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GCADV is disheartened to report that H.R. 4970, the harmful House version of a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 16 by a vote of 222 to 205.
Rather than take up a House bill crafted similarly to the bipartisan Senate VAWA reauthorization bill (S.1925), some members of the House crafted their own version, H.R. 4970. In doing so, they cast aside the input that went into S.1925 from literally thousands of advocates, law enforcement, and prosecutors from across the country. They also ignored the opposition of every major national advocacy group on domestic violence and sexual assault, plus hundreds of other national organizations.
H.R. 4970 not only strips away the added protections for Native women and LGBT people from the Senate VAWA bill (S.1925), but also rolls back critical protections for immigrant victims that have been a part of VAWA for nearly 20 years. This bill seriously weakens VAWA and places some of the most vulnerable victims at greater risk.
Furthermore, based on the false notion that victim services providers are wasteful with VAWA funds, H.R. 4970 also burdens VAWA grant recipients with unworkable and excessive audit and oversight requirements on top of the already stringent requirements that exist in the law as it is. From a program perspective, these provisions will take away important time and money spent serving victims and put it into managing the "paperwork" aspects of the grants.
VAWA has historically included many similar protections for vulnerable groups of victims, and, in the past, was passed almost unanimously by both the House and Senate with favorable votes from Georgia's Congressmen. It is important that we take time to educate Georgia's Congressmen about the need to protect ALL victims, regardless of their immigration status or sexual orientation.
Follow up with your Congressman!
Please take time to thank Georgia's Congressmen who stood up for ALL victims and voted NO on H.R. 4970:
Congressman Sanford Bishop – (202) 225-3631
Congressman Hank Johnson – (202) 225-1605
Congressman John Lewis – (202) 225-3801
Congressman Paul Broun – (202) 225-4101
Congressman David Scott – (202) 225-2939
Please also take time to reach out to Georgia's Congressmen who voted yes on this harmful bill to express your concern about their vote. Let them know that VAWA legislation must protect ALL victims.
Congressman Jack Kingston – (202) 225-5831
Congressman Lynn Westmoreland – (202) 225-5901
Congressman Tom Price – (202) 225-4501
Congressman Rob Woodall – (202) 225-4272
Congressman Austin Scott – (202) 225-6531
Congressman Tom Graves – (202) 225-5211
Congressman Phil Gingrey – (202) 225-2931
Congressman John Barrow – (202) 225-2823
Please note that, although these Congressmen voted in favor of this harmful version of VAWA, most if not all of them DO support the effort to address domestic violence and sexual assault. By following up in a respectful way that seeks to educate, we can shift the perspectives of our Congressmen to help them see the need to protect ALL victims!
Next steps
At this time, a conference committee will meet to reconcile the differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill. There will be a chance for you to advocate for adoption of the provisions of the Senate VAWA bill to ensure that ALL victims are protected, so stay tuned!
Thank you for your calls and emails to Georgia's Congressmen!! We appreciate your support!


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Wherein we ponder vexing issues in infection prevention and control, inside and outside the hospital.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
KPCs in LA
2 comments:
This is why, more than ever, acute care, long term care, and public health need to be communicating and understanding each other. I agree with my friends Mike V. and Sue G. We need trained infection preventionists in long term care. We also need evidence based approaches that will work in a long term care model with the economic and staffing constraints that are inherent in long term care. Otherwise, LTC (especially LTACs) are turning into giant petri dishes of MDRO prevalence, some of which is new LTC transmitted incidence, but a lot of which transfers in and then just sets up shop. I will now get off my soapbox.ReplyDelete
I agree that we need evidence-based approaches for LTC, but that would require funding those studies. Hopefully things are changing in that regard, but we need to invest in infection prevention (research and staffing) while we hope that new antibiotics can be discovered and tested. Unfortunately, it will probably take the closure of solid organ transplant or other surgical programs in the post-antibiotic era until we get serious about the problem.ReplyDelete

subset: commoncrawl


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2005: Rowed in the bow of the varsity four. The boat finished first at the Atlantic 10 Championships and fourth in the petite final at the Knecht Cup.
2004: Sat in the stroke seat on the second novice eight that place third at A-10's and second at ECAC's... finished fourth in the Knecht Cup on the novice four.
Before UMass: Rowed for the Mount Baker Rowing Club from seventh grade to her senior year in high school...rowed in the bow of an undefeated varsity lightweight eight boat in 2002...at the Northwest Junior Regionals, finished first in the varsity lightweight four and second in the varsity lightweight eight.
Personal: Majoring in history and political science...born January 3, 1985...grandfather, J. Irving Tuell, rowed at the University of Washington in 1924.
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Motoexotica's inaugural Phoenix Classic & Exotic car auction at Manheim Phoenix sold a few more than 100 of the 240 cars that crossed the block and took in $1.5 million in sales.
The top sales were $70,000 for a 1965 Pontiac GTO and $60,000 for a 1954 Chevrolet Corvette.
"We put the event together in 90 days," said Motoexotica's Scott Brandt, who was pleased with the first-time event, especially when he was able to report 600 registered bidders on the ground, another 240 registered for Internet bidding and anther 175 on a simulcasting setup.
Brandt and Manheim already are planning a second-annual event, and will move from a Friday-Saturday auction to have a preview day on Friday with cars on the block Saturday and Sunday.
Motoexotica and Manheim also are talking about expanding to at least another venue.
To separate his classic car dealership from others in the St. Louis area, Brandt held his first auction in 2008 at the dealership, but the 320 cars consigned were more than the five-acre property could really handle, especially with temperatures topping 100 degrees.
The local Manheim wholesale car auction manager offered his company's big cooling fans and bleachers, and suggested that the second such event beheld at Manheim's own St. Louis auction facility.
There were two such events in 2009, plus two more in 2010 as well as yet another at Springfield, Mo.
With the demise of the Kruse and ICA auctions in Phoenix, Brandt and Manheim decided to fill the void on the Arizona auction schedule.
In November, we reported that K&S Cars, a classic car dealership in Brea, Calif., and AUL (Associates Underwriting Limited) would introduce 12-month/12,000-mile powertrain warranties with roadside assistance for classic cars sold at specified auctions. The program was launched at McCormick's late last year in Palm Springs, and Bob Koontz of K&S says thee program was successful - to a point.
"It was too high priced," Koontz said, explaining that the warranty's $795 price was more than was practically affordable for people consigning cars in the $10,000-$20,000 price range.
"We sold a bunch," Koontz was glad to report, but, he added, the buyers were primarily people with cars that would bring bids of $30,000 or more.
So Koontz and crew went home, reworked the warranty program with AUL, and were back for the Motoexotica's Phoenix auction with a more practical solution - a three-month/3,000-mile warranty, and still with roadside assistance - but priced at only $295.
They also made one other change: Since many cars at such auctions are bought by classic car dealers who take the vehicles home and re-sell them to their customers, a 90-day hold could be put on the warranty so the coverage doesn't start until the car has been re-sold.
I was walking around, checking out the cars that would cross the block at Motoexotica's Phoenix auction when I saw fellow auto writer Rick Carey, who's been covering the classic car hobby for about as long as anyone and much better and more extensively than most. Carey, the auctions editor for Sports Car Digest, has created an extensive classic car auction database that he's sharing as an app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad.
To demonstrate, he punched in the VIN of the closest car - a 1956 Dodge Coronet.
Immediately, we had a complete description of the car, including the knowledge that the car had sold last year at Auburn for $11,110.
Not every classic car that goes to auction is included in Carey's database, which includes not only Carey's first-person experience but data he's mined, including Briggs Cunningham's hand-written auction notes from the 1960s. If the specific vehicle you're considering isn't in the database, you still can search by marquee and model to see the sales prices on similar vehicles.
The Collector Car Auction Resource, or CAR, is available at iTunes and in three versions: for $9.99 you get all auctions in 2009-10; for $24.99 you get auctions back to the start of 2006; and for $99.99 you get all auctions since 1973 (see www.ccar.co for details).
Each year, those of us who live in Phoenix consider the kickoff of classic car auction week to be the Wheels of Wellness historic race car show, held on the grounds of an historic downtown Phoenix home that is the base of The Wellness Community, which provides free support services to those with cancer and to their caregivers.
Featured this year were American racing specials of the 1950s and '60s. Aligned as though they were on the starting grid were vehicles such as the 1958 Scarab Mark 1, 1962 Chaparral (No. 003), the 1959 Hustler (Pontiac Ambro Special), 1958 Echidna Sports Racer, 1961 Jaguar Ol' Yaller VIII, a couple of '58 "Knobbly" bodied racers - a Lister Corvette and Lister Jaguar -- and, for good measure, a 1955 D-type Jaguar.
Also displayed were vehicles ranging from a 1938 Austin 7 Special to the 1965 Babe Stapp Chevy sprint car and from a 1974 IROC Camaro driven by A.J. Foyt to the 1977 Penske PC5 that was the first car to post a qualifying lap at Indy in excess of 200 mph.
This year, and for the first time, historic racing motorcycles also were displayed.
But the cars (and bikes) aren't the only stars at Wheels of Wellness as the classic car and motorsports communities in Phoenix come together to help those who are ailing. Each year a group of race car drivers, famous names from the past and present, come to Wheels of Wellness and sit down for a panel discussion.
This year, so many showed up they had to seat two separate panels - one with Dario Franchitti, Arie Luyendyk, Didier Theys and Justin Bell, with Harley Cluxton III as moderator; the other with Danica Patrick, Bobby Rahal, Denise McCluggage, Desire Wilson and Franchitti, with Lyn St. James as moderator.
Click here for event calendar.
Click here for more articles by Larry Edsall.
Fiat Supersonic Photo by Pawel Litwinski (c) 2010 Courtesy of Gooding & Company
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Minuteman Soccer Defeats New Hampshire 3-2 In Overtime
Sept. 22, 2004
AMHERST, Mass. - Sophomore Rob Charest (Monson, Mass.) scored twice leading the UMass Minuteman soccer team to a 3-2 overtime win over the New Hampshire Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon at Rudd Field. Charest's goal in overtime marked the second time this season he has registered a golden goal for the Minutemen.
The midfielder found himself in the right spot in the 99th minute when he found the back left of the net from three yards out off a touch-pass from junior Oral Bullen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) for the game-winner.
Charest registered the game-tying goal in the 71st minute on assists from Tyler Pagano (Mundelein, Ill.) and Matty Lemire (Ipswich, Mass.) after UNH had regained a one-goal lead early in the second half.
New Hampshire (1-2-3) opened the scoring in the first half when Ross Fishbain recorded his second goal of the season in the 12th minute. Fishbain accepted Matt Low's direct kick to the box to beat UMass goalkeeper Colin Burns from five-yards out.
UMass (3-4-0) answered in the 23rd minute when Bullen scored his fourth goal of the year with a 20-yard shot to the top-left corner of the goal.
Bryan Stewart put UNH up again in the 56th minute on a pass from Brian Levey before Charest led UMass back again.
The Minutemen out-shot the Wildcats 18-10 including a 3-0 performance in the overtime period.
"This was a great win for us. We've got a young group of guys who are starting to believe in themselves and coming from behind twice to win a game on reinforces that belief," said head coach Sam Koch. "We're still making mistakes and have a ways to go, but our scoring has increased and we are slowly getting better."
Massachusetts will return to action on Sept. 28 when the Minutemen travel to Boston University to kick off a five-game road stand. UMass will return to Rudd Field on Oct. 15 to open up Atlantic 10 play against Dayton.
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Most women suffering from primary dysmenorrhea can obtain pain relief from
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
. These drugs inhibit the production of prostaglandins, hormone-like substances which stimulate contraction of the uterine muscles during the menstrual cycle and cause menstrual pain.
Other drugs used for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea are
oral contraceptive
medications. They inhibit ovulation, reduce menstrual flow and the degree of uterine muscle contraction. They must be taken daily and are recommended for women suffering from severe forms of dysmenorrhea or who want to use pharmaceutical methods of birth control.
In addition, there are nondrug therapies that can relieve menstrual pain. The most common ones are
transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
An array of preparations that can be used to treat menstrual pain include
vitamin B1
magnesium supplements
, along with
herbal infusions
(chamomile, mint, raspberry and blueberry) for the relief of symptoms. All help relax muscles and reduce nervous tension. In some cases, menstrual pain can be relieved with
warming applications
(like a hot water bottle or heating pad) placed on the abdomen.


