text:
gadflyonthewallblog
"To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."
HomeArt
'The Diary of Anne Frank' Has Never Been More Important Than It is Today
April 11, 2019 April 11, 2019 stevenmsinger antisemitism, Art, Civil Rights, Compassion, Education, Hate Crimes, Journals, Learning, literature, Politics, Prejudice, protest, Racism, Refugees, Schools, Social Justice, Students, Teachers, Violence Against Children	action, Anne Frank, anti-racism, anti-semitism, empathy, hate crimes, history, Holocaust, legacy, Politics, schools, Students, teachers, The Diary of Anne Frank, today
The biggest mistake people make about "The Diary of Anne Frank" is to assume it's about a little dead girl.
Anne Frank is not dead.
Not in 1945. Not in 2019.
Anne was a Dutch Jew hiding from the Nazis with her family and four others in a loft above her father's former factory in Amsterdam.
The teenager is the most famous victim of the Holocaust, but her story doesn't end when she succumbed to typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the closing days of WWII.
Because it's a story that never ends.
Her physical self may be gone, but her spirit remains.
In the 1990s, she was a Muslim Bosniak child killed by Christian Serbs in the former Yugoslavia.
In the 2000s, she was a Christian Darfuri in Western Sudan killed by Arab militias.
A decade ago, she was a Palestinian toddler torn to pieces on the West Bank – a victim of Israeli bombs.
And, yes, today she is a brown skinned Central American girl fleeing from violence to the United States only to be forcibly separated from her family and thrown in a cage.
Not only is Anne Frank not dead, she is more alive than most people who draw breath, whose hearts still pump blood, whose eyes shrink from the violence, prejudice and hatred all around them.
Perhaps that's why it is so hard to teach her Diary in my 8th grade class.
It's not a particularly difficult book.
Her prose is uncomplicated. Her ideas clear.
In fact, she jumps right off the page and into the classroom.
But that's what makes her so difficult for me, the teacher.
Every year I help bring her to life for my students. And I suffer her loss all over again each time.
I think everyone sees something different in Anne.
My students see themselves in her. Or they see their friends or siblings.
Her problems are their problems. They, too, can feel closer to one parent than another.
They, too, can hate to be compared with a "perfect" sibling.
They, too, feel all the emotions and frustrations of growing up – the confusion, passion and hurt.
For me, though, it is different.
I don't see Anne primarily as myself. I see her as my daughter. Or perhaps I see my daughter in her.
A precocious child hunched over a book scribbling away her deepest thoughts? Sounds like my precious 10-year-old drawing her comic books, or writing her stories, or acting out melodramas with her dolls and stuffed animals.
I want to take her somewhere safe, to keep her away from the Nazis, to conceal her from all the evil in the world.
After teaching the book for almost a decade and a half, it was only this year that I hit upon a new perspective. I realized that if Anne had survived, she would be almost the same age as my grandmother.
And for a moment, an image of her was almost superimposed over my Grandma Ce Ce. There she was – a physical Anne, a living person. But then it was gone.
When speaking about her to my students, I try to be extremely careful of their feelings. I make it exceedingly clear from the very beginning where her physical life ends.
She and her family are in hiding for 25 months before the Nazis find and send them to concentration camps. Only her father, Otto Frank, is left.
I don't want any of that to be a surprise.
Yet it is.
Every time.
My classes stare back at me with shocked expressions when we reach the last page.
That can't be the end. There has to be more.
So we read first hand accounts of Anne in the camp.
But that can't be all, either. Can it?
So we learn about her legacy – about the Anne Frank House, the Academy Award winning film, and how her book is an international best seller.
Somehow her spirit still refuses to die.
I think it's because she has become more than just a victim. More even than a single physical person.
We know that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. We know that 5 million non-Jews were also killed. But no matter how many documentaries we see, or how many pictures we look at – none of them come alive in quite the same way as Anne.
She is a face for these faceless.
She irreparably humanizes the other.
Once you read her Diary, you can't forget that smiling little girl whose light was so suddenly snuffed out.
We can go numb at the numbers – the sheer scale of these atrocities.
But with Anne, it becomes something personal.
On Dec. 24, 1943, Anne wrote:
"I sometimes wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I'm Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good, plain fun."
We see you, Anne.
And because we do, we see beyond you, too.
We see you in the continuing horrors of our age.
Because your death is never in the past tense. It is always present.
Your eyes look out at us through the victims of our day, too.
And your words ring in our ears:
"What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again." (May 7, 1944)
We have not prevented it.
It continues.
Hatred and prejudice and murder echo through our human interactions.
All while the history fades.
According to a 2018 study, only 22 percent of millennials say they've even heard of the Holocaust.
I don't think any of those young adults read your Diary, because my students remember you.
That's why I'll never stop teaching your story.
In the vain hope that by remembering you, they'll see your eyes on the faces of all the future's would-be victims.
In the vain hope that caring about you will help them care about the faceless strangers, the propagandized others.
In the vain hope that knowing your face will force their eyes to see – actually see – the faces of those who are demonized and dehumanized so someone will care when the boot comes down on their visage.
So that someone will stop the boot from ever coming down again.
In one of her last entries, on July 15, 1944, Anne wrote:
"I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out."
That time has come for us all.
Anne's Diary remains to remind us – a clarion call to empathy and action.
Like this post? I've written a book, "Gadfly on the Wall: A Public School Teacher Speaks Out on Racism and Reform," now available from Garn Press. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the Badass Teachers Association. Check it out!
The World Mourns for Jews After Pittsburgh's Synagogue Shooting. What About Other Targets of Hate?
November 2, 2018 November 2, 2018 stevenmsinger #BlackLivesMatter, Accountability, antisemitism, Art, Civil Rights, Compassion, Donald Trump, Education, Feminism, Gun Control, Guns, Hate Crimes, Healthcare, immigration, Labor, LGBT, Mass Shooting, Media, nonviolence, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Politics, Prejudice, President, protest, Racism, Refugees, Schools, segregation, Sexism, Shooting, Social Justice, Teachers, White Allies, White Privilege, Whiteness	anti-racism, jewish, Mass Shooting, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Politics, prejudice, racism, Squirrel Hill, synagogue, Tree of Life, white supremacist, white supremacy
When a white supremacist killed 11 people and wounded 6 others at a Pittsburgh synagogue last weekend, the world took notice.
Lights dimmed at the Eiffel Tower and Empire State building.
Candlelight vigils were held nationwide – including in Boston, Houston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles.
A host of international leaders from the Pope to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed outrage, sadness and solidarity.
I'll admit that as a native Pittsburgher and person of Jewish descent, it touched me deeply.
For a moment, it seemed like the whole world had stopped spinning and from every corner of the globe people were with us in our tragedy.
But at the same time, it was troubling.
After all, there were at least two other major hate crimes in the U.S. perpetrated within 72 hours of the shooting.
In Kentucky, a white man shot and killed two African-Americans at a Kroger grocery store following a failed attempt to break into a black church.
Only two days later, a deranged man who had railed against Democrats and minorities with hate-filled messages online was arrested for allegedly sending mail bombs to people who'd been criticized by President Donald Trump.
Where were the candlelight vigils for those atrocities?
Where were the international landmarks going dark?
Where was the worldwide condemnation?
In the wake of Pittsburgh's tragedy, these other violent acts have been almost forgotten.
Yet they're all symptoms of the same disease – hate and bigotry.
What happened in Pittsburgh was terrible.
The Anti-Defamation League estimates that the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue may be the most deadly attack on Jews on American Soil in our history.
But me and mine do not have a monopoly on sorrow.
We suffer, but we are not the only ones hurting.
This all happened not far from my home.
I'll admit that I am having a really hard time dealing with it.
I am not sleeping well.
I find myself zoning out in the middle of everyday activities.
And I feel this constant anxiety like part of me is expecting to hear a gunshot ringing down the hall at any time.
When the alleged shooter entered the sanctuary armed to the teeth and shouted "All Jews must die!" before carrying out his plan, he included me in his declaration.
All Jews.
That's me.
That's my daughter. My parents. My family.
It means something to me that so many people have come together to repudiate this crime.
The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh and other U.S. based Muslim groups donated more than $200,000 for funeral expenses. An Iranian refugee (who hadn't even been to the three rivers) started a GoFundMe that brought in $1 million for the victims and their families.
You can't go anywhere in Pittsburgh without a memorial, a moment of silence, a shared statement of solidarity and love.
At the symphony, musicians read two statements from the stage against hate before playing a Hebrew melody with string quartet.
At my school – I'm a teacher – the union decided to collect money for the victims.
I saw a barge floating down one of the rivers that had the message "Stronger Than Hate" on the side next to the modified Steelers logo where the top star had been replaced by a Star of David.
I even saw a similar message on a Wendy's sign: "PittsburghStrong/ Stronger/ Than Hate".
The community has come together in a way I've never seen before.
But I can't help wondering why.
Even after Richard Baumhammers went on a racially motivated killing spree in 2000 murdering five people including two Jews, the response wasn't this overwhelming.
Perhaps it's just that this latest shooting is the final straw.
Perhaps it is the moment when our nation finally pulls together and says that enough is enough – We won't tolerate this kind of hate and violence.
I hope that's it.
However, in the shadows of my mind I wonder if it might not be a reflection of the same beast that struck us last weekend.
Could it be that we're willing to put up with violence against brown people, but only draw the line when those targeted have lighter skin?
I guess my point – if I have one – is this: Thank you, But.
On behalf of Pittsburgh's Jews, thank you for having our back.
If we're going to survive this, we're going to need your continued support and solidarity.
But it's not just us.
Hate crimes have jumped from about 70 incidents a year in the 1990s to more than 300 a year since 2001. And after Trump was elected, 900 bias-related incidents were reported against minorities within the first 10 days.
Our country was built on the genocide of over 110 million indigenous Americans and the enslavement of 30 million Africans.
The idea of concentration camps didn't originate with the Nazis. Hitler got the idea from U.S. treatment of Native Americans.
Racism didn't end with the Civil Rights Movement. It just changed shape and is hidden in the way we practice health care, education, and policing all the way to mass incarceration.
