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We are only just beginning to really understand the complex and powerful impact of probiotics for human health. There is also a lot of misinformation out there about probiotics, as well as complete ignorance/lack of education. So let's try to better understand the role of probiotics and how to choose quality brands.
Benefits of Probiotic Bacteria:
•   help us digest lactose – minimize or eliminate lactose intolerance
•   digest proteins to free amino acids – aid in protein digestion
•   balance intestinal pH or lower the colon pH
•   improve or prevent irritable bowel syndrome
•   stop diarrhea and treat diarrhea from antibiotics, as well as prevent infection by producing antibiotic   and anti fungal substances.
•   regulate peristalsis, increase and improve bowel transit time
•   reduce intestinal inflammation and protect our intestinal walls
•   protect gums & teeth
•   manufacture vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12 & K
•   manufacture essential fatty acids and short chain fatty acids (about 5-10 percent of them)
•   convert flavonoids to usable forms
•   increase absorption of minerals
•   microbes produce end stage enzymes
•   prevent food poisoning
•   prevent and alleviate eczema, asthma and allergies
•   neutralize toxins, break down and prevent synthesis of bacterial toxins
•   protect and modulate autoimmune diseases
•   support healthy blood pressure levels
•   trigger hormones – break down and rebuild
•   promote optimal growth, healthy metabolism and weight
•   break down bile acids
•   normalize serum cholesterol and triglycerides
We have approximately 3-4 pounds of bacteria living inside each and every one of us.
After we are born, it is our responsibility to maintain our own inner ecology. Generally, microbes can bounce back on their own, but our composition will never be the same once we've encountered antibiotics, birth control, excess sugars etc. Just one or two courses can upset your inner eco-system for life. Anti-biotics destroy ALL forms of bacteria – they are indiscriminate. Yeasts and fungus can then dominate the inner environment. No antibiotic kills a yeast or fungus. So this can really compromise your intestines and immune function.
We must replenish the probiotics , or beneficial microorganisms in our bodies throughout life. Simply because we have many things that compete with or deplete the good bacteria inside us. Our colon has a pH that is slightly acidic – this helps the probiotics to multiply. Diet plays a major role in supporting healthy gut flora. Certain nutrients are required, such as riboflavin, niacin, pantothenate, pyridoxine and more. Candida cannot thrive if the colon pH is correct, slightly acid between 5.3 and 5.8. This acid pH is maintained as a result of the lactic acid secreted by the good gut flora (acidophilus). When acidophilus is predominate in the colon and a person's nutrition is adequate candida will not be able to take hold in the system. There can only be disease where there is a medium.
It takes prebiotics, transient probiotics and native strains of probiotics to get a full spectrum supplemental approach. To do this with food, you'd want to be consuming prebiotic rich foods such as; green & black teas with phenols, fresh herbs and spices, legumes and beans (deeper colored), red wine (has the phenols, organic), dark chocolate or cacao (not processed), soluble fiber; friendly gut bugs thrive on it, collect toxins to be flushed out with the stool (no need for a supplement though – not insoluble fiber) & fruits, vegetables (especially garlic and onions). Then you want to get a variety of strains of transient (just passing through) probiotics through fermented foods such as; sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, milk kefir, natto, kombucha, water kefir and pickles (as well as other brine fermented vegetables). Lastly, you want to obtain some of the native soil based strains of probiotics and you can get those from healthy soil, air and water. Your best bet is to grow your own garden in rich soil and not worry about every speck of dirt getting rinsed off your produce. Also get your hands and feed into that healthy soil. Compost. Or, if you can't garden join a CSA or buy from your local farmer's market from farms that grow organically (I promise you there will be some dirt still clinging to your produce).
In case you are not able to ferment your own foods or grow a garden, and are perhaps experiencing moderate health issues, supplementation will be necessary. Supplementation will be imperative if you've gone through more than 1-2 rounds of antibiotics in your entire lifetime. Let's touch on my suggestions for supplementation.
Supplementing with Probiotics
Look for probiotics that contain Lactobacillus acidophilus plus Bifidobacteria strains. There are many more, and there may be times when you want to use specific strains for a specific purpose. One example would be with chronic diarrhea – you could use Saccharomyces boulardii by itself to put out that 'fire' so to speak. Then make sure to add in a more broad spectrum probiotic supplementation approach. Look for refrigerated products- for the most part these will be the most viable. When having probiotics shipped they can retain their potency out of refrigeration for a couple days or even weeks. Freeze dried products are also a good option. There are SOME viable products out there that can be stored at room temperature.
Maintenance dose, for improved health or mild health conditions; anywhere from 3 billion per day up to 25 billion per day. Everyone will be different as to what their body needs specifically. For severe health conditions, 30 billion plus per day is a good start. After antibiotic treatment: 30-100 billion per day at least. Studies on people with ulcerative colitis have found dosages of more than 2 trillion per day to be of benefit. Start low and slow to allow your body to adjust. It is possible to experience gas, bloating, etc while you adjust the first few days to week. If your symptoms get worse – stop taking the probiotics -this is a die-off due to the pathogenic disease producing bacteria and fungus -they release chemicals as they are killed off that can really aggravate one's symptoms. Stop and re-start with very small amounts to avoid the die off.
My personal recommendation after having worked with clients on introducing probiotics would be to start a high quality probiotic if you are working on improving your health conditions and slowly work up to a dose that starts to give your body the results it needs most. Hang out on that dose for a short time when you have the consistent results you need then back down slowly to a maintenance dose. This will look different for everyone.
Check out ConsumerLab.com to find studies done on certain probiotic supplements.
Recommended Brands
There are numerous probiotic supplements on the market, too numerous for me to review every single one to determine if they are good quality or not. Here are a few that I've worked with or have been recommended are good by others that I trust or by some research.
•   Biotics Bio-Doph 7 Plus
•   Biotics Saccharomyces Boulardii (great for traveler's diarrhea and diarrhea in general, especially in those with IBS or Crohns disease)
•   Bio-Kult – recommended by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride for the GAPS protocol.
•   Renew Life Ultimate Flora Critical Care 50 Billion – has 10 different strains.
•   BioTrust Pro-X 10 – contains 7 strains, is micro-encapsulated to survive stomach acid and reach the gut. (not necessarily a good thing if you need the bacteria in the stomach, but can have it's benefits).
•   Custom Probiotics– high quality probiotics with many different blends as well as individual strains (currently what my family is using as well as their yogurt starter 2). Spend some time on this site reading all the resources. Call in to talk more with Harry about what strains you should be taking.
•   Florastore- made of live freeze dried yeast cells, saccharomyces boulardii. (also found in kombucha, and kefir, 1 to 1 ratio of bacteria and yeasts) these cells clear the body within 5-7 days. Transient form
•   VSL #3– megadose transient based medical food probiotic, 450 billion per packet.
For severe health conditions. Please note it does contain cornstarch and maltose. Mix with cold water or food. Up to 8 packets per day can be take for severe health conditions. Capsules in lower doses are also available.
•   Ultra Dophilus, Ultra Bifidus, Ultraflora Plus (with colostrum) from Metagenics. You can get these through physicians only.
Brands of Soil Based Organisms
BioKult – mostly transient, but it does have bacillus in it. This is a safe slow detox approach.
Prescript Assist – 100% native, prebiotic & probiotic (only one out there like this)
Start on half a capsule, wait 3 days to see if there is a reaction. Then add 1, then 2 and so on. In a base of carbon which is a bowel detoxifier. Humic and fulvic acids as well (prebiotics). Best option we know of on the market.
Theralac – gel that protects the bacteria as they pass through the acid stomach into the intestines at full strength. (good maintenance) Has transient and native microbes in it, 20 billion colony forming units at the time of consumption. Good for mild or moderate health condition dose. Decent option.
Why take probiotics in the first place?
•   antibiotics in food and water
•   birth control pill (substances in pill that change the pH of the gut) This interupts our feedback loop.    Digestion is a system of hormone messages that can be disrupted by taking exogenous hormones.
•   hormones- same as above
•   pharmaceutical drugs
•   too much sugar (changes body pH)
•   chlorine in water, bacteria/toxins in water
•   BPA from cans/plastic – probiotics bind with them in the gut to help remove from the body
It's a good idea to keep your gut guessing by taking a variety of probiotics and strains. Rotate through different brands/strains of probiotics to constantly introduce different strains to the immune system. Use foods first and supplements additionally. A good probiotic should have as many different strains/species of beneficial bacteria as possible. The human gut contains hundreds of known species of probiotic bacteria that have different strengths and weaknesses. If we have a mixture of them then we have a better chance of deriving maximum benefit.
Affiliate links are used where appropriate, which allow me to earn a small commission on your sale. This does not affect your price at all and is a cost of doing business for the affiliate companies. The monies earned from those commissions are like a tip at a restaurant and help support the maintenance of the website and free content. Shop on Amazon? There's a handy Amazon.com search box over in the right-hand side bar you can click through to shop on Amazon. You'll get the very same prices, plus a portion of what you spend will support this site. Thank you!
Lydia Joy Shatney is a certified Nutritional Therapist Practitioner through the Nutritional Therapy Association. Additionally, she is the chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation in Delaware County, Pa. (Find the group here on Facebook). Lydia is also a member of the Nourished Living Network. Lydia founded Divine Health From The Inside Out in March of 2010. You can find Lydia on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest. Sign up for the Divine Health From The Inside Out newsletter! Pick up a copy of Lydia's eBook; 'Divine Dinners: Gluten-Free, Nourishing, Family-Friendly Meals'.