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I fell in love with the lace on this dress its absolutely stunning. I added a scalped edging to the bottom of the dress to make it look more 'finished'. I am selling my Casablanca 1827 wedding gown.It has beautiful lace!
-Asking $600 or best offer!
-Size 10
-Ivy in color
-Added custom lace trim to bottom of gown
-I'm 5'3 and wore 2.5 inch heels.
-Will sell with the pink garment bag
The dress does need to be cleaned! Thank you and congratulations on your future marriage!!!
- Alterations: The dress is originally a size 10 however, it was pulled in a little bit. It can easily be brought in or out depending on your needs.
- Preservation Method: The dress is being store in a garment bag.
- Terms of Sale: All Sales Final
- Original Owner:
- Has Original Receipt:
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Will Ship to: Anywhere at Buyer Expense
- Payment Methods Accepted: Other
Please read our BUYER'S GUIDE before purchasing a dress online.


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Advance Car in Biden Motorcade Crashes in New York
It is the third accident his security detail has been involved with in two weeks.
For the third time in two weeks, a car in Vice-President Joe Biden's motorcade was involved in an accident. This incident took place last night in Hell's Kitchen as an advance team of marked police cars traveled about three minutes ahead of the vice-president to the Daily Show studios on Eleventh Avenue. One cop car collided with a livery cab, putting three men in the hospital — though none with serious injuries. Just the day before, a sheriff's vehicle in Biden's entourage traveling through Albuquerque was hit by a car trying to cut through an intersection that was blocked by the motorcade. The sergeant in that accident was injured, but it was last week's incident that was the most dire: A man in Maryland was killed when he was hit by two Secret Service cars, one of which was sometimes used by Biden. The vice-president himself was not present at the time.


