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SAMJ: South African Medical Journal
versión On-line ISSN 2078-5135
versión impresa ISSN 0256-9574
SAMJ, S. Afr. med. j. vol.99 no.11 Cape Town nov. 2009
Lucy Wagstaff (1930 -2009)
Lucy Wagstaff was a most remarkable doctor, teacher and researcher at Baragwanath Hospital and the University of the Witwatersrand, during the apartheid years and subsequently.
When I joined the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Wits in 1971, I immediately became aware of Lucy as a very caring and competent paediatrician. She had a special interest in the follow-up of patients after discharge from hospital, at the outpatients department or at community clinics, and in the process got to know, teach and encourage the nursing sisters involved. She often spent weekends assisting at mission hospitals, such as Jane Furse in the then homeland of Lebowa.
The first black social worker in paediatrics at Baragwanath Hospital, Mrs Esline Shuenyane, together with Mrs Avis Schreier of Johannesburg Hospital Paediatrics, worked with Lucy to expose medical students to home-care of paediatric patients. Medical students were designated patients to follow up at home and to report back at tutorials for discussion. The programme worked very well and was one of the first to introduce students to community health care.
Crisis came with the 1976 Soweto riots, with the closing of community clinics and the flight of their doctors. Baragwanath Hospital was thus overburdened with outpatients.
Lucy Wagstaff put forward the idea that competent senior nurses from the hospital, after a short course of instruction on diagnosis and treatment, might be able to run the clinics without doctors. The administration gladly supported this idea and training courses, co-ordinated by Lucy, were set up by medical and surgical staff. Within 3 months clinics began to function again. Lucy's innovative measure of nurse-led primary health care service became a model replicated countrywide. Lucy played an important part by frequently visiting clinics (driving alone) to encourage and guide where necessary.
A survey, sometime later, revealed that the sisters were as competent as doctors had been in coping with 80% of the patients; the rest were referred to the hospital.
In 1976 the Loewenstein Trust established a Chair of Community Paediatrics at Wits, to which Professor Wagstaff was appointed. She held this Chair with distinction until her retirement from academic paediatrics in 1997. Among her local achievements, apart from teaching under- and postgraduate students, was the creation of day-care centres for children of working parents, in the homes of non-working mothers. She was the organiser and took part in doctor schedules for weekend visits to Swaziland and elsewhere in Anglo's Harry's Angels project, for over a decade.
Many publications included diverse fields, such as infant growth and nutrition, school health and medical education. Lucy Wagstaff was the co-editor with Professor M A Kibel of a textbook Child Health for All, a manual for southern Africa, for the first two editions in 1991 and 1995. She was convenor and examiner of the Diploma of Child Health (DCH) of the College of Medicine, South Africa. She was also a Fellow and Examiner of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, UK.
As a person, Lucy Wagstaff was humble but compelling, always of a caring nature for patients and staff. She warmly entertained colleagues and overseas visitors at her home. Her retirement years were marred by a head-on collision with another vehicle in Soweto, resulting in severe injury from which she only partly recovered.
Lucy Wagstaff can be regarded as an example of what a caring and dedicated doctor can achieve in a developing country such as ours, during changing and often very difficult times.
J D L Hansen
Professor Emeritus
University of the Witwatersrand
Reprinted from: Wits Review 2009; July, 59.


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- Is Fro-Yo a No-No? 5 Healthy Frozen Alternatives!
- Summer Cocktails: How to Enjoy the Party without Looking Like a Flotation Device
- ET's Mark Steines Reveals How He Lost 30 Pounds
- Recipe: Zucchini Bread
Is Fro-Yo a No-No? 5 Healthy Frozen Alternatives!By Joe Wilkes
Most neighborhoods in Los Angeles—and the rest of the country—seem to have a frozen yogurt shop. Pinkberry®, Red Mango®, Kiwiberry, Céfiore®, you name it—they're in strip malls, shopping centers, office complexes—even airports, hotels, and casinos. Frozen yogurt is touted as being low in calories and having lots of healthy flora for your intestinal health. So what's the deal: Is frozen yogurt good for you—or too good to be true?
The history of frozen yogurt
Dannon® made the first frozen yogurt in the 1970s. It was sold in supermarkets as a frozen treat on a stick—usually a variation of Dannon's tart berry yogurt, but coated with chocolate or carob. Later, companies like TCBY® (The Country's Best Yogurt) began processing yogurt in soft-serve ice cream machines, adding artificial flavorings, along with sugar or artificial sweeteners, in an effort to duplicate popular ice cream flavors. They also offered toppings like chocolate chips, M&M's®, and crushed candy bars. Supermarket brands like Häagen-Dazs® and Ben & Jerry's® also began adding frozen yogurt flavors to their ice cream lines in the 1980s.
In 2005, Pinkberry opened its first store in Los Angeles, and the chain quickly grew to more than 50 stores, spawning hosts of imitators. Many say Pinkberry is a knockoff of the Korean chain Red Mango, but whoever imitated whom, Red Mango has benefited from Pinkberry's opening up the American market to this new/retro style of yogurt. Pinkberry yogurt is a back-to-basics formulation, similar to what Dannon peddled in the 1970s. Pinkberry yogurt is more tart than the sweeter TCBY-style soft-serve yogurt, and is usually offered in just a few flavors (currently original, chocolate, salted caramel, coconut, mango, pomegranate, and watermelon). These gourmet yogurt shops offer mainly fresh fruit toppings, as well as some less nutritious ones, and they all claim the health benefits of the high levels of favorable bacteria in their yogurts, like Lactobacillus and L. acidophilus.
Is it healthy?
Yogurt is generally healthy. It has calcium, is low in calories and fat, and contains cultures that are helpful in maintaining intestinal health. A small serving of original Pinkberry (1.5 servings, as figured on their nutritional information page—a "large" is considered to be 3.8 servings!) contains about 150 calories, 4.5 grams of protein, no fat, and about 15 percent of your daily value of calcium. The fresh fruit toppings are unsweetened and add only 10 to 35 calories per scoop. So, generally speaking, Pinkberry yogurt makes for a reasonably healthy snack. Old-school TCBY has a few more calories, but is not dissimilar to Pinkberry in its nutritional makeup. However, keep in mind that most of these calories come from added sugar, so they're more likely to turn into stored fat in your body if you don't burn them off. While its calcium content is also fairly decent, you'll get nearly twice as much calcium from regular unfrozen yogurt than you'll get from the frozen kind. Regular yogurt also contains more protein.
Things really go off track, however, when it comes to toppings other than fresh fruit. If you're going down to the gourmet yogurt joint, crumbling a candy bar or two on your yogurt, and adding a dollop of syrup to boot, it's pretty hard to claim you're "eating light." Obviously, this is also true if you're going to the supermarket and getting a pint of Ben & Jerry's fro-yo with chunks of cookie dough or brownies swirled in. You'd think common sense would kick in here, but most of us have somehow fooled ourselves into thinking that toppings don't count, when in fact the number of empty calories they contain is usually much higher than the calorie total for the actual yogurt. And when you get your yogurt in a cone instead of a cup, you're adding even more empty calories to your dessert or snack—120 calories for a typical waffle cone.
In short, frozen yogurt isn't terrible for your diet, but it isn't a miracle food either. It's a much better option than ice cream (which has high levels of saturated fat), but yogurt doesn't necessarily have less sugar. It's also better than cookies, cake, or candy, but it can't hold a candle to fresh fruit as a food that can satisfy your sweet tooth while helping to make you healthy at the same time. Simply put, it's better for your figure and your pocketbook just to have a bowl of fresh fruit mixed with your favorite plain unfrozen yogurt.
However, if you just can't get past your craving for a frosty delight, try one of these 5 healthy frozen treats!
- Frozen fruit. Even people with no cooking experience can manage this one, because there's no cooking involved! Just pop some fresh grapes, strawberries, bananas, etc., into the freezer for a bit, then pop them in your mouth. This is an option that's particularly good for parents, because kids who turn up their noses at fresh fruit in a bowl will often appreciate it in this delightful "new" frozen form.
- Fancy ice cubes. Try pouring your favorite fruit juice into an ice cube tray and inserting toothpicks when the cubes start to get slushy enough to allow the toothpicks to stand up. (Or if you're rushing out, just lean 'em at an angle; it'll still work.) You've made your own healthy miniature frozen pops! For bartenders, these can make a great addition to beverages. Try a glass of seltzer water with some frozen lemon juice cubes on a hot summer day. It'll make you forget about lemonade.
- Speaking of bartending . . . This tip's for adults only. Here's a professional bartenders' secret—they usually add extra sugar in frozen drinks. Why? It tastes better and it makes you thirstier! More sugar = more thirst = more drinks (= more sugar you've consumed without realizing it). You get the idea. When making your own margaritas or daiquiris on a hot summer day, skip the store-bought mixers and make your own from fresh juice, using as little sugar as you can stand. Also, add extra ice to the blender. You'll be able to make your drink last a lot longer and do a lot less damage to your diet.
- Make your own sorbet. This is a little more on the gourmet side. But if you're willing to invest a little money (in an ice cream/sorbet maker) and a little time, you can make delicious ice creams and sorbets from fresh fruit and keep out a lot of the artificial colors and flavors—and the obscene amounts of added sugar—many store brands contain.
- Make your own frozen yogurt. If a dish of fresh fruit and regular plain yogurt is better for you than the soft-serve kind sold in yogurt stands, why not switch it up? Blend frozen fruit—berries, peaches, or any other favorites—with some plain yogurt in the blender. (Or you can use a hand blender or mixer.) If you absolutely can't live without it, you can add a little sugar (or honey, or agave nectar), but if you reduce the amount a little every time you make it, pretty soon you'll have weaned yourself off the excess sweet stuff. Before you know it, fruit and yogurt will be enough of a treat, and you won't even miss those crushed Oreos!
Related Articles
"4 Healthy Fats from Fruits"
"Seasonal Summer Produce"
"Food Trucks: Navigating Your Way to Healthy Roadside Eats"
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If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at email@example.com.
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Summer Cocktails: How to Enjoy the Party without Looking Like a Flotation DeviceBy Stephanie S. Saunders
Why do we spend all year doing P90X® or Slim in 6® to look good on the beach, only to sabotage ourselves with high-calorie summer cocktails? Mostly because it's fun and social, and the alcohol make us feel a little less self-conscious about being scantily clad.
Thanks to the dozens of different diet crazes out there, we're all abundantly aware of carbs, protein, and fat, and we all have different opinions on which is the most evil. But we shouldn't forget that alcohol has calories too—7 per gram, more than carbs or protein and almost as much as fat. So what does this mean for you? It means that it's a challenge to burn off alcohol, especially when it's mixed with yummy, sugary ingredients.
The most obvious solution is abstinence, but what fun would that be? Since we can't remove the alcohol from these popular summer drink recipes without calling them "mocktails," let's find other ways to remove the excess calories instead. Here are six summer cocktail recipes, tailored to make them more waist-friendly.
Your biggest caloric enemy in the margarita is the prepackaged margarita mix. There are "light" versions available, but their taste is less than extraordinary. Here's another option that'll cut your calories in half without sacrificing flavor.
- Juice of 1-½ limes
- 3 oz. water
- ½ tsp. stevia (or other no-calorie sugar substitute)
- 2 oz. tequila
- 1.5 oz. triple sec
- Ice
- Salt (to taste)
Calories before: 435
Calories now: 180
- Cosmopolitan.
The sneaky trickster here is regular cranberry juice cocktail, which should be called "sugar with cranberry flavoring." This light version uses only one type of alcohol, which drastically cuts your calorie count.
- 3 oz. low-calorie cranberry juice drink
- 1 oz. raspberry vodka
- Squeeze of lime
- Lime twist, as garnish
Calories before: 413
Calories now: 98
- Tipsy Arnold Palmer. Sweetened bottled versions of lemonade and iced tea can be pretty loaded with sugar. However, if you brew your own iced tea and squeeze your own lemons, then add a bit of sugar substitute and 2 ounces of vodka, you can make a really tasty cocktail that doesn't have so many calories. Or the light Minute Maid® version and some diet iced tea will work for the domestically challenged.
- Juice of 1 lemon and 3 oz. water (or 3 oz. diet lemonade)
- 2 teabags steeped in 3 oz. boiling water and cooled (or 3 oz. diet iced tea)
- ½ tsp. stevia (optional; omit if using commercially prepared diet beverages)
- 2 oz. vodka
- Sprig of mint (optional)
- Ice
Calories before: 156
Calories now: 71
Strawberry daiquiri.
Nothing says "vacation!" like a drink that a little umbrella will stand up in. Yet again, sugar is the culprit we're trying to cut out. Try this version for a vacation flashback that'll be reminiscent of the good times (not of ordering seconds on dessert).
- ½ cup sliced strawberries
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1.5 oz. light rum
- Stevia or other sweetener (to taste, depending on sweetness of strawberries)
- Ice
Calories before: 299
Calories now: 118
Piña colada. Made correctly, a piña colada is the taste of summer. If not made correctly, it tastes like suntan lotion in a glass. This recipe replaces sugar and cream with fruit and skim milk.
- 1 8-oz. can chunk pineapple (with juice)
- ½ tsp. stevia (or other artificial sweetener)
- 1 tsp. coconut extract
- 1 cup nonfat (skim) milk
- 1 cup ice cubes
Calories before: 297
Calories now: 146
- White wine/light beer/champagne. These all seem like fairly obvious "light" drink choices and don't require recipes, but they're worth mentioning. White wine has about 100 calories in a 4-ounce serving, and it's delightfully refreshing on a summer day, especially if you add some club soda to make it into a spritzer. Beer comes in very light versions now, some of which have fewer than 70 calories. And not only is champagne fantastic with brunch, but it also only has around 100 calories per serving. With any of these, just be sure to measure your amounts so you don't end up overdoing it (and/or ending up with a splitting headache afterwards).
And there you have it. A handle on your summer cocktails, without adding to your love handles. Now put on your swimsuit and let the rest of the summer be the party it was meant to be!
Related Articles
"8 Ways to Avoid Summer Weight Gain"
"The Five Pillars of Willpower"
"6 Steps to Orchestrating the Perfect Fitness Regimen"
Questions about your workout program, diet, the latest newsletter, or anything wellness related? Chat with Denis Faye, Beachbody Fitness Advisor, in the Beachbody Chat Room on Monday, August 29nd, at 3:00 PM ET, 12:00 PM PT.
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at email@example.com.
Check out our Fitness Advisor's responses to your comments in Steve Edwards' Mailbag on the Message Boards. If you'd like to receive Steve Edwards' Mailbag by email, click here to subscribe to Steve's Health and Fitness Newsletter. And if you'd like to know more about Steve's views on fitness, nutrition, and outdoor sports, read his blog, The Straight Dope, recently named one of the Top 50 blogs covering the sports industry by the Masters in Sports Administration.
ET's Mark Steines Reveals How He Lost 30 Pounds
Entertainment Tonight cohost Mark Steines had impressive results with 10-Minute Trainer®—he lost 30 pounds and 5 inches off his waist in 90 days. Now he wants you to try it too and share your results with us! Do your best and forget the rest—then submit your transformation results to get a FREE "No More Excuses" T-SHIRT and a chance to win a trip to L.A. to be in the next 10-Minute Trainer infomercial! Click below to check out the video and click here to enter the contest.
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Recipe: Zucchini Bread
Applesauce and walnuts give this the warm nuttiness of a fruit bread, while zucchini brings veggie goodness. Try making it in mini-loaf pans in a toaster oven if summer still has you not wanting to heat up your whole kitchen with the big oven.
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 6 egg whites
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 stalk celery, finely diced
- ½ cup white or raw sugar (or substitute 1/3 cup honey and reduce applesauce to ¼ cup)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1-¼ cups all-purpose (plain) flour
- 1-¼ cups whole wheat (whole-meal) flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1-¼ tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2-½ cups shredded zucchini
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350° F (325° if you're substituting honey). Lightly coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans (or 5 mini-loaf pans) with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, canola oil, applesauce, sugar or honey, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed until thick and foamy. In a small bowl, stir flours together. Set ½ cup of flour mixture aside. Add baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon to flour mixture in small bowl and stir together, then add to egg white mixture. Using electric mixer on medium speed, beat until well blended. Add zucchini and walnuts and stir with wooden spoon until combined. Adjust consistency of the batter with reserved ½ cup flour, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. Batter should be thick, not runny.
Pour ½ of batter into each prepared pan. Bake about 50 minutes (35 to 40 minutes for mini-loaf size), until a toothpick inserted into center of each loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let finish cooling on rack. Each loaf will yield 9 1-inch slices, or 18 servings.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
|Nutritional Information (per serving)
|Fat Total
|Saturated Fat
|4 grams
|2 grams
|20 grams
|6 grams
|< 1 gram
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Three to See Saturday: Ortona Apocalypse, a meeting of belles, and Barra MacNeils
Ortona Apocalypse: Local art maniacs Tim Rechner and Patrick Arès-Pilon are putting on this punk-noise show at the still-standing Ortona Armoury Saturday night, including Edmonton's Hex Beat, Fitness and Alloys. The all-ages show also features visuals by Square Frame Rule, and should be a very loud way indeed to welcome spring back into the city. See you there!
Details: 8 p.m. at Ortona Armoury (9722 102 St.), $10 at the door
La belle et la belle (When Margaux meets Margaux): The French Film Festival continues with this psychological, subtitled dramedy directed by Sophie Fillieres. Margaux is a 25-year-old, living a carefree but unsatisfying life punctuated by frequent one-night stands. One night at a party she meets another Margaux, 20 years her elder. Troubling details and similarities seem to link the two women, starting with the 6:57 a.m. train that they are both taking to Lyon the next morning. On the train Margaux (45) bumps into Marc, her still very handsome ex, whose charm inevitably resonates with Margaux (25). What is it like to meet your own self? Margaux and Margaux sure find out …
Details: 7 p.m at Metro Cinema (8712 109 St.), $13 at metrocinema.org
The Barra MacNeils: The Scottish island of Barra is the ancestral home of Clan MacNeil and under this name, for over three decades, Cape Breton-based family group the Barra MacNeils have been thrilling audiences with their sparkling repertoire, vocals, instrumental prowess and vibrant showmanship. Canada's Celtic ambassadors await your attendance.
Details: 7:30 p.m. at Festival Place (100 Festival Way, Sherwood Park), starting at $38 at festivalplace.ab.ca


text: From John Seyjagat, Curator of Australia Exhibits The National Aquarium's Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes exhibit was recently awarded best exhibit in the North America zoo and aquarium community. As the curator of this exhibit, I must say I am overwhelmingly proud to have received this coveted award given by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) each year– and the first to claim bragging rights, as this project was no easy feat for our exhibit team! Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes is a lot more than a new exhibit. We have harnessed modern technologies, innovative designs, interactive learning, visitor friendly exhibitory and a unique Australian animal and plant collection, to create a one-of-a-kind visitor experience. There are so many great features to this exhibit. Perhaps my favorite aspect is how the exhibit plays on the "wow" factor by incorporating prey and predators all sharing common spaces. The habitats are alive with color, movement, and noise the unique animals tell stories of their own. Among these stories are displays of how animals and people adapt to the harsh environmental factors that shape the land in which they live including floods, drought, and fire! Visitors are also given an up close and personal encounter with seldom seen animals like the prehistoric triops, giant fruit bats, and snake neck turtles. Its cutting edge design creates an emerging effect where animals can be seen at floor level emerging from the depths of the river gorge. The exhibit brings a slice of Northern Territory Australia to life in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It's a place that fills our fantasy that is now in reality "an experience just waiting to happen". If you haven't already, come and join us for a "walkabout" in a place of wild extremes! Tags: animal-planet, australia, awards, aza Categories: Behind-The-Scenes, News Previous Post Next Post


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Well here's my contribution in my fave castle theme.
Pic is a link to my flickr where detail shots of each can be found.
H3LLB0Y3 wrote:heres my set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42725373@N ... 304419113/
its kinda small though.
also, can someone tell me how to post full pics?
Forestboy wrote::oops: Heheheh, It's May 1st and I haven't made anything. I was working on a dwarf chess set to go along with nanuck's troll set...but I'm a little late. I'll just post it later.
Thanks for the great idea Josh! And both of your sets look really good. This Monthly Challenge produced a lot of great ideas.
Good job everyone, and hopefully I get mine up soon.
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NORTHPORT | The Kentuck Art Center hopes to help kids experience different cultures without even leaving Tuscaloosa.
NORTHPORT | The Kentuck Art Center hopes to help kids experience different cultures without even leaving Tuscaloosa.
The arts organization will sponsor a monthly "Kentuck for Kids" event, which will focus on the arts and culture of other countries. Starting Saturday, children will be able to participate in hands-on activities, including crafts, that are connected to other countries.
They'll receive pretend "passports" with their picture and activities to mark each event they attend.
"We decided that an international series would teach children about different cultures and the arts used in different cultures, but it would also introduce Kentuck to people who don't normally participate in Kentuck," said Shweta Gamble, executive director of Kentuck.
This Saturday, from noon to 3 p.m. at Kentuck's Georgine Clarke Building, the "Kentuck for Kids" event will focus on Japan.
Kids will make origami and can make suminagashi, which is a form of Japanese ink marbling. Children will learn about haiku poems and write their own. The Japanese American Society of Alabama will also participate and bring "Japan in a suitcase," which includes toys and different information about Japan, items that the kids can touch. There will also be karate demonstrations at 12:30 pm. Saturday, and the Tuscaloosa Public Library will have a reading list of Japanese-themed children's books in case kids want to explore the culture more at home.
It is the first time that Kentuck has undertaken an ongoing event for kids with an international focus, said Michaela Lewellyn, program manager for Kentuck.
"When we first started the a la cARTe event, it had an international focus, but this is more geared toward children," Lewellyn said. "We've never done anything this intricate before."
The Kentuck for Kids events will be free to the public and held on the third Saturday of every month at the Kentuck Art Center in downtown Northport. The event is made possible through a grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa.
In February, the country of focus will be Ghana. Other countries to be focused on in later months include Australia, Israel, Germany and India.
For more information, go to www.Kentuck.org.
Reach Lydia Seabol Avant at 205-722-0222 or email@example.com.


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On raising a son on the autism spectrum, progressive politics, pop culture, and coffee addiction.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Quiet reflection
It's been a trying day. Aside from having no voice, I started the day feeling pretty healthy so I tried to do all of the things I normally do. By 2:00 I was so exhausted I was almost bleary-eyed. I happened to be reading an article about echolalia at the time and was really able to relate it to Bud's language development when it hit me: I've been struggling to talk for one day - really, for only 8 hours - and I am completely tapped out. Bud struggles to talk every single day of his life. That's when I started to see the parallels.
Obviously, speech is not a physical challenge for Bud, but the mental energy he needs to spend to try to string words together to make people understand him is at least as taxing for him as my laryngitis was for me. And it manifests in so many of the same ways.
Throughout the day, though I knew what I wanted to say to people I was continuously weighing the pros and cons of making the effort. Is what I have to say really that important? What if they can't hear me? It's easier to just say nothing. If I don't look at anyone, maybe no one will start talking to me and then I won't have to say anything.
Every time the phone rang, my anxiety escalated. Telephone communication is completely speech-based; I did not believe I could meet the challenge.
Often, when I did speak, people misunderstood what I was trying to say. It was frustrating. If I could have just carried around a tape recorder with a few choice phrases that I could play to people to approximate what I was trying to say, I would have.
As the day wore on, the effort began to take it's toll. I was emotionally spent and physically exhausted. When I came home and tried to tell my husband about my day, straining with the effort of slowly getting each word out until I had finally whispered the whole sentence, and his response was "What?" I wanted to scream and bop him on the nose.
I didn't want to talk to anyone. I wanted to be alone with my books, and my computer, and the things that bring me comfort.
Huh. Whaddaya know.
I'd better find my voice again soon, so I can get back to the work of helping Bud find his.
5 comments:
- kristina said...
I have had a similar throat tickle now turned into a hacking cough for the past week! One never knows how much one needs something--the voice--till it's not there.
Rest up!
- January 18, 2006 10:19 PM
- Eileen said...
I hate losing my voice. It is so frustrating. It does give us a little perspective on how frustrating it must be for our kids who struggle with language everyday.
Hope your voice comes back by morning!
- January 18, 2006 10:42 PM
- MothersVox said...
Such a great post! So great when we get a sense of what it must be like to be in the situation that our kids are in . . . struggling to find their voices, struggling to speak.
Thanks for your insights into how easy it can be to just give up and stop communicating when confronted by an obstacle . . . even when we're grown-ups.
I hope you're feeling fine soon!
- January 19, 2006 11:29 PM
- Estee Klar-Wolfond said...
Interesting metaphor...frustrating but adaptable?
- January 20, 2006 10:31 AM
- Mom to Mr. Handsome said...
I love the little insights that happen out of the blue. They give me a whole new perspective. I feel refreshed in my thinking and approach with helping Gabe. They are a blessing.
- January 20, 2006 7:17 PM


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The BBA's Public Service blog, Beyond the Billable is your one stop shop for everything Public Service at the BBA. Check it out here.
"Known for her smarts, leadership skills, high energy level, and unassuming and modest demeanor, Carol Fulp has shaped Boston's philanthropic landscape in ways that strengthen our community," said BBF President Jack Clymer, Senior Counsel at Nixon Peabody. "She has raised the bar for strategic philanthropy in a career spanning decades, and continues to give back, setting new benchmarks in all that she does."
In March of this year, Fulp became President and CEO of The Partnership, Inc., New England's premier organization dedicated to leadership development for professionals of color. Saying that "opportunities create themselves" and that "helping other people develop" can itself be a source of power and influence, she saw her post at this non-profit as an opportunity to give back in new ways -- following years in the corporate world. Under Fulp's leadership, the Partnership is designed to help executives of color succeed in the corporate world, and also as community leaders.
Prior to her appointment to the Partnership, Fulp was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Brand Initiatives at John Hancock Financial. There she led the company's $12 million philanthropic giving program and created the largest corporate summer jobs program of its kind in the country. She also served as Director of Community Programming and Human Resources for WCVB-TV and as the Corporate Employee Relations Manager for the Gillette Company.
President Obama appointed Fulp as a Representative of the United States of America to the Sixty-fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Governor Patrick appointed her as a trustee to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Governor de Jongh appointed her as a trustee of the University of the Virgin Islands, and Mayor Menino appointed her as a trustee for the Boston Public Library.
The Adams Benefit is a major fund-raising event for the BBF, and last year raised $600,000. In 2012, the BBF made grants totaling $1 million to programs providing civil legal aid to some of Boston's neediest. Through its special funds, the BBF also supports programs to prevent homelessness and to widen the pipeline of diverse youth into the legal profession, including summer jobs at law related public agencies and the M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program.
For more information and to register for the 2013 John & Abigail Adams Benefit, please click here.


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The life in a startup world is intense.
Every event takes on qualities of epic proportions. Good meetings become the makings of great deals. Great meetings are like pixie dust creating a confection of billion dollars exist fantasies.
Conversely, every stumble hurts far more than the reality of the injury. Confidence gets shaken and once that is done – game over.
So in the pressure cooker of the startup world, losing perspective is a near universal experience. In the race to launch your venture before funds or faith run out, the focus is on the next milestone or the next deal you MUST close to keep the doors open.
While the grind can overcome our sensibilities, almost nothing will distract the startup CEO from their near myopic focus.
Almost nothing that is until Mother Nature forces herself onto your consciousness.
Sandy disrupted our inner sense of safety as it tore its way through the Tri-State area. The Northeast is not accustomed to a full natural disaster that was Sandy. We are used to being a terrorist target but now we also have to accept that we are as susceptible as any other area to natural disasters too. It is almost too hard to fathom.
But in the destruction and the internal turmoil comes a renewed sense of perspective. In the seismic shift of how bad things can get – a balanced appreciation for all we have asserts itself powerfully as though to ensure it can withstand the inevitable reverting back to the "not normal normal" that characterizes startups.
In the chaotic tumult caused by tress falling houses and tsunami level waters, some very true principles emerge as powerful counter forces to the forces of Nature.
1) Live widely by giving of yourself largely.
2) Remind yourself to be grateful for the chance to be grateful. Where there is life and health – everything is possible.
3) Be gracious to those in need.
4) Pay special attention to needs of the larger community. How we support our community is a true mark of our character.
5) Act as though your every action is being recorded and watched.
This tragedy will change many of us forever. My hope is that the change of gratitude is a permanent one.
Judy Shapiro
Filed under: Community, Gratitude, Natural Diasaters, startup | Tagged: judy shapiro | Leave a comment »


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PARIS – The World Monetary and Economic Conference took place in London 76 years ago, in June 1933, with 66 countries meeting to put an end to the unfolding monetary disorder and trade wars while trying to draw the lessons of the Great Depression. When it was over, the negotiators admitted failure.
On April 2, 2009, world leaders will head to London again to find a solution to a financial and economic crisis as dire as that of 1929. We cannot let history repeat itself. If collective inaction prevails, we risk a return to the political and economic woes of the 1930's, which paved the way to a devastating world conflict.
Of course, we must respond to both the weakening economy and financial instability in a virtual state of emergency. This is why stimulus packages and financial rescue plans were for the first time adopted concomitantly in Europe, the United States, and some large Asian countries.
At the G-20 finance ministers meeting on March 14, all of our countries did their best and made massive efforts to repair their economic machinery as fast as possible.
The policies chosen are different, but all states favor solutions that seem most appropriate to them. All are daring and realistic regarding the tasks that await us.
Like its partners, France has launched significant stimulus measures, with a plan announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy last December, as well as public investments and early repayment of government debt.
If we also take into account the strengthening of social services and legal policies launched last month, France's stimulus in 2009 totals more than 2% of its GDP, with committed future outflows equaling the US.
Moreover, the impact of automatic stabilizers – which enable the government to mobilize more or less fiscal resources, depending on economic conditions – is more powerful in Western Europe than in most of the Anglo-Saxon countries.
Yet America's macroeconomic situation seems worse than Europe's in terms of consumption, banking, or employment and housing markets. But, as both Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama have insisted, we must go further.
Economic stimulus will work efficiently only if confidence is restored. And confidence can be restored only if the financial system is fully overhauled. We obviously need to strike at the root of the problem, which requires us to redefine the basic principles of the system.
It would be counterproductive to focus on treating the symptoms, only to realize later that the unprecedented budgets for structural policies are neither economically efficient nor politically acceptable.
At the Washington Summit last November, the EU suggested a basic principle: all markets, all territories, and all actors putting the global financial system at risk should be monitored. This principle, to which all agreed, must be enforced even if it upsets old habits and comfortable incomes.
I am especially convinced that we must closely monitor actors in financial markets such as hedge funds. Although hedge funds sometimes account for 50% of market transactions, they are not registered or subject to rules on transparency. This is not sustainable.
Fighting for transparency also implies confronting states that refuse to collaborate on financial issues at a global level or to combat money laundering or prevent financial risks.
We cannot build a safer system if we do not raise global requirements and if we tolerate non-compliance with the rules. Together with Germany, France intends to draw up a list of uncooperative countries and to design a tool kit of appropriate sanctions.
New auditing standards must reflect an overhauled financial architecture that focuses on transparency. The aim of such standards must be to attenuate the impact of financial failure, not amplify it, as has occurred in the crisis.
Indeed, the rating agencies, whose malfunctions contributed to the crisis, must be regulated. We demand an easy policy: stricter rules (especially when fighting conflicts of interest), a specific rating scale for complex products, and regular publication of their returns.
Europe followed this path when preparing, under the recent French presidency, a European regulation that will soon be adopted. We expect all of our partners to do the same. Responsibility must be put back at the heart of a system that has sunk into excess.
The methods used to pay market operators reflected our collective mistakes. We yielded to short-term incentives, and everything seemed to conspire to push us to accepting excessive risks. We must revise compensation schemes and delay bonus payments until the long-term profitability of a firm's investments is known.
Finally, we must express our solidarity for emerging and poor countries. Weakened by this crisis, they are the first to suffer from the cuts in financial flows.
The international financial institutions must support them massively, and also have the resources needed to foresee global unbalances and prevent crises, rather than respond only when events become urgent.
France and its European partners, in particular Germany, with which we worked in tight collaboration, will suggest all these points to the G-20.
Indeed, just as a national fiscal stimulus is less efficient than a coordinated effort, strengthening financial regulations without combating the laxity that prevails elsewhere makes no sense in a globalized world.
We should not delude ourselves; we cannot solve all the problems of this crisis in the coming days. We must, however, reach several objectives and give clear signs of a true collective ambition.
History has shown how risky it is to miss some opportunities. On April 2, France and Europe will be present.
Christine Lagarde is France's Minister of Finance.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2009.


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- Money
- Planning & budgeting
This was published 2 years ago
Why some kids get more than their siblings from their parents
Parental generosity is both great and contentious. For a young person trying to navigate life and balancing work and family and all its challenges, it is great to have parents you can lean on in difficult times.
For a parent, it is also great to be able to help, and stay connected with the children that way. Parental generosity has, however, also caused persistent tension in many families – as parents end up giving more (financial) help to some children than others.
And even if this was not a problem among non-recipient children, parental generosity can cultivate a culture of dependency or entitlement, effectively causing more harm than good in the long term.
In the field of family economics, there is a well-known puzzle about parent-to-children transfers. Apparently, parents give very unequally while they are alive, but provide to have their estates divided equally after death. This begs the question, why?
To explain this, the economist in me is drawn to two key concepts which underlie parents' motive to give: altruism and exchange.
Altruism is the idea that we give out of our good caring hearts, without expecting any return. The exchange motive, on the other hand, is exactly what it says – we give or take in return for another.
Now, parents are typically altruistic and genuinely care about the wellbeing of their children. In adulthood, children rarely end up being of equal state – some end up better off than others.
Given that altruistic parents give on the basis of need, it follows that parents end up giving more to their poorer offsprings.
True to form, survey data from various studies is consistent in showing that highest probabilities of parental transfers occur during children's marriage break-down/divorce, loss of job, and loss of a home – all of which signal a sharp decline in incomes.
Parental perception of their children's success – or income status – thus plays a critical role in the unequal parental transfers while still living.
The implicit assumption here is that parents have a good deal of information about their children and their families, as may be relayed through constant contact or communication. It is also assumed here that the level of parental engagement across the children is comparable.
If this is not the case, parents may appear more helpful to some children and less to others.
Alternatively, unequal financial transfers may result if parents are motivated to give in exchange for a good or benefit, enjoyed now or later. An example of this would be a parent compensating an adult child for providing home health care.
Under this exchange model, such is not too different from any elderly person purchasing a service good from an external care provider. As such, the quantity purchased will decline as price increases. But how, you ask, could the price of home care provided by your own child increase?
By price, I mean the implicit price of home care as may be determined by the opportunity cost that is borne by the caretaker child.
This is equal to the foregone earnings of this child when she decided to stay at home to care for the parent herself. As it happens, high-income children will face higher opportunity costs of staying home to provide care.
The price or opportunity cost of parental home care therefore change across children of different incomes and situations.
The exchange model predicts that parents are more likely to "purchase" such home care services from a lower-income child than their richer offsprings.
If we generalise the service "home care" to all other services that parents may need or expect from their children, then the exchange model implies that parents will purchase more of such services from their lower-income children than otherwise. This is how parental transfers end up unequal.
Parental generosity – is that more altruism than exchange? I personally think that parents are basically altruistic, and for the most part, parents make financial gifts to their children without expecting any return. However, I also think parents' expectation of getting a benefit or service in return increases as they age. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but just a natural course of life. With longer lives lived and greater health risks associated with age, conditioning parental gifts with some benefits in exchange is perfectly reasonable. The reality is that we are all living longer, and that financing longevity is a real issue for everyone in the family, parents and children alike.
Lastly, why then is there equality post mortem? On this, studies show that in deciding how to divvy up their estate after they have gone, altruistic parents view their children's wellbeing based on what economists call permanent income – the expected long-term average income, rather than on current earnings as they do while still alive. Permanent incomes of children, or their long-term wellbeing, are thus seen by parents as comparable in the long run. I think that is great and very encouraging, especially from the children's point of view. Another interesting explanation relates post-mortem equality to the idea of relative deprivation. Apparently, parents tend to give more equal inheritance when there are just two to three children involved, as the sense of relative deprivation is more easily felt then. This doesn't seem to matter so much in families with a greater number of children.
Dr Rebecca Valenzuela is the author of Economic Development in Asia and is a senior lecturer in economics at Monash University. E: firstname.lastname@example.com


text: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 HHS Issues Guidance Supporting Equal Visitation and Representation Rights Rules Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidance to support enforcement of rules that protect hospital patients' right to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including a visitor who is a same-sex domestic partner. These rules, finalized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last year, apply to all hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The guidance also supports enforcement of the right of patients to designate the person of their choice, including a same-sex partner, to make medical decisions on their behalf should they become incapacitated. The rules updated the Conditions of Participation (CoPs), which are the health and safety standards all Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals and critical access hospitals must meet. The CoPs apply to all patients of those hospitals even if they are not Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries. Among other things, the CoPs require hospitals to explain to all patients their right to choose who may visit them during their inpatient stay, regardless of whether the visitor is a family member, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), or another type of visitor, in addition to their right to withdraw such consent to visitation at any time. Existing CoPs also protect the rights of hospital patients to have representatives who can act on their behalf. HHS has updated the guidance for these rules to emphasize that hospitals should give deference to patients' wishes concerning their representatives, whether expressed in writing, orally, or through other evidence, unless prohibited by state law. The guidance issued today is intended to make it easier for family members, including a same-sex domestic partner, to make informed care decisions for loved ones who have become incapacitated. A letter issued today by CMS to State Survey Agencies (SSAs), which conduct onsite inspections of hospitals on behalf of CMS, highlights the equal visitation and representation rights requirements and directs SSAs to be aware of the guidance when evaluating hospitals' compliance with CoPs. Also today, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced a $248,000 grant to the Fenway Institute to create a National Training and Technical Assistance Center to help community health centers improve the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations. Comments It's about time! The old standards are so archaic and outdated. Get with the times people! Posted by Allison Harper on 9/10/2011 8:13 AM


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Surgical Mesh Lawyers Offer Free Case Review After FDA Issues Warning Regarding Serious Complications from Transvaginal Placement of of Surgical Mesh in Repair of Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Surgical mesh is a medical device that is used to treat Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP). A transvaginal mesh implant supports weakened pelvic muscles and sagging pelvic organs. While not going as far as to issue a transvaginal mesh recall, the FDA recently warned surgeons and patients against the use of mesh to treat POP. A 2011 FDA Warning regarding the transvaginal placement of surgical mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence (which followed an initial vaginal mesh warning issued in 2008) outlined severe transvaginal mesh problems caused by the erosion of the mesh through the vagina. This circumstance can cause debilitating pain, bleeding, organ damage, urinary problems and recurrent prolapse. The FDA's warning stated that this condition is not uncommon and that there is no clear evidence that mesh offers any surgical advantage over other methods.
The implantation of surgical mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse is considered a permanent procedure in that, once implanted, the mesh can never be fully removed. Women who have encountered mesh problems may continue to suffer the effects for the rest of their lives. Many women have been required to undergo multiple – up to ten – repair surgeries in order to extract pieces of mesh. For a medical device that offers no clear advantage over regular stitches, surgical mesh is proving to be a seriously flawed medical product, especially with transvaginal placement. Nine separate companies manufacture transvaginal mesh, all of which have proved to have side effects for far too many users. These companies, including Johnson & Johnson (having faced one medical device recall after another in recent years), advertise the use of mesh to treat POP as the latest and best technological advance in urogynecology. The 2011 FDA Safety Warning reveals that transvaginal mesh placement is more harmful than it is beneficial.
Since 2008, the numbers of women reporting side effects from mesh have risen substantially. In the last three years (2008-2010), the number of pelvic mesh complaints has tripled over the preceding three years, half of which were the result of failed POP repair.
This website offers comprehensive information about vaginal mesh and why it's used to treat pelvic organ prolapse; when it was known that transvaginal implantation of mesh was harmful; where to find details about the FDA transvaginal mesh warning and the rights you may have if you or a family member has suffered from surgical mesh side effects.


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Broad Channel American Park
Broad Channel Community Park
Located on Cross Bay Boulevard between East 16th and East 18th roads, Broad Channel Community Park lies within the neighborhood of Broad Channel, the only island community in Jamaica Bay. The neighborhood stands on Big Egg Marsh, an island approximately 20 blocks long and 4 blocks wide. Prior to European settlement, the Jameco and Canarsie Native Americans frequented this area. During the 1600s, Dutch settlers established a community on the island and began harvesting oysters, clams, shrimp, and fish. Broad Channel remained a parcel within the Town of Jamaica until the consolidation of New York City in 1898.
In 1915, the City leased the island to the Broad Channel Corporation, which in turn leased properties to private individuals for the development of summer bungalows and houses. The island prospered as an exclusive retreat for city residents. After the construction of the Cross Bay Boulevard in 1923, Broad Channel underwent a surge in popularity. Following the construction of the Cross Bay Veteran's Memorial Bridge in 1939, the island became easily accessible by car. That same year, the Broad Channel Corporation declared bankruptcy. The City acquired the island's property titles, but for many years denied residents the right to purchase the land under their houses. The City made many attempts to alter the island's purpose, but the local community resisted them all. Proposed changes included the construction of a commercial port and the extension of John F. Kennedy International Airport. In 1982, New York City granted Broad Channel residents the right to purchase their property. Broad Channel now has two churches, a volunteer fire department, two elementary schools, a public library, and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
Broad Channel Community Park resides in the splendor of Jamaica Bay, an 18,000-acre wetland estuary bordered by the Rockaway Peninsula to the South, Brooklyn to the West, and Queens to the East. The bay has a total area nearly equal to that of Manhattan, and contains numerous islands separated by a labyrinth of waterways. The region also supports meadowlands and two freshwater ponds. The wetlands of Jamaica Bay are protected from the harsh environment of the Atlantic Ocean by the Rockaway Peninsula, and provide a unique environment for both wildlife and urban recreation. The region is host to more than 325 species of birds, 50 species of butterflies, and 100 species of fin-bearing fish. A favorite stop for migratory waterfowl, the area is an integral part of the larger, regional ecosystem. Jamaica Bay is one of New York City's most extraordinary natural resources, and remains undeveloped by virtue of federal, state, and City legislative and legal protection.
Parks acquired this property on July 10, 1989, via assignment by the Division of Real Property. Construction commenced in the fall of 1989 with the support of local residents, elected officials, and Community Board 14. The park opened in December 1992 and contains a newly constructed branch of the Queens Public Library. In addition to the Library, the park boasts two tennis courts, three full basketball courts, six handball courts, a children's area with play equipment, benches, three game tables, and a flag pole dedicated to the veterans of Broad Channel.


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Did you hear the one about 350 lawyers who walk into the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D. C.?
Kidding. No joke here. Just a serious opportunity for Minnesotans to brag, if Minnesotans were the kind of folks who bragged.
The 2013 Pro Bono Institute Conference in Washington, beginning Thursday, brings together lawyers from around the country. The biggest contingent, year-in and year-out?
Turns out Minnesota lawyers are above average — way — in their passion for and devotion to making certain that even the most indigent among us receive free professional legal advice and services.
Pro bono — Latin shorthand for "public good" — refers to lawyers who offer their services for free or a reduced rate. The practice is common in most large law firms nationwide and in some smaller firms, too. But Minnesota was far ahead of the curve, thanks largely to Bricker Lavik, who died March 1 of multiple health issues. He was 62.
Lavik, who grew up in St. Paul, began his career at Legal Aid and took his passion for protecting the poor to Dorsey & Whitney, where he directed the pro bono division. His work led other firms to develop equally robust pro bono outreach, beginning in the 1980s.
Now, firms including Faegre Baker Daniels; Fredrikson & Byron; Lindquist and Vennum; Briggs and Morgan; Leonard, Street & Deinard; and Maslon devote a minimum of 3 percent of billable hours annually to pro bono work.
"We have a high number of firms in the Twin Cities who have committed to the pro bono challenge of 3 percent," said Jodie Boderman, Faegre's pro bono manager since 1995. "Our market is exceptional in that way."
Others share her pride. Maslon's website, for example, wants potential clients to know that, among their lawyers, are those who "represent people who cannot afford an attorney through Volunteer Lawyers Network, and represent children through the Children's Law Center."
"People think lawyers are only in it for the money," said Steve Marchese, pro bono development director of the Minnesota State Bar Association. "But most find ways to connect like this."
The 3 percent standard might not sound like much until Marchese does a little math. Minnesota lawyers devote about 200,000 hours a year to pro bono work, Marchese said. That translates into around $40 million in in-kind services annually.
"It's consistent with our larger civic value," he said, noting that he attended the Pro Bono Institute's conference last year, "where people look to Minnesota to see how we're doing. There's a strong legacy."
Esther Lardent, president of the Pro Bono Institute, agrees. She remembers coming to Minnesota about 15 years ago and being struck, first, by the fact that Dorsey had Lavik in a pro bono special counsel role, which was unusual at the time.
"Very early on, firms in Minnesota were getting together with legal services programs, trying to figure out what could be done in the community. It was day-to-day work dealing with family evictions and health issues, but also with controversial projects that have national and global impact," Lardent said.
Minnesota firms, she noted, have jumped into death penalty work in Louisiana and the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They've done exhaustive studies of the U.S. immigration system and collaborated on the I-35 bridge collapse. "It's incredibly time-consuming and emotional work," she said.
Boderman of Faegre participates in a monthly gathering of representatives of several major law firms to discuss best practices and push into still-unchartered pro bono waters. New efforts are being directed, for example, at representing returning veterans and low-income tenants in Hennepin County Housing Court. Programs also are in the works to use technology, such as video conferencing, to offer pro bono services to clients in Greater Minnesota.
Lardent wishes that Minnesota lawyers, and all lawyers, (not a group typically winning popularity contests) would brag more about their pro bono work.
"It's a good thing to publicize that work, without being self-congratulatory," Lardent said. "We still have so many people who need help and don't get it. If you don't have firms talking about it, then other firms assume it isn't being done. We try to push people to say more about it."
firstname.lastname@example.com 612-673-7350


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The Phillies shirt winner is…
It's time to give away another baseball shirt!
In previous giveaways…
Last week, Stephen D won this Dustin Pedroia shirt.
In week two, I gave away this Brandon Phillips shirt which was won by Matt Jackson.
The first winner of this Matt Wieters shirt was Joey Orr.
Here's your winner:
I would've like to give away more shirts, but the best I did was 558 views in a day. My ultimate goal is to average 1000 a day, I guess I'll just have to keep blogging daily to attract more readers.
There's only 39 days until opening day, and 6 days until the first broadcasted game on MLB TV (Yankees vs Phillies).
Check back tomorrow for a new giveaway!


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Freeworld Wreckage Forest Camo Cargo Shorts
Buy1 Get1 Free
Cargo Shorts
Cargo shorts are perfect for active dudes who like their gear close at hand for easy access. Most cargo shorts are built out to have side hand pockets as well as storage pockets both at the leg sides and back.
Check out the large selection of mens cargo shorts at Zumiez. Cargo shorts from the hottest brands... Free World cargo shorts, LRG cargo shorts, and more. And different styles and colors, like black cargo shorts and camo cargo shorts. Zumiez is the place to shop for cargo shorts online.


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Which European country for an American beginner teacher?
Posted: 05 Mar 2013, 15:26
I am currently taking a 120 hour TEFL course and have a bachelor's degree in English. I want to teach in Europe, but since I'm American, it's difficult to get a visa sponsor in most of the continent, especially in Western Europe. I'm wondering where in Europe (EU or non-EU) would it be easier for an American to find a TESOL/TEFL/ESL job and get a work visa? I've heard that one can find work in smaller cities in Spain (too many people want to work in Madrid and Barcelona), and Russia and Poland both seem to have a decently high demand. Does anyone know what my best bet would be? Is there much demand in the Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria), Romania, Ukraine, or Hungary? I'm considering volunteering teaching English through Workaway and learning the language of whatever country I'm going to. I'm thinking this might make me more employable.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


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Many public school teachers work in environments that hinder them from doing their best to meet the needs of individual students in their classrooms. A lot of teachers find this frustrating, and many talk of leaving the profession.
Hype from the media and from politicians could easily make the public think the problems with our schools stem from teachers who don't really care about doing a good job. The reality though is that almost all teachers join the profession because they care enormously about children and want to help them develop into adults who can thrive in our society.
A real problem with our schools is that most are still operating on an outdated factory model, and few school boards or administrators are willing to tackle the reform that is needed. So in schools today children are herded in and out of classes all day long in large groups. Teachers are saddled with back-to-back classes and have almost no time to connect with individual students. Scheduling literally allows almost no time for collaboration with other teachers or for reflection on how best to meet student needs. Teachers try to pay attention to the individual students in their care but the reality is that they have almost no time with which to do so.
Society has changed, and this factory model of education designed to prepare workers for life on an assembly line is no longer relevant. We need a new model of education. We need graduates who have the discipline to think creatively and work both alone and with others to invent solutions to the problems that plague us. We need citizens who understand the complex challenges we face and have toolboxes of strategies for meeting them. Educating students for the acquisition of these 21st century skills requires attending to the individual. Most teachers want to do this. The problem is that most teachers are so overworked they can't stop to really re-orient their programs.
If you take the amount of time per week the average teacher in my area is given for preparation work – work designing curriculum, photocopying papers, grading assignments, filling out forms, looking at data, problem-solving the social, academic, and emotional needs of students – and divide that number by the caseload of the teacher you will find that at best each child gets approximately two minutes per week of thought on the part of the teacher. This is not enough time to attend to the individual needs and gifts of a unique, developing individual. Young, ambitious college students who are considering what field to enter realize that at this stage in our history teaching is in many ways no longer an attractive profession. The environment in which most teachers work makes it incredibly hard for them to do their finest work.
The currently touted reforms in education – standards-based grading, better teacher training programs – hold out hope for better results from schools. However without significantly more time during the school day for teachers to do the work that supports their teaching these reforms will prove a disappointment.
Please speak to the administrators and school board members who make the decisions about how teacher time is spent in your district. Tell them you want the teachers you support with your tax dollars to have enough time to attend to the needs of the individual students in their care.