Lydia offers specialized step by step counseling to transform your health. Personalized consultations to suit your specific needs are offered via phone or in person. Lydia offers a variety of packages offered to suit your individual needs. Contact Lydia today to get started as well as to learn more about what she has to offer you!
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Cleric comm by YamaOrceWatch
©2013-2019 YamaOrce
Commission work
Hope you enjoy it!
Hope you enjoy it!
I use this pic as my character portrait in my D&D game. Awesome art. Thanks!
i think he is a paladin
i simply enjoy looking at it wonder if i can draw like this O.O
I enjoy it!
Coooool Shield!
IT'S A HOBBIT! XD Joking.
Nice one, i love the shield.
I love that celtic details. Amazing, I really really love it. Great work!
You're probably one of the most, if not -the- most, talented artists I've seen that does work for Pathfinder RPG. I hope you continue to wow us with your work for a long time!
May I have permission to use this image on the cover of my book that I'm publishing?
If so, please email me something to the affect that you are the creator/owner of this image and that you grant me permission to use it.
You can email me at: email@example.com
If so, please email me something to the affect that you are the creator/owner of this image and that you grant me permission to use it.
You can email me at: email@example.com
Your job is...awesome!!
Love this! I Play Pathfinder and this matches my characters description so very well. Thanks for the inspired work.
I was wandering through DA when I came across your gallery.
And of course, I said, "This guy knows."
And of course, I said, "This guy knows."
Beautiful Work....
Wow, the detail is stunning, can I use this on a composite of our local castle, will credit you of course.
I really like the detail on his armor, and the work you did on his face. Nice job
other than the hair color this is almost exactly how i envisioned my cleric in undercroft...(akwardly rubs my screen)
I have to say, this is my favourute so far.
Good job
good design
good art
good art
Good work
I'm playing a Luck domain cleric in a PbP game online. Would it be presumptuous to ask if I can use this as his character portrait? I would of course give full credit, and put this URL on the Char. sheet.
i couldn't draw something like this on my best day, this is amazing!
it's all about training
keep it up and you'll reach as far as you want!
keep it up and you'll reach as far as you want!
This is great! An excellent character. Amazing detail on every inch of the painting.
Great work !
I really like this picture, so I'm adding it to my favorites so I can easily find it again and keep looking at it.
Nice! Great Pose!
Cleric 1
The Undead 0
The Undead 0
Amazing Work!!!!
I absolutely love what you did with the colors. Amazing job.

subset: commoncrawl


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For the second year in a row, we sponsored the amazing American Heart Association's Heart Walk. The past two years we have had a phenomenal time participating in this event and joining the fight against heart disease. Here's a little information from their website:
"The American Heart Association is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to defeating heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. Our mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke — the nation's No.1 and No.5 killers. Thank you, our walkers, donors, and volunteers who help fight heart disease and stroke."
Here are some pictures from the day of the event! It's so awesome we had so many Eastern Ambassadors out on Saturday to show support!


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Chris Isaak - Beyond the Sun
- Brian Donaldson
- 5 January 2012
Listenable but redundant take on some of Sun Records' finest
(Vanguard Records/Rhino)
During its 1950s heyday, Sun Records churned out standards by the bucketload from the likes of Elvis, Cash and Orbison. During the recording of Beyond the Sun, David Lynch's favourite bequiffed rockabilly star was presumably so weighed down by the history that he has laid down cover versions so close to the originals that they can't even be described as 'interpretations'.
The obvious criticism of this Stars in Their Eyes-like CD is that with the originals all readily available out there, why bother trawling through this for the Chris Isaak take on 'I Walk the Line', 'Can't Help Falling in Love' or 'Great Balls of Fire'? Beyond the Sun is simultaneously difficult to hate and impossible to see the point of.


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Bill Text
Bill Start
|Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 47
Relative to the CalFire Firefighter Andrew Maloney Memorial Highway.
[ Filed with Secretary of State August 30, 2017. ]
ACR 47, Gray. CalFire Firefighter Andrew Maloney Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate the portion of State Route 165 located between Berkeley Drive and Pioneer Road in the County of Merced as CalFire Firefighter Andrew Maloney Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost for appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Digest KeyFiscal Committee: YES
Bill Text
WHEREAS, In the year 2000, Andrew Maloney began his career as a paid call firefighter for the Merced County Fire Department in Los Banos and he worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a firefighter in the summer of 2001; and
WHEREAS, Maloney worked for CalFire from 2003 until his death on June 12, 2016, serving at the Los Banos, Santa Nella, and Hornitos stations; and
WHEREAS, Maloney was also involved in fire safety programs in Merced and Mariposa Counties; and
WHEREAS, Colleagues described working with Maloney as "nothing but enjoyable," noting that even when working outside in 115-degree weather in the sun Maloney would always make sure everyone was smiling; and
WHEREAS, In addition, CalFire said in a statement that "Andrew will be missed not only by his parents, brother and friends, but also by his entire Cal Fire and Merced County Fire Department family."; and
WHEREAS, Maloney enjoyed the outdoors, both in his professional and personal life, was an avid scuba diver, hiked both the Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails, loved animals, and was the rare vegetarian firefighter working amongst carnivores; and
WHEREAS, On June 9, 2016, while riding his motorcycle, Maloney was hit by a distracted driver who was found to be under the influence of alcohol and cannabis, and died three days later of his injuries; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Route 165 located between Berkeley Drive and Pioneer Road in the County of Merced as CalFire Firefighter Andrew Maloney Memorial Highway; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the costs of erecting the appropriate signs, consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system, showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.


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Meet Michelle
Hey there! I am so pumped you've visited Freely Mi! I started this blog in February 2014 with the name "Adventure Culture," as a way to document the everyday experiences that were re-shaping and redefining my life. A few years prior, I had moved 1,400 miles away from home with nothing but three suitcases and one friend…that friend became my husband in 2013 and life continued evolving in exciting ways. As things changed, so did my content, so I rebranded as Freely Mi in January 2016.
I am originally from Nebraska and spent 20+ years as a competitive and professional dancer. I graduated in 2010 with a degree in Journalism and transitioned out of Corporate America in 2015. For more than three years, I have worked as a freelance writer, photographer, and blogger.
After getting married in 2013, Ben and I finally got our passports and started traveling the world. He's into all things extreme and has introduced me to activities like surfing, snowboarding, and motocross. In return, I share my love for plant-based eating, art, and yoga. Together we have launched exciting projects, dabbled in new languages, and started exploring new activities at sea including sailing and snorkeling!
It's our passion to pursue a more freeing, fruitful and fulfilling lifestyle. The stories I share on Freely Mi are inspired by this pursuit and it's my hope that they encourage you to do the same.


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It was easy to tell right away, walking into the large meeting room, that something hot was for sale and a lot was at stake. A dozen eager company reps -- stylish young men and women of all races and backgrounds -- stood behind two long tables with slick brochures and stacks of applications in English and Spanish. There were balloons and potted plants everywhere, cookies, pastries, coffee, juices and soft drinks, a room nearby to park the children.
By the time Kathleen Madigan, Ed.D, began her pitch on this April night, it was standing room only, more than 300 Jersey City parents. One father in the audience, Robert Silberman, was struck by how much the meeting felt like a sales presentation at the telecommunications company where he works, while others remarked on the speaker's evangelical tone. But what was being offered was neither cell phones nor God's salvation. The offering to this heavily minority audience in one of the poorest school districts in New Jersey was a free, publicly financed education for their children at a new charter school to be opened in September by Advantage Schools Inc., a Boston-based, for-profit company with schools in Phoenix and Rocky Mount, N.C.
''As we speak,'' began Madigan, Advantage's curriculum director, ''I have kindergartners in Phoenix and North Carolina who can tell you the three phases of matter!. . .I have 5-year-olds in North Carolina who know where the prime meridian is!. . .We have 200 instructional days, 20 more than the public schools!. . .We go from 8 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon! Eight in the morning until 3:30!. . .We will have a phenomenal staff to make this a reality. We get to choose our teachers.. . .We don't say it's the child's fault, or they didn't have a good breakfast, or they came from this kind of family.
''This is how they're taught to walk down the hall,'' she said, marching, her hands folded in front of her. For an hour those parents sat, rapt, listening to one remarkable story after another. She told them how Advantage ran a direct-instruction school stressing basics, with teachers using daily scripts to drill students. She showed them videos of young black boys reading. ''Our children on third level are reading the 'Iliad'; in fifth grade they read Homer's 'Odyssey.'. . .Most children don't like to rewrite. Oh no? Our children say, 'Give me one more chance!'. . .No child will fall through the cracks in our school.''
And then she made an irresistible claim: ''Every single one of our kindergartners in both schools is reading! Every single one! I don't get up here and say it unless it's true.''Continue reading the main story
Kimlee Acosta, an employment agency worker and mother of two boys in the public schools, was sold. She found a pay phone and called her friend Christine Litaker, who was still at work. ''You got to get down here,'' said Acosta. ''It's freakin' great! They're going to start school at 8; they go to 3:30! My kids start school at freakin' quarter to 9.'' India Sloane, a home health aide with a daughter entering kindergarten, thought it sounded better than her local public school. ''I'm going to apply her for this school,'' she said. ''It have good qualifications for, you know, a child.''
That night, hundreds of Jersey City parents signed up their children for a school that didn't have even a building or location yet, run by a company whose entire track record is two schools, each in existence for less than a year. The parents were willing to take the plunge, because while they didn't know fully what they were getting into, they knew they weren't pleased with what their children had.