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Makeup Artistry Programs in Oregon
BeautySchool.com can help you choose the right program for your goals in the beauty industry. We help students across the nation contact schools to compare programs before making the important decision to enroll. Use our school listings below to contact schools in your area today!
OR Makeup Artist Training & License Requirements
Makeup artistry programs in Oregon teach students techniques to make people feel beautiful and confident. It is a booming industry. Think about every person you see on TV, film, or in a magazine. A makeup artist has prepared them all so they will look their best in front of others. Public speakers like politicians and business leaders use the help of makeup professionals, too.
No license is required to practice makeup arts in Oregon. However, many employers and clients want to work with a licensed beauty professional such as a cosmetologist or esthetician. Licenses show the makeup artist invested time and effort into learning the latest techniques and trends for the industry. Graduates of makeup artistry programs also possess professional portfolios displaying their finest work. These help beauty professionals get more work and higher paying work.
Being licensed as a beauty professional by the Oregon Health Licensing Agency (OHLA) requires dedication and time. Cosmetologists must complete 2300 hours of school, and estheticians must finish 250 hours at school. Additional classes for makeup application, special effects and special event makeup should be taken, in addition to the esthetician or cosmetologist programs. Graduates take the Board written and practical exams after completing classes. They must pass both to receive their license. Courses at Oregon makeup artistry programs learn the latest techniques other professionals use on the job. Courses give you the basics to practice the profession, and practice in the real world gives you the expertise.
Career Outlook for Professional Makeup Artists in Oregon
Oregon is one of only seven states where the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks theatrical and performance makeup artist statistics. However, only 30 of these high-level beauty professionals work in the entire state, so salary data is not available. As a rule, performance makeup artists earn significantly more per year than others do.
Beauty professionals practicing consumer makeup artistry in Oregon earn an annual average salary of $29,020 before tips or freelance work according to the BLS. New makeup artistry program graduates in Oregon often work at cosmetic company counters, salons, or for local modeling agencies. Some artists work at ad agencies, photography or television studios, or in theater companies. There are many options for a well-trained makeup artist in Oregon.
Take the next step toward your career in the beauty industry. Review our list of featured makeup artistry programs below to contact schools in your area today!
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News › Ending violence against children: How the IRC helps
Ending violence against children: How the IRC helps
July 31, 2013 by The IRC
|In northern Uganda, IRC-trained mentors provide support to young mothers who may not have had positive role models growing up during wartime. Through programs like this one, the IRC has found working with parents significantly reduces harsh discipline of children and other violence in the home. Photos: Kate Sands Adams/IRC
War, conflict and natural disaster inflict a terrible toll on children — but even in times of peace, violence, neglect and abuse continue.
Every year as many as 275 million children around the world suffer violence in their own homes, according to UNICEF. It's a hidden humanitarian crisis that affects an entire generation.
The International Rescue Committee is partnering with UNICEF, other humanitarian organizations, and communities and families to bring an end to this violence. Since our founding in 1933, the IRC has worked to ensure that children are safe and cared for. We help develop their potential through innovative health, education, and livelihoods programs. And we are increasingly focusing attention on the place where the future begins for girls and boys: at home.
Ending violence at home
The IRC is providing support to parents in some of the toughest places to raise a child — such as Uganda and Liberia, where families are struggling to recover from civil war, and Burundi and Thailand, where refugees and migrants are working to build new lives.
We're helping these parents better understand child development, learn to cope with stress in their lives, improve communication with their children, and replace corporal punishment with nurturing discipline techniques. We also train community mentors and bolster local social services to make sure families have a safety net.
In northern Uganda, for example, we've matched young mothers — who may not have had positive role models gowing up during wartime — with older women who are willing to share their experiences raising their own children.
"Young parents handled children roughly, pulling them by the cheeks," recalls one mentor in the village of Lugolo, in northern Uganda. "The philosophy of parenting in our time was different. We wouldn't cane our children as punishment. We took a more friendly approach to parenting: discussing why, speaking to our children, engaging them."
Through our programs and research, the IRC has found that strengthening parents' capacity to protect and care for their children results in a healthier and happier family life — even in communities like Lugolo that are recovering from crisis.
Early reports from the IRC's "Parents Make the Difference" program in Liberia have already shown a positive impact in the lives of kindergarten-age children from low-income, rural families, according to Eduardo Garcia Rolland, the IRC's child protection technical advisor.
"Through working with parents, we have reduced violence against children — harsh punishments — by more than 18 percent in less than a year," Eduardo says. "It's incredibly encouraging."
Children and youth are extraordinarily resilient. By supporting the next generation, and their parents, we are helping to end violence and build healthy and productive societies.
Learn more about protecting children from violence
In places like war-torn Syria, classrooms provide children with a safe learning space to recover from trauma, develop bonds with other children, exercise their imaginations and build a foundation of learning that will help to heal and strengthen their families and communities into the future. Creating safe spaces for children in Syria.>>
End violence against children – get involved
Join the IRC, UNICEF and other partners in a global campaign to end violence against children. Visit the campaign site at Unicef.org/endviolence.
Posted in Children & Youth, Mothers, Liberia, Uganda | Tags: children, refugees, migrants, mothers, UNICEF, parenting, #ENDviolence, VSLA+, Parents Make a Difference, violence. conflict, child abuse, neglect
1 comment
Great piece Kate. Indeed
Submitted by John Harrington ndeta (not verified) on August 2, 2013 - 1:53am.
Great piece Kate. Indeed children and women suffer most when it comes to violence and it is a privilege that the international Rescue Committee provides unrivaled intervention in Uganda, Liberia, Chad Kenya and lately Syria. Keep up the good work across the globe.
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Is there a political platform you know of that would be the right one? What system would really work best? Surely there must be a better program or blueprint for a political system than any of those that have been tried.
Give your political platform in the "comment" section below. (click "comments")
Or you can give a link to a website which has your political platform, or one you want to promote.
The following are the best* positions on most of the major political issues.
I. Criminal Justice
1. Sterilize convicted felons, as there is ample evidence of a genetic component to criminal behavior (as well as to most other behavior patterns).
2. Replace the current practice of incarcerating criminal convicts with a system of implanting computerized tracking devices/monitors onto the bodies of convicts which will record their movements and thus make it impossible for them to commit further crimes without being detected, because the system will provide a record of all their movements since the implantation, like a roadmap, showing their presence at the crime scene at the time when the crime took place.Possibly have the tracking devices/monitors removed when the convict reaches the age of 40 (35?) or has worn it for a prescribed number of years or is judged to no longer be a threat.
3. Let the death penalty be used for those convicted violent felons who demonstrate by their repeated violent criminal behavior that the above tracking/monitoring system is not effective in deterring them from committing further violent felony crimes.
4. Let mentally retarded offenders be treated the same as other offenders.
Let it not be a social obligation to provide expensive "rehabilitation" programs and institutionalization of offenders or to hire expensive caretakers and specialists and assume responsibility for the health care costs of the offenders.
Rather, let it be society's obligation to do whatever is necessary to prevent further criminal behavior by offenders and to do this at minimum cost, so there is minimum burden on taxpayers and society can reserve its resources for improving the lives of all, rather than wasting it providing expensive warehousing for a few.
5. Have all arrests and criminal convictions and detentions by police, including detentions of suspected terrorists, be subject to grand jury review. Let all claims of police brutality be investigated by a grand jury, whether or not criminal charges are filed against the police.
6. Let the primary guiding principle for justice be prevention of crime at the lowest possible cost, not abstract notions about "retribution" or "paying one's debt to society" or making the "punishment fit the crime" and so on.
Where practical, let criminals pay restitution to their victims, though this is probably not possible in most cases. Also, where detention is necessary rather than "house arrest" with monitoring, have the prisoners do productive labor to help defray the cost of their detention, but being cautious to ensure that the work is necessary to produce some social benefit and is not a form of makework.
7. Let the jury system be reformed so that jurors are enabled to make more rational deliberation and not be dominated by the lawyers and judges.
Let jurors be entrusted with more information and be less restricted in what they may know about the facts of a case they are hearing.
Give the defendant in a criminal case the option of having the court proceeding done without the jury present, and instead let the jury convene after the court sessions are completed and hear the case by means of audio recordings done at the trial and by means of the trial transcript. Thus, allow the option of trial without the jury having visual contact of the defendant and witnesses, so that their deliberation will be based on an assessment of the facts of the case and not on their visual impressions of the defendant and witnesses.
Perhaps even restrict jury deliberation to the reading of the transcript, without audio recordings of the testimony, so that jurors will not be influenced by the sound of the voices of the witnesses, but only by the facts of the case, thus eliminating the element of melodrama and emotion and prejudice and instinctive reactions to the personalities of the witnesses.
II. Poverty
1. Begin research on producing a new kind of food which will contain in it an ingredient which will sterilize the one who eats it. Then mass-produce this food and make it available to anyone who wants it. Possibly distribute it worldwide, or at least to third-world countries, perhaps having other developed countries share in the cost of producing and distributing the food.
Have this food contain enough nutrients to be able to provide a well-balanced diet, so that one could survive and be healthy consuming this food without consuming anything else. Let its container be appropriately labeled so the one eating it knows that it contains the sterilizing ingredient.
2. Abolish all current welfare programs, or all programs intended to benefit a select victim group, such as "the poor" (which really means certain poor who succeed in getting themselves into the program, but not all poor), to the exclusion of others.
Instead provide opportunities extended to all. Have no programs based on pity toward select victim groups, and thus do away with the need to pay billions of dollars annually to the administrators, bureaucrats and social workers who select which victims are to receive the public pity and which ones are to be excluded from the programs.
Although all welfare programs based on pity toward select victim groups should ideally be abolished, nevertheless as long as any such programs continue to exist, e.g., food stamps, subsidized housing, etc., impose the requirement that recipients of such welfare be sterilized as a condition for remaining in the program and receiving the benefits beyond a designated time allowance.
3. Possibly expand the existing school lunch program and headstart program to include all children rather than being targeted only toward select poor communities to the exclusion of others.
Have the school lunch program changed so that only healthy foods are provided. Reduce or eliminate meat, and restrict the food mostly to raw fruits and vegetables. Eliminate high fat foods and most processed foods.
4. Abolish minimum wage laws, which do not benefit all poor people but only a select victim group at the expense of everyone else, even at the expense of other poor people who are not wage-earners or who are a part of the underground economy.
Let everyone be paid according to the value of their work or their production, not according to pity for them or their need for the money, which debases a job into a form of welfare in disguise.
Maximize the production of wealth by eliminating pity or charity as an entitlement and instead require that all income be earned, so no one gains income without earning it, i.e., producing equal value, and so the maximum amount of efficient work and production will take place.
5. As a practical matter permit private charities (organizations which give free benefits to select "needy" victims who succeed in persuading the providers that they are special), but let there be no government support to charity in any form. Abolish any kind of tax credit or deduction for charitable contributions or any other form of subsidy to charity.
Possibly support philanthropic activities which provide benefits to all of society and do not target their efforts toward select victims.
6. Let wealth be redistributed from the rich to the poor by means which create benefits available to all, including education opportunities and social infrastructure, which everyone can take advantage of and which ought to be sufficient for the most "needy" as a means to lift themselves up.
III. Social Security
1. Abolish Social Security in its present form. Possibly replace it with a system of private individual accounts, which would not necessarily mean investing the funds in the stock market.
Possibly repay some funds to those who have paid Social Security taxes, especially those approaching retirement. But do not try to fully compensate those who paid into the program, because realistically these payments were in effect taxes, similar to income tax, which were actually intended to fund government programs, despite the pretense that they were targeted to retirement benefits to the payers.
So finally admit the deception and repay some of it according to a realistic formula, and admit that the system has been largely a pyramid scheme to raise funds for government programs, and pledge to never again impose such a scheme onto the citizenry.
2. Let there be no taxpayer bailout or other entitlement for senior citizens who failed to save enough for retirement during their working years and who should suffer the consequences of this as an example to the younger generation.
Let senior citizens, most of whom are capable of working and supporting themselves, apply for employment to serve on a grand jury (see section XV of this platform), or let them earn their way performing other functions using the knowledge they have accumulated over so many years and which should not go to waste.
Let them live off their savings/investments, which they are entitled to because they earned it, but be done with the current prevalent notion that the old are entitled to leech off the younger generation or the taxpayers just because they are old.
Rather, transfer these resources to the very young, to children, who truly cannot earn their own way and are dependant upon adults and who are being robbed by today's selfish senior citizen lobby which doesn't care about the country's future but only about their own current instant gratification and is plundering scarce resources away from the younger generation and into paying their own extravagant six-digit medical bills.
3. Abolish Medicare.
IV. Welfare to the Rich
1. Abolish all corporate welfare.
End all forms of subsidies to companies to promote their products abroad or to promote exports in any manner or to pay their relocation costs.
Have all loans to other countries or loan guarantees or bailouts, including IMF schemes, be subject to grand jury review to insure that the U.S. taxpayers will realize a profit from the transaction, and let the grand jury nullify any such transaction which it finds not to be profitable to U.S. taxpayers. Let the burden be upon the proponents of such a transaction to prove that it will be profitable to taxpayers.
Abolish all taxpayer subsidies to professional sports teams, including subsidies for construction of sports stadiums. Let pro sports teams and all businesses be required to compete in the marketplace without special favor from the taxpayers.
2. If there is to be an income tax, let all income be subject to this tax without respect to the source of the income. Let capital gains and dividend income be subject to the same tax rates as all other income, and let inheritance income be subject to the same tax rates.
Let no category of income be exempt from the income tax. If need be, abolish the income tax entirely, but do not impose it on certain kinds of income while exempting others.
V. Taxes
1. Let fiscal policy be based on the principle that spending programs and revenues must be in balance, and there is never a justification to increase or decrease taxes unless it is to bring revenues to such a level as to match the spending which has been decided upon.
Let there be an end to all notions of "stimulating the economy" or of giving the economy a "shot in the arm" or a "jump-start", all of which are code phrases for giving an unearned benefit to certain select interest groups at the expense of others, and instead follow the fundamental principle that the revenues must be made to match the spending level in a given fiscal year.
Or let fiscal policy actually aim to produce a modest budgetary surplus each year, and let these surpluses accumulate to a certain level over time and be available for emergency purposes.
Let borrowing be made the exception. Abandon the false notion that there must be government deficits in order to "stimulate the economy" and "create jobs", all of which is only code language for welfare in disguise to certain special interests at someone else's expense.
Rather let the government spend what it must on its own necessary programs only, and let it raise revenue sufficient to pay for these programs, and then let the rest of the economy be determined by whatever buying and selling goes on in the marketplace, without arbitrary judgments that there needs to be more "growth" or more "consumer demand" or that there is "stagnation" or "sluggishness" or "overheating" and other perceived misbehavior by the players in the marketplace.
Stop making these unnecessary and unproven judgments and leave the marketplace alone to go wherever the buyers and sellers choose to take it.
2. Let the basic premise of tax assessment be the following: Those who rely more on government services shall pay higher taxes, those who rely less on government shall pay less.
Though it may be difficult, let it be calculated, and confirmed by grand jury review, what are the relative reliances on the government by different categories of taxpayers, such as income categories, and let individuals and businesses be taxed in proportion to their dependency upon the government.
Let the rich pay higher taxes based upon their calculated higher reliance upon the government, upon government services, upon government protection of their property and enforcement of their contracts, also upon the degree to which they are indebted to the government for the attainment of their wealth.
Let this be the basis for higher taxation of the rich, if it is not already, and calculate the appropriate tax burden according to this premise, and let it not be based upon abstract notions of their "moral obligation" to make a greater sacrifice and so on.
3. Possibly replace the income tax with a national sales tax, but if income tax is retained, let all income categories be taxed the same, without any exceptions for certain privileged categories such as capital gains income and inheritance income.
4. Let there be a graduated property (land) tax (by which is meant that a higher total value of property is taxed at a higher rate), which will create a disincentive to ever-increasing concentration of land ownership into the hands of fewer owners.
For purposes of taxing land, let the value of a property be based upon its real market value rather than the determination of a "tax assessor". In order to insure that property taxes are assessed correctly and not arbitrarily, and that the real market value is the basis for assessment, let the following system of valuation be adopted:
require that all land be put officially "up for sale" at all times;
let offers or bids for any property be registered and be accompanied by a nonrefundable deposit (nonrefundable if the owner elects to sell to the bidder, but refundable if the offer is rejected by the owner and then withdrawn by the bidder);
let the official value of the property be based upon the amount offered for it by the bidders, and let the owner make the choice whether to pay a higher tax or sell the property;
let it be required that there be more than one offer or bid for a property (perhaps 3 or 4 offers) before the owner is required to make the choice whether to sell or accede to the higher valuation of the property and thus pay the higher tax.
5. Let there be a tax on corporate stock sales, thus raising some revenue for the government while having virtually no downside as with most other taxes, because it will create a disincentive to speculators who repeatedly buy and sell but will not discourage those investors who buy stock and hold on to it for a long period. Also, reform the stock market so that dividends are made the primary source of profit for stock investors and not speculation on rising and falling stock prices.
6. Let there be a voluntary contract insurance tax on all contracts which involve a liability above a designated base figure, such as $5,000 (or $10,000, or $20,000). Let there be a tax or fee on any such contract and make this fee proportional to the amount stated in the contract, such as .5% of the amount, and let this be paid in order to make the contract legally binding. Without payment of this fee, let the contract be legally unenforceable beyond the designated base figure ($5,000, or $10,000, or $20,000). (This tax will in effect be a user fee paid by one or both parties to the contract.)
7. Charge fees for the use of some of the roads, freeways, and center city areas, where the population or traffic is unusually dense. Follow the example of the city of London, which issues permits to drivers who use the roads in the central downtown area. Likewise issue permits for use of freeways during the busier periods of the day.
Let there be other user fees for raising revenue to the government. And let some existing user fees be increased, if the benefit to the user is greater than the amount of the present fees, or if the benefit imposes some cost onto society which is greater than the fee being paid. E.g., possibly increase the fees paid by users of national or state parks who drive vehicles into the park or who fly in sightseeing planes over the park.
VI. The Environment
1. Strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency (also state environmental agencies) and have all its actions be subject to grand jury review to insure that they are achieving their intended goal of making the environment cleaner and are not violating the legitimate rights of property owners, also to insure the proper balance between local and federal jurisdiction, i.e., that the EPA does not unduly impose its authority over against the local agency.
2. Increase the gasoline tax to give an incentive to motorists to drive less or to seek less polluting forms of transportation, and also to give manufacturers an incentive to strive to ever higher levels of fuel efficiency.
Decrease reliance on fuel efficiency standards, which accomplish nothing which cannot be achieved more efficiently through higher gasoline taxes and which are arbitrary and offer no incentive to manufacturers to strive for higher fuel efficiency than that required in the mandated standards.
3. Construct bicycle roads in major metropolitan areas, at taxpayer expense, which are separate from motor traffic and are made attractive to bicyclists, as an incentive to motorists to substitute bicycle travel for some of their motor vehicle driving.
4. In one fashion or another, make polluters pay a sufficiently high price for their pollution to offset the damage they inflict.
Since some level of pollution is inevitable, let the polluters decide how much price they are willing to pay, and set the price/penalty high enough so that the gain in revenue to the public treasury is enough to compensate the rest of society for the inconvenience of each increment of damage caused by each polluter.
Let there be an ever higher price for ever higher levels of pollution, thus giving to polluters a constant incentive to reduce their pollution as much as possible, whereas arbitrary cutoff levels or emission standards give them an incentive only to meet that standard and not to strive to do even better.
Let the goal be to have polluters keep trying to reduce their emissions and never be satisfied with any level of pollution.
5. Let there be total recycling of all waste matter. Let there be recycling centers where workers (wearing protective clothing) sift through all the waste which cannot be separated by machine and separate out all the items into their different categories. If need be, have prisoners do this work in order to help pay the cost of their detention. Do everything possible to reprocess the material for new production.
6. Speed up the process of replacing telephone poles with underground cables. Set a time limit, such as five years, for the complete elimination of all telephone poles.
VII. Agriculture
1. Abolish all subsidies of any kind to agriculture, including price supports and government loans and protective trade barriers, all of which turn farmers into parasites who leech off consumers and taxpayers.
Stop promoting parasitic subsidies, price supports, protective tariffs, bailouts, and other welfare to farmers in the name of "preserving the family farm", which is an insult to true family farms which earn their own way honestly by serving consumers in the competitive marketplace.
Stop protection of sugar and peanut farmers (and other special interests), which causes artificially high prices to consumers and to those companies which require these ingredients in their production process.
2. Fund research into new farm technologies, such as genetic altering of crops, and have all such research and all such technologies be subject to grand jury investigation to insure that consumers are served.
Promote sustainable and environmentally-friendly farming technology and penalize hazardous practices such as overuse of dangerous pesticides.
3. Let the free market reign in agriculture, but also have all the food production process be subject to grand jury review, from the farming to the processing to the distributing, to insure a safe reliable food supply to consumers, which is the proper ultimate goal of farming.
Let the relevant government agencies, such as the FDA and the DA, play their appropriate roles, but have grand jury oversight also in order to insure that these agencies are not corrupted by special interests within the industries being regulated.
Let the Department of Agriculture be reduced to a research and information agency for farmers rather than a distributor to them of parasitic subsidies and loans, and possibly also give it some regulatory function in matters such as pesticide control.
VIII. Free Trade
1. Reduce all tariffs to zero unconditionally. Invite other countries to do the same.
Make imports subject to the same product standards for quality and safety which are imposed onto domestic products.
Reduce reliance on "trade agreements" and instead adopt free trade unilaterally. Do not insist that other countries "open their markets" to U.S. goods, and do not link trade to superfluous issues such as human rights or other domestic problems internal to those countries.
2. Pressure other countries, as needed, to respect copyrights and patents, because violation of copyrights/patents harms U.S. consumers indirectly, by discouraging producers who do creative work which otherwise wouldn't be done. Possibly threaten trade sanctions in extreme cases to bring a country into compliance with copyright and patent protections.
But also re-evaluate the benefits of patents/copyrights, recognizing that in some cases these do more harm than good through the monopoly power they grant to the recognized owners of the patents/copyrights, and also recognizing that intellectual property rights are becoming more and more difficult to enforce in the real world.
3. Abolish anti-dumping laws.
4. Abolish requirements upon other countries to use U.S. materials in their production as a condition to opening the U.S. market to the finished products. Open the U.S. market to all foreign imports, no matter where or how the production took place or where the materials were derived.
Impose no restrictions on foreign imports other than the same content, quality, and safety standards required of domestic products, and impose no tariffs or taxes on them other than the same taxes, such as sales taxes, paid on domestic products.
5. Trust other countries to do what is in their own interest with respect to environmental standards and labor standards and other internal domestic issues pertaining to production. Do not preach to them or presume to know better than they what is good for them. Do not pretend we are doing them a favor by closing our market to them because of some practice in their country which we claim is wrong.
Tell uncompetitive workers and companies in this country to stop seeking excuses why they shouldn't have to compete against foreign producers. Let them stop the whining and learn to compete in the marketplace.
6. Let the guiding principle be that the function of business is to serve consumers, not provide jobs for the uncompetitive; and that the function of trade policy is to make businesses serve consumers, not protect the uncompetitive or preserve their lifestyles at the expense of consumers.
IX. Immigration
1. End all welfare programs, social security, rent subsidies, and other parasitic free services provided at taxpayer expense, in order to discourage those immigrants which are the least desirable, i.e., the ones who come with the intention of taking advantage of these services and parasite programs.
Abolish all free medical services, to citizens or non-citizens, including free Emergency Room services at hospitals, and stop requiring hospitals to accept patients who cannot pay. At most, require the hospitals to provide a cot for the patient to lie on rather than "throwing him out onto the street". Stop requiring hospitals to serve as dumping grounds for human garbage.
Once the undesirable immigrants are screened out, allow the remaining migrants to come, or at least those coming in order to work, because they are a benefit rather than a problem to the U.S.
2. Reform the process of admitting immigrants legally. Abolish the current "waiting in line" requirement to be admitted, and instead allow new arrivals into the country immediately provided they meet the requirements.
Impose requirements of health, education level, ability to speak English, non-criminal background, etc., and possibly even make the requirements more strict for new citizens. But when applicants meet these requirements, let them be admitted and become citizens without further delay, without the need to "wait in line" so many years, because this only motivates them to disregard the legal process and to seek entry illegally.
Require payment of a fee by an immigrant to become a citizen or a legal resident or guest worker. Make this fee pay all the processing costs and somewhat more, in order to insure that there is no net cost imposed onto taxpayers.
Allow migrant workers into the country, because these are good for the U.S. economy. Either let them become citizens if they meet the requirements, or have a guest worker program which allows them to come and go legally and not "wait in line" as long as those applying for citizenship.
Whether the above reforms take place or not, at least allow immigration of any high-skilled workers desired by U.S. industry, even if they are used to replace higher-paid U.S. workers. Let competition and the free market and merit decide who gets hired, and thus let U.S. consumers benefit from the resulting cost efficiencies. Let service to U.S. consumers be the guiding principle rather than pity toward the uncompetitive U.S. workers who are replaced. Let foreign immigrants serve the role of making the U.S. economy as competitive and efficient as it can be, and let it be the obligation of native-born American workers/producers to be subject fully to this competition rather than being protected by parasitic birthright entitlements of any kind.
X. Worker Protection / Employer-Employee Relations
1. Let wage-earners assume responsibility for their own protection and health.
Do away with requirements that employers take responsibility for protection and health and safety of workers, except to provide them with adequate information about workplace hazards and risks to their health. Let workers make their own decisions about how much risk to assume, and let them pay the cost of installing safety equipment of their choosing.
Let workers join any insurance program of their choosing, but eliminate state-sponsored mandatory programs, such as unemployment insurance or workman's compensation, which impose undue burdens onto taxpayers and employers and consumers who must pay the extravagantly high costs of these programs.
Eliminate any state subsidy to workers' benefits, such as to health insurance or pension programs. Eliminate any tax breaks or deductions or write-offs to companies that provide these programs and require the employers or the workers to assume the full cost and risk rather than passing this off to the taxpayers. Let there be no taxpayer bailouts of any kind to any company or its employees for any reason.
Let the state have no involvement with pension programs other than to enforce the terms of any contract entered into by the employer and employees.
Let workers take full responsibility for their welfare and pay the cost out of their paychecks, so that the decision-making rests entirely in their hands rather than that of their employers or the taxpayers, who are less competent to make the decisions.
Phase out all pension/retirement programs for public employees and instead pay employees their total value in salaries, and let the employees take responsibility to arrange for their individual retirement.
2. Give employers the right to terminate any employee for any reason, provided there is no breach of contract. Let any dispute in a termination case be settled in court on the basis of whether the employer violated an agreed contract with the terminated employee, but not any other basis.
Let employers terminate an employee for engaging in unionizing activity, if they wish not to have such activity engaged in. Let the workers who want to unionize seek employment where such activity is allowed by the employer, and let them seek terms in their contract to allow this, so they may later seek enforcement of these terms in court, if a dispute takes place.
XI. Health Care
1. Reduce the role of government in health care to some basic providing of inexpensive preventive programs, such as public health programs, sanitation, immunization of children, etc., and also to inexpensive emergency treatment to accident victims.
2. Abolish Medicare and all other programs which have taxpayers pay outrageously high medical costs for extravagant expensive procedures and drugs. Let no one be entitled to charge taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars for their medical procedures, many of which are unnecessary. Put a stop to these out-of-control costs imposed onto taxpayers.
E.g., stop paying the high cost of caring for comatose patients who are connected to hi-tech medical machines; stop paying for expensive transplant surgeries; stop paying for expensive treatment and intensive care of premature infants and crackbabies; and stop paying the high cost of warehousing the mentally deranged in institutions where expensive therapists and specialists and nursing care must be provided at exorbitant cost to taxpayers.
Let all these and other costly treatments be paid for privately, or let the patients forego the treatments. Let society not be obligated to pay these six-digit costs, despite the emotional demands made by the patients or their families or their providers.
3. Stop all subsidies of any form to the health insurance industry, such as tax credits or deductions for such insurance. Let all such insurance be paid entirely by the policy-holders, if they want such coverage.
Stop regulating the insurance industry by imposing mandates upon it which only drive up the cost of premiums. Rescind all such mandates and allow the companies and their customers to establish whatever terms they freely choose. Only enforce the terms of the insurance contract entered into by the company and the buyer of the policy.
4. Stop requiring hospitals to accept patients who cannot pay.
Instead, if something is needed for the poor, expand the "community health clinic" program and restrict it to inexpensive procedures only, such as basic emergency treatments. Have these clinics be subject to periodic grand jury review to insure they conform to standards of quality and cost control and do not become a costly burden on taxpayers.
If the clinics become the object of expensive malpractice lawsuits, then either close them entirely and provide no free medical services whatever to the poor, or adopt a disclaimer policy which exempts them entirely from malpractice suits, and place warning signs at the entrance advising anyone who enters that they are forfeiting any right to sue the clinic no matter what happens. And require the patients to sign a waiver.
Let the guiding principle be: Keep the cost down, whatever it takes.
Repudiate the cliché that the poor are entitled to the very best and latest hi-tech medical treatments that exist, no matter what the cost, or that they are entitled to the same level of medical services that the rich can afford. Tell them they are entitled to no such thing and that no national health care system in any country gives its citizens any such entitlement and anyone who promises this to them is a demagogue and a fraud.
5. Encourage the chronically-ill to be sterilized, as it has been determined that much illness is caused partly by a genetic component, and sterilizing those with a genetically-caused condition will prevent them from passing this trait on to future generations. Though this is politically incorrect and offensive to some who are hypersensitive, do it anyway because it is the right thing to do if we want to create a future society which is healthier, and a future healthier society is more important than political correctness.
6. Stop caving in to the popular clamor to pay people's costly medical bills for them, which gives some instant gratification but does little to make people healthier in the long run, and produces a miniscule benefit in comparison to the exorbitant cost that is paid.
Have grand jury investigations into the high cost of "health care" and into the claimed benefits of the costly treatments and drugs being demanded by patients. Have providers and scientists and researchers appear and present their evidence on the benefits of these procedures and drugs and have them show whether patients are cured or are only kept alive for an extra year or two.
Determine how many years, or weeks or days, of extended healthy life are produced, on average, for every thousand dollars spent on this or that procedure, and make them factor in all the harm done by the medical industry, all the mistakes, all the unnecessary procedures, all the diseases contracted by patients in hospitals, all the drug overdoses and misuses, and all cases where a treatment does no good at all or actually ends up being harmful and even killing the patient rather than making the patient better off.
Have them present all the facts and figures and evidence to prove that society's net benefit from this is worth the trillion or so dollars per year paid in health care costs, and have them explain why we should be eager to pay even much more to extend this "coverage" fully to everyone at taxpayers' expense.
Stop talking about "covering" more people and instead put the priority on reducing the cost to taxpayers, no matter what it takes, and do the best at providing some modest preventive health care services to people within the reduced budgets. Set the immediate goal of cutting the current tax-paid health care programs at least by half, and long-term by much more.
XII. Education
1. Make schools and teachers accountable through a rigorous testing system. Let teachers or schools be financially rewarded or penalized according to the performance of their respective students on standardized tests.
Let these tests be frequent -- let every student take at least two or three dozen standardized tests per year. To ensure that the tests are truly objective and that there is no cultural or other bias, let there be a procedure for scrutinizing the tests, in which parents or anyone who objects to a test question may present their complaint to a test review panel.
2. Abolish the current "special education" programs, in which certain students are selected out to receive more resources than others because of a perceived greater need.
Instead adopt the philosophy that all students are equally special, none more special than others, and that an equal amount of dollars is to be spent on each student.
Let individual schools or school districts deal with any special needs which might come to their attention and let them be required to meet all the needs as best they can within the budget limits, without requiring them to expend more resources on any designated category of students.
Cease from promulgating the fantasy that every child, no matter how retarded, can be given a normal education, with none "left behind", and admit that there are a few who probably will not "succeed", and spend the same amount on them as on all the others and do the best possible within that budget limit.
Let the education policy be based on a recognition of harsh reality, not on fantasy and wishful thinking or on guilt tripping and obsession with perceived victim groups and symbolic feel-goodism.
3. Let the goal be high performance at the least cost, whatever it takes, and subject everyone -- students, teachers, administrators, and parents -- to whatever discipline is necessary to achieve this goal.
XIII. Secrecy
1. Let there be limits placed on secrecy in government. Place a time limit, perhaps 2 or 3 years, on any government secret, after which period any secret, including military, will be declassified.
Let all planning be based on this premise of a time limit on secrecy, so that no policy or action is taken which is dependent upon long-term secrecy.
2. Let there be a special category of grand jury which is empowered to subpoena government officials or employees who have access to secret information, and have them be required to provide this information to the grand jury.
If need be, let there be special arrangements for these particular grand jury members to be sequestered as necessary so they are unable to divulge the secret information. But also let the grand jury choose officially to expose the information if they deem it in the national interest for the information to be made public.
3. Expand wire-tapping and surveillance capability for law enforcement agencies at all levels (state and local, not just federal). Have everyone be subject to wire-tapping and surveillance as a means to prevent crime and terrorism and threats to public safety.
Have all government officials, including elected officials, be subject to having their phones and other communications monitored, in order to deter them from criminal activities or corruption or abuse of their office. This includes all officials, up to the highest levels including Governors and the President and all his cabinet members, and also the directors of the Federal Reserve system and directors of corporations. Let no one be exempt from being secretly monitored, no matter how high their office or status.
XIV. Animal Protection
1. Strengthen laws to protect livestock animals. Prohibit the confinement of livestock animals to small spaces, and prohibit cruel practices and unnecessary pain to be inflicted onto animals when they are slaughtered, and require the most humane methods be used.
2. Prohibit cruel practices from being inflicted onto circus and rodeo animals, such as placing a tight strap around a rodeo animal carrying a rider and pressing against its genitals to cause pain and make it leap more violently.
3. Require all animal-holding facilities, including research facilities, livestock enclosures, and circus animal enclosures, to be open to public view, to anyone who wishes to observe the condition and treatment of the animals.
4. Prohibit research performed on primate animals which is not also performed on at least one human subject. If a research procedure is too cruel to be performed on a human subject, then let it be judged also too cruel to be done to any primate animal, or possibly even to any mammal, because the basic physiology of the pain is substantially the same to humans as it is to other mammals.
Since the purpose of animal research is almost always to produce a benefit to humans, usually a medical benefit, then require that at least one human subject also be used, because reason dictates that any findings relevant to medical purposes for humans are more valid if the subject used in the experiment is human.
XV. Grand Juries
1. Expand the grand jury system, both state and federal, to give grand juries the power to review and investigate all officials and all departments of government.
Require all elected and high appointed officials to appear before a grand jury at regular intervals to be questioned about their performance in office. Let this include the President and every Cabinet member (also state governors and their high appointees), every elected legislator, every member of the Federal Reserve Board, and every CEO of a major corporation.
2. Pay full-time members of grand juries whatever minimum compensation is necessary to recruit enough of them to serve, and make service on grand juries a career option offered to citizens.
3. Have grand juries review all legislation and all actions by the executive branch, and give them power, in some cases, to revoke or nullify an act of the legislature or the executive branch, or at least issue an order of postponement of the act, if the jury finds the act to be contrary to the people's interest and only a political payoff to special interest lobbyists.
Let it be required that any legislative act must be read completely by a grand jury before being voted on, so that all items in the measure may be exposed and nothing may be sneaked into a measure unawares at the last minute before passage.
Let there be the safeguard that the action of one grand jury might be cancelled out by an offsetting action of a different grand jury, so that there must be a certain level of unity among the grand juries in order for a grand jury finding or action to be official.
4. Let all criminal convictions be subject to grand jury review, and let the grand jury order a retrial in special cases. Let grand juries review past death penalty cases and make a determination if any of those executed were innocent.
Have police departments be subject to periodic review by a grand jury to determine if arrestees have been abused. Have all arrests and detentions be subject to grand jury review.
Have all gun control laws put to grand jury review to determine which of them are truly effective in reducing crime or keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, and which ones are only symbolic and of no practical benefit to society.
Have grand jury review of all claims about global warming, to determine if global warming is really happening and if it is caused by human behavior and if it poses a potential threat to humans.
Have grand jury review of all conspiracy theories and alleged coverups, including claims about UFO encounters.
Have grand jury review of radio and TV commercials which make claims of miraculous or seeming miraculous benefits to be produced by the advertised products.
Have all whistle-blower complaints be investigated by grand juries, and all claims of corruption or scandal or criminal behavior by anyone in the government or in the corporate hierarchy.
5. Have all grants, especially grants for research, be subject to grand jury review before they can be approved, and require them to undergo continued review at periodic intervals as a condition to continue receiving taxpayer funds.
Let the federal budget (and state budgets too) be reviewed in detail by a grand jury. Let the budget for each year be reviewed by several grand juries, so that each item, one by one, is scrutinized by a grand jury, and let there be a procedure whereby under certain conditions an item may be postponed or revoked by grand jury action.
6. Let all U.S. military actions abroad and U.S. foreign policy be subject to grand jury review. Give the grand jury power to subpoena any official from the Executive Branch or from the Pentagon or any member of the armed forces in order to investigate any military actions undertaken by the U.S. Issue secrecy clearances to selected grand jury members, so they can receive classified information and the government is prevented from withholding the information for the purpose of deceiving the public under the pretext of national security.
Let any foreigner who has a complaint against the U.S. receive a hearing before a grand jury and have a finding issued concerning the complaint.
6. And generally give wide fact-finding power to grand juries to investigate all issues of vital interest to the public and to investigate everyone in society who holds power, and let them have subpoena power, when needed, to compel witnesses to appear, so the citizenry may have adequate information and exercise better control over those in power.
XVI. Miscellaneous Issues
ABORTION: Let the pregnant woman have the final choice, but let this be a state rather than a federal issue.
WAR ON DRUGS: Perhaps do some experimenting with legalization. Do not provide rehabilitation programs at taxpayer expense, unless perhaps the cost is paid for entirely out of higher taxes on the sale of the addictive substances.
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: Let there be a new inspection regime by which any country may send its team of inspectors into any other country to search for weapons of mass destruction. Let all countries, including the United States and its allies, be subject to this inspection regime. Let the inspectors be allowed to appear, without warning, anywhere in the country without exception and be granted immediate access to the suspected site.
WAR POWER: Let the decision to initiate war be placed in the hands of more than one person such as the President. Let the President have power to initiate military action only in emergency cases when there is not ample time for other decision-makers to be consulted. Let the President's role be to conduct a military campaign which has been decided upon, but not to initiate hostilities entirely at his own discretion. Take away from the President the power to initiate massive death and destruction on a whim or out of mental derangement by forcing him to share this power with other decision-makers, similarly as he shares legislative power with the Congress.
RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE: Let public space be leased or rented to any private organizations that want to use the space for any purpose that is not illegal. If private parties or individuals want to have public religous displays, e.g., or any other public displays, let them pay an appropriate fee for use of the public space and be free to erect whatever displays they wish, such as crosses or nativity scenes or other cultural symbols they choose. If there is competition for certain desired public spaces, let those seeking the space offer bids and let the highest bidder have access to the space in question. Give no preference to any group, but let the selection of who gains access be determined totally by the bidding process and payment of fees for use of the public space.
If you think the above is not really the best political platform or you know of a better one, post your comment.
Comments from Kane:
I really hate standardized tests, they focus too much on testing and not enough on teaching. But if you must have them in your platform, i suggest randomizing them. Principals and teachers would have a difficult time rigging the tests or any other kind of negative use of the testing process. They would prioritize teaching, since they couldn't prepare the students for a comprehensive test, which shouldn't be prepared for anyway, it's comprehensive, it should show what they have learned, not what they were prepared for.
Response to Kane:
My vision of making the tests immune to cheating is to have there be thousands of questions (maybe 100,000 or so) to choose from for each test. These questions would be randomly distributed among the tests in a fashion such that no teacher would know ahead of time which of the 100,000 questions would be on the test s/he is to administer. The only way to "teach to the test" would be to study all 100,000 questions. And all the questions could be posted on the Internet. Maybe this is similar to your suggestion of randomizing the tests.
However it's done, the basic rule has to be that the system is arranged so that it is impossible for any cheating to take place.
>>I really hate standardized tests, they focus too much on testing and not enough on teaching.<<
But "teaching" means basically to prepare the students to do well on the tests. What does it mean if not this?
Another comment from Kane:
I have a question about the 'criminal justice' part of your platform. Why not have forced manual labor? Instead of the 'tracking device', just have the prisoners sent to special camps (not trying to be ironic) where they work hard physical labor for a certain amount of time. There are plenty of jobs that can be done using a workforce like this. Just a thought though.
Yes, where the "house arrest" approach is not convenient and the convicts must be confined, forced manual labor makes sense. (I added some wording to the "criminal justice" section to include this point.) Actually, there is a certain amount of that already. I would not want it to become makework, however. It has to be real work that would produce social benefit. Burning calories for the sake of burning calories is wasteful.


text:
When starting a low-carb eating plan, many people ask what they can eat and search for recipes with ingredients that are low in carbohydrates. Luckily there are plenty of choices, like this cheesy ham and pepperoni stuffed chicken. This low-carb recipe, which serves two people, is easy to make, only has five ingredients and is delicious.
Ingredients needed to make cheesy ham and pepperoni stuffed chicken
- 2 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
- 10 slices of pepperoni, torn into small pieces
- 2 pieces of ham, diced
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- Oil
How to make this low-carb recipe:
- Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Once it is hot, place chicken breasts in it and cover with a lid. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Take the chicken out of the skillet and put on a place or cutting board. Cut each breast open to make an opening, similar to a pocket. Put the pepperoni, ham and cheese inside of it.
- Put chicken breasts back in the skillet, with the uncooked side down and cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until they are cooked thoroughly.
- Use a thermometer to make sure your chicken is properly cooked. The ideal internal temperature should be 165 degrees.
- My chicken breasts were still frozen when I made this low-carb recipe. If your chicken is thawed, then keep an eye on it because that may alter your cooking time.
This low-carb recipe for cheesy ham and pepperoni stuffed chicken goes well with a green salad or a power green mixture.


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Marriott relaunches Megabonus promotion
Originally published on businesstraveller.com 11/02/2014 - Filed under: Home » News »
Marriott Rewards has relaunched its annual Megabonus promotion, offering guests a free night's stay for every two paid nights.
The offer is valid for stays until the end of April, for members registering online by March 31.
Guests can earn one free night at a category 1-4 hotel after each second paid stay. The promotion is running across Marriott's brands, including Edition and Autograph Collection properties.
A maximum of two free nights can be claimed. Each reward night is valid for one year from the date of issue and will be added to the member's account within three to five business days after the second qualifying stay.
Graham Smith
JamesBAgold - 11/02/2014 11:20
This is odd because the Megabonus deal I am able to register for in the UK does not correspond with the above - it is not for free nights but is for bonus points after extended stays:-
Earn with every stay
Book Now
Feel the love: Earn up to 40,000 bonus points with Marriott Rewards® MegaBonus®
See Details
There's plenty to love about Marriott Rewards, from exclusive benefits to 250+ rewarding opportunities. Now, with MegaBonus, there's even more.
To earn up to 40,000 bonus points:
•Register by March 31, 2014
•Stay between February 1 and April 30, 2014
•Earn 25,000 bonus points after 15 paid nights plus an additional 15,000 after 20 paid nights, up to 40,000 points
With 3,700+ hotels across 14 distinctive brands, Marriott Rewards is spreading the love.
For more information, contact Marriott Rewards Customer Support at 888-MARRIOTT (627-7468)
Marriott Rewards Customer Support
GrahamSmith - 11/02/2014 12:40
Hello JamesBAgold,
In the small print, Marriott specifies that "members electing to earn miles are not eligible for this promotion".
Might this apply to you?
JamesBAgold - 11/02/2014 13:42
Thanks Graham. That would explain it then!
AhmadAR - 11/02/2014 16:29
My account appears to have been pre registered for this promotion and the details show free night certificates will be valid for category 1-5 hotels.


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May 12, 2009
With your child in child care, there are many things you might be hoping he/she takes away from the experience. There are the lessons that will be carried throughout life, and healthy eating is one of them. Not only do you want your children to learn about the importance of healthy eating, but you also want them to practice eating healthy. You may talk about this at length in your own home, but you might be wondering what your provider can do to match what you're sharing with your child.
Below are some suggestions that your child care provider might use to promote healthy eating in young children. These have been adapted from Early Years Are Learning Years from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (www.naeyc.org).
Help build self-esteem and teach good eating habits by allowing children to plan, prepare and serve simple nutritional snacks. For example, create smiling faces using rice cakes and cheese. You can also make frozen banana sticks or applesauce. Introduce new foods in small portions to encourage children to taste their creations.
Use seed catalogs and real vegetables to look at the edible parts of different plants. Children can conduct a taste-test on different raw and cooked vegetables. Then they can discuss the nutritional value of each vegetable. Children can also work together to make vegetable soup and create labels for their own soup cans.
Choose the cultural heritage of one or more children as a theme for a day's meals and snacks. Discuss at mealtimes how factors such as climate help shape food habits.
Under adult supervision, young children can bake their own whole grain breads. Make it fun by shaping the dough into different animal shapes.
This type of outing will put children in touch with local surroundings and create an awareness of how food is grown and sold in places other than a supermarket. If your child's group is unable to take a field trip, maybe a local farmer could speak to the class about the fruits or vegetables on his farm.
Trade some of the unhealthier plastic foods in toy kitchens with replicas of fruits and vegetables, loaves of bread and wedges of cheese. Better yet, replace the unhealthy foods in your real refrigerator with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Lessons about healthy foods will "stick" more when you eat healthy too!
Parents, caregivers and teachers should work together to establish an understanding of how best to meet each child's nutritional needs. Teaching children to eat wisely and moderately is an investment in the future, and establishing healthy eating habits in the early years is not only important, but can also be fun.