The shock and solidarity in the wake of the synagogue shooting is appreciated, but it's not enough to mourn only when 11 Jews are murdered in cold blood.
It's not enough to take a stand against anti-Semitism.
We need to join together to fight all of it.
We need to be unified against school segregation, police brutality, xenophobia and prejudice in all of its forms.
The white supremacist who killed my friends and neighbors targeted us because he thought we were helping brown-skinned immigrants into the country.
We can't just stand for the helpers. We need to stand for those in need of that help.
It just won't work any other way.
We can't just be against violence to light skinned minorities. We have to empathize and protect our brown skinned brothers and sisters, too. We have to love and cherish our LGBTQ neighbors, as well.
We have to realize that our freedom, our safety, our very lives depend not just on what rights we have – but on what rights we give to all.
That is the only way any of us will ever feel safe again.
Through love and solidarity for every. Single. Human. Being.
STEM Education Severs the Arts from the Sciences
August 14, 2018 stevenmsinger Accountability, Art, Betsy DeVos, Bill Gates, capitalism, Common Core, Corporate Education "Reform", Data, edtech, Education, Learning, Obama, Philosophy, Politics, Prejudice, School Funding, Schools, segregation, Standardized Testing, STEM, Students, Teachers, Technology	Arts, curriculum, education, international test scores, pedagogy, Politics, public schools, schools, science, standardized testing, STEAM, STEM
What's the most effective way to dumb down a nation?
Focus on How without Why.
That's really the biggest problem with the pedagogical fad of STEM education.
There's nothing objectively wrong with teaching science, technology, engineering and math – the disciplines that make up STEM.
In many cases, doing so is essential to a well-rounded education.
But therein lies the problem – you can't have a well-rounded education if you purposely leave out some of the most vital aspects of knowledge.
Where's the art? Where's the literature? Where's the social studies, government, citizenship, drawing, painting, music – heck! Where's the philosophical understanding of life, itself?
STEM initiatives often involve creating two tiers of school subjects. You have the serious disciplines that will earn you respect and a job. And you have the soft, mamby pamby humanities that are no good to anyone.
The problem is one of focus not content.
Corporate-minded bureaucrats who know nothing of human psychology, child development or education look solely at standardized test scores and get hysterical.
The U.S. is falling behind other nations – especially in science and math, they say. So we must do whatever we can to bring those test scores up, Up, UP!
Yet they have never bothered to see that our student test scores have never been at the top of the pack for all the decades we've been making international comparisons.
We started contrasting multiple choice assessment results for 13-year-olds in a dozen countries back in 1964. And ever since, America has always been right in the middle.
Yet for those five decades we've dominated the world in science, technology, research and innovation.
In that time we sent the first people to the moon, mapped the human genome, and invented the Internet – all while getting middling test scores.
In short, standardized assessments are a fantastically unreliable indicator of national success, just as they are poor indicators of individual learning.
We've never been a nation content with picking our answers from four options – A,B,C,D. We blaze new paths!
But number obsessed fools have convinced a public blinded by sports statistics that these tests mean our kids are deficient. And the only cure is to put on blinders and focus almost exclusively on those subjects most featured on the tests.
Even reading and writing are only valuable if they let us guess what a normalized reader is supposed to comprehend from a given passage and if they allow us to express ourselves in the most rudimentary and generic ways.
This is exactly what they do in countries with the highest test scores – countries that are LESS innovative than the U.S.
Asian countries from Singapore to South Korea to India are not blind to this irony. While we are trying to imitate them, they are trying to imitate the kind of broad liberal arts education in which we used to pride ourselves.
"Many painters learn by having fun," said Jack Ma, founder of one of China's biggest Internet companies Alibaba.
"Many works of art and literature are the products of having fun. So, our entrepreneurs need to learn how to have fun, too."
Ma worries that his country is not as innovative as those in the West because China's educational system focuses too much on the basics and does not foster a student's complete intelligence, allowing him or her to experiment and enjoy the learning process.
In other words, no matter how good you are at math and science, you still need to know how to learn, think and express yourself.
To be fair, these criticisms of STEM are not new.
Even global pundits like Fareed Zakaria have made similar arguments.
The result has been a hasty addition – change STEM to STEAM by adding in the arts.
Unfortunately, this hasn't always worked out for the best.
Most of the time, the arts component is either an after thought or merely a sweetener to get students interested in beginning the journey – a journey that is all STEM all the time.
There is still an education hierarchy with the sciences and math at the top and the humanities and social studies at the bottom.
This is extremely unfortunate and will cause long-term detrimental effects to our society.
For instance, we pride ourselves in being democratically ruled. Political power does not come from authority, it comes from the consent of the governed.
This requires a public that knows how to do more than just add and subtract. Voters need to understand the mechanisms of government so they grasp their rights. They need a knowledge of history so they don't repeat the mistakes of the past. They need to grasp human psychology, anthropology, and sociology to understand how people work in groups and individually.
Moreover, as human beings, they need the humanities. People have thoughts and feelings. They need to know how to express those thoughts and feelings and not just by writing a five-paragraph essay. They need to be able to create works of art. They need to be able to write a story or poem. They need to be able to manipulate images. They need to understand and create music.
Without these things, it can be difficult to become fully actualized people.
That used to be the goal of education. Provide students with the tools to become the best version of themselves.
But this focus on STEM and STEAM only endeavors to make them the best cogs the workforce needs.
We have relinquished our commitment to students and replaced it with a commitment to business and industry.
The idea is that schools owe the job market workers. That could not be further from the truth. We owe our students the tools that will help them live the best lives. And employment is only one small facet of that goal.
I'm not saying we shouldn't teach math and science. We should – we MUST. But those can't be prioritized over and above other essential human endeavors.
We need to fund and encourage a broad liberal arts education for all students. As they get older and move on to post-secondary studies including industrial arts they will inevitably specialize in areas that they find most interesting.
But until then, it is our job to give them every opportunity to learn – not to mold them into future wage slaves or boost national pride with arbitrary and meaningless test scores.
WANT A SIGNED COPY?
Click here to order one directly from me to your door!
Decolonizing Through Dialogue: Authentic Teaching in the Age of Testing and Common Core
April 3, 2017 stevenmsinger #BlackLivesMatter, Accountability, Art, Common Core, computers, Corporate Education "Reform", Education, Parents, Politics, Prejudice, Racism, Schools, Social Justice, Socratic Seminar, Standardized Testing, Teachers	authentic teaching, colonialism, common core, decolonizing, dialogue, education, educators, eurocentrism, mulitculturalism, Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Socrates, Socratic Seminar, standardized testing, Students, teachers, Tom Paxton, What Did You Learn in School Today?
If you're not careful, being a public school teacher can become an act of colonization.
This is especially true if you're a white teacher like me with classes of mostly black students. But it's not the only case. As an educator, no matter who you are or whom you teach, you're a symbol of authority and you get that power from the dominant structures in our society.
Believe it or not, our schools are social institutions, so one of their chief functions is to help recreate the social order. Students enter as malleable lumps of clay and exit mainly in the shapes we decide upon. Therefore, as an educator, it's hard not to fall into the habit of molding young minds into the shapes society has decided are appropriate.
In some ways this is inevitable. In others, it's even desirable. But it also runs against the best potential of education.
In short, this isn't what a teacher should be. My job in front of the classroom isn't to make my students into anything. It's to give them the opportunity, to generate the spark that turns them into their best selves. And the people who ultimately should be the most empowered in this process are the students, themselves.
But it's easier said than done.
The danger is best expressed in that essential book for any teacher, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," where Paulo Freire writes:
"Worse yet, it turns them (the students) into 'containers,' into 'receptacles' to be filed by the teacher. The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better a teacher she is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are."
In most cases this means Eurocentrism – a kind of worship of all things white and denigration of all things black, brown and all pigments between.
We take the status quo and find every blind justification for it. In fact, this can become the curriculum, itself. Every counter-narrative, every criticism of the power structure then naturally becomes a danger. Revisionist history becomes history. European philosophy becomes the only accepted definition of rationality. Ideologies of empire become obvious and inescapable. White becomes the norm and racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia all become hidden and internalized.
You've heard the criticism of curriculums focusing exclusively on dead white males. This is why.
And not only does it silence minority voices, it reinforces a false view of the world. Folk singer Tom Paxton made that clear in this classic song:
"What Did You Learn In School Today?"
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that Washington never told a lie,
I learned that soldiers seldom die,
I learned that everybody's free,
And that's what the teacher said to me,
And that's what I learned in school today,
that's what I learned in school.
I learned the policemen are my friends,
I learned that justice never ends,
I learned that murderers pay for their crimes,
Even if we make a mistake sometimes,
That's what I learned in school
I learned that war is not so bad,
I learned about the great ones we've had.
We fought in Germany and in France
And some day I might get my chance.
I learned our government must be strong;
It's always right and never wrong!
Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again,
We can see why this kind of teaching is valued. It reinforces the status quo. But at its core education is essentially subversive. It supports new ways of thinking. It is by definition revolutionary. When you encourage students to think for themselves, some may come to conclusions that differ from the norm. This is entirely healthy and the only way societies can grow and change. But it's inimical to the people in power who often are in charge of the educational system. They don't want new ideas if those ideas will challenge their hold on the reigns of power. Socrates wasn't forced to drink hemlock, after all, because his lessons supported the Athenian elite.