Still, not everyone was converted. While Robert Silberman liked it, his wife, Karen, thought it sounded militaristic. ''I guess we're having a disagreement,'' she said. And Sandra Oviedo has a son who's having problems with math in a school that uses a similar method. ''It's not magic,'' she said. Even many parents eagerly signing on the dotted line were wondering if there really could be such a miraculous urban public school where every kindergartner reads.
This is the cutting edge of the school-choice movement, and it is stunning to behold because it is so radically different from what has come before in public education, and at the same time so much in sync with this era, when the free market is entrusted to deliver the best public-policy choices for us all. In the new education marketplace, public schools are expected to sell themselves aggressively, and the burden of figuring out what is real and what is hype falls not on regulators or district bureaucrats or boards of education but on parents. During the question period at that April meeting, Carlos Garcia asked what kind of guarantees went with all the company's promises. ''What happens if my child does fall by the wayside?'' Garcia asked. ''I'm having that now, in another charter school.''
''You're asking what recourse you have if we don't do what we say,'' Madigan responded. ''I don't have a good answer for you. If this school doesn't do it, you tell other people and we don't keep in business.''
In short: Let the buyer beware.
Each new school year brings more charters, and that in turn is pressuring public schools to sell themselves harder. Since 1991, when Minnesota passed the first charter legislation, 32 other states, including New Jersey (but not New York), have followed suit, and there are currently 786 charter schoools in America, with 400 to 500 more expected this fall. They tend to be in big cities, but exist in suburbs and rural areas, too, varying enormously in philosophy and quality. While most are run on a nonprofit basis, started by parents and educators, there are also about a dozen for-profit charter companies, including Edison, the best known, which will have 48 schools by fall, and Advantage, which will have 7 or 8. The movement has attracted support across the spectrum, from conservative businessmen like Steven Wilson, a founder of Advantage, to liberal public educators like Deborah Meier, who created the widely admired Central Park East public school in Harlem in the 1970's and recently started her own charter in Boston.
In Jersey City alone -- where six charters have been approved -- there is one started by white yuppies and one by the Urban League. There are charters that stress basics, and there is the Learning Community charter, which uses the Bank Street model and has a principal who warns parents that there will be little homework and no textbooks. When Kiwan Fitch is asked what she likes about that charter, she mentions the time her kindergartner, Brandon, dissected a fish.
Anyone in New Jersey who wants to start one -- parents, teachers, professors, businesspeople -- submits a plan to the state. If the state approves, then that plan -- the charter -- becomes the blueprint for the school. A charter school is free and open to any child who lives within the public-school district where the charter school is located. Typically, too many children want to attend and a lottery is held.
Financing is all tax dollars, and that is where the competition comes in, where things turn nasty: nearly every dollar that goes to a charter is subtracted from that district's public schools. Jersey City public schools currently receive about $7,000 from the state and city for each child educated. When a charter opens, it receives most of that $7,000 per child enrolled and the public school loses that $7,000 per child. So Advantage's charter, with 500 students, would receive close to $3.5 million in public funds that would have otherwise gone to Jersey City public schools. The numbers make it easy to understand the hard sell at that April meeting. Every family could bring in at least $7,000 to Advantage Schools Inc.; Kimlee Acosta's two sons were worth a cool $14,000.
Nor are public-school districts sitting by quietly as their funds and motivated students are skimmed off. Of 23 new charters approved this year in New Jersey, 14 faced legal challenges, most claiming they were an unfair economic drain.
Supporters of school choice say that rather than being hurt, good public schools will rise to the market challenge and improve. And you can see some of that in Jersey City, at schools like P.S.16, where the principal and parents are also out selling their school hard. Fortunately, P.S. 16 has lots to sell: it's a small school in a handsome old building in a gentrifying neighborhood of brownstones, with a poor yet upwardly mobile immigrant population whose children have some of the city's best test scores.
Mornings at P.S. 16, before school, Bob DiTursi, the principal, leans out his window, joking with parents on the sidewalk below. ''I'm drumming up business,'' he says, pulling his head inside. He is not kidding. He wants 40 kindergartners for next September, enough so he can have two small classes of 20 each. Last fall, he fell short of 40 and it cost him. When the citywide classroom census was completed last October, he had only 31 kindergartners; the district decided that wasn't enough to justify two teachers and took one away, merging the children into a single, large class. Since then, when parents considering P.S. 16 for next year have visited, they've been discouraged by that overcrowded kindergarten. The principal fears that these motivated parents -- the ones whose children do best on the state tests that everyone follows in The Jersey Journal -- will go elsewhere. And so he has been hunting kindergartners, visiting downtown high-rises to pitch parents. He also has been giving out zone waivers to middle-class families who prefer P.S. 16 to their neighborhood school, P.S. 9, one of the city's worst.
P.S. 16 has had help, too, from Charlotte Kreutz, though she doesn't even have a child there yet. Kreutz, a designer married to an architect, believes in supporting her local public school and wants to send her 4-year-old, Georgia, to P.S. 16 -- if the kindergarten is not too large. In March, Kreutz created a flier that explained the kindergarten situation, titled ''Consider P.S. 16, a Great School in Your Own Neighborhood!'' She spent hours stuffing mailboxes and buttonholing parents. In this way, Kreutz lined up five families with children entering kindergarten who said they were leaning toward P.S. 16. Nothing is sure, however, as parents jockey on behalf of their children; several had their names in lotteries for charters, too. Even Kreutz was torn. ''If Georgia's in a class of 30 kids, I'll be really unhappy. I don't know what I'll do. I don't want to be a bleeding-heart liberal making a point about public schools and sacrificing my child.''
Every reform has limitations, and the problem with school choice is what happens to schools that have nothing to sell, schools left behind after the most-motivated families have made their choices and moved on. P.S. 39 is widely regarded as Jersey City's worst elementary school, a large, dark building at the end of a dead-end street surrounded by a 25-foot-high chain-link fence that makes it look like Riker's Island. The school has the city's lowest test scores and the most poor children, 94 percent qualifying for free lunches, many living on welfare in the Duncan Avenue projects. Midyear, the principal resigned. The week I visited, fights frequently broke out; the lunchroom was in chaos. The stereotype of bad inner-city schools is overcrowded classes, but so many parents work hard to get their children elsewhere -- whether a charter, a Catholic school or, by using a fake address, a better public school -- that at P.S. 39 average class size is actually small, 21.
At P.S. 39, in Laurie Ralph's third grade this year, a girl named Fathema often screamed, rolled on the floor like a dog and fought, making it impossible to accomplish anything some days. There were times the veteran teacher broke down crying. Fathema's mother, Peggy Smith, 30, says she doesn't know how to handle her daughter, either. One thing is certain: Smith won't be signing up her five children (three of them in special education) for a charter. She had never heard of charters. ''I don't know too much about them,'' she says.
This year's Jersey City Teacher of the Year is from P.S. 39, Jerri O'Brien-Cass. She works long hours and learns about the personal problems her third graders face at home so she can help them better. For one boy who can't read and is failing, she sent home 17 notes requesting a parent conference -- with no response. P.S. 39 is on the losing side of the school-choice debate, and it enrages the teacher of the year. ''If my best students, my Schnelle and my Phillip, are going off to charter schools, God bless them -- let them go if it gives them better lives,'' she says. ''But that makes us like a prison. We'll be the Last Stop Incarceration Public School.''
The answer from school choicers would be if P.S. 39 doesn't work, get rid of it and let the children of the Duncan Avenue projects choose among the city's best schools. In fact, Jersey City children can leave their neighborhood school and pick another if that other school's principal signs a waiver saying there is room. Unfortunately, most Jersey City schools are overcrowded, and schools in the more upscale neighborhoods are the most overcrowded. Those schools, which also have the top test scores, like P.S. 27, P.S. 38 and P.S. 6, average 30 in first grade. And Jersey City's Mayor, Bret Schundler, who is a national leader of the school-choice movement and regularly disparages his city's public schools (''They're a failure,'' he said), is not much help. While the state has tripled its annual aid to Jersey City schools in the last decade, the city's contribution has shrunk from $91 million in 1990 to $72 million this year. Schundler recently used his political clout ($34 million in city bonding power) not for public schools but to finance six new buildings to be occupied by charter schools.
This diversion of resources is public educators' worst fear and has so far kept charters out of New York. A push this spring to pass a charter bill by a coalition including the Republican Governor of New York, George Pataki, and Democratic legislators from heavily minority districts has been stalled by the association for public-school boards and the teachers' union, among others.
The school-choice debate is most importantly about how to design an effective public system to educate poor children, as Deborah Meier, the progressive educator, argues in ''The Power of Their Ideas.'' The middle and upper classes, she points out, have always enjoyed school choice. If they don't like their public school, they can choose a private school or move to a suburb. Indeed, in the 1960's and 70's, thousands of white ethnic Jersey City families exercised choice by moving to suburbia. Today, Jersey City, the state's second largest district, has 32,000 mainly minority children -- a mix of Hispanics (38 percent) and African-Americans (41percent), along with immigrants. It is a place where several major reform efforts are going on at once, making it a good prism for viewing school choice. In 1989, the state took over Jersey City's public schools and still controls them, the longest-running takeover of a failing system in the nation. Of 39 charters approved in New Jersey since 1996, when the Republican Governor, Christine Todd Whitman, won passage of enabling legislation, Jersey City has 6, second only to Trenton.
