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Africa, Blog, Children, Family Planning, Women and Girls
Rwanda Leads the World in Women Lawmakers
Posted by Social Good Moms Contributor on February 7, 2014
By Elaine Tucci
Elaine Tucci is the Co-Founder and CEO of Women Lead to Change
www.womenleadtochange.org
In Rwanda and a few other African countries, improvements in care for expectant mothers and newborns are allowing many more to survive and remain healthy. UN Photo
As the world learns more about the promise of women to bring peace, prosperity and economic well-being to nations, Rwanda has become a poster child of this promise. Thriving after one of the most brutal genocides in history, today Rwanda is referred to as the heart of the African Renaissance.
In September's elections Rwandans once again voted in a female majority parliament, directly electing 26 women in addition to the 24 seats reserved for females in the constitution. Rwanda has come to be the world's leader in women lawmakers holding an unprecedented 64 percent of seats in Rwanda's parliament, more than any another country in the world. Women also occupy some of the most important government ministries, holding approximately one third of all cabinet positions.
As a result, life is changing fast for women in Rwanda and these investments in women will have a ripple effect that will improve life for their families, communities and the country as a whole. To begin a list of astounding accomplishments, the small African nation has cut poverty by 12% in six years, from 57% of its population to 45%. This is roughly one million Rwandans emerging from poverty, most of them women and children — one of the most stunning drops in the world.
Paul Collier, director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University notes that Rwanda can be compared to an East Asian-style "developmental state," where the government is very serious about growing the economy. "The economy was well managed, with inflation kept low, and the business environment improved." As a result, over the course of six years Rwanda has moved from around 140th to 60th in the World Bank's "Doing Business" annual rating.
Some changes in Rwanda are obvious to the eye, such as houses that have tin roofs instead of thatch. A decent roof is one of the first changes people make when they start the ascent out of poverty. Some of the changes are psychological. There is a sense and a hope that things really can improve, and a sense that individual families can do something to better their circumstances.
Josh Ruxin, director of Rwanda Works has lived with his family in Rwanda since 2005. He notes the amazing infrastructure and economic development improvements he has witnessed. "Five years ago, traveling anywhere in the country was bound to be a bumpy ride, if the way was even passable. Today, east-to-west and north-to-south, the road infrastructure is impressive and continues to expand. Five years ago, the country struggled to get tourists in for $375 permits to visit Rwanda's mountain gorillas. Today, during high season, there are not enough $500 tickets to meet the demand. Five years ago, there were no supermarkets or ATMs, and the cheapest cell phones cost $50. Today there are multiple supermarkets, over a dozen international ATMs, and cell phones that cost $14 are plentiful."
Ruxin notes that access to formerly inconsistent electricity and running water even for those who could pay for it, is being constantly improved. Hotels and restaurants are popping up everywhere and a service sector is emerging to meet heightened tourism demand. Wireless broadband is being installed across the country and more universities, technical schools, and preschools are opening. The second national language has shifted from French to English.
A Dedicated Focus on Health Outcomes and Family Planning
A young woman with her baby outside the Muhura health post.
Photo: Didier Habimana
To accomplish the stunning drop in poverty major investments were made in the rural poor and extensive improvements were made in health programs and outcomes. Collier notes that "most of the achievement is likely due to domestic policies."
At a summit to review the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Rwanda was commended for its very likely success in meeting and possibly even surpassing the MDG targets for child and maternal mortality by 2015. According to officials at UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which provides contraceptives and other support to rural communities, Rwanda has literally brought its health care system back to life. The government has initiated bold reforms and innovative approaches to make health care accessible and affordable for everyone, with a strong emphasis on reproductive health, including family planning.
Much of the credit for successes goes to the government's successful health insurance program. Its removal of user fees for family planning services has contributed to significant increases in use of services. There has been a jump from 9% to 26% of contraceptive prevalence among married women aged 15-49, and the skilled birth attendance rate increased from 39% to 52%.
"This a real achievement," says Asha Mohamud, a reproductive health advisor for UNFPA. "It often takes decades for countries to see this kind of change."
The Mayange Health Centre is located in the heart of the Bugesera district, just south of the capital city of Kigali. Built in 1999, the clinic serves 25,000 people. Until early 2006, it saw only 5 to 10 patients a day. Nurses were rarely in attendance and pharmaceuticals were not available. Lights had been installed in the facility but there was no electricity to power them. With the new investments in the government's health insurance program the center has rapidly transformed into a model for the nation.
Enrollment in the clinics programs has grown quickly, and the number of patients has skyrocketed to more than 150 each day. Those enrolled pay an annual premium equivalent to 2 US dollars and women who keep four appointments during a pregnancy can deliver at no cost. Staff training and infrastructure improvements have significantly enhanced services, and now the lights are turned on permanently.