So we're left with a real quandary. How do teachers remain free to inspire while being a part of a system that doesn't value inspiration?
The natural forces of society work against authentic teaching like gravity pulling at a rocket. Unless you're actively pushing against the ground, the most natural thing in the world is to just go with the flow. The textbook says this is the way. Teacher training programs often agree. Cooperating teachers who have been in the classroom for decades back it up. This is the best method. Just keep it up.
But it's not. And you shouldn't. There is another way even though it's hard to see. And THAT'S often what you need to be doing for your students.
Let me pause at this point to make one thing clear: I don't have all the answers.
I am no expert in how to do this. I have fallen victim to it, myself, more often than I'd like to admit. It may be next to impossible to avoid the accepted route much of the time. But if we want to be good teachers, we need to try.
If we really want to provide the best service to our students, their parents and the community, we have to break out of the mold. We have to allow our students the chance of seeing the world and not just our version of it.
The best ways I've found to do this are through selection of texts, use of Socratic Seminars and allowing as much choice as possible in assignments.
When selecting texts, you want to be as inclusive as possible. Provide students with the widest possible range of authors and opinions. In Language Arts, this means purposeful multiculturalism. It means authors of color being prized equally with the European cannon. It means women and transgender authors. It means authors subscribing to a wide range of beliefs and skepticisms. And it means accepting genres and forms that are often devalued like song lyrics, rap, Manga, graphic novels and anything that can be considered deep, substantial texts.
Finding such sources can be exhausting, but it's also exhilarating. Unfortunately, not all schools permit teachers to do this to the same degree. Some districts mandate teachers only use certain texts already approved by the school board. Others provide a list of approved texts from which teachers can pick.
Each educator will have to find ways to navigate the system. It's best if you can find support from administrators and in the community for what you want to do and go from there. But this can be a challenging road especially in our era of high stakes testing and Common Core which values authentic teaching not at all.
Another essential tool is class discussion. You may or may not be able to broaden the texts being discussed, but you can usually provide space for students to discuss those texts in class.
My 8th graders and I use the Socratic Seminar method of discussion extensively.
With almost every piece of literature, I write guided open-ended questions for the students to consider. The questions come out of the text, but I try to focus on queries that will get students thinking about how the text relates to their lives, gender and economic issues, questions of theme, race and opportunities to make connections of every type. Eventually, I even allow students to begin writing these questions, themselves.
The way I see it, my role is essentially an opportunity maker. It isn't about finding an answer that will please me, the teacher. It's about exploring the subject. It's not about what I think. It's about what students think. And that makes all the difference.
Finally, I've found it beneficial to allow students choice in their assignments.
There are many ways for students to demonstrate knowledge. They can write essays, take a test, create a collage, design a power point presentation, make an iMovie, act out a scene, etc. I try to expose students to multiple formats the first half of the year and then give them increased choice in how they'd like to express themselves in the second half.
Not only does this free students to think, it encourages the deepest kind of learning. It makes the lesson vital, important and intrinsic.
All of these approaches share a common feature: dialogue. They put the student, teacher and the author in a vital relationship. They take steps to equalize that relationship so that one isn't more important than the others. It's not just what the author, teacher or student thinks – it's the interrelationship of the three.
Ultimately, it's up to the student to decide the relative value of the results. Sure, they get grades. Sure, the system will judge students based on those grades. But the value of those grades isn't as important as the resultant learning and the value students place on the experience.
To me, that's the best kind of learning. And it's the result of authentic teaching and dialogue.
It is the most inimical thing to colonization. Students are not enslaved to a system. They aren't in servitude to a prepackaged group of ideas and norms.
They are valued and empowered.
Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing for them?
Great Reading Must Be Felt, Not Standardized
May 21, 2016 May 21, 2016 stevenmsinger #BlackLivesMatter, Art, Civil Rights, Common Core, Compassion, Competency Based Education, Corporate Education "Reform", Education, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, literature, Michael Brown, Poverty, Prejudice, Racism, Sandra Bland, Schools, Social Justice, Standardized Testing, Tamir Rice, Teachers	#blacklivesmatter, #icantbreathe, #LetTeachersTeach, #StandUpForPublicSchools, Civil Rights, common core, corporate, Corporate Education Reform, education, education reform, Flannery O'Connor, Harper Lee, literature, multiple choice, prejudice, public schools, standardized testing, teachers, To Kill a Mockingbird
I made my classes cry today.
That sounds terrible, but if I'm honest, I knew it would happen and meant to do it.
I teach in an urban district and most of my 8th grade students are African American and/or impoverished. We're reading Harper Lee's classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" together, and the kids were loving it.
Until today when we got to the verdict in the Tom Robinson trial.
Jaquan closed his book with wide eyes.
"What the heck happened?" he asked.
Other students in the room murmured their agreement.
"They found him guilty!? What the F!?"
"I hate this book."
"This is so freakin' racist."
I let them go on for a moment.
Frankly, it was the reaction I had been expecting.
It happens every year around this time.
Until this moment, my kids were really into the book. They were enjoying the case and excited by how well the defense attorney, Atticus Finch, had proven that Tom, a black man in the 1930s South, is innocent of raping a white woman.
But even last night I knew what was coming. The next day – today – I'd have to go and break their hearts when they read what the jury actually decides. Some of them were bound to be crushed. And today they were.
For those who haven't cracked this book open in decades, let me recap.
There is no physical evidence that the crime actually took place. Moreover, because of a crippling injury as a child, Tom is physically incapable of perpetrating the crime in the first place.
In a world where black males could be tortured and killed just for whistling at a white woman – like Emmett Till – it's clear that Tom is the victim, not the aggressor.
It seems like a slam dunk case. Yet the all-white jury finds Tom guilty, and ultimately he is shot 17 times in prison after losing all hope and trying to escape.
It's no wonder that when we read that cascade of Guilty's from the jury's mouths today, my kids couldn't believe it.
Some of my best students closed the book or threw it away from them.
So I let them express their frustrations. Some talked about how the story hit too close to home. They have family members in jail or who have been killed in the streets by police. One girl even told us that she's never met her own mother. The woman has been locked away since the child was an infant, and because of a missing birth certificate, my student hasn't even been allowed to visit.
"Mr. Singer, when was this book written?" one of the girls in the back asked.
"The late 1950s," I said.
"I thought you were going to say it just came out."
And so we talked about what the book has to do with things happening today. We talked about Eric Garner. We talked about Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray.
At a certain point, conversation ceased.
My class of rowdy teenagers became quiet. We could hear people stomping in the hall, a movie being shown a few doors down.
There might have been a few tears.
I knew it would happen.
Last night I debated softening the blow, preparing them for what was about to take place. When we read "The Diary of Anne Frank" a month ago, I made sure they'd know from the very beginning that Anne dies. It should have been no surprise to them when Anne and her family are captured by the Nazis. It's scary and upsetting but not entirely unexpected.
However, with "Mockingbird" I just let events unfold. And I stand by that decision.
It's frustrating and painful, but my students need to feel that. It's something I can't shield them from.
It's not that they have never felt this way before. Many of them have experienced racism and injustice in their everyday lives. But for this book to really have the desired impact, they need to FEEL what the author meant. And it needs to come from the book, itself.
A book isn't just sheets of paper bound together with glue and cardboard. It's a living entity that can bite. That's the power of literature.
I can't in good conscience shield them from that. They need to see it and experience it for themselves.
Writer Flannery O'Connor put it like this:
"I prefer to talk about the meaning in a story rather than the theme of a story. People talk about the theme of a story as if the theme were like the string that a sack of chicken feed is tied with. They think that if you can pick out the theme, the way you pick the right thread in the chicken-feed sack, you can rip the story open and feed the chickens. But this is not the way meaning works in fiction.
"When you can state the theme of a story, when you can separate it from the story itself, then you can be sure the story is not a very good one. The meaning of a story has to be embodied in it, has to be made concrete in it. A story is a way to say something that can't be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is. You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate. When anybody asks what a story is about, the only proper thing is to tell him to read the story. The meaning of fiction is not abstract meaning but experienced meaning, and the purpose of making statements about the meaning of a story is only to help you experience that meaning more fully."
This is what our policymakers either misunderstand or forget when they demand we assess understanding with standardized tests.
The meaning of a story is not expressable in discrete statements A, B, C, or D. We wouldn't read them if it was.
Every person is unique. So is every reaction to literature.
You can't identify the meaning of this story on a multiple choice test. You can't express what it means to YOU. All you can do is anticipate the answer the test maker expects. And that's not reading comprehension. It's an exercise in sycophantry. It teaches good toadying skills – not good reading strategies.
Perhaps that's why Common Core encourages us to shy away from complex texts like "Mockingbird." We're told to focus on short snippets of fiction and to increase our student's diet of nonfiction. Moreover, we're told to stay away from narratives like Anne Frank's. Instead, we should have our children read from a greater variety of genres including instruction books, spreadsheets, recipes – just the facts – because as Common Core architect David Coleman famously said, "No one gives a shit what you think or feel."
Frankly, we don't do a whole lot of that in my class. We still read literature.
Today, even after the blowout, we kept reading "Mockingbird."
My kids suffered along with Jem and Scout. They reveled in Atticus's example. They feared where it was all going.
And when class was over, a few of them had come around.