Jersey City's Mayor Schundler has been a vocal school-choice advocate. He is a popular Republican in a Democratic city, a 39-year-old Harvard-educated bond salesman turned politician with a reputation as an urban reformer. The shift in Schundler's focus in recent years from vouchers to charters reflects a national switch by Republicans that has helped bring the choice movement into the mainstream.
In the early 1990's, Schundler's thrust was getting the state to approve publicly financed vouchers that children could use to attend Jersey City's Catholic schools (which have lost much of their white ethnic population) or other private schools. While vouchers have been opposed by most Democrats, teachers' unions and civil libertarians as a violation of the separation of church and state, the opposition of those groups did not count much in New Jersey by 1995. Republicans controlled the legislature and Governor's Mansion. Schundler was confident; a few states had passed pilot voucher programs. The Mayor looked to his ally, Governor Whitman, to lead the way.
He was hung out to dry. When forced to declare themselves, the suburbanite Governor and suburbanite legislative leadership had no passion for vouchers. Their constituents didn't need vouchers -- their suburban schools were first rate. And did they really want to raise taxes so inner city children could attend private schools? Trying to put the best light on it recently, the Mayor described it this way: ''Whitman didn't push as hard as I thought. She feels complacency on this issue.'' Vouchers also would have aligned the party with the Christian right, an unpopular stand in a swing state like New Jersey.
Charters, on the other hand, were smack in line with mainstream Republicanism -- market- driven, secular schools that required no tax increase. While Mayor Schundler still wants vouchers, he is now pushing charters -- particularly ''his'' charter. The Advantage charter that so many parents signed up for that April night is known as ''the Mayor's School.'' The Mayor hooked up with the for-profit Boston company; he is constructing a building with city bond money that will house the charter, at considerable savings to Advantage. So far, charter chains, including Edison, have not been profitable, but deals like this one could turn that around. Critics of the Mayor say he is doing everything possible to make ''his'' charter a success that he can show off if he runs for higher office.
That is not how the Mayor sees it. ''I'm fighting for the kids; I'm fighting for the taxpayers,'' he says. ''School choice is the civil rights struggle of this generation.'' Jersey City voters seem to agree. In April, all four on the Mayor's slate for the school board -- not one of them with a child in public school -- defeated a slate of candidates from the teachers' union that has long battled the Mayor over school choice.
The Mayor believes Advantage's approach, using constant drill and repetition, will work best ''for children coming from less-advantaged homes. One problem these kids have is lack of confidence. They don't believe in their own potential. That discipline will be good for them. The teacher'll say: 'The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4, 1776. What day was the Declaration of Independence signed?' Disadvantaged children are shy to answer questions like this. This system doesn't allow children not to answer. The child gets used to his own voice, gets used to being told he's right. It's not that hard to give answers if someone just told you. They memorize back and know and get used to a lot of A's on quizzes. That may not be ideal in suburban Short Hills, but it's bringing a lot of value-added for our children.'' I asked the Mayor if he would send his daughter to the Advantage charter. She is 6 and attends a Christian school in Hoboken. No, he said, ''I like a big dollop of Christianity with my education.'' But there were other reasons he wouldn't pick ''his'' charter for his daughter. ''Those schools are best for certain children,'' he said.
All late winter and spring, parents feverishly researched school options. Angela George, a worker at an import company, visited every charter, got a book from the library on how to evaluate a school and called the Board of Education for a copy of its first-grade curriculum. Barbara Jeski, a Polish immigrant and single mother who works in housekeeping at a Manhattan hotel, speaks little English and so toured the Learning Community charter with her neighbor from the apartment upstairs, Amanda Merlino. Merlino has been advising Jeski on her daughter Patricia's education and suggested the charter might be better because of the smaller classes, 16 versus 28 at P.S. 25. But when Merlino heard about the school's progressive ways, she wasn't so sure. ''It was more yuppieish than we expected -- there was this Chinese yup walking around with her nose in the air,'' she said of one parent. ''But I kept quiet; I didn't say anything. I figure maybe this is an opportunity for Patricia to be around a better class of people, a mother and a father and both working. Maybe we have to do this for Patricia -- she has to know how to associate with rich people.''
That Chinese yup was actually Christel Factura, a Filipino who immigrated in the early 1990's and, like her husband, is a computer programmer. Factura was impressed with the charter's cheery rooms, the willingness of teachers to let children progress at their own rate. She wouldn't consider her local public school for her kindergartner, didn't know its name. And if her son wasn't picked in the lottery? ''Probably move to the suburbs,'' she said.
Carolyn Brewington, a single woman raising a troubled friend's son, heard about Learning Community from a neighborhood hairdresser who has a child at the charter and recommends it to her customers with hyperactive boys. ''The public school can't handle my Tre,'' said Brewington, an office manager's assistant. ''Monday, an hour after I arrived at work, the aide calls: 'Tre's throwing rocks in the classroom.' I know he's not easy. He has trouble sitting at a desk all day.'' What caught her attention was the charters' attitude on discipline. ''If a teacher's reading a lesson and a child is in the corner with his feet up not taking part, it's not considered a disciplinary problem as long as he's not disrupting the class,'' she said.
In the course of visiting charters, I spoke to hundreds of parents. What distinguishes them is their motivation. They are out hunting something extra for their children. School-choice advocates try to debunk the idea that charters are elitist. They point out that charters tend to have a higher percentage of poor and minority children than most American schools, and in a sense they are right. Even the most ''yuppified'' Jersey City charter, the Learning Community school, is impressively integrated with 43 percent of its children poor enough to qualify for free lunches -- far more than in most suburbs. But, if you compare that charter to the Jersey City public-school district it competes with, the charter is skimming. The average Jersey City elementary school has 76 percent free lunches. In fact, all Jersey City's charters have fewer students qualifying for free lunches than an average Jersey City public school. Even the Advantage school in Rocky Mount, N.C., that Mayor Schundler says is so well equipped to serve Jersey City's poor, is skimming; 38 percent of its children qualify for free lunches versus 49 percent for Rocky Mount elementary schools.
This is common sense. The poorest, most troubled parents aren't running around looking for charters. The mother of the boy in O'Brien-Cass's third grade at P.S. 39, who hasn't answered 17 notes home, isn't shopping for charter schools. The family that P.S. 39's vice principal left school to help one March day because they were being evicted from the projects isn't shopping for charters. That is precisely one of the attractions of charters for motivated parents.
There are liberals who were surprised when articles began appearing about African-Americans in Democratic cities like Cleveland, Denver and Milwaukee joining Republicans to push for charters and vouchers. But parents like Tonia and Bobby Washington of Jersey City are part of a growing African-American middle class and simply want the best for their three girls. The Washingtons are no more worried about the implications of charters creaming off top students from public schools than whites were a generation ago when they moved to suburbia.
The Washingtons rarely see each other during the week. He works a day shift at the post office, and after he gets home, she leaves for the night shift at Newark Airport, servicing jets. That is the sacrifice they make for their children; they do not hire a baby sitter, partly to save money but more because they want to raise the girls themselves. Most mornings, on a few hours' sleep, Tonia walks their oldest, Sunaya, to P.S. 20, leading her in and watching her take her seat in her first-grade classroom. Afternoons, before work, she walks Sunaya home.
In February, the Washingtons put Sunaya's name on the waiting list for the Learning Community's first grade, in case a midyear opening came up. They also entered her in the lottery for next fall's second grade. It's not that the mother thinks the public schools are so bad. In fact, when her husband said, ''They're not what they used to be when I----, '' she interrupted: ''That's not true, Bobby. They're getting better. I saw test scores in the paper.'' In the nine years after the state takeover, P.S. 20 went from 68 to 85 percent of eighth graders' passing the state competency test. ''They're getting reading from that test,'' says Tonia. ''The children will be up to standards. They keep taking and taking the test until they get it right.'' She's pleased with her daughter's progress. ''She reads well; she writes very legibly. Her math skills are excellent.'' So why pursue a charter? ''Just too many children at P.S. 20.'' It averages 28 in first grade. ''Kids get neglected,'' she says.
Every week this spring, she called the charter principal, Michael Weinberg, to see if there was an opening. ''I understand from Mr. Weinberg a family may be going to Florida,'' she said. ''They keep saying the family hasn't moved yet.'' The Washingtons are Democrats -- ''the party for the working people,'' says Bobby -- but vote for the Republican Mayor. ''I like his ideas,'' he adds. ''What they need is more charter schools around here.''
School choice is not entirely new. in the 1970's, public schools known as magnets offered enrichment programs as an incentive to pull children from neighborhood schools. Originally, magnets were a way to improve racial balance voluntarily, but over time these schools became a place for smart educators to try new ideas. New York City's District 4, which includes East Harlem, is the best-known example of school choice relying on magnets. Still, magnet schools are ultimately controlled by a district's central office. If the Chancellor decides that New York's small magnet high schools should have larger class sizes, he can order it. A magnet is like a corporate subsidiary. A charter is like having your own business. Deborah Meier left New York to start a school in Boston because she felt the charter model offered more freedom for reform.
The best argument for choice is the schools created. At their finest, they are gems that challenge people to rethink public education. In ''Miracle in East Harlem,'' Seymour Fliegel, a former New York City school administrator now at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, makes the point that when educators create their own school, they have a sense of ownership that energizes a whole building. Bobby Washington, the Jersey City postal worker, noticed it, too: ''I walk into the public school, I see people doing a job; the charter is a mission.''