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You are here: Home -> Current Fields -> Papua New Guinea -> PNG National Conference 2006
There are more pictures than what you see here! Be sure to:
Heavy rain preceded the first meeting on Friday, but this did not dampen any expectations and as we stood on the platform that evening we could see, under the sea of umbrellas the faces of many thousands of people worshipping God. They continued to stand there for the great message Brother Grandquist preached 'Three things Jesus knows about the grave', which resulted in many seeking God at the altar and eight being filled with the Holy Ghost.
The next morning the sun shone brightly and the muddy ground soon dried out. The weather had been exceptionally wet for some weeks preceeding the conference and we had made it a matter of special prayer for the weather to remain fine during our services. Our prayers were answered on Saturday and it was not until Sunday evening when the conference was over, that there was further heavy rain.
The guests were welcomed on Saturday morning with colourful leis and the conference crowd showed their excitement by applauding the visitors as they came to the platform.
Sister Grandquist ministered in song, to the ladies during the Ladies service that morning, and then, speaking on the subject "Joy" she related some of her personal experiences, which touched the hearts of the people. Her singing and enthusiasm on the keyboard was enjoyed by all. During the Ladies service that morning the Ladies President, Sister Sinakadi, told us of the great work the 'Mothers Memorial' fund raising had done that year. We were happy to see the highest giving region (Northern Region) and highest giving local church (West Taraka, Lae) awarded with trophy's for their efforts. Money's raised from such efforts as these will go toward projects of need in the country.
Brother Grandquist taught that morning on 'Four things I know about God', the crowd responding to the clarity of his message with 34 being baptised in Jesus name and a further 16 receiving the Holy Ghost.
Services on Saturday night and Sunday morning were greatly received by the crowds of up to 8000 people. Brother Grandquist did a wonderful job in reaching the hearts of the people. On Saturday night Brother Trevor Elliott from Cairns preached during the youth service on 'A true friend', revealing some great truths for young people to serve God more effectively. We were blessed by further great singing from Sister Grandquist and even a song from Brother Grandquist! He followed this with is preaching on 'Where the Lord puts His name', a truly great message to be remembered by all.
Sunday morning began with the Sunday School promotion and various regions and churches presenting some special items. There was some great singing and reciting of Bible verses by some very small children and our hearts were touched knowing the 'Save our children' theme for this year is 'A time to plant'' and truly we were seeing the results of seed planted in young hearts.
Aimer, Sister Sheila Waddle, from Minnesota, spoke to the Sunday School, follwed by our son, Richard who so aptly preached on "Unless you become as one of these little ones.", illustrating his message by bringing some of these little ones to the platform.
Brother Grandquist completed the wonderful conference by reaching into every ones hearts with 'The price that love paid for you and me'. The crowd responded beautifully with a tremendous time of prayer and worship at the altar. Many were being filled with the Holy Ghost and giving their lives a fresh to God. It was not possible to count or even estimate the outcome at this time. But we can say that we know of 41 who received the Holy Spirit and a further 51 who were baptised in Jesus name over that week end.
There are more pictures of the church service. Be sure to view the photo album or slideshow.
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Visit Richard & Andreas web pages
Ongoing request - Uphold our National Leaders, missionaries and Aimers
Ongoing request - Pray for churches in outlying islands and areas of the country.
Need 1 - School fees are needed for the two children of our AIMER Richard and Andrea Carver.
Can you assist with this in any way? Click here to see how you can.
Need 2 -
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VIDEO! Watch video of Ann Coulter on SNL. Michaela Watkins is Ann Coulter on SNL's Saturday Night Live in a web exclusive this weekend.
"We need to listen to President Bush when he tells us history will judge this war. And it might take 100 years. And you won't be here. And George Bush won't be here. But I will still be here, thanks to a medical procedure I undergo twice a year at a Swiss mountain clinic….
"I love torture. I think torture is good and Christian-y."
For all the SNL videos this week and last week,
click here: http://news.lalate.com/category/snl.
Watch the Ann Coulter SNL skit video below.


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My 8 year old son took Concerta for 14 months
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Fearing autism, many parents aren't vaccinating their kids. Can doctors reverse this dangerous trend?
This patient support community is for discussions relating to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Anxiety, and Autism Spectrum Disorders.