"This is such a good book, Mr. Singer," one girl told me on the way out.
"Is Atticus going to die?" another asked to which I smiled and shrugged.
Jaquan stayed after the bell to ask his own question.
"Do you think in a hundred years things will be any different?"
"I mean do you think people will still do things like THIS?" he said holding up his book.
I looked at him and swallowed.
"I don't know, Jaquan," I said. "But things are better now than they were. We can hope."
I clapped him on the back and wished him a good weekend.
You don't get that kind of reaction from Common Core, and you can't assess it on a standardized test.
Students can't ask such questions to computer programs.
They need teachers with the freedom to teach and assess as they see fit.
Otherwise, it is not just Tom Robinson that suffers a miscarriage of justice.
We all do.
Hundreds Gather in Puerto Rico on Martin Luther King Day Demanding Arts Education
January 20, 2016 January 20, 2016 stevenmsinger Art, Civil Rights, Corporate Education "Reform", Education, Politics, Puerto Rico, school closings, School Funding, Schools, student action, Teachers, Unions	Arts, austerity, Budget, Corporate Education Reform, education, education reform, Let's Save the Arts, Music, Politics, protest, public schools, Puerto Rico, teachers
They came with trumpets, tubas, bongos and acoustic guitars.
They came with brightly colored banners and freshly painted posters.
They came armed with songs, dances and slogans.
More than 500 teachers, students and college professors marched to the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan to demand the island government bring back public school arts classes.
The group of activists calling itself Let's Save the Arts has been fighting against the narrowing of curriculum for the last three years.
At that time, the island Department of Education changed the length of class periods at all public schools in the U.S. territory.
Students used to have seven class periods of 50 minutes each. Now students have six class periods of 60 minutes each. In effect, officials eliminated one class.
Students still receive Spanish, Math, Science, Social Studies, and English instruction. However, now they have to choose between Physical Education or Arts where they used to be able to do both.
Secretary of Education Rafael Román approved the measure to save money. More than 3,000 half time teaching positions were lost.
"It was an austerity measure," says Mercedes Martinez, president of the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR) – the teachers union.
"They're saying these teachers are not needed."
Senator Rossana Lopez has proposed a solution. She introduced Bill 584 – legislation that would require all Commonwealth schools to include arts courses as a graduation requirement.
Arts teachers across the island formed the collective group to help pass the measure.
"Having a holistic education is a right and not a privilege," said Carlos Vélez, an art teacher from Ángel Sandín Martinez Middle School in the Vega Baja region.
"The study of the arts benefits all students – especially those living under poverty that can't pay for art courses elsewhere."
The teachers union issued a strong statement of support.
"Students were off school Monday," Martinez says. "In symbolism to MLK's holiday celebration, they protested the best way they know: performing."
During those performances, Román, the architect of the plan to eliminate the arts, changed his tune. While at the rally, he said he supports the bill.
However, the Secretary of Education could make most of these changes, himself, without legislative action. He could return the alignment of class periods to their previous configuration tomorrow.
"We're waiting for him to put words into action," Martinez says.
Meanwhile, supporters hope Bill 584 will pass before this Congressional session ends in June.
Corporate education reform measures like this one limiting arts classes are a consequence of financial woes imported from the mainland. Puerto Rico is besieged by vulture capitalists encouraging damaging rewrites to the tax code while buying and selling the territory's debt.
Hundreds of American private equity moguls and entrepreneurs are using the Commonwealth as a tax haven.
As a result, tax revenues to fund public goods like education are drying up while the super rich rake in profits.
Officials warn the government may be out of money to pay its bills this year. Over the next five years, it may have to close nearly 600 more schools – almost half of the remaining facilities!
Of the 135 schools closed in just the last two years, Román had originally proposed shuttering 200. The remaining 65 were only kept alive because communities occupied the buildings and refused to let the government step in.
The people of Puerto Rico aren't letting their government defund and defraud their public schools without a fight. Monday's musical and artistic protest was just another note in the battle hymn of the people.
Putting the Arts Back in Language Arts – One Journal at a Time
December 8, 2015 December 30, 2015 stevenmsinger Art, Compassion, Corporate Education "Reform", Education, Journals, Poverty, Schools, Standardized Testing, Teachers, Violence Against Children, Writing	#LetTeachersTeach, #StandUpForPublicSchools, charter schools, Corporate Education Reform, education, education reform, Journals, public schools, standardized testing, teachers, Writing
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts focused on the value of art in our lives, and the role art can play in resisting the test and punish model of education. See the intro and links to other posts in the series here.
Sometimes in public school you've just got to cut the crap.
No testing. No close reading. No multiple choice nonsense.
Get back to basics – pass out notebooks, crack them open and students just write.
Not an essay. Not a formal narrative. Not an official document. Just pick up a pencil and see where your imagination takes you.
You'd be surprised the places you'll go.
You might invent a new superhero and describe her adventures in a marshmallow wonderland. You might create a television show about strangers trapped in an elevator. You might imagine what life would be like if you were no bigger than a flea.
Or you might write about things closer to home. You might describe what it's like to have to take care of your three younger brothers and sisters after school until just before bedtime when your mom comes back from her third minimum wage job. You might chronicle the dangers of walking home after dismissal where drug dealers rule certain corners and gangs patrol the alleys. You might report on where you got those black and blue marks on your arms, your shoulders, places no one can see when you're fully clothed.
My class is not for the academic all stars. It's for children from impoverished families, kids with mostly black and brown skin and test scores that threaten to close their school and put me out of work.
So all these topics and more are fair game. You can write about pretty much whatever you want. I might give you something to get you started. I might ask you a question to get you thinking, or try to challenge you to write about something you've never thought about or to avoid certain words or phrases that are just too darn obvious. I might ask your opinion of something in the news or what you think about the school dress code or get your thoughts about how things could improve.
Because I actually care what you think.
Strange, I know.
At times like these, I'm not asking you to dig through a nonfiction text or try to interpret a famous literary icon's grasp of figurative language. It's not the author's opinion that matters – it's yours – because you are the author. Yes, YOU.
You matter. Your thoughts matter. Your feelings. YOU MATTER!
And sometimes students raise their hands and ask me to read what they've written. And sometimes – more often than not – the first thing they say is, "It's no good." "I don't like it." "I did bad on this."
So I stop reading, I look them right in the eyes and ask them who wrote it.
"Me?" they say.
And I respond, "Then I'm sure it's excellent." And it usually is.
My 8th grade students have been ground down so low under the weight of a society that could care less about their well being that they've begun to internalize it. They think their thoughts and feelings are worthless. No one cares about what they think.
But I do.
So I offer them a chance to share what they've written. I don't demand. I don't force anyone to read anything. I know that some things that spill out on the page aren't for sharing. But I want them to know that I value what they've just put down and that I think it's worth taking the class time to let others hear it, too.
"Mr. Singer, I wrote five pages," Jaquae tells me this afternoon. "That's too long to share."
"I disagree," I say. "If you think it's worth our time, you should read it. You deserve our attention."
So he reads, blows out a cleansing breath and smiles.
In the process, we all become ennobled. We become more. We become a community. We get a peak at our common humanity.
It's so easy to look at others as mere adversaries. Even our national education policy sees things in terms of a competition, a race. We set children against each other for points, for grades, for attention, just to feel valuable. You're a Proficient. You're a Basic. You're a Below Basic. And somewhere along the way they lose the sense that they're all valuable because they're all human beings with thoughts, feelings and experiences that no one else has ever gone through before – but with which everyone can relate.
So I write, too. Every time I set my students a journal, I put pen to paper, as well.
At the beginning of the year, I share what I wrote to show them that it's okay. At the middle of the year I ask them if they want me to share. And at the end of the year I remain silent unless they ask me to do otherwise.
Because these class moments aren't about me. They're about them. I'm willing to be as much a part of their creative space as they want, but it's a choice, not a dictate.
In my class I will make you learn, but I don't control what you learn or how you feel about it.
I extend my students this respect because I know that what we're really doing isn't some meaningless exercise. We're creating art.
Not just scribbles on a page. Not something done just to please the teacher. This is an excavation of the soul. We dive into the depths of ourselves and come back all the better for it.
That's why my students journal almost every day.
That's why we put mechanics and spelling and grammar aside for a few moments and just write what we need to say.
Because Language Arts, after all, is an Art. It says that right in the title.
My students are artists. I am their muse. I hold a mirror up to their fractured and beaten spirits to show them the grandeur of what resides inside them.
And hopefully they come away inspired.
Because they are wonders. They are joyous. They are little pieces of my heart.
NOTE: This article was also published in Living in Dialogue, the Badass Teachers Association Blog and mentioned on Diane Ravitch's blog.
AstroTurf Alert: National Parents Union is Thinly Veiled Union Busting Backed by Billionaire Cash
Robots Will Never Replace Teachers. They Can Only Displace Us
Economists Ate My School – Why Defining Teaching as a Transaction is Destroying Our Society
Sixteen Gadfly Articles That Made Betsy DeVos Itch in 2019
Charter Schools, Harrisburg & Mayor Peduto Created Pittsburgh Public Schools' Budget Deficit
Why Teaching to the Test is Educational Malpractice
How Many Decisions Do Teachers Make Every Day?
The Six Biggest Problems with Data-Driven Instruction
Eight Things I Love About Elizabeth Warren's Education Plan - And One I Don't
Why is There a Racial Achievement Gap?
Charter School Lotteries – Why Most Families Don't Even Apply
Every Charter School Must Be Closed Down - Every. Single. One.
Economists Ate My School - Why Defining Teaching as a Transaction is Destroying Our Society
Buy an Autographed Copy of My Book
Like this site? I've written a book, "Gadfly on the Wall: A Public School Teacher Speaks Out on Racism and Reform," now available from Garn Press. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the Badass Teachers Association.
Follow gadflyonthewallblog on WordPress.com