Libby McDonald is an unusually creative woman, an Ivy League-educated writer and filmmaker, married to a lawyer, with a 4-year-old, Matilda, who is beginning to read and speaks Russian with her nanny and dad. In 1995, McDonald decided to start a charter. She spent months researching, took inspiration from Meier's school and on a February night invited over a few friends to discuss the idea. ''Forty showed up -- that's how hungry people were,'' she says. Over the next two years she put in many 40- to 60-hour weeks, all voluntary, laying the groundwork. When parents needed $2,000 to advertise for a director, they held a potluck dinner. Seventy people donated much of the summer of 1997, turning part of the local Boys Club into the Learning Community school.
The first six months that the school was opened, the six teachers were absent a total of two days. In Debra Wittig's kindergarten, the 15 students spend their time in creative play. It is often noisy, but Wittig does not raise her voice. ''Brandon,'' she says, ''you may not scream in Philip's face.'' Wittig reads to them a lot, and they are constantly looking through books, but the education process is subtle, indirect. At one point, five girls sit in a circle taking turns holding the class rabbit for one minute each, passing it to the next person after they've counted to 60. During the spring rains, they were fascinated by worms washing out of the ground, so Wittig created a worm unit. ''We had serious worm frenzy,'' she says. All over the room were charts of worm parts, giant papier-mache worms, worm stories written in ''creative'' spelling that is incomprehensible to a visitor. When I ask Wittig how many of her kindergartners read, she says, ''Maybe 8 of 15.''
Perhaps the most striking thing about charters is how, with smaller budgets than public districts -- they get no capital funds -- several have created schools with 15 or 16 in a class. It is the thing parents mention first. Most charters do this by paying teachers below union wage (a key reason teachers' unions are lukewarm to charters). The Learning Community charter hired young teachers for $28,000 to $30,000, while the average Jersey City public school teacher has 18 years' experience and makes $65,650.
But there is a Jersey City charter, Soaring Heights, that pays union scale -- a veteran kindergarten teacher, Joan Incognito, makes $67,800 -- and has 16 per class. ''We started with those two premises,'' says the dean, Nancy Lomba. ''Everything else we just had to make do.'' Part of school choice is allocating scarce resources, as a comparison between Soaring Heights (85 children in kindergarten through fourth grade) and P.S. 42 (167 in the same grades) makes clear:
P.S. 42 pays $224,000 to rent commercial space, plus $95,000 to three janitors and $23,751 for a security guard. The charter rents shared space in a church for $59,000, which includes cleaning and a buzzer security system. P.S. 42 has a teacher for gifted students ($41,700), a librarian ($75,600), three teachers' assistants (at $17,000 apiece) and an English-as- second-language teacher ($45,000). Twice a week, it has a music teacher ($34,500), art teacher ($28,000) and guidance counselor ($37,500). The charter has none of those. The charter has no playground or gym; kids play in the parking lot. It has no cafeteria; children eat at their desks. On the other hand, P.S. 42 has 31 in second grade, 25 in first and third -- while the charter limits classes to 16.
The opening of so many charters so quickly highlights how slow public systems are to adapt and how their budgeting process contributes to the lethargy. The capital budget for building a new Jersey City public school is totally separate from the operating budget. At P.S. 3, parents have been forming committees for 20 years to design a new school. The latest version calls for dividing P.S. 3 into a two-school complex with a 50-meter pool, two gyms, three ballfields, two libraries and two auditoriums -- at a cost of $40 million. When I asked Jersey City's Superintendent, Richard DiPatri, if it wouldn't be smarter to build a more modest school and use the savings to reduce class size, he says, ''Parents want palaces.'' If P.S. 3 ever gets built (the more it costs, the less likely that is), it would in all probability become the most overcrowed palace in the city. That distinction now belongs to P.S. 17, opened in 1996 at a cost of $21 million, with the city's largest class size, an average of 30.
April 3 was the lottery for Learning Community, the ''yup charter.'' Eighty parents had applied for 20 slots, and while the children picking numbered Ping-Pong balls from a box were cute, people were too tense to notice. When Carol Lester's number was called, she pumped her fist and gasped, ''Yes!'' The Washingtons' daughter, Sunaya, didn't make it, and they weren't sure what to do next year. Christel Factura's son didn't either. ''We are going to find a place in the suburbs,'' she said.
The news was mostly bad for Charlotte Kreutz, the mother who had worked so hard to recruit kids for P.S. 16's kindergarten. Two of the five families she was counting on were sending their kids to the charter. The rest were making other plans. ''It dropped to just me. I was feeling kind of isolated, a little panicky.'' But she was sticking to her plan, though she wouldn't know the class size till fall. She sat in on P.S 16's kindergarten and was impressed with the teacher, even with so many kids. ''The kids seemed very attentive,'' said Kreutz. ''She has a beautiful singing voice -- all of a sudden she broke into this lush soprano. The nursery school where Georgia is now, the teacher is tonedeaf.''
The charter was no longer an option for Carolyn Brewington's first grader, Tre. He wasn't reading, and his behavior was worse. ''He was suspended from school for two days. He and a class member were passing a knife.'' She asked P.S. 14's child-study team to screen him for special education. ''One of the main incentives to keep Tre in public school,'' she said, ''they give extra help.''
There are great benefits for the reform of the moment, including the ability to attract new talent and money. The Clinton Administration, always quick to jump on a popular Republican idea, has been giving grants of up to $100,000 to charters to hire community outreach staffs to attract students.
But even in the glow of newness, problems have surfaced in Jersey City. Small schools are most reformers' goal, but can be fragile, held together by a few people. In December, Gateway, a small Jersey City charter, suddenly had three of its four staff members, including the principal, quit in a dispute. State officials supposedly overseeing charters were caught off guard; a monitoring team had yet to visit the school. Midyear, parents had to decide: stick it out or jump ship?
Charters are public institutions run by private groups. Will they keep themselves open to scrutiny when they have problems? I had scheduled an interview with Silvana Mazzella, a leader of ACORN, a community group granted a charter to open a school for 150 students. She stood me up and did not return dozens of phone messages. Finally, a director of another charter told me there were problems; the school would not open this year.
While there's evidence school choice can produce positive results, it's hard to say whether it's better than the many other reform efforts. New York City's District 4 (by creating an extensive magnet system) and the state effort in Jersey City (by installing state officials at the top to remake a corrupt system) have taken different routes yet seem to have produced similar results. A recent study by Paul Teske and Mark Schneider evaluating test scores in District 4 notes considerable improvement since school choice was implemented. The study concludes that District 4 is performing significantly better than other districts with similar demographics but no choice. It points out that test scores improved even at District 4's neighborhood schools.
As for Jersey City, since the state takeover, its elementary test scores have gone from the middle of the pack among the state's dozen largest, poorest districts to No. 2; 79.6 percent of Jersey City eighth graders passed the state's reading test in 1997, compared with 56 percent in 1991. And all its bottom schools, with one exception (P.S. 39), have improved scores, too. State officials have achieved this by letting principals control the hiring of teaching staff as well as giving them more say in their budgets. (Before the takeover, a crony of a former mayor, who was promoted from gym teacher to assistant superintendent, assigned teachers to schools depending on whom they'd supported in the election.) The state has added public- school pre-K classes and all-day kindergarten, and introduced Reading Recovery, a highly regarded national intensive remedial program. And when principals don't get results, they are gone. Citing the test scores and reforms, Whitman has pronounced the state takeover in Jersey City a success.
Of course, it is also possible to reach the opposite conclusion, as does Mayor Schundler, calling the takeover ''a total failure.'' When Jersey City -- or East Harlem -- is compared with suburbs and the rest of the state, the results are abysmal. Of 455 districts in the state, Jersey City eighth graders rank 439th in reading scores. And while their test scores are climbing, everyone's have climbed since the eighth-grade test was introduced in 1991. As the market ethos has taken hold, parents and politicians have increasingly demanded school accountability, and by that they mean better test results. Schools are devoting more time teaching to the test, creating curriculums that prepare kids for the tests.
And this will intensify as charters spread. Now charters are making hay off parent concerns about test results in big cities. Soon charters will feel that heat. The Advantage school in Rocky Mount isn't a year old, and already Cheryl Ellis, an administrator, is being pressured to include prep units for North Carolina's competency test. ''It makes me want to throw up,'' she said. ''We're all being measured by the test, the test, the test.''
During an interview, DiPatri, the Superintendent appointed by Whitman to run Jersey City schools, mentioned test scores right away. ''Ten years ago, Jersey City was at the bottom,'' he said. ''Now we're far above all the other big ones, except Union City.'' Later, when I checked old scores, I realized Jersey City never was at the bottom; depending on which big districts you used for comparison, it was in the middle of the pack, or as high as fourth at the time of takeover. After discussing this with DiPatri's executive assistant, Joanne Kenny, she said: ''I agree. We like to put our own spin on it.'' The flip side of school choice is test spin.
Theodore Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, has tried to move educators away from assessment based on tests and toward more complex methods like portfolios that show a range of a child's work and creativity. He points out that test scores correlate most closely with social class: ''If you look at a lot of test scores, they match family income.'' Indeed, after nine years of state takeover in Jersey City, with all the innovations, if you look at the test results for the 27 elementary schools, the school with the most middle-class kids, P.S. 27 (63 percent free lunches), is at the top, and the poorest school, P.S. 39 (94 percent free lunches), is at the bottom. And there is considerable correlation: the more free lunches, the lower the test scores. The exceptions are schools like P.S. 16 (84 percent free lunches) dominated by immigrants. While poor in this country, they often came from middle-class backgrounds in their homelands.
When I asked to meet a top eighth grader at P.S. 39 -- a predominantly African-American school with many second-generation welfare families -- the guidance counselor introduced me to Edward Adu Jr. Edward's family immigrated to Jersey City two years ago from Africa. He is the P.S. 39 valedictorian and the only child accepted to attend Academic High next year, Jersey City's elite high school. In Ghana, his father was a skilled mechanic, and Edward attended a private school where he took 13 subjects a day, learning English and several other languages on top of his native Twi. He knows little of America beyond P.S. 39; while he has stood on Jersey City's docks and looked across the Hudson to Manhattan's skyscrapers, he has never visited there. When asked what has surprised him about America, he says, ''It seems the schools in Africa are better than here.''
One night, three hours into a Jersey City school-board meeting full of squabbles, the complexity of school reform suddenly hit me smack in the ears. An angry parent was screaming at the Superintendent: ''Since you came in '89, our test scores has gone nowhere! What are you planning to do, Mr. DiPatri, to bring our children's test scores up? I don't see no improvement, no improvement at all!''
The sales pitch that accompanies school choice dazzles, promising to deliver more, better, sooner, when the reality is that education is an intricate process filled with subtle challenges like how to foster curiosity. When I asked Robert Slavin of Johns Hopkins, Grover Whitehurst of Stony Brook and Courtney Cazden of Harvard whether that Rocky Mount charter really could have all its kindergartners reading, the experts answered me with questions. What did the school mean by reading? Learning the phonetic code? Comprehending words being sounded out? Basic literacy? Developing a lifelong love for books? Slavin, whose own direct-instruction reading method, ''Success for All,'' is used in 750 schools, questioned whether it was even desirable to push all kindergartners to read. If a child's too young, he asked, will that child be frustrated and turn off?
In May, I flew to Rocky Mount to see the school where every kindergartner could read, opened last fall in a vacant J.C. Penney. Advantage had done a lovely remodeling job, painting the rooms white with muted green and purple trim. Students wore uniforms and did indeed fold their hands as they walked the halls. The school has been well received; 900 have signed up for 690 slots.
Shortly after greeting me, Joshua Solomon, Advantage's spokesman who had flown from corporate headquarters in Boston to escort me, said, ''All the kindergarten kids read, you know.''
Everything is taught straight from workbooks developed by the Engelmann Becker company. So while classes are large -- 30 in most grades -- they can be broken into groups taught by anyone, since all the instructor is doing anyway is reading straight from the text. In fact, 15 fifth graders in a top math group are taught by Colleen Burnham, the school receptionist. ''All you have to remember,'' she said, ''is you can't go off the script.''
I mentioned to Ellis, the school's curriculum coordinator, that I had heard students were reading the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey.'' ''Actually,'' she says, ''we didn't get to that this year.'' I asked if all 96 kindergartners were reading. ''Actually we have six that aren't,'' she said. ''We pull them out for extra help.'' Still, 90 of 96 reading sounded good.
During the morning, there is no play in kindergarten. They sit in groups for a half-hour each of reading, math and language-arts drill, and in between work independently, filling in blanks on work sheets. I've never seen such a quiet kindergarten. In math group, the teacher says: ''87 minus 1 equals 86. Everyone what's the answer?'' and snaps her fingers.
''87 minus 1 equals 86,'' they chant.
''49 minus 1 is 48. Everyone what's the answer?'' [snap]
''Christopher, 43 minus 1, what's the answer?'' [snap]
''88,'' says Christopher.
''Again, 43 minus 1 is [snap] 42. 43 minus 1, what's the answer Christopher?''
I asked the teacher, Christine Marsh, if she would allow a few to read to me. I'd brought my own beginning books; I wanted to know if they could read something basic they'd never seen. I requested readers from the lower groups. The first boy looked at the first line of ''The Haunted House'': ''I am a ghostie.'' He couldn't even read ''I.'' Marsh went to the second line looking for a word he would know and pointed to ''the.'' The boy said, ''T.'' ''I'm surprised,'' Marsh said. ''That was one of the first words we learned.''
I handed the second boy ''Raindrops.'' The first page says, ''Drip, drip, drop.'' He couldn't read it. The teacher gave him hints about the pictures of rain falling. Finally for ''Drip, drip, drop,'' the boy guessed, ''Rain, drop. . .no, I don't know.''
After many prods from the teacher, the next child, a girl, in agonizingly slow fashion, sounded out ''Drip, drip, drop.'' After more hints on the next page -- ''Rain is falling on my house'' -- she got ''Rain is,'' but could not get ''falling,'' ''my'' or ''house.'' She was a tiny girl, and it was touching to see how mightily she worked at it and how much her teacher wanted her to read.
Like kindergarten teachers all over America, at the start of this day Marsh had written on the board: ''Good morning. Today is Monday. The date is May 11, 1998.'' I asked, if she changed ''Good morning'' to ''Good afternoon,'' how many could read it. ''Maybe half,'' she said.Continue reading the main story


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Hi Kai, The schema snippet you present is illegal. There are some cases when simple types can restrict complex types (and possibly vice versa) but this isn't one of them. If you could say what you would like to do then perhaps someone can suggest how to do it. Cheers, Pete Cordell Codalogic for XML Schema to C++ data binding visit http://www.codalogic.com/lmx/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kai Schlamp" <firstname.lastname@example.com> To: <email@example.com> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 2:25 AM Subject: Invalid: derivation of complex type by restriction of simple type not allowed > > Hello! > > In my schema I have the following: > > <xs:complexType name="textareaType"> > <xs:simpleContent> > <xs:restriction base="xs:string"> > <xs:attribute ref="label" use="required" /> > </xs:restriction> > </xs:simpleContent> > </xs:complexType> > > But W3C Schema validator tells me there is an error (derivation of > complex type by restriction of simple type not allowed), even if > w3schools writes, that this should be valid code (http:// > www.w3schools.com/schema/schema_complex_text.asp). > I also checked the original Schema reference (http://www.w3.org/TR/ > xmlschema-1/), that points out: "Note that either <restriction> or > <extension> must be chosen as the content of <simpleContent>." > When I replace restriction by extension everything works fine. But I > want to restrict the element type in a further step. > Any help? > > Best regards, > Kai > > > > > >Received on Saturday, 3 November 2007 09:03:23 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Wednesday, 7 January 2015 14:56:13 UTC


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House Passes 'Fetal Pain' Bill
House Republicans on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," a far-reaching bill that would limit abortions after 20 weeks of conception. That's when, according to the measure's supporters, a fetus can feel pain, an assertion that has been contested by the medical community. The bill passed with 228 to 196 votes in the House, but has little chance of passage in the Senate, and no chance at all of being signed by President Obama, who in a policy statement on Monday threatened to veto H.R. 1797, calling it an "assault on a woman's right to choose."


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EAT. SLEEP. CRAFT. {repeat}


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Un Dia" in 2008 and Juana Molina confessed in a recent interview that she barely knows what she actually did in the meantime. What we do know however is that she toured with David Byrne and Feist, she worked with the likes of Vetiver and Vashti Bunyan and she was involved with the Belgian record label Crammed Discs collective project Congotronics vs Rockers. She also toured Europe and Japan within the framework of this project : 20 musicians on the scene including Konono N°1, Kasai Allstars, Deerhoof, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Skeletons and even Belgian funny band Hoquets for the Brussels gig (of which Juana Molina was the indisputable and charming MC). She also subsequently signed a record deal with Crammed Discs, which took over her last five records onto their catalogue from Domino.
Oh, and she bought an electric guitar : a Gibson SG.
"Wed 21" represents a step further into Juana Molina's aesthetics and her brand new electric guitar brought with it some renewed inspiration. Still, this sixth album isn't a departure from the songstress' previous recordings, it is more an extension of them. A parallel could be drawn with Bob Dylan's passage to electricity in the mid-60s before recording "Highway 61 Revisited", Dylan's songs became sonically more rock while retaining its folk idioms. Although, don't expect our Argentinean Lady to roll on 4/4 time signature and stripped back guitars, bass and drums instrumentation, this is a Juana Molina's album and the introduction of the electric guitar is just one added element to her even more extended sound panorama, a new ingredient however that pushes the artist towards more aggressive and contrasted territories. Therefore "Wed 21" sounds more direct, apparently simpler, more varied, Molina's is back to the shorter song format as well, but the most striking part : all tracks but one, "Las Edades", are uptempo, with some calmer moments here and there.
One of the most surprising song is "La Rata", with its low coldwavy bass introduction quickly livened with a near post-punkish guitar riff and a massive stomping bass drum, it is not far off some of the heaviest songs by a past Crammed Discs' band, Minimal Compact, without sounding anything 80s. Molina's trademark multi-layered vocals and various percussion soon lead us back to more familiar ambiance. Another shock comes with the astonishingly robotik title track, the metallic rattles, techno-like bumping bass drum and buzzing repetitive electronic lines running all through the song make it sound like Juana Molina is backed by a tamer Liars. Sure her trademark polyrhythmic vocals and percussion remain to the fore, but still. "Bicho Auto" and its deep vibrating analog synth line complemented with a mix of metallic and latin percussion lies somewhere between Suicide, which would have gone exotic, and Finnish psych-pop luminaries 22-Pistepirkko. And then, the everything-in-the-kitchen-sink approach of "El Oso De La Guarda", also the longest track getting over the six-minute mark, agglomerates in one single track Molina's stupefying musical imagination, which perches more than once on the verge of insanity. Between its cartoonesque pursuit of an intro and its outro made of multi-layered sine waves and a creaking door, this song contrasts frenetic percussive noise, shimmering guitars and shamanic chants for a mesmerizing experience.
Juana Molina's musical shyness and introversion are something of the past. From album to album, the evolution hasn't looked too striking indeed but try a listen to "Tres Cosas", for instance, then immediately follow it up with "Wed 21", while both records are undoubtedly hers, there is a real metamorphosis going on there, that of a slow moving caterpillar transforming into a whirling butterfly. Even at its poppiest moments, like on both singles, the compelling "Eras", with its clever vocal hooks, funky refrain and easily foot-tapping beat, and the more tribal little creepy "Sin Guia, No", with its knitting guitars and ecstatic chants, or the fast-paced almost ska-lead acoustic guitar jollity "Final Feliz" and the slightly Dan Deacon-esque rolled drums fantasy "Lo Decidi Yo", the album remains a pretty challenging and rewarding listen throughout. Juana Molina has succeeded with "Wed 21" where St. Vincent failed on her latest own, while the former mainly expended on her sonic palette to feed the content of her composition, the latter mixed up form and content to deliver clever sounding music from which most of the soul has been digitally sucked out.
This is the fifth brilliant album in a row from Juana Molina, and her lately wider coverage all over the world, even in the monolingual protectionist US - remember all songs are sung in Spanish, with the exception of the English sung call-and-response refrain in "Eras" - is all the most deserved for an artist who is that persevering, bright, inventive and uniquely imaginative. And yet, with Molina's choice to electrify her music and push the polyrhythmic beats more to the front, her music became somewhat easier to reference with other artists, it all sounds slightly more familiar, more marketable, a little fancier. Almost 14 years after Juana Molina gave a first little masterpiece "Segundo", the world has finally caught up and she is now widely recognized as some musical genius. Better late than never.
8 out of 10


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52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks, 2018; week 5 prompt: In the Census.
In the Census: the first thing that pops into my head with that prompt is, In the Census there is TONS of data. (Censuses are veritable gold mines for genealogists.) But if you research ancestry, you already know that. So, let's see — rather than try to dig up things census-y that readers may not know, I'm going to tackle this prompt in a hands-on way.
Opening my Ancestry.com message box, an unread message pops up from a Gayle O. dated Jan 22, 2018:
"I am totally new to Ancestry, so am not really sure what I am doing yet, but I am looking for information on my grandfather, Elmer Elsworth Kitchen. He was born in 1886 and died in 1937. He was a resident of Clark County, IL. He seems to be very much a mystery man. I can't find anyone in the family that can give me any information and he was never talked about that I can remember as a child."
Okeydokey. The name doesn't ring a bell but, I look Elmer up in my database and see that my 1st cousin 3x removed Sarah E. FASIG (1869 USA–1956 Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois) married an "Elmer E. Kitchen," and, he died in 1937. But — they were married in 1886… Could Gayle have her grandfather's birthdate wrong, or, is her Elmer Ellsworth perhaps my Sarah & Elmer's son??
I message her back,
"Gayle, is that 1886 birth date for certain? Also, what was your grandmother's / Elmer's wife's, name?"
Meanwhile, I search the 1900 U.S. Federal Census — closest census following an 1886 birth — in Clark County, Illinois, for "Elmer Ellsworth Kitchen," born 1886 give or take 10 years, the widest berth given at Ancestry.com. [Hint: Search U.S. Federal Censuses for free at FamilySearch.org.] The closest match is an Edward, age 12, so, born about 1888. Nope; no go. I next search under first initial "E." only. Same solitary Edward pull. So I try a search of "E. Kitchen" with a birthdate of 1866, using again, a 10-year span, and up comes "Elmer E Kitchens" born Nov., 1866, wife "Sarah E.," in Martinsville, Clark, Illinois. (Using an 1876 birthdate gives me both of the previous two pulls.)
I feel just certain now, Gayle & I share the same Kitchens, but, I need more for "proof." Up pops another message reply from Gayle:
"I have Elmer born in 1866. He was the son of George Kitchen and Emmaline Clark Kitchen. He married Sarah Fasig on Feb. 7, 1892 in Toledo, IL. Sarah's parents were William…and Susanna Friedline Fasig. Hope this helps!"
And of course, it does, as I now know that her Elmer is my Elmer.
Illinois State Marriage Records — free to search online — already told me that Elmer & Sarah married Feb. 7, 1892, in Coles County, Illinois1: [Groom]KITCHEN, Elmer [Bride]FASIG, Sarah E. [Date]1892-02-07 [Volume](This field blank) [Page]80 [Lic No.](Also blank) [County]Coles." (I'm not even going to pause at Gayle's "Toleda, Ohio" marriage place… We have our man.)
Now: what can we learn about this gentleman from censuses alone?
The 1900 U.S. Federal Census being the first after Elmer & Sarah marry, I decide to start with that. The household is composed of:
Elmer E Kitchens . . age 33, born Nov 1866 in Illinois; occupation, farmer; his home, rented; his father's birthplace, Ohio; mother's, Indiana
Sarah E Kitchens . . age 30, born July 1869 Illinois
Luther O Kitchens . .age 6 (Son) May 1894 Illinois
Elsie A Kitchens . . . age 4 (Daughter) May 1896 Illinois
William Fasig . . . . . age 79 Apr 1821 Pennsylvania
Mary S Fasig . . . . . age 32 May 1868 Ohio; occupation, house keeper
Seventy-nine-year-old William is Sarah's widowed father. Mary S. Fasig, one of Sarah's three older sisters (although that middle initial "S" was mistranscribed: it's in actuality an "L," and, I know from past research that it stands for, "Lucinda"). Mary is single here. All of the adults in the household can read & write.
The 1900 U.S. Federal Census is wonderful in that it gives the month of individuals' births instead of just the estimated year. (The year given is often off by one, but the month, rarely inaccurate in my experience.) This census also tells us how many children a woman has had at that point and, how many of those are yet living. In Sarah's case, she's had three children; one has died.
Now let's skip back to an earlier Census when Elmer lived yet with his parents: 1870. The household is composed of:
George Kitchen . . . . age 32; born abt 1838 New Jersey; occupation, farmer
Emaline Kitchen . . . .age 27; abt 1843 Indiana; keeping house
Ellsworth Kitchen . . .age 4; abt 1866 Illinois
Clara Kitchen . . . . . .age 2; abt 1868 Illinois
Living next door to George & Emaline is 59-year-old "Julia Kitchen;" five will get you ten she is George's mother / Elmer's paternal grandmother, and, the four other Kitchens in the household ranging in age from 16 to 36, George's siblings, but, we won't explore that here. Just a note, though: in the 1800s, one very commonly finds family households if not adjacent to, at least, quite close to one another.
While this is just a start on researching Elmer Ellsworth Kitchen(s), we've got quite a good picture already, from a mere two censuses — not bad…
1 "Office of the Illinois Secretary of State," "Departments," "Illinois State Archives," "Databases," "Illinois Statewide Vital Records Databases," "Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900," at http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/marriage.html . CyberDriveIllinois.com: love it.
2 FindAGrave.com, "Elmer Kitchen," Memorial ID 22187985, at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22187985 , accessed Feb., 2018. Photo contributed to FindAGrave by Jeffrey Winnett.


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Born on October 5, 1975, in Reading, England, Kate Winslet started acting at age 7. She starred on the British stage until the mid-1990s, when she appeared in her first film, Heavenly Creatures. In 1997 she had the lead in Titanic, which propelled her to international stardom. She has since starred in several offbeat films and has won the best actress Oscar for The Reader. She has also received several Golden Globes, including wins for Revolutionary Road, Mildred Pierce and Steve Jobs.
Early Career
Born on October 5, 1975, in Reading, England, Kate Elizabeth Winslet is the granddaughter of two theater managers (her maternal grandparents founded Reading Repertory Theatre) and the daughter of two actors. Winslet began acting as a child, making her first appearance on British television at age 7 in a cereal commercial. In 1988, she appeared on the TV series Shrinks; three years later, she left school to pursue her fledgling acting career.
Winslet appeared on the British stage in productions such as Adrian Mole and Peter Pan, and had a recurring role on the British sitcom Get Back, before landing her debut film role in Heavenly Creatures (1994), directed by Peter Jackson. In the film, Winslet played Juliet Hulme, a schoolgirl with tuberculosis whose obsessive friendship with a classmate leads the two girls to murder the classmate's mother in order to avoid separation.
Winslet attracted even more attention with her next role in Ang Lee's film adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility (1995). The actress proved she could hold her own across from screen legends such as Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. As the winsome Marianne Dashwood—the "sensibility" of the movie—Winslet earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. The film also earned high praise from critics.
Oscar Nod for 'Titanic'
In a similarly high-brow role, Kate Winslet starred with Christopher Eccleston in Jude, a modern interpretation of the Thomas Hardy novel Jude the Obscure. She then appeared as Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), and landed squarely on the A-list of leading ladies with her performance as Rose DeWitt, the heroine of James Cameron's record-breaking blockbuster Titanic (1997). The film won numerous Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, and scored Winslet her second Academy Award nomination, this time for best actress. Her co-star, Gloria Stuart, also earned a nod in the supporting actress category for her portrayal of the older Rose DeWitt; the two actresses became the first ever to earn nominations for playing two versions of the same character.
On the heels of her first blockbuster hit, Winslet made two somewhat unlikely choices for her next projects: Hideous Kinky (1999) and Holy Smoke (1999). In Hideous Kinky, Winslet played a free-spirited single mother who brings her two daughters on a spiritual quest to Marrakech. For the Jane Campion-directed Holy Smoke, Winslet played Ruth Barron, a young woman who joins a religious cult. The film's frank depiction of the sexual connection between Barron and PJ Waters (played by Harvey Keitel) displayed Winslet's talent for portraying physical and emotional nudity onscreen.
Winslet then returned to a period drama in 2000 with the film Quills, a movie about the French novelist Marquis de Sade. In the movie, Winslet portrayed the laundress who helps the Marquis (Geoffrey Rush) smuggle his illicit writings out of an insane asylum during his commitment there.
Continued Success
In 2001, Winslet lent her voice to the animated British feature A Christmas Carol. A song from the movie, "What If," featured Winslet as the lead vocalist and became a Top 10 single in Britain. Her most notable film that year was Iris, a screenplay based on the John Bailey book Elegy for Iris. Winslet played the young Iris Murdoch, an unconventional student. Judi Dench played the older Iris, whose husband (Jim Broadbent) tries to help her as she struggles with the growing effects of her Alzheimer's disease. All three Iris stars earned Academy Award nominations, making it the second time Winslet and a co-star both earned nominations for playing different versions of the same character.
That same year, Winslet co-starred as a code-breaker in the World War II-era spy drama Enigma (2002). She also appeared as a reporter interviewing a death-row inmate in The Life of David Gale, co-starring Kevin Spacey and Laura Linney. In 2004, Winslet starred opposite Jim Carrey in Charlie Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which earned her another Academy Award nomination for her performance. She also co-starred with Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004), which explored J.M. Barrie's inspiration for his best-known work, Peter Pan. In the film, Winslet played the widowed mother of four boys whom Barrie befriended.
Again playing a maternal role, Winslet starred in Little Children (2006) as a frustrated suburban woman who gets involved with a married man. She earned yet another Academy Award nomination for this film. Continuing to tackle serious dramas, Winslet starred in Revolutionary Road (2008) and The Reader (2008). For Revolutionary Road, Winslet teamed up again with her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio as a struggling married couple in the 1950s. The Reader explores the relationship between a young boy and an older woman (Winslet), and their later encounter when she is put on trial for war crimes.
Winslet later won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for her starring role in the miniseries Mildred Pierce (2011). The part had been previously played by Joan Crawford in the 1945 feature film version of the James M. Cain novel. Winslet also starred in the Roman Polanski film Carnage with Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly that same year.
Winslet has gone on to tackle a variety of roles. In 2013, she appeared in the ensemble comedy Movie 43 with Hugh Jackman and Emma Stone. That year she also starred in Labor Day with Josh Brolin, earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama.
Moving into franchise territory, Winslet took on the role of the villainous Jeanine Matthews for the 2014 dystopian thriller Divergent and its 2015 sequel, Insurgent. In 2015 she also starred as Apple executive Joanna Hoffman in the biopic Steve Jobs, receiving another Golden Globe for her efforts as well as the seventh Oscar nomination of her career.
Personal Life
Winslet is married to Ned Rocknroll, nephew of business mogul Richard Branson. The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony in December 2012. DiCaprio is said to have walked Winslet down the aisle.
Winslet was previously married to Sam Mendes, the noted British stage director and Oscar-winning director of American Beauty, with the two having also worked on Revolutionary Road together. Winslet and Mendes have one child together, a son named Joe. She also has a daughter, Mia, from her first marriage to Jim Threapleton. The couple met on the set of Hideous Kinky, for which he was the assistant director; they married in late 1998 and were divorced in December 2001.
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"There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is." So declared Mark Hanna, the great Gilded Age political boss.
Karl Rove has often described Hanna as his role model. And predictions that Mr. Rove and his disciples would succeed in creating a permanent Republican majority — I have a whole bookshelf of volumes with titles like "One Party Nation" and "Building Red America" — depended crucially on the assumption that the G.O.P. would have vastly more money than its opponents. It might even, some thought, match the 10-to-1 advantage Hanna gave William McKinley when he ran against William Jennings Bryan.
Oops. According to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, in the current election cycle every one of the top 10 industries making political donations is giving more money to Democrats. Even industries that have in the past been overwhelmingly Republican, like insurance and pharmaceuticals, are now splitting their donations more or less evenly. Oil and gas is the only major industry that the G.O.P. can still call its own.
The sudden burst of corporate affection for Democrats is good news for the party's campaign committees, but not necessarily good news for progressives. Before I get to the down side, however, let's talk about why business seems to be giving up on the G.O.P.
To some extent it's a matter of cold political calculation. Polls, plus a wave of G.O.P. retirements, suggest that next year the Democrats will expand their majority in the House, which is already bigger than anything the Republicans ever had during their 12-year reign. Of the 34 Senate seats up for election, 22 are held by Republicans, and major Democratic gains seem all but inevitable.Continue reading the main story
Add to this the weakness of the Republican presidential field, and it's not surprising that lobbyists are casting in their lot with the likely winners. But that's not the whole story.
There's also disgust, even in the corporate world, with the corruption and incompetence of the Bush years. People on the left often describe the Bush administration as an agent of corporate America; that's giving it too much credit.
The truth is that while the administration has lavished favors on some powerful, established corporations, the biggest scandals have involved companies that were small or didn't exist at all until they started getting huge contracts thanks to their political connections. Thus, Blackwater USA was a tiny business until it somehow became the leading supplier of mercenaries for the War on Terror™.
And the lethal amateurishness of these loyal Bushies on the make horrifies the corporate elite almost as much as it horrifies ordinary Americans.
Last but not least, even corporations are relieved to see the end of what amounted to a protection racket.
In a classic 2003 article in The Washington Monthly, Nicholas Confessore (now at The New York Times) described the efforts of people like former Senator Rick Santorum to turn K Street into an appendage of the Republican Party — not the other way around. "The corporate lobbyists who once ran the show, loyal only to the parochial interests of their employer," wrote Mr. Confessore, "are being replaced by party activists who are loyal first and foremost to the G.O.P."
But corporations weren't happy. According to The Politico, "many C.E.O.'s" used the term "extortion" to describe "the annual shakedowns by committee chairmen with jurisdiction over their industries." And now that Mr. Santorum is out of office, heading the America's Enemies program at a right-wing think tank, the faint sound you hear from K Street is that of lobbyists singing: "Ding, dong, the witch is dead."
All of this greatly increases the odds that the Republicans, far from establishing a permanent majority, will be out of power for quite a while. But it also raises the question of what Democratic rule will really mean.
Right now all the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination are running on strongly progressive platforms — especially on health care. But there remain real concerns about what they would actually do in office.
Here's an example of the sort of thing that makes you wonder: yesterday ABC News reported on its Web site that the Clinton campaign is holding a "Rural Americans for Hillary" lunch and campaign briefing — at the offices of the Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group, which lobbies for the agribusiness and biotech giant Monsanto. You don't have to be a Naderite to feel uncomfortable about the implied closeness.
I'd put it this way: many progressives, myself included, hope that the next president will be another F.D.R. But we worry that he or she will turn out to be another Grover Cleveland instead — better-intentioned and much more competent than the current occupant of the White House, but too dependent on lobbyists' money to seriously confront the excesses of our new Gilded Age.Continue reading the main story


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|Posted: November 29, 2007
The Report Australia Industrial Nanotechnology 2006 Includes 57 Industrial Nanotechnology Companies
|(Nanowerk News) Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c75884) has announced the addition of "Australia Industrial Nanotechnology 2006" to their offering.
|The "Australia Industrial Nanotechnology Report 2006" is the culmination of a comprehensive analysis of commercially available, original Nanotechnology and Nanotechnology enhanced products produced in Australia.
|From the over 100 Nanotechnology firms investigated a selection of the 57 most active and to be watched firms made it into this report. Companies were analyzed for their degree of engagement in development or production of Nanotechnologies as well as capacity to produce at industrial scale.
|What is included in this report?
|The report only covers companies which reside in Australia. Only companies with demonstrated industrial scale activities of producing original Nanotechnology products or Nanotechnology enhanced products have been included in this report. The main criteria for companies to be considered for inclusion in this report were their capitalization, assets, annual turnover, size of workforce, actual production capacity, unique position within the industry and readiness for expansion, licensing and foreign partnership or investment.
|This is the first report about Industrial Nanotechnology in Australia. Many of the 57 companies included in this report are developing and producing for the domestic as well as overseas market. Each company report includes company contact details; relevant data about company fundamentals and staff; organizational structure including any controlling parent companies or previous trading names; product range, specification, production capacity; as well as illustrations of company facilities and product examples.
|What is not included in this report?
|About 100 companies and organisations in Australia have been reported to be involved in the development and production of nanoscale materials and technology and Nanotechnology enhanced products. The number of Nanotechnology companies in Australia is growing steadily at a rate of currently ten per year. Only a fraction of the widely published figure of Nanotechnology companies in Australia has some meaningful production output (if at all), or financial turnover or dedicated full time employees.
|In our selection of companies we excluded academic organisations acting as companies. Also excluded were the many very small companies affiliated to academic organisations which frequently run on a part time basis by academics or are under academic directorship.
|Also not included are companies where we were unable to verify claims of active Nanotechnology development, Nanotechnology products or Nanotechnology usage in production or where we were unable to verify their legal status. Some Nanotechnology companies active in the service industry as well as a few companies that were still in the process of changing ownership at time of printing are listed at the end of the report and are not included in the formal part of this report.
|Source: Research and Markets
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