couldn't be bothered with such a ridiculous request, like its backlog of death penalty appeals, and implied that the matter would now take another three years to resolve simply because his fellow-panelists refused to interpret well-settled California law.
Kozinski and I got the last laugh, though. The California Supreme Court followed Kozinski's advice, refused to certify the question, and kicked the case back to the Ninth Circuit within a couple of months. Kozinski swiftly issued a new, unanimous opinion, that established that Internet domains are property in the State of California, and throughout the Ninth Circuit, from Alaska to Arizona.


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Have you ever wanted to channel your outer Miranda Kerr or Maria Menounos? Well, their sexy man candy may be hard to swing (sorry, ladies), but how about their sexy, bombshell hair?
Hairstylist to the stars George Papanikolas is giving Celebuzz superfans the inside scoop on how to get the most-desired summer-inspired locks. The master colorist, who has worked his camera-ready magic on the Kardashian gals (take a look at Khloe's luscious locks), takes you through a simple step-by-step tutorial on how to get an at-home Hollywood version of Tinseltown's hottest hairstyle.
And Papanikolas is transforming the ombre trend into a chicer version of itself. No more dip-dyed tips, this hair expert prefers the "balayage" technique as seen on Gisele Bundchen and Sarah Jessica Parker's envious strands.
So what's this guru's secret? – Hand painting the highlights for a natural glaze.
And all you'll need to top it off is a curling iron, dry shampoo and hairspray.
To get the A-list-approved look, watch George Papanikolas in action in the CB! Style School video above.


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Black Friday always has its fair share of WTF moments, but last night in Los Angeles things took an ugly turn at a Wal-Mart. With thousands of shoppers eagerly anticipating great deals from Macy's, Best Buy, and other stores nationwide, despite the economic recession, a female shopper decided to get the upper-hand on discounted electronics by pepper spraying a crowd to keep the away.
At least 20 shoppers suffered minor injuries and police are still looking for the woman. The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 PM on Thursday as shoppers were let inside the store to begin prowling for Black Friday deals. Most openings around the country were peaceful, but the as-yet-to-be identified woman began shooting the pepper spray when the coverings of items she wanted were removed, according to LAPD.
Is it absurd with all of the #occupy protests going on in this country, all the police assaults, that someone would use such a dangerous weapon to covet mere gadgets. Watch the reaction from NBC affiliate anchor China Sellers in the clip above. What do you guys think? Is Target the safe spot for this weekend? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
[via Mediaite]
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