Other major changes include new equipment and more staff to contribute to safe and hygienic births. The clinic used to only have three trained nurses and most mothers were still giving birth at home. Now it has eighteen nurses available and most of the mothers in the area now give birth at the health center. Life expectancy for the babies has improved as well and mothers are educated to stay for three days after delivery to ensure the health of their newborn.
The initial results of these health investments in Rwanda are impressive. Child mortality has decreased by over 30% since 2005 and maternal mortality declined by 25 % in the years up to 2005. There has been a decline in the fertility rate from 6.1 to 5.5 children per woman, and achievement of immunization rates of 95% were attained by 2008.
The Need for More Progress
These new achievements will have notable effects on the population as a whole as the country grows, but even more progress is needed. The land in Rwanda is already intensively settled, and the hillsides densely cultivated with bananas, coffee and vegetables. With approximately 368 people per square kilometer, Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. And because of its terrain — the country is known as the land of a thousand hills – that means that not all of the land is arable. And with two thirds of its population under the age of 25, dropping fertility rates are good news. The dramatic expansion of family planning that is taking place and the growing desire for smaller families will be a key feature to managing future growth.
There is still much to done, however. For example, women in the rural Muhura area still bear an average of six children or more. Until recently, they had little choice in the matter. According to representatives from UNFPA, the nearest health clinic, like about 60% of the health services in Rwanda, is run by the Catholic Church. The only contraceptive devices offered there are cycle beads, a refinement of the rhythm method. Transportation to these rural health posts is problematic as busses pass through town only a couple of times a week, and there are no private cars. An "ambulance" is traditionally four men carrying someone in a hammock dozens of kilometers or more over hilly rutted roads to the nearest hospital.
But thanks to new investments from the government today women can be referred to new secondary health posts, where family planning counseling and contraceptives are available free of charge. In Muhura for example, the Health Ministry converted an empty building into a secondary health post that offers family planning information and services three days a week. 65 secondary rural health posts have already been established throughout the country, and 21 more centers are planned.
Once the health post opened, women began coming, first in a trickle, then in droves. "Now we see about 50 women a day," said the nurse who runs the rural post program in Muhura.
Rwandan women have not always been so accepting of family planning. Traditionally, having children has been a source of respect and pride and rumors and misconceptions about contraceptives, and fear of side effects were common. But According to UNFPA officials a massive effort is underway to educate Rwandan communities, both men and women, about the value of smaller families. The government is very conscious of demographic trends, said Cheik Falls, the UNFPA deputy representative in the country. "They know that they have a special country because of the all the hills. If the demographic aspects are not mastered, it will jeopardize development efforts."
As a result of this growing awareness attitudes are changing and the desire for smaller families is increasing. At a meeting in Muhura hosted by UNFPA, officials noted that when local women were asked, "How many have more than five children?" dozens of women raised their hands.
And when asked "How many are done having children?" almost all of the hands went up. According to DHS data, only 7 % of married women in Rwanda want to have another child soon.
"I want to raise the three children I have properly and pay for their education," says a 28-year-old mother. "When you have a lot of children you will remain poor."
Now that contraception has been made more widely available, women who want to stop having babies but whose husbands object are told it is their right to choose. Some even go to these rural health posts in secret for three-monthly injections.
These secondary health posts are attracting clients and interest in modern contraceptive methods, says Daphrose Nyirasafali, a reproductive health and rights officer with UNFPA Rwanda. "The government and its partners are optimistic this strategy will boost the adoption of modern family planning methods, resulting in a more manageable fertility rate and sustainable development."
Changing Laws are Changing Perceptions
Clearly, what is happening in Rwanda is little short of revolutionary.
"There used to be a lot of rapes, wife beating, male domination of women, boys sent to school and not girls," said Nyirasafali. "That has all changed, even in the countryside." Rape is now acknowledged as a very serious offense and there is a free police hotline and heavy jail sentences for perpetrators. The legislature has also passed bills aimed at ending domestic violence and child abuse, although these issues remain a vexing issue for the country.
Rwandan women now have the right to own land and property and when they marry they may choose to combine their assets with their husband or they can keep them separate. Inheritance laws have been passed to split a man's property equally between his wife and both female and male children. As a result the divorce rate is increasing.
A legislative committee has combed through the countries legal code and has compiled a list of laws to modify or toss out altogether to put an end to gender discrimination, including one that requires a woman to get her husband's signature to receive a bank loan.
New social norms are also unfolding. Traditionally in Rwanda men and women operated in separate spheres and played different roles, said Juliana Kantengwa, a member of Rwanda's senate. "There were no-go areas, like drumming," she said, that were male only preserves. During opening ceremonies, we now have teams of girls drumming with strength, enthusiasm and skill. "We (now) see fathers encouraging their daughters to do engineering and get out of nursing. (And) we have quite a number in the army and police force." Women are driving the economy — working on construction sites, in factories and as truck and taxