Clipmarks | rmowery's clips

Hunger, family homelessness on rise in U.S. cities

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:31:04 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: You would think with that since the recession was going on prior to spring of 2009, that the government would have stopped the "paying farmers not to farm" and allowed a large influx of food to be readily available for those in need. Likewise you would think all the $$ we keep sending abroad to keep countries from fighting one another would be reallocated to help citizens here. I feel for all the kids that are suffering through this and should not have to be. I realize that some people got in way over their heads, but many would have survieed if they had not lost jobs. All the $$ they paid in taxes and unemployment, etc and the help they get from government is almost none, yet we keep shipping money outside the US before helping our own citizens. I just have to say WTF?

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Hunger, family homelessness on rise in U.S. cities

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hunger is spreading while the number of homeless families is increasing as a result of the recession and other factors, according to a report on Tuesday.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors said cities reported a 26 percent jump in demand for hunger assistance over the past year, the largest average increase since 1991.

Middle-class families as well as the uninsured, elderly, working poor and homeless increasingly looked for help with hunger, which was mainly fueled by unemployment, high housing costs and low wages.

The 2009 report is based on a survey of 27 cities, including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia and San Francisco, that comprise the group's task force on hunger and homelessness.

Looking ahead to 2010, cities said they expect it will be difficult to meet increased demands for food due to the impact of state and local budget cuts, a decrease in grocery store donations and higher food costs.

Tags: economy, families, homelessness, hunger, middle class, recession

Plague or Plan? Ukraine's mystery disease 'burns out lungs'

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:16 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Wow!

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

Plague or Plan? Ukraine's mystery disease 'burns out lungs'

[Video]

Tags: black lungs, flu, health, plague, ukraine

Teachers Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:54:13 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Personally I think if they use their own home computers and their own time, then there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. Most teachers put in ALOT more time then they are paid for and many who truly love teaching spend their own dollars on learning aids. This just helps insure that the good teachers can still make a decent living and keep on doing what they love to do. Likewise, the ones that are motivated to do this, simply bring more good to the community as a whole - since the sales stats will show who has really good lesson plans - those teachers should be further rewarded and also be paid to show others how to write good plans. The districts trying to shut teachers down are just plain stupid - they should be embracing and setting guidelines, but not shutting them down.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions

Between Craigslist and eBay, the Internet is well established as a marketplace where one person’s trash is transformed into another’s treasure. Now, thousands of teachers are cashing in on a commodity they used to give away, selling lesson plans online for exercises as simple as M&M sorting and as sophisticated as Shakespeare.

While some of this extra money is going to buy books and classroom supplies in a time of tight budgets, the new teacher-entrepreneurs are also spending it on dinners out, mortgage payments, credit card bills, vacation travel and even home renovation, leading some school officials to raise questions over who owns material developed for public school classrooms.

“To the extent that school district resources are used, then I think it’s fair to ask whether the district should share in the proceeds,” said Robert N. Lowry, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

Tags: business, education, entrepreneurs, lesson plans, teaching

Anti-Wi-Fi paint keeps your wireless signal to yourself

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:12:29 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: tech.yahoo.com

Anti-Wi-Fi paint keeps your wireless signal to yourself

Don't like the idea of your neighbors rudely snooping on the wireless signal you slaved to pay for from the lazy comfort of their living room? It's not just about slowing down your connection; while they're downloading Mad Men via bittorrent, you could be on the hook for their actions.

Wireless security and encryption systems are fraught with problems and insecurity, and other methods to restrict your signal to a small area are cumbersome at best.

Enter a new solution: Anti-Wi-Fi paint.

Tags: counter measures, electronics, internet, wi-fi

Israel denies report of Russian 'espionage' crisis

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:46:23 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: It is interesting to see such an outcome when two countries with the top spy agencies go at each other. You have to wonder if they ever get bored of playing the game.

Clip Source: www.jpost.com

Israel denies report of Russian 'espionage' crisis

Senior Israeli officials on Thursday denied reports of a diplomatic spat between Israel and Russia over supposed allegations that an Israeli diplomat had spied on Moscow.

The diplomat, Shmuel Polishuk, was until this week head of the Nativ delegation to Russia. He was asked to leave, and returned to Israel this week, not because of any alleged espionage activities, the officials said, but because of unspecified personal behavior inappropriate for a diplomat.

The Nativ organization, now in its sixth decade, was once part of Israel's intelligence community, operating clandestinely to maintain Israeli contact with the Jewish community trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Since the end of the Cold War, Nativ has transformed into a more transparent, and much smaller, Diaspora outreach and aliya agency in the Prime Minister's Office which focuses on Russian-speaking Jewish communities worldwide.

Tags: espionage, israel, russia, spy, spying

WW2 Vets gather last time to recall a fateful day

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:07:42 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Just a few of the brave service members in history that we owe our Freedom too.

Clip Source: www.freep.com

Vets gather last time to recall a fateful day

3rd Cavalry opened gate to the ultimate inhumanity to man

An old, stained yellow banner stretched above the entrance to the Romulus Marriott. “Welcome 3rd Cavalry Veterans Group,” it read.

World War II veterans milled about — some using canes and walkers — wearing jackets emblazoned with their slogan: Patton’s Ghost Troop.

Bob Persinger, 86, of Rockford, Ill., left, helped liberate Zev Harel, 79, of University Heights, Ohio, from the Ebensee concentration camp. (ROMAIN BLANQUART/Detroit Free Press)

“We were the Ghost Troop because we went behind enemy lines,” said Samuel Klein, 85, of Farmington Hills.

This Band of Brothers has met every year since 1947. But this weekend’s will be the last reunion.

“The guys are getting too old to travel,” said organizer Betty Martin, 81, of Lincoln Park, whose husband, the late David Martin, was one of them.

Tags: aging, verterans, vets, ww2

Isle of Wight will strengthen military re-enactment policies

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:28:01 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.dailypress.com

Isle of Wight will strengthen military re-enactment policies

ISLE OF WIGHT - In the wake of the accidental shooting of a Civil War re-enactor last year, the county is examining its policy and guidelines on the use of small arms, artillery and black powder.

The Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors, during its meeting tonight, is expected to review proposed changes that would strengthen its existing policy on firearms used by re-enactors and give the county more authority to cancel events if something goes awry, said Jennifer Williams, the county's historic resources manager.

She stressed that the Sept. 27, 2008, shooting and wounding of Thomas Lord Sr., a 72-year-old re-enactor from Suffolk whose unit, the 7th New York, was participating in the mock battle at Heritage Park last year, wasn't the primary impetus behind the changes.

Tags: accidents, civil war, re-enacting, shoting

Mandatory flu vaccination splits Healthcare workers

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:58:55 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: If I were in their position I too would be outraged. Half of the Doctors I have talked too are not even recommending for their patients and certainly our pediatricians are saying not to get the H1N1 for our kids, which we had not planned to do anyway. If I was these doctors and nurses I would just not get it as the state is just asking for a huge shortage of nurses and docs by doing this. Society needs the nurses and docs, they don't necessarily need to stay at these jobs.

Clip Source: www.newsday.com

Mandatory flu vaccination splits workers

Despite a planned rally in Albany Tuesday to protest a state regulation requiring health care workers be vaccinated against influenza — both seasonal and swine flu — New York’s top public health official predicts dissenters will ultimately extinguish their anger and roll up their sleeves.

The regulation, which was approved in August, comes with a stinging addendum: Get vaccinated or get fired.

But some nurses and many other health care providers say the regulation violates their personal freedom and leaves them vulnerable to vaccine injury. And they cite deaths associated with the last federal government swine-flu vaccination program in 1976.

Refusing to be immunized against H1N1 because of the vaccine debacle in 1976 “is like saying a plane crashed 33 years ago so I’ll never fly again,” said Dr. Richard Daines, New York State health commissioner.

Tags: doctors, government, healthcare, nurses

Tufts students calling new dorm sex rule 'unenforceable'

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:48:18 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: LMAO! The school is completely insane.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Tufts students calling new dorm sex rule 'unenforceable'

Responding to complaints from some students, Tufts University wants to bar sexual activity in the presence of another roommate in its dorms.

But some students say it's unenforceable.

The policy - which took effect this semester - reads, "You may not engage in sexual activity while your roommate is present in the room. Any sexual activity within your assigned room should not ever deprive your roommate(s) of privacy, study, or sleep time."

Senior political science major Rick Zeckendorff scoffed at the provision.

"It sounded pretty ridiculous to me the first time that I heard about it," he said. "Because it's unenforceable. People in those situations aren't thinking in terms of the law or school regulations."

Tags: education, sex, sociology, tufts

Scientists say movie androids not as far-fetched as they seem

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:47:22 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Sweet! Hopefully in our lifetime.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Scientists say movie androids not as far-fetched as they seem

(CNN) -- Why leave home when you can send out a sexy, stylish robot version of yourself to do anything you tell it?

That's the world of "Surrogates," a film starring Bruce Willis that opens Friday.

Willis plays an FBI agent who investigates the first murder to occur in years in a world where no one worries about crime or pain, because their robots self-heal with a quick reboot.

Far-fetched science fiction? Sure.

But scientists and the movie's makers say the technology might not be as far away as most people think.

Armies use remote-controlled robots to attack enemies and destroy land mines. Emerging technology for the disabled allows users to operate robotic limbs and control computer cursors without touching a keyboard.

And emerging "telepresence" technology is letting people see, hear and, increasingly, walk, talk and gesture using human-sized robots a world away.

Tags: androids, artificial life, robots, technology

AP IMPACT: School drinking water contains toxins

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:43:25 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

AP IMPACT: School drinking water contains toxins

CUTLER, Calif. – Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.

An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike.

But the problem has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government, even as the number of water safety violations has multiplied.

"It's an outrage," said Marc Edwards, an engineer at Virginia Tech who has been honored for his work on water quality. "If a landlord doesn't tell a tenant about lead paint in an apartment, he can go to jail. But we have no system to make people follow the rules to keep school children safe?"

Tags: drinking water, environment, schools, toxins, water

Synthetic Biolog: A Life of Its Own

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:57:24 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: This sounds like a cool and exciting field of study!

Clip Source: www.newyorker.com

A Life of Its Own

Where will synthetic biology lead us?

The first time Jay Keasling remembers hearing the word “artemisinin,” about a decade ago, he had no idea what it meant. “Not a clue,” Keasling, a professor of biochemical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, recalled. Although artemisinin has become the world’s most important malaria medicine, Keasling wasn’t an expert on infectious diseases. But he happened to be in the process of creating a new discipline, synthetic biology, which—by combining elements of engineering, chemistry, computer science, and molecular biology—seeks to assemble the biological tools necessary to redesign the living world.

Tags: biology, dna, science, technology

Trailing Indicators: Out of a Job, Some Decide to Take a Hike

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:00:02 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: I am surprised no one has written a site or app to allow people to plan all this out and for those looking for hikers to work to post their exchange, etc. Seems like it would be a nice little business, of course one would need to plan and schedule all this out before they hit the trail.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Trailing Indicators: Out of a Job, Some Decide to Take a Hike

RUTLAND, Vt. -- Unable to find steady work in a dismal Florida job market, Dan Kearns did something a lot of gainfully employed Americans can only dream of: Ditch the straight life and hike the length of the Appalachian Trail.

Shouldering a 50-pound backpack, the 32-year-old construction worker hopped onto the trail in April at Neels Gap, Ga., joining other "through-hikers" bound for the AT's northern end point, nearly 2,200 miles away in Maine's Baxter State Park. He sold his car for $1,000 to finance the first leg of the trip, relying after that on handouts and the occasional farm job -- often backbreaking work weeding vegetable beds or rolling bales of hay.

Tags: apps, economy, hiking, jobs

G-20 opponents, police clash on Pittsburgh streets

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:42:07 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: What's scary is this is just a few hundred people protesting. If the economy doesn't start rebooting and people getting employment, can you imagine what the riots and such will look like both nationally and internationally.

Clip Source: www.google.com

G-20 opponents, police clash on Pittsburgh streets

PITTSBURGH — Police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers protesting the Group of 20 summit Thursday after anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins and throwing rocks.

The afternoon march turned chaotic at just about the time that President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived for a meeting with leaders of the world's major economies.

The clashes began after hundreds of protesters, many advocating against capitalism, tried to march from an outlying neighborhood toward the convention center where the summit is being held.

The protesters banged on drums and chanted "Ain't no power like the power of the people, 'cause the power of the people don't stop."

The marchers included small groups of self-described anarchists, some wearing dark clothes and bandanas and carrying black flags. Others wore helmets and safety goggles.

Tags: economy, g20, protesting, riots

U.S. college recruiters find growing market overseas, in Vietnam

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:56:27 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: The world is now your customer and your competition. No longer is it just those sitting next to you.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

U.S. college recruiters find growing market overseas, in Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Besides the brochures, application forms and give-away trinkets spread on the table in front of her, Claudia Colnar keeps a U.S. map handy. Inevitably, "Where's Wyoming?" is the first question she'll get when recruiting Vietnamese students to her community college.

Her response goes beyond geography. Wyoming is home to American Indian tribes, national parks and snow, she says. She tells parents that Sheridan College, her campus, is in a safe, rural environment.

Colnar's trip last year, her first to Vietnam, yielded no enrollments. This week, she's trying again. "We'd be remiss if we didn't," she says.

At the New World Hotel, 700 students and their parents poured into a fancy ballroom to learn about 23 U.S. schools participating in last year's Asian recruitment tour organized by the American Association of Community Colleges.

Tags: college, economy, education, vietnam