The Council of State Governments' National Center for Interstate Compacts, or NCIC, is pleased to announce the convening of the first Summit of the States on Interstate Collaboration on Dec. 12-13 in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
Throughout its 83-year history, The Council of State Governments has been at the forefront of promoting multistate problem-solving and advocating for the role of the states in determining their respective futures. Since 2005, NCIC has played an integral role in the development of numerous interstate compacts, tracking the progress of more than 200 active compacts, researching innovative policy options for the states and bringing the states together to build consensus on multistate solutions to national issues.
The two-day Summit of the States on Interstate Collaboration continues CSG's tradition of bridging policy gaps between the states and facilitating the development of interstate solutions to increasingly interdependent issues.
The summit will promote successful compact approaches, foster research directed at developing new interstate partnerships, and support the increased use and understanding of interstate compacts. Furthermore, this national event will be an opportunity for state policymakers, compact administrators and other interested parties to discuss issues of interstate policy cooperation and network on the use of interstate compacts in a range of policy areas.
This first-of-its-kind Summit of the States on Interstate Collaboration offers opportunities for dialogue, training and collaboration for the vast intersecting networks involved in the creation, implementation and administration of interstate compacts.


text:
package ssh_ca_util

import (
	"testing"
)

func TestMakeCert(t *testing.T) {
	cert := MakeCertificate()
	PrintForInspection(cert)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Site Record
St Michael And All Angels' Church, Aberystwyth
Loading Map
NPRN110278
Map ReferenceSN58SE
Grid ReferenceSN5806681613
Unitary (Local) AuthorityCeredigion
Old CountyCardiganshire
CommunityAberystwyth
Type Of SiteCHURCH
PeriodPost Medieval
St Michael's Church is situated some 40m from the foreshore and some 30m east of Aberystwyth Castle.
The first St Michael's Church was opened in 1787, and was situated to the west of the Assembly Rooms. It is described as a small building that had taken 20 years to build. This was was replaced by a large, cruciform building of 1829-33 (NPRN 96222) by Edward Haycock, of which the west vestry survives roofless, some 40m south-west of the present church.
The existing large and prosperous late-Victorian building is of 1889-90 by R. Nicolson of Hereford. It is constructed of Yorkshire stone with Bromsgrove dressings and Westmorland green slates, in English Decorated style (old fashioned for its date, and that makes few concessions to Wales, save in the broad, triple-roofed plan that echoes Tenby and Haverfordwest). The west end and tower were completed to an altered design in 1905-1906 by Nicolson and Hartree. The tower was originally intended to have a spire.The elaborately-carved sedilia, piscina, font and Last Supper reredos are by Boulton and Sons of Cheltenham. The carved oak lectern is by Clarke of Hereford to Nicholson's design. Of the stained glass, the east window and north aisle east window are both of 1889, by A. O. Hemming, in the strong colours of Clayton and Bell. The four later south aisle windows are of 1903, also by Hemming. The north aisle window of 1914 is by Powell. W. D. Caroe's chancel screen and rood date from 1921-1927. A few of the early nineteenth-century monuments have been removed to the west porch. The west memorial in the north aisle is by Chantrey.
Victorian Society tour notes, 1999.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 07 April 2006.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Fountain Pen There are 29 products.
Calligraphic pen of original design with special nib that makes two widths, in various sizes.
Fountain Pilot Custom Heritage 92 presents a transparent resin finish with a 14 carat nib.
Pilot fountain pen finished in blue lacquer and rhodium ornaments. 18 karat gold nib.
Pilot fountain pen finished black lacquer and rhodium ornaments. 18 karat gold nib.
Pilot Fountain Pen in black graphite finish and rhodium decorations. 18 karat gold nib.
Urban fountain pen finished in white lacquered metal.
Urban fountain pen finished in blue lacquered metal.
Urban fountain pen finished in silver gray lacquered metal.


text:
FACES for the Future
Vesper Society is committed to improving the well-being of youth. So, we link arms with leaders and organizations creating long-term solutions in their communities. FACES for the Future at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, CA, was founded in 2007 as a two-year program to motivate and prepare underrepresented youth for careers in the health industry. Partnering with the Eden Area Regional Occupations Program in Hayward, FACES provides high school students with unique opportunities to learn from healthcare professionals in various hospital settings and explore career options in the health professions. Students benefit from academic enrichment opportunities, including individualized tutoring and college preparation activities, leadership training, and multi-faceted psychosocial support services, including one-on-one case management. The program also assists FACES alumni with job and internship placements, academic and career guidance, and ongoing life coaching. One of the program activities supported by Vesper Society was a retreat in December 2017. Students of the FACES for the Future-Hayward program had the opportunity to attend an overnight retreat in San Francisco. The retreat, offered in partnership with St. Rose Hospital Foundation, Vesper Society, San Francisco State University, and Vision Quilt, taught the students about public health issues and to develop their skills as advocates for their own communities. Activities included a visit by students to San Francisco State University (SFSU) where they were welcomed by Dr. Leticia Marquez-Magana, Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, and Director of the Health Equity Research Laboratory. Dr. Marquez-Magana taught them about the field of Public Health and got them thinking about the reality of health disparities and social determinants of health. The students completed exercises to understand how they can influence the decisions made at their own schools. They gained familiarity with the college campus and had an opportunity to participate in a mentoring session with SFSU... Read More
Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation
Vesper Society is committed to improving the well-being of youth. So, we link arms with leaders and organizations creating long-term solutions in their communities. One of our incredible partner organizations, the Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation (Urban Foundation) encourages the efforts of other faith communities to find, embrace, and support overlooked youth and young adults who dream of attending college. The Urban Foundation's Kid City Hope Place program recognizes the problem of educational inequity and severe economic hardship among the communities it serves in downtown and south central Los Angeles. With programs in leadership development, music and arts, college access, and college completion, Kid City provides mentoring, college knowledge, high-level math tutoring, and guidance through admissions and financial aid applications. As a result, students are better able to access opportunities, explore their intellectual curiosity, and discover their ability to advocate for themselves and their communities. Teens and adults find their voice and become self-empowered leaders. The program has helped over 200 college students apply and enroll in college, and up to 50 high school juniors and 50 high school seniors are welcomed into the program every year. Once in college, the commitment to community continues. Kid City's approach to college success is about more than just getting a diploma. It includes helping students through inevitable struggles, honoring a commitment to lifting up the community, getting the most out of educational opportunities, and becoming leaders, change agents, and contributing members of the world. By empowering each person to "take responsibility for the things they care about" (Kid City's definition of leadership), the benefits can be felt in communities long after a student has left the program. Vesper Society supports The Urban Foundation's Kid City Hope Place program because we believe that by serving youth, we establish long-term solutions and are... Read More
Introducing IVROP Project RISE
Bordering on Mexico, Imperial Valley youth work towards a better future. In a county with a 21% unemployment rate, and where agriculture accounts for 49 percent of all employment, the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program (IVROP) is a public education service that introduces students to new career opportunities and teaches them technical and life skills. It was formed by seven unified school districts in collaboration with the Imperial County Office of Education. One of IVROP's projects, Project RISE (Relationships Inspire Success and Excellence), aims to create an asset building culture that contributes to the educational developmental of young people. They do this by engaging schools, social services, health care organizations, and businesses in Imperial County. In January 2015, with support from Vesper Society, Project RISE surveyed over 1,100 Imperial County high school freshmen attending Brawley Union, Central Union, and Southwest. The survey, the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP), was developed by Search Institute and has been administered to more than 5 million diverse children and youth to date. It identifies a set of skills, experiences, relationships, and behaviors that enable young people to develop into successful and contributing adults. As a result of Project RISE's survey in Imperial County, a group of freshman students created the Brawley High School Asset Ambassadors "Wild Cats in Action" after attending a three-week Leadership Asset Training course. Their projects included attending the Brawley Parks and Recreation Summer Camp in 2016, where they were each assigned a group of young people to mentor and were able to apply their leadership skills in group activities. Vesper Society believes that the future well-being of our communities lies in the hands of our youth. Tomorrow's leaders need support and encouragement to make maximum impact on our communities. With support from Vesper Society, IVROP's Project RISE has established long-term... Read More
Imperial Valley 4-H
At Vesper Society, we are dedicated to long-term solutions that help communities help themselves. One example of this is the University of California Cooperative Extension's (UCCE) 4-H youth development program in Imperial County. Around the world, 4-H encourages young people and adults to volunteer. Through service learning—a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection—members learn civic responsibility and strengthen their communities. 4-H youth who excel in leadership and community service are selected to serve the 4-H Youth Development Program as a 4-H All Star—a leader among the organization. And Imperial Valley 4-H's five-day Team Camp Council program helps youth foster awareness and behavior change in areas related to environmental sustainability. Each day at camp, campers plan, develop, and implement projects related to land, air, energy, water, and food. In doing so, they take on the responsibilities of leadership when it comes to the environment, which is important to ensuring a healthy community. 4-H also provides leadership opportunities further from home. Last summer, four Imperial County 4-H members were selected to attend the 2015 Citizenship Washington Focus Conference in Chevy Chase, Maryland. At the conference, they had the opportunity to identify individual citizenship rights and responsibilities, identify issues facing youth and explore causes and possible solutions, and establish communication with lawmakers and witness government in action. Of particular interest to Imperial County, having the highest number of diabetics in California, local delegates worked collaboratively with San Diego State University-Calexico to initiate a healthy living workshop on diabetes for Imperial County Youth. The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, conducted by the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University, shows youth engaged with 4-H are: Nearly two times more likely to get better grades in school Nearly two times more likely to plan... Read More
California Lutheran University Interns
California Lutheran University (CLU) educates leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice. Vesper Society knows that communities and institutions can be transformed when people are approached with respect, hope, passion, and inspiration. CLU's Interfaith Allies presented an opportunity for Vesper Society to create the CLU intern program in memory of Vesper's co-founder Bob Cummings who served on the CLU Board of Regents. Vesper's support made it possible for five students and three faculty members from CLU's Interfaith Allies to attend Interfaith Youth Core Leadership Institutes in 2012. Since then, the program has blossomed. Interfaith Allies values pluralism, tackles stereotypes, supports faith formation, and develops interfaith competencies for leadership. Service learning, internships, off-campus study, and experiential education provide students with opportunities to build civic leadership skills. Joining other universities in Water to Thrive's push to spread awareness about the global water crisis, CLU's water-wise campaign culminated with a weeklong challenge for students to track their water usage and consumption. Participants only drank tap water and donated the money they would have spent on other beverages to build a well in Ethiopia. By linking arms with student and faculty leaders at California Lutheran University, Vesper Society is part of a growing network that helps facilitate change to establish long-term solutions for overlooked communities all over the world. Visit CLU Interfaith Allies' Facebook page... Read More
First United Methodist Church Garden Project
With an unemployment rate of 21 percent, food insecurity is very high in California's Imperial Valley. In fact, one in three of the county's 150,000 residents don't know where their next meal will come from and half of the region's children suffer from food insecurity. Ironically, this lack of regular, healthy nutrition has led to very high rates of obesity among children, because what is most readily available to them is highly-processed and cheap, fast food. With support from Vesper Society, Harding Elementary School started The Garden Project as a collaborative effort of the El Centro Elementary School District and Harding School, First United Methodist Church, El Centro, and the El Centro Rotary Club. Starting in September 2014, the entire Harding Elementary School student body took responsibility for planting, composting, weeding, and watering the garden. Led by Rev. Dr. Ron Griffin from First United Methodist Church and El Centro Rotary, the project is a fantastic collaborative effort by the students and teaches the importance of healthy nutrition. The beauty of this project is that the whole community can become involved. From local farmers to the UC Cooperative Extension, Vesper Society's support helped plant the seeds of leadership for healthy... Read More


Out of nowhere, see the Ninja appear with this brilliant heat change mug. Simply add a hot drink to watch the Ninja silently emerge in seconds, watching everything through his classic Ninja disguise. The Ninja Heat Change Mug is a fun novelty mug that adds mystery and surprise to any kitchen or staff room. While the Ninja waits in darkness waiting for things to heat up, the mug looks like any ordinary plain black mug. But once a hot drink as been added, the stealth assassin appears! He doesn't hang around for long though, once the mug cools down the Ninja will disappear once again, slipping away back into the darkness.


Welcome to the Endmoor and District - First Responders web site. We hope this web site provides a wealth of information about what we do and how we are helping our community.
We are community based volunteers activated by the Ambulance Service to provide early intervention for a number of critical medical conditions. Even though an ambulance is already on it's way, we can make a potentially life-saving contribution.
Along with a range of other supportive skills and procedures, all our volunteers are trained in the delivery of Basic Life Support and the use of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Endmoor and District - First Responders are only one of over 60 community teams across Cumbria including almost 1,000 volunteer members.
Interested in helping? Need more information? Email us.


text:
Is COVID-19 Vaccine Safe for Nursing Mothers?
U.S. President Trump's Remarks Before Marine One Departure
Killing cancer by unleashing body's own immune system
UN counter-terrorism chief urges continued vigilance against 'real' ongoing threat
'Fake News Law' needed to protect public against spread of fake news, experts argue
Nanoparticle Immunization Technology Could Protect Against Many Strains of Coronaviruses
Update on Department Transition Efforts and Travel
Leaders from Latin America and Caribbean Envision Development in Region Beyond COVID-19 Response and Recovery
UNICEF chief: Closing schools should be 'measure of last resort'
Statement from White House Press Secretary Regarding Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration
November 28, 2018 11:08 am AEDTDate Time
Hit and run traffic crash at Pimpama, QLD
Police are searching for the driver and occupants of a stolen four-wheel drive which crashed into an oncoming vehicle on the M1 at Pimpama early this morning., Queensland Police say
Initial inquiries indicate around 2.50am a white 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee travelling north crossed into the southbound lanes of the M1 before colliding head-on with a station wagon.
The occupants of the four-wheel drive fled the vehicle.
The 60-year-old male driver of the station wagon has sustained serious leg injuries and was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital where he has been admitted for treatment.
Police investigations have established the four-wheel drive with Queensland registration KLA51 was stolen from an address at Hope Island on November 25, 2018.
Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident or the Jeep Grand Cherokee prior to the incident to come forward.
If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers.
Tags:Cherokee, crash, Gold Coast, Pimpama, police, QLD, Queensland, Serious Traffic Crash, South Eastern Region, stolen, traffic crash, university
Boeing today released the following updated statement: "Our thoughts are with the Sriwijaya Air flight…
The IMF Executive Board decision allows for an immediate disbursement of about US$28.8 million to…
Lending for new homes sets record again
Today's Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) lending indicators for November 2020 shows owner occupier loan…
New work for Budj Bim sites
Works have started across the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, as part of the Victorian Government's…
$4.8 million infrastructure update to cope with flooding
Joint media release with the Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional…
First steel cut for new Carnival Celebration
A sister ship to the highly anticipated Carnival Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration is scheduled to…
U.S. Coast Guard Operation Southern Cross Builds Multilateral Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unreported


text:
André Thomkins (13)
DACS, London (13)
color print (11)
Nationality: Swiss
Artist / Maker / Culture: André Thomkins
Artist / Maker / Culture: DACS, London
Backfall (from "What Do You See?")
André Thomkins
Fridgewood (from "What Do You See?"...
Halemaid (from "What Do You See?")
Lifeboat (from "What Do You See?")
Little Animals (from "What Do You S...
Offsetter (in reference to the unti...
Pissnake (from "What Do You See?")
Des Prokurist (from "What Do You Se...
Snowhair (from "What Do You See?")
Untitled (from "What Do You See?")
Walk on a Broken Lake (from "What D...
What Do You and I and She (from "Wh...


Anthony Galan '14 has posted a 4.06 earned run average this season and has started six games in the team's 3-20 campaign.
Though the men's baseball team (3-20, 1-7 Ivy) is off to a slow start, pitcher Anthony Galan '14 has consistently led the squad from the mound. The right-hander held Penn scoreless last weekend, earning a complete game shutout and helping bring the team its first Ivy win of the season.
Galan had seven strikeouts in the outing, and allowed only four hits. He has posted a 4.06 earned run average this season and has started six games, the most of any Bears hurler. For his shutout performance and consistent play, Galan has been named The Herald's Athlete of the Week.
Herald: You pitched a complete game shutout last weekend against Penn. What was clicking for you that game?
Galan: I felt good, and it was actually a nice day so it felt good going outside. I just had them off balance the whole day. It was pretty much in the first four innings, I got a lot of (strikeouts). I knew (Penn was) going to adjust to my off-speed stuff, so I made an adjustment back to keep them off balance.
Can you speak about what the team has been doing to improve in the Ivy League standings? What are some team goals for the remainder of the season?
We actually started off pretty rough for the first weekend and this past weekend. What we're trying to do is just keep the energy up. We know we can pretty much compete with any team in the Ivies. The first weekend, we played against (Louisiana State University), and they're number one in the country, and we lost on a walk off. So we know we can play against good teams, we just need to keep the energy up and stay positive.
Do you have a go-to strikeout pitch?
It depends. If there is a lefty up, I usually like to go in with lefties. Lots of lefties, especially against righties, always sit on pitches away, especially on changeups, but never on balls in.
Who on earth would you most like to strike out?
I would say Bryce Harper. Just 'cause I like to strike out guys who are very cocky.
Mike Trout or Bryce Harper: Who would you take on your team?
I'd probably take Trout, just because he's got a shorter swing and a better two-strike approach. He doesn't strike out a lot and he knows how to get on, and once he gets on he's still a threat.
Has anyone ever charged the mound on you?
No, they haven't. I've hit guys on purpose, but they've never charged the mound on me.
I don't remember — three or four maybe? It's always been in my family, and it's always come naturally.
If you could play for any MLB club, who would it be and why?
It would be the Mets, hands down. I've been a Met fan my whole life, I know New York, I know the fans. It's just very familiar to me. It'd be like playing in a hometown.
Who is your go-to Backyard Baseball character?
It's Pablo Sanchez. When I played in Elizabeth, N.J. it was in an all Spanish and Dominican league, and those are literally the kids I played with.


After pinging the bids at the 'big figure' around 1.5000. we are seeing a slight change of hands in the order flow with the bids taking over short term. Notice the end of the move down with the price action angles flattening. This was followed up by the bids holding the line and slowly taking over the price action short term.
We are rapidly approaching key resistance at 1.5265, which is also a key role reversal level. Bears wanting to get short can look for shorts at this level. If this breaks, then 1.55 is the next major resistance for bears to step back in, but that would also mean we have bulls establishing a little more control short term.
While the USD is starting to lose some ground across the board, WTI Oil is still in a bear trend, but is currently in a large corrective structure and range near the lows of the most recent move.
I'm looking to sell at range resistance, anticipating a move back towards the lows. So look to be a seller into resistance while targeting range lows, and potentially another leg lower in the downtrend. Only a daily close above the range resistance negates the ST bearish bias.
Also in the members trade setups commentary, we cover the EURUSD, USDCHF, USDJPY, & GBPJPY. Click here to become a member.


Alligators - Learn about the American Alligator in Florida.
Camping - View a list of Florida campgrounds.
Endangered Species - Learn about threatened and endangered species in Florida.
Hiking - Use the map on this site to find hiking trails in Florida.
Hunting - Read the hunting handbook, learn about special opportunity and quota hunts, and view hunting forecasts.
Hunting License - Purchase a state-issued hunting license online.
Recreation, Outdoor - More than 5 million acres of mostly undeveloped land, the largest wildlife management area system in the country, offer remote getaways for outdoor lovers in every corner of the state.


Well this is exciting. We're returning to The Retreat (and we all know how much fun it was last time). Furthermore, we got us The Weeping Willows this time.
5 pm til 7 pm, entry's free.
Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday evening? Nup, us neither.


text:
Careena Collins (Los Ángeles, 7 de noviembre de 1967) es una actriz pornográfica estadounidense, activa desde 1985 hasta 2009 como actriz, y desde 1995 hasta 2010 como directora de películas pornográficas.

Premios
 1996 XRCO Award – Mejor Escena de Sexo Anal – The Bottom Dweller 331⁄3
 1996 XRCO Award – Mejor Escena Hombre-Mujer – Kink
 1996 XRCO Award – Mejor Escena de Sexo Chica-Chica – Takin' It to the Limit 6
 1996 AVN Award – Mejor Escena de Sexo Todo-Chicas, Vídeo – Takin' It to the Limit 6
 1996 AVN Award – Mejor Escena de Sexo Anal, Vídeo – The Bottom Dweller 331⁄3
 1997 XRCO Award – Mejor Escena Anal o DP – Car Wash Angels
 1997 XRCO Award – Mejor Escena Chica-Chica – Beyond Reality 1
 1998 AVN Award – Mejor Escena de Sexo Anal – Butt Banged Naughty Nurses
 AVN Hall of Fame
 XRCO Hall of Fame

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Actrices pornográficas de Estados Unidos
Ganadoras del premio AVN

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


An individual retirement account (IRA) allows individuals to direct pretax income, up to specific annual limits, toward investments that can grow tax-deferred (no capital gains or dividend income is taxed). Individual taxpayers are allowed to contribute 100 percent of compensation up to a specified maximum dollar amount to their Traditional IRA. Contributions to the Traditional IRA may be tax-deductible, depending on the taxpayer's income, tax-filing status and other factors.
The Roth Individual Retirement Plan bears many similarities to the traditional IRA, but contributions are not tax deductible and qualified distributions are tax free. Similar to other retirement plan accounts, non-qualified distributions from a Roth IRA may be subject to a penalty upon withdrawal.
The Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers (SIMPLE) is a retirement plan available for employers, including self-employed individuals. The employer is allowed a tax deduction for contributions and makes either matching or non-elective contributions to each eligible employee's SIMPLE IRA. Employees may make salary deferral contributions.


text:
Q: Factoring Algebra Expression I have the below algebra expression:
$$ (x-1)((x-1)^2 - 1) = 6y$$
I'm trying to get the left hand side be $x(x^2-1)$:
$$ x(x^2-1) = 6y \dots$$
Attempt:
$$ (x-1)(x^2-2x) = 6y$$
$$ x^3 - 3x^2 + 2x = 6y$$
I'm stuck here

A: but it is $$x(x-1)(x+1)=(x-1)(x+1)x=(x-1)(x^2+x)\ne (x-1)(x^2-2x+1-1)$$

A: Do not worry, your algebra is correct.
The problem is that  $$(x-1)((x-1)^2 - 1) = (x-1)(x^2 -2x)=x(x-1)(x-2)$$
is not the same as $$x(x^2-1)=x(x-1)(x+1)$$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Reports of fire outbreak at Achimota Mall false – Management clarifies
Dec 30, 2021 Achimota Mall, General
The management of Achimota Retail Centre, popularly known as Achimota Mall, has denied reports of a fire outbreak at the facility on Thursday.
ARC's Management expressed shock at what it described as the misrepresentation of its routine emergency safety drill by some media outlets.
Some media reports on Thursday, quoting an initial story by Accra-based Starr FM, had stated that fire had "gutted portions of Achimota Retail Mall, causing injury to some shoppers"
The Mall's management has, however, dismissed the report as totally false and unfounded, and assured the general public that Achimota Retail Centre has not recorded any fire incident.
They added that the ARC has been open all day, doing business and meeting its responsibility of serving its numerous customers and patrons during the yuletide.
In keeping with its strict public safety policy, Achimota Retail Centre runs at least two emergency safety drills every year, ARC Management told news reporters after learning that the second and last simulation exercise for the year had been misreported as a real fire outbreak with "casualties."
"We conduct these emergency simulation exercises every six months in close collaboration with the Ghana National Fire Service and with supervision from other national safety agencies," ARC's Operations Manager, Benjamin Appiah Darko said.
"As a public facility which attracts such large numbers of people, these drills are very necessary for testing the efficiency of our safety systems and our preparedness to handle and manage emergencies like fires, stampedes and any other eventualities.
Fire Officers from the Ablekuma Fire Station took part in the Exercise
"Although in such exercises, our tenants and in-mall workers are not supposed to have any foreknowledge of the drill, we always pre-consult safety and security agencies like the Mile 7 Police, NADMO, the Municipal Fire Station and the Ambulance Service," Darko disclosed.
According to him, Thursday's simulation exercise lasted only 17 minutes, starting from 8:31 am and ending at 8:48 am.
"When all was set, we triggered off our fire alarm system by discharging some artificial smoke. At that time of the morning, there were no customers at the mall so we were particularly interested in the reaction and conduct of our tenants, the ancillary workers and our own staff. The movement of people towards designated Assembly Points was impressive," the Operations Manager elaborated.
"Our main collaborators from the Ablekuma Fire Station then moved in with a fire tender to engage and contain an imaginary fire; there was an Ambulance on standby and a demonstration of first aid for a 'casualty' followed. On the whole, I would say that management and our safety partners are highly impressed with the conduct of the exercise, as our tenants, ground workers and staff largely complied with established safety protocols and procedures," Centre Manager Mrs Olivia Torpey said, stressing that ARC is known as one of Accra's safest and most secure shopping centres and that the management is very determined to safeguard that reputation
3 arrested over Mamponteng clashes that left two in critical condition
Ex-Ghana defender dies at age 43
5 men jailed 15 years each for robbery, possession of firearms
Bagbin 'forced' to leave parliament due to delays in commencing sitting


text:
Beatrice Inn Faces Unpaid Wages Lawsuit
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP has filed a class action wage lawsuit against the Beatrice Inn restaurant, a high end West Village chop house known for its extravagant steak options. According to the lawsuit, Butcher's Block Hospitality, LLC and Angela Mar, owners of the Beatrice Inn restaurant failed to pay its tipped workers overtime compensation, minimum wages, misappropriated tips, and other damages. Employees that would be affected by the lawsuit include tipped workers such as bartenders, barbacks, captains, and others in similar non-managerial positions.
The lawsuit claims that the Beatrice Inn violated the New York Labor Law ("NYLL") by:
Failing to provide written notice of the tip credit minimum wage rate to tipped workers.
Requiring tipped workers to share tips with employees who were not entitled to receive them under the NYLL including, but not limited to, Bar Managers and Silverware Polishers;
Requiring tipped workers to spend more than 2 hours and/or 20% of their shift performing non-tip producing side work such as general cleaning of the restaurant and stocking and cleaning service areas; and
Due to these potential violations of the NYLL, tipped workers were unable to keep all of the tips that they earned as well as unable to earn hourly wages at the proper minimum wage rate. Affected tipped workers may be entitled to recover their owed hard earned wages as well as liquidated damages, reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest. If you have worked for the Beatrice Inn located at 285 W 12th Street, New York, NY 10014 as a captain, bartender, barback, or other non-managerial employee, you may have a claim. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the matter, please call Fitapelli & Schaffer, a firm is dedicated to combating a wide range of abusive and illegal workplace practices. Dial (212) 300-0375 for a free phone consultation or visit our web page for additional information.
To read more click here.


text:
Barbara Radulović (born 2 September 1982) is a Croatian TV host.  She is perhaps best known as a participant in the Nova TV talent show Story Supernova Talents in 2003. After that appearance, Radulović soon had a chance to host the HRT music show Video-kiosk. In 2010, she was working as a host on the Croatian Music Channel, which started on November 5, 2007.

Born in Ogulin, Radulović has since lived in Zagreb, where she graduated at the Faculty of Economics.

Radulović shot an editorial for the Croatian men's magazine, Klik, in 2003.

She was chosen as the most beautiful Croatian woman on the Croatian portal Index.hr for the year 2007.

References

External links
Croatian stars website

1982 births
Living people
Croatian television presenters
Croatian women television presenters
Television people from Zagreb


Looking to replace that old entry door to your home? Need a more secure, reliable door? Then why not turn to the door experts at American Best Doors? We specialize in all types of home entry doors. We'll gladly give you a free, no-obligation price quote. From repairing your existing door to replacing it with something more modern, just give us a call at 1-877-888-3049 and we'll get the job done in no time.


Borough Market is London's most renowned food market; it is a mecca for people who love British and international produce.
Due to its reputation, the street food is of the highest quality, indeed with all the gourmet food on offer you will be spoilt for choice.
It is a haven for foodies that attracts chefs, restaurateurs, amateur cooks and people who love eating and drinking.
The market is populated by a community of individuals from all over the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
Many of our stallholders are extremely knowledge and are happy to share their knowledge.
It's a place to explore the Street Food of the world and discover new food in a atmosphere of wonderful foods and aroma's.
By londonvisitors2014 in London Street Food on May 31, 2014 .


text:
Duke Law Scholarship Repository
Duke Law > Duke Law Scholarship Repository > Faculty Scholarship > 3079
Text, History, and Tradition: What the Seventh Amendment Can Teach Us About the Second
Darrell A. H. Miller, Duke Law SchoolFollow
District of Columbia v. Heller, right to bear arms, gun control, Second Amendment, Seventh Amendment, gun control
In District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago, the Supreme Court made seemingly irreconcilable demands on lower courts: evaluate Second Amendment claims through history, avoid balancing, and retain as much regulation as possible. To date, lower courts have been unable to devise a test that satisfies all three of these conditions. Worse, the emerging default candidate, intermediate scrutiny, is a test that many jurists and scholars consider exceedingly manipulable.
This Article argues that courts could look to the Supreme Court's Seventh Amendment jurisprudence, and in particular the Seventh Amendment's "historical test," to help them devise a test for the Second. The historical test relies primarily on analogical reasoning from text, history, and tradition to determine the constitutionality of any given practice or regulation. Yet the historical test is supple enough to respond to the demands of a twenty-first-century judicial system. As such, it provides valuable insights, but also its own set of problems, for those judges and scholars struggling to implement the right to keep and bear arms.
Darrell A. H. Miller, Text, History, and Tradition: What the Seventh Amendment Can Teach Us About the Second, 122 Yale Law Journal 852-938 (2013)
Firearms--Law and legislation, District of Columbia v. Heller, Constitution. 7th Amendment, Gun control, Constitution. 2nd Amendment
Constitutional Law Commons, Legal History Commons, Second Amendment Commons
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/3079
Duke Law Authors
Most Popular Faculty Scholarship
Duke Law Links
Accessibility Statement | Contact Duke Law | Duke University Home


text:
HomeDocumentaryFeaturesSaudi names Jury for int'l Qur'an, Adhan competitions
Thu 26 Jumada Al Akhira 1444AH 19-1-2023AD
FeaturesHuman Interest
The international Qur'an recitation and adhan (call to prayer) competition has announced the names of jury members for its final qualifiers to be aired on the "Otr Elkalam" TV show.
A jury of five members specialized in the Qur'an, maqams and vocal pitches will evaluate contestants and help with their performances during the competition, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
The jury consists of Sheikh Ahmed Nahas, the muezzin of the Grand Mosque in Makkah; Sheikh Mishari bin Rashed Al-Afasy, a well-known reciter and imam of the Grand Mosque in Kuwait; Abdul Rahim Nabulsi, secretary-general of Reciters and Teaching Recitation in Morocco; Bahloul Saeed Abu Arqoub, an expert in maqamat and a judge in international Qur'anic competitions from Libya; and Sheikh Ahmed Mansour, leading reciter of the Al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt.
READ ALSO: NAHCON, IsDB to deepen Economic cooperation
The competition, which combines adhan and recitation in one platform, has looked to diversify its evaluation committee to improve transparency and impartiality.
In addition to the main jury, Sheikh Adil Al-Kalbani, former imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, will serve as general supervisor of the competition, and Fahad Al-Andas, an imam and preacher at the King Faisal Air Academy for 27 years, will be the secretary-general of the competition.
The competition, which is being supervised by the General Entertainment Authority, will be broadcast during the month of Ramadan on the MBC TV channel and the Shahid digital platform, with prizes amounting to more than SR12 million ($3.2 million).
The contest is designed to highlight the rich diversity of cultures in the Islamic world and showcase the vocal methods of Qur'an recital as well as adhan.
World Grand Mufti, Egypt, Arab League, condemn burning of Holy Quran in Stockholm


While you may still be rocking the same haircut since the third grade, your kitty has it's paw on the hottest trends. You will add some new options to your kitty's wardrobe with our removable cat bow tie that can be put on or taken off depending on what look your cat is going for that day.
The Bow Tie will fit any Sweet Pickles Designs' Cat Collar and features an elastic loop for easy put on and take off.
© 2019 Sweet Pickles Designs. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Nidek – church of Saint Apostles Simon and Jude
Church of Saint Apostles Simon and Jude was probably built before 1539. It was probably founded on the site of the previous one, because the local parish was created in 1313. The founder of the temple was the owner of the village, Mikołaj Nidecki. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries it belonged to the Calvinists and later to the Arians. Catholics were restored in 1669. The tower was added in 1617 or in 1663. The late-gothic temple has been preserved without major changes since its inception.
The church is wooden, built on a high stone foundation, erected in a log framed construction, with walls covered with shingles and partially timbered. On the west side, a tower in a pole structure with overhang porch has been added. The chancel, narrower than the nave, is three sides ended, and on its northern side there is a later sacristy. The temple is surrounded by low arcades supported by pillars. The nave and the presbytery are covered with a uniform, steep roof, based on a gothic truss. All roofs are covered with shingle.
Inside, you can admire gothic carpentry details. The hole in the chancel arch has an ogival crowning. Portals from the south and from the presbytery to the sacristy have lintels in the ogee arch shapes. The oldest monument on the church's equipment is the baptismal font dated to the sixteenth century.
Currently, the church is not used, for the occasion to visit you should ask at the clergy house near a nearby stone church.
church from the north, photo: Mapio.net
church from the north-west side, photo Wikimedia Commons
church from the west side, photo Wikimedia Commons
church from the south side, photo Mapio.net
Szlak architektury drewnianej. Małopolska, Cisowski B., Duda M., Kraków 2005.


text:
Schliersee  is een meer in de Duitse deelstaat Beieren met een oppervlakte van 2,2 km². Het meer ligt in de gelijknamige gemeente Schliersee, district Miesbach, ongeveer 50 km ten zuidoosten van München.

Externe link
 https://web.archive.org/web/20100722030919/http://www.schliersee.de/

Meer in Duitsland
Geografie van Beieren
Stroomgebied van de Donau


I was in the shopping centre car park the other day and I saw this man park in the disabled area. He got out of the car and there was nothing wrong with him.
I was so angry that I ran him over!
Then his wife got out and started waving her crutches at me!
"I'm on my way to puck up my daughter at the park"
I received a text back saying "Okay, but I think you meant *pick..."
On my first day of work the boss said, "If you have any problems, come to my office and let me know."
He was shocked when I popped in shortly after to show him my Genital Warts.
My wife asked me to pick her up after work last night.
Apparently, me driving by her office slowly and asking her "How much for a blowie?" was not what she meant.
....out of my way, so I could chat-up her fit sister.
Amy Winehouse apparently died after 'battling demons for years'.
Awesome way to go, if you ask me.
My Italian neighbour came up to me this morning and said, "I've died your-a-cat ginger."
"You dyed him? But he was ginger in the first place."
"Sorry, my english, she no-a-that good, I mean your-a ginger cat died. I hit her with-a-the lawnmower."
I got hit by a car in Paris the other day and a French guy came upto me and said "Cest la vie"
So I replied "La vie!"
Doctor told me I might die if I don't stop drinking.
I've been off it now for 3 days and I'm really having second thoughts.
I think I might be dehydrated.
I think my girlfriend's a bit of a science geek.
She stopped at her mate's yesterday and has just texted me to say that they'd 'spent the night experimenting'.
My wife winked and said, "If you're in the mood, you can if you want."
I said, "Cheers love, I'll be back at closing time."
I've always hated facial hair, but I must admit my Movember moustache is growing on me.
I was in the garden with my wife when she winked at me and said 'Do you want me to, you know, go down?'.
'Sure' I replied 'Just let me get my shovel'.
I suspected my girlfriend of cheating, and my worst fears were confirmed. I received a text saying she wanted to see other people.
But I soon realised I had nothing to worry about when I received another text 2 minutes later saying "Sorry babe, that text wasn't meant for you."
"Careful" I said, "I don't want you to find my 12 inch concealed weapon"
"I told you to stay away" I screamed before pulling the knife from my trousers and stabbing her.
I have just overheard my parents saying they think I have special knees.
"Daddy, can you put my knickers on?"
"No, they normally get stuck just above my knee."
I turned up at the beach painted blue with red pants and a white hat.
I wish I had read that text message more carefully.
My mates turned up in swimming trunks ready to go surfing.
We were out having a romantic dinner when my girlfriend said "I've been living with you for three years now, isn't there a question you want to ask me?"
"Yeah, when are you moving out?" I asked.
''I got fired from my job as a vet this morning for a spoonerism.'' I said to my mate.
"What's a spoonerism?" He asked.
Sven Goran Eriksonn admits interest in Chelsea managerial Vacancy.
Me too mate. I cant wait to find out who their next manager will be.
I was on Countdown and the letters round had finished. I was then asked to submit my answer.
I was in a really loud nightclub last night when a gorgeous girl came up to me and shouted what sounded like, "Do you fancy Afuq?"
I leant over and, with my mouth to her ear said, "I doubt it, with a name like that I'm guessing that she's a filthy Arab".
"Come on in," I said to the neighbour at the front door.
"I'd rather not," she said, "I've got dirty feet."
"That doesn't matter," I said. "You can keep your shoes on."
I went to visit my Scottish cousin in the summer holidays.
I asked, "What shall we do tomorrow?"
He replied, "Do you fancy going to shoot some hoops?"
I thought, that's a great idea.
I turned up in my Michael Jordan top with my basketball.
He turned up in his Rangers top with a gun.


As an official AceKard reseller, ConsoleSource.com is please to introduce the AceKard2i. The AceKard2i is the first NDS flash cart to be 100% compatible with the new Nintendo DSi handheld console. The AceKard2i is available from ConsoleSource.com immediately for as little as $24.95ea.
The all new and all powerful Acekard 2i offers support for NDS, NDS Lite, and the new DSi. Acekard 2 has many great features and is a great buy. The interface is by far the best of any cart available.
Acekard 2i use the technology of directly writting save file to MicsoSD card. No need to manually select save size or backup save when turn on DS. No battery needed. Acekard 2i can use save files from other flash carts and do not need convert. All you need to do is make sure the save file has the same prefix name and put it at the same directory of ROM. Then you can just run the game to use new save file.
Acekard 2i inherit the best quality of acekard's products. You can just drag and drop software on MicroSD card to run. On first boot it takes some time to create save file. The loader time after save file is created is very fast.
The Acekard 2i is compatible with all homebrew because of the DLDI auto-patcher. You can just copy the homebrews to the MicroSD card and run it. You can use Moonshell, one of the most well known homebrew software on DS, for multi media. Watching movie, listening MP3, reading TXT novel on DS is so easy!
Save file is written directly to TF card. No need to manually select save size, no data loss.
Automatic DLDI patching. Run homebrew programs without converting.
Support soft-reset, Download Play and WiFi gaming!
Support any brand of TF, with no slowdown!
Support Action Replay cheats . Build-in editor!
Low power consumption for longer operational time!