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What's the amount of chocolate and flowers purchased for Valentine's Day in the United States? That would be 58 million pounds of chocolate and 23% of adults that purchase flowers or plants. This celebrated event dates back to Ancient Rome, as a fertility festival, and was known through the late 400's, which was when Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as a day for honoring Saint Valentine. It wasn't until the 1300's that it became associated with the "love and romance" as we know it today. Europe began the exchange of Valentines in the 1600's and in the 1840's the first mass-produced Valentines were sold in the United States. Now, 62% of adults say they celebrate Valentine's Day spending averages of $150 for men and $74 for women. Let's view a few more values regarding Valentine's Day.
· There are 150 million Valentine's Day cards and gifts sent each year.
· The top flower picks are mixed flowers being number one, followed by red roses and other roses respectively, other flowers ranked fourth and plants bringing up the number 5 pick.
· There are only 3 holidays other than Valentine's Day when Americans buy the bubbly. With 8.6 million dollars spent on sparkling wine for Valentine's Day, that makes it the 4th occasion after New Year's Eve, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. Incidentally, that is 174,000 gallons sold throughout the Valentine's week.
· 36 million heart-shaped chocolate boxes are sold for Valentine's Day.
· Out of 23% of adults who say they purchase flowers for this holiday, 39% are women and 61% are men.
· Sweethearts, mostly sold between January 1st and February 14th, produce 8 billion candies annually, which will stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Arizona and back again 20 times.
· Yes, 448 million dollars are spent the week before Valentine's Day on candy.
Want to live in or get a postmark from a city named Valentine? We have 9 United States to choose from including Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas. Other cities named for "Love" might be South Heart, ND, or Rose City, MI, or Romance, AR, and how about Loving, NM, or Loveland, OK, and the city of Love Valley, NC. We certainly don't want to leave out our own Loves Park, IL.
Watch this video for more fun Valentine's Day trivia.
Love is in the air this time of year. If only everyday could be like Valentine's Day.


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Sept. 30, 2008
Stanford, CA - Stanford Athletics in partnership with CBS College Sports will launch an enhanced and upgraded All-Access video player available on gostanford.com starting on October 1. All-Access offers fans access to view live streaming video of Stanford Athletics events.
The new All-Access is powered by Microsoft's Silverlight technology, providing increased web browser compatibility and a redesigned user-friendly, state-of-the-art interface. Those that do not have Silverlight on their computers will be required to perform a quick one-time download of Silverlight before accessing the new video player. Silverlight technology was recently utilized by NBC during its Internet coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The enhanced All-Access service is free of charge and gives fans the highest-quality streaming experience and the most online video coverage of Stanford Athletics. The new multimedia player also offers an improved search engine, which allows users to quickly locate videos they are interested in. Fans can search by sport, type of video and date to easily navigate to the newest content.
During the 2008-09 season, Stanford Athletics will stream more than 150 live events through All-Access. To view a schedule of upcoming webcasts visit gostanford.com.
Also on October 1, fans that visit gostanford.com will have the opportunity to access Top Headlines, an embedded YouTube player, or live events via All-Access on the home page within one to two clicks. With a simple click of the YouTube tab, an embedded YouTube player will give fans direct access to view highlight video, interviews and other archived digital content without navigating outside of gostanford.com. Additionally, by clicking on the All-Access tab, fans can view a schedule of upcoming events to be streamed via All-Access, as well as click to watch live events.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | System Requirements | Technical Support for All-Access | Assistance with Passwords and Other Questions


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This morning, Aug. 5, Qatar Airways flight QR023, with 269 passengers, and 13 crew members was "escorted" by two military fighter jets to make an emergency landing at Manchester Airport after the pilot sent a radio transmission suggesting that a possible bomb threat was on board.
The video of the fighter jet escorting the plane to land was tweeted by Josh Hartley, "Being escorted in." After Hartley had time to process what was really happening he wrote, "Okay no I am worried."
After the plane landed safely, emergency crews and armed police stormed the plane to arrest the man suspected of smuggling a bomb device onto flight QR023. Passengers tweeted photos afterwards that showed armed forces waiting for the plane. A man wearing a green shirt was handcuffed and walked off the plane by armed police. According to reports no evidence was found of a bomb-like device. No further details have been given about the man arrested.
According to the Northern Editor of the Guardian, Helen Pidd, police told her, "on a sliding scale, we think we're looking at an idiot rather than an international terrorist." So far, news reports indicate this suspected bomb threat was a hoax, and Manchester Airport had to reroute nine planes to other airports. The Greater Manchester Police tweeted, "A man who was onboard the plane @manairport has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat."
Hoax or no hoax, the passengers on board the jet that was forced to land at Manchester Airport by the Royal Air Force were still shaken after the emergency situation. Although GMP got the call without confirmation they said in a statement that regardless if the threat is true, "it is vital" that they continue to handle the issue as if it were real.
Thankfully all passengers were safely taken off the plane, the idea had many passengers panicking. After passengers from flight QR023 were cleared to leave the plane and find other means of travel, Hartley said he was "Still kinda shaking."


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Jun 25, 2010 8:53 AM
Who couldn't use a smile delivered to their mailbox? We know the Hey Good Looking Card ($8) would certainly brighten our day - hint, hint.
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


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The teenage singer says she is "pleased and proud" at being chosen to record music and hand-pick artists for the third film.
07:09, UK, Sunday 03 August 2014
Award-winning singer Lorde is to curate the music for the next instalment of The Hunger Games, which is due out in November.
The 17-year-old New Zealander, who dominated the charts in 2013 with Royals, will hand-pick the artists who will feature on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1.
She will also record the film's first single, which she has already written with songwriting partner Joel Little.
"I am so pleased and proud to have been announced the sole curator of the soundtrack for MOCKINGJAY - PART 1," she told her 1.94 million followers.
The Hunger Games franchise, based on the books by Suzanne Collins, has become a global phenomenon.
The films star Jennifer Lawrence as the survivor of a reality TV contest in a dystopian future.
Picking Lorde dovetails with the franchise's core demographic - teenagers and young adults.
"I sat down with Lorde on the set of Mockingjay this spring and I was immediately struck by how she so innately understood what we, as both fans and film-makers, were trying to accomplish with the film," said director Francis Lawrence.
"I can't wait to share what she's done with the fans - it is truly remarkable."
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TRiO SSS students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of cultural and academic enrichment activities both on and off campus. Students who do participate in off-campus events must complete a student travel liability form.
TRiO SSS students are provided information about upcoming events through monthly mailings and Facebook.
For TRiO SSS students to participate in an off-campus event sponsored and funded by TRiO SSS, the student must come to EL 337 to sign up during the designated time period. The student must have a completed student travel liability form on file for the current academic year and most events have limited seating.
TRiO SSS students have the opportunity to visit graduate schools located geographically near APSU. In the past, students have visited graduate schools at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, University of Memphis, Tennessee State University, University of TN @ Chattanooga and Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Students had the opportunity to tour the campus with a qualified campus guide, meet with a representative from the graduate school, enjoy the student flow and activities of the university center, and visit resource centers/museums unique to the individual campus.
For TRiO SSS students to participate in a graduate school visitation that is announced in a regular monthly mailing, the students must come to EL 337 to sign up during the designated time period and the student must have a completed student travel liability form on file for the current academic year.
In addition students are invited to make individual requests for a campus visitation to the Academic Counselor. If there is adequate funding and an appropriate timeframe to arrange an individual campus visitation, the TRiO SSS staff will assist the student with the arrangements and provide transportation.
Fear and excitement engulfed my every thought, the day I decided to go back to school. Being a non-traditional student, so many questions ran through my mind. I wondered if I had what it takes to go back to school. Finally, I found the courage to enroll at APSU, not without having the help of TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) on my side. They were the wind beneath my wings as I began my journey at Austin Peay State University. Throughout my journey I was faced with many obstacles along the way. My husband, my best friend, was given orders for an 18 month deployment to Iraq. This was a hardship for our family, and I had to take a few semesters off of school. This decision was not an easy one for me, however upon my soldier's return, I knew that I would return to the school I loved so much.
The day after my husbands return from Iraq, we were yet to face another obstacle. My son Zachary, now fourteen years old, had fallen off of our front porch. My husband revived him and he was life-flighted to Vanderbilt. By the grace of God, he recovered wonderfully and today he is a proud member of another part of TRiO, the High School Upward Bound program. This program has given Zachary many opportunities, and will allow him the process of transitioning from one level of higher education to the next. After all, these students are the leaders of tomorrow. You might say, Austin Peay's TRiO programs run in our family's blood.
My husband, and daughter Amber, also attended APSU, and were participants of TRiO Student Support Services. This program has been instrumental in aiding with my family's opportunities for academic growth, and encouragement for our successful completion of education. When I learned that I was selected for being the TRiO SSS achiever I was overwhelmed. This is a wonderful accomplishment, however, make no mistake…I had the help and support of the TRiO SSS staff. Not only did they assist me with all of my academic needs to succeed, but their words of encouragement and dedication have not gone unnoticed.
They enabled me and my family to have the opportunities that we might not have had otherwise. The staff is a reflection of their support system. I call them my friends. I know I will finish school with the confidence that I found to succeed. We all need mentors, I found mine in TRiO SSS.
Cheryl Berardo