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Yolo CountyHome Sitemap Contact
Emergency Alerts/Health Alerts
Yolo County has implemented a state-of-the-art emergency notification system to alert residents about emergencies and other important community news. The emergency notification system enables officials to provide essential information quickly when there is a threat to the health and safety of residents.
The emergency notification system database currently includes all listed and unlisted landline telephone numbers that are serviced by AT&T and Verizon. If you would like to be contacted on your home phone, cellular phone, work phone, TTY device, email, or via instant messaging – you must register that information using the opt in portal. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
In addition to the emergency notification system, Health & Human Services posts important health alerts regarding:
- Consumer Product Recalls
- Consumer Product Alerts
- Emergency Health Alerts
- Food Recalls
- Health Advisories


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Thursday, March 1, 2012
Free Samples -- a model for copyright
Think about it. Costco, Walmart and other huge multinational retailers are really models of current marketing practices and highly pertinent to copyright. Why do you think the vendors at genealogy conferences (and all other conferences) give away stuff? Do you think that FamilySearch, by giving you a pen with its logo, really is trying to sell you pens? Do you really think Costco is trying to sell energy drink? No, Costco is selling Costco. The vendors at conferences are selling the conference experience and hoping that they will also sell enough of their own product to break even at having come to the conference.
Think of two-for-one sales at supermarkets. Do you think they give stuff away to benefit mankind in general? No. They know that you will buy a bunch of stuff at their regular price if you come into the store to buy the sale item.
Why do writers and book publishers and other media sales people seem so entirely ignorant of this process which is so fundamental to retail sales of all kinds? Enter publish on demand and eBooks. Now, anyone who is a writer or creator of media, can also be the publisher. If you write books, you can publish them on Kindle Books or Lulu for basically no cost to you. If you are movie maker, you can post your movies on YouTube for basically no cost to you. But what about copyright? You say, think of all the money I am losing because people are copying my writing or movie and I am not getting paid one red cent! Oh, why don't you sit down and cry for a while.
Let's look at a very highly competitive market, the software industry. Nearly any program of consequence is either free or has a free demo, either a disabled version of the program or a limited time full version. How else are you going to get people to buy your product? Programmers realized that if they wanted to make a name for themselves, they had to either land a job with a huge company or put their programs out into the freeware world and hope they got some attention. They soon learned that virtually the only way people will buy their product is if they are upgrading from a free version.
This whole scenario is the antithesis of copyright. Copyright is copy this video and you will have Interpol and the FBI sending you to jail for years and fining you $250,000 for one lousy DVD. At the other end of the spectrum you have someone who writes a barely readable history of their family, with mostly stuff they copied from other publications and offline and they expect to sell copies to relatives at a hugely inflated price and in additional are paranoid about someone violating their copyright! How many boxes of unsold and undistributed genealogy books do you think are sitting in basements and garages around the country? I have a couple myself sitting the garage gathering dust.
We are starting to get stories of self-publishers making the big time with book sales into the hundreds of thousands and ranking near the top of bestseller lists. Isn't it about time that the writers of the world get the message. Free sells. If you want people to come back to your store, or conference, or read your books or whatever. Think Free. Get over this copyright thing. Stop think about all the money you are losing because people copy your stuff and realize, like the programmers, they will have to come back to the source if they want more.
Think about it. Why do you think I blog. There must be a reasons besides compulsive writing. Have you read my book?
1 comment:
The problem with the comparison is that at the supermarket, if one week there's a deal for buy one apple, get one free -- you might like the apples so much you come back the next week and buy them at full price.ReplyDelete
However, if you download a movie, song, or book for free...are you going to come back the next week and pay full price for the same book, song, movie you downloaded for free the week before? You've already got it.
Time-limited software demos also don't translate well, as you only need a few hours to watch a movie. It might work with e-books if the time restriction is one day, though that's long enough for some people. If it's software you want or need you will be using it for years.
The media industries do understand the marketing idea, and they have an equivalent to the disabled version of software. Movie trailers, sample chapters, and the song fragments you find on Amazon and the like give you a little free taste beforehand.
Most authors and musicians today have a blog, or other web presence, and readers will often find free samples there as well. But usually it will be short fiction that has already been published in a magazine for payment (or the blog posts themselves) Sometimes musicians don't mind giving away free music if they make most of their money through touring, but not all of them do.


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Consensus Report
Analysis of Cancer Risks in Populations near Nuclear Facilities: Phase 1 (2012)Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board
Each report is produced by a committee of experts selected by the Academy to address a particular statement of task and is subject to a rigorous, independent peer review; while the reports represent views of the committee, they also are endorsed by the Academy. Learn more on our expert consensus reports.
Report in Brief >>
The question of whether there are cancer risks associated with living near a nuclear facility is of great interest to the public, especially those living closest to the facilities. Airborne and waterborne emissions of radioactive materials from the facilities' normal operations (called effluents) can expose nearby populations to ionizing radiation, which could elevate the risk of cancer in the exposed populations. The first phase of a two-phase project, this report identifies scientific approaches for carrying out an assessment of cancer risks for populations near the 104 nuclear reactors and 13 fuel cycle facilities that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses across the United States, as well as for people who have lived close to former sites.
Studies of health effects in populations (epidemiologic studies) could provide clues for a potential association between living near nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities and risk of cancer. However, such studies are challenging because of incomplete data on occurrences of cancer and cancer deaths in geographic areas of interest (i.e., smaller than the county level), incomplete information on radioactive releases from nuclear facilities during early years of operation, and other factors. Moreover, because radioactive releases are generally low, any risks would be expected to be small and difficult to detect with statistical certainty. This report identifies two health study designs deemed suitable for assessing cancer risks in populations near nuclear facilities, having both scientific merit and the ability to address some public concerns. A pilot study would be needed to determine whether either or both of the two recommended study designs are feasible to implement on a large scale and to assess the required time and resources. Communicating with and involving the public and other stakeholders is an essential element in the study process.
The report will be open for public comment for 60 days starting April 1, 2012. Comments submitted about the report's proposed methodologies will be used to inform the design of the next phase of study and will be placed in the project's public access file, which can be made available to the public upon request. Comments can be submitted via email to firstname.lastname@example.com or faxed to 202-334-3077.
Have a question about this report? From March 29-April 11, 2012, you can submit questions to the chair of the committee that authored the report at this website.


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Garcia and Rienzo Give Sox a Glimpse of the Future
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Today's News
Tonight's Game
White Sox vs. Indians at Progressive Field, Cleveland (6:05 p.m., CT, CSN). Starters: LHP Jose Quintana (5-3, 3.55) for the Sox, RHP Corey Kluber (7-5, 3.74) for the Tribe. Quintana is holding righthanded batters to a .232 average in 2013, the third-lowest mark among American League lefties.
Sox Starting Lineup: De Aza, CF; Ramirez, SS; Rios, RF; Dunn, 1B; Konerko, DH; Gillaspie, 3B; Viciedo, LF; Beckham, 2B; Phegley, C.
White Sox Welcome Garcia, Three Other Prospects With Open Arms
By now you know that after last's night's game, we completed a three-team deal with the Tigers and Red Sox. We traded Jake Peavy and acquired 22-year-old top outfield prospect Avisail Garcia from Detroit as well as minor league infielder Cleulius Rondon and pitching prospects Francelis Montas and Jeffery Wendelken from Boston.
GM Rick Hahn shared his excitement about obtaining Garcia, whose first name is pronounced "ah-VEE-saah-EEL":
"We truly feel this is a five-tool player, someone who is not only going to hit, hit for average, but hit for power, can run well and play above average defense. He's still young and has a little bit of development ahead of him, but we feel we've acquired someone with a great deal of upside who will have a big impact on the South Side for many years to come."
Garcia, who will be assigned to Class AAA Charlotte to get regular at bats, is hitting .380 with seven doubles, three triples, six homers, 27 RBI and 32 runs scored over 39 games with both Class AAA Toledo and Class A Lakeland (where he appeared in six games on a rehab assignment recovering from a bruised heel). Between the two stops, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound righthanded hitter, had a .424 on-base and .561 slugging percentage. He was Detroit's Minor League Player of the Year in 2012 and entered the season as the No. 2 prospect in the Tigers organization. In his brief experience in the major leagues (53 games in 2012-13) he is hitting .269 with three homers and 13 RBI. He actually made his big-league debut last August vs. the Sox.
The switch-hitting Rondon, who is 19, is hitting .276 with Class A Lowell in the Boston system. From Venezuela, he has split time between shortstop and third base, playing primarily at short.
Montas, 20, is from the Dominican Republic. He has 96 strikeouts over 19 games with Class A Greenville this season and has K'd 171 in 49 games over four seasons.
Wendelken, 20, was a 13th round draft choice in 2012. Known as J.B., he is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA with 10 saves and 54 strikeouts over 27 appearances with Greenville this season. He is 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA, 12 saves and 82 strikeouts in 40 relief appearances in two seasons.
Rondon, Montas and Wendelken all will report to Class A Kannapolis.
Avisail is Happy, Too
@AvisailGarcia34: I'm also looking fwd to my new journey in the @whitesox organization and I am very grateful for this opportunity.. #Chicago here we come!
Jordan Danks Recalled
Outfielder Jordan Danks has been recalled from Class AAA Charlotte to replace Peavy on the 25-man roster.
Play of the Day
Andre Rienzo, who last night became the first native Brazilian to pitch in the major leagues, was impressive in his debut. In seven innings, he allowed just five hits while striking out six without giving up an earned run.
Quote of the Day
Robin commenting on Rienzo's solid debut:
"The kid was good. For all the excitement he had of having his first start, he was great. The one inning there was a little blip (the fifth when three unearned runs scored and he was spiked at first base)…but coming back that next inning with energy and composure was big. He's got a neat little personality, brings his own energy, gets everybody into it. It was fun seeing him pitch."
Tomorrow's Schedule
White Sox vs. Indians at Progressive Field (11:05 p.m., CT, CSN). Starters: LHP Chris Sale (6-10, 2.69) for the Sox, RHP Justin Masterson (12-7, 3.42) for Cleveland.
Did You Know…
…that on this date in 1972, Dick Allen became the seventh player to hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game in an 8-1 White Sox victory over the Twins on the road at Metropolitan Stadium?
Photo of the Day
Our new "five-tool player":


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For the millions of Americans who lost their homes in a foreclosure or short sale during the recession, things are starting to look up. In addition to receiving a piece of the $3.6 billion settlement that banks are distributing to borrowers who were wrongfully foreclosed on, some homeowners are now becoming "boomerang buyers" and re-entering the market after a foreclosure or short sale.
Neal Katz, a mortgage agent at All Western Mortgage in Las Vegas, says he fields calls from a number of people wondering how long they have to wait before qualifying for another mortgage. "The biggest hurdle is time," he says. "Time is the only thing that makes things better."
Wait times vary depending on individual circumstances such as the size of the down payment and whether the buyer's home was foreclosed or sold in a short sale. Those who've gone through foreclosure might wait three years for a Federal Housing Administration loan or seven years for a conventional loan, according to Katz. The wait time may be closer to two or three years after a short sale. In rare cases, a homeowner who sold in a short sale may be able to get a new loan right away if he or she hasn't fallen behind on mortgage payments.
[Read: Why You Can't Afford to Skip Renter's Insurance.]
Programs aimed at helping borrowers re-enter the market through second-chance mortgages are popping up throughout the country, especially in cities like Las Vegas that were hit hard by the housing bust. Buyers who've left the market for several years and meet income requirements may be eligible for first-time buyer programs as well.
Going from owning a home to renting isn't an easy transition for most people. "It's very hard on homeowners when they have to go out and ask someone to rent them a house," says Dianne Langston, a real estate broker in Solano County, Calif. "They're ready to get out of the rental situation and be a homeowner again."
Despite the ego blow, that transition time between mortgages offers a chance to save for another down payment and clean up any credit issues. Some people who've experienced foreclosure or a short sale also let other financial obligations slide out of frustration or resignation, Katz explains. Now's the time to tackle those issues. "If you have a small collection account from a credit card, settle it," Katz says. "Take care of all the other things you can to show the underwriter that you did the best you could. That way, the delinquencies are so long ago that it shouldn't have an impact on your credit score anymore."
[Read: Secrets of Successful House Flippers.]
Still, the fact that someone may qualify for a mortgage doesn't mean they'll immediately jump back into homeownership. Historically, only 30 percent of borrowers who defaulted on their mortgage in 2001 had taken out another mortgage within 10 years, according to researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The researchers also found that borrowers who terminated their mortgages not due to a default (for instance, paying off the house or switching to a larger or smaller house) returned to the mortgage market about two-and-a-half times faster.
Heather Harmon, a Redfin agent in Sacramento, Calif., sees some buyers waiting longer than they need to before buying again because of emotional reasons. "They've had to recover psychologically from the experience as much as they've had to recover financially," she says. "You definitely see the buyers who are just mad about what happened. They blame it on circumstances, and they're afraid of it happening again. In other cases, they're really embarrassed. They feel exposed, and they've got to drag their financials back out again."
Many people are depressed or discouraged after a foreclosure or short sale, according to Langston, because a house symbolizes their hard work and oftentimes the American Dream. "They don't understand that it's not the end of the line," she says. "I always encourage people by letting them know that they can re-enter the marketplace."
[In Pictures: 10 Ways Your Home Can Pay You Money]
Harmon recently worked with a couple in their 60s who bought a new home with a Department of Veterans Affairs loan two years after selling their previous house in a short sale. "They weren't proud of it, but they're picking themselves up again," she says, adding that younger homeowners often have a harder time bouncing back from a short sale because of the impact on their kids and the desire to keep up with the Joneses.
While buying a house seemed nearly impossible for the couple thanks to the competitive local market and the longer closing time for a VA loan, Harmon says building a relationship with the seller and the seller's agent helped the deal close. "We strategized our offer in a way to give the seller everything we possibly could give him because we were bound by the terms of the VA," she says.


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This is a luxurious sports cruiser with very low hours, an impressive top speed and a wide cruising range. She provides a stable and economical performance. She also has a huge cockpit and bathing platform, as well as an attractive interior. Delivered in December 2002, she is the only Camargue 50 with the C-12 engines. She has just been in a refit stage, including a full service of engines, new generator, new upholstery, and more. She is a must see!!!
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Electrical & Engineering
- 2.4 meter Whip Aerial for FM Radio to match VHF Aerial on hoop.:
- Fresh water Deck wash with outlets fwd & aft including deck wash hose kit:
- TV Aerial outlet Socket :
- Cockpit Griddle - De Dietrich fluted ceramic grill WM1049:
- Icemaker fitted in Cockpit wet bar:
- Upgrade Generator 10kw 60hz
- TV Shore Cable inlet connection socket fitted at stern
- Dinghy Inflator & 12V Socket
- Preperation for watermaker - leave 1/2" hosetail on the sea intake
- Additional fuel capacity - Additional 150mm on the aft end of each tank - with pick up sump on draw tank
The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.
Fuente de Piramides #1-207
Col. Tecamachalco


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PHILADELPHIA — Like most players, Luke Schenn says he hates to see another player suffer what could be a serious injury on a dangerous hit into the boards. When he saw it Tuesday night, it was more difficult than ever to watch, since the injured player was his younger brother, Brayden.
The younger Schenn collapsed to the ice after appearing to take a hard hit and go head-first into the boards on a freestyle check by Washington's Tom Wilson. The Caps forward was nailed for a major charging penalty, and the Flyers responded with two power play goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the Capitals.
But it didn't erase the memory of seeing Schenn struggling twice to get up after the hit before finally being helped to the locker room.
"It seems like every other night there is a guy getting rammed pretty hard, whether it is a head shot or whatever," Luke Schenn said. "It's tough to watch and you feel pretty helpless (with) a guy out there laying on the ice."
That feeling multiplies when the injured player is literally a brother.
"Yeah, that was obviously tough," he added. "I hope he is OK. Obviously, he is a little bit shaken up, but I hope he is OK."
The only announcement on Brayden Schenn is that he suffered an upper body injury and would be re-evaluated Wednesday. Flyers coach Craig Berube tried to paint a positive light on his young center's status.
"It's a tough, reckless play; a hit from behind," Berube said. "(But) he'll be all right.
"Obviously, it was a turning point in the game; so very important for us to capitalize on the five-minute major and the guys did a good job."
It wouldn't be a stretch to say the Flyers gained motivation from what Luke Schenn called an "unnecessary hit."
"Wilson came in absolutely full speed," Schenn said. "I mean, he really couldn't have come in any harder. He didn't break stride for a little bit, he came in really hard. And you see it too often."
Despite emphasis being placed on penalizing a player for that type of dangerous play, it's also a hockey play in a fast game. Sometimes it can look worse than it actually might be. But Schenn said he thinks players have to change their way of thinking when they run at a player the old-fashioned way.
"Everyone needs to do a better job cleaning those hits up," he said.
"Obviously, it was an ugly hit," Jake Voracek added. "He kind of turned into it, too. It's hard to read that before the play was coming down, but (Wilson) had full speed. The league's trying to take it out of the game, so you've got to make sure there's a little respect between the players. It shouldn't be in the game right now."


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Diploma in Web MasterDESH BHAGAT GROUP OF INSTITUTES
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Diploma in Web Master
Desh Bhagat Group has signed an Academic Association Agreement with Waiariki Institute of Technology, a New Zealand Government undertaking/Institute. This is a stepping stone, which strives to upgrade the knowledge and skills of the Indian students as per international standards. In this academic association agreement, methodology as per international criteria will be adopted, that will eventually open up new vistas and horizons for budding scholars of India. All these courses are accredited/ recognized by the New Zealand Govt. The initial part of the course will be conducted at Desh Bhagat Campus, in India & the second part will be at Waiariki Institute of Technology, in New Zealand. During their Course completion in New Zealand, the students can also earn as they are free to work for 20 hrs per week. This will bring a great deal of prosperity to Punjab& India at large. Students can also apply for Permanent Residence after completing their New Zealand accredited courses.
* Students Can Save 75% of Tuition Fee
* Transfer to New Zealand After Six Months study in India
* Guest Faculty From New Zealand
* Part Time Job in New Zealand During Study
* Opportunity to Get Permanent Residence after Getting Job in New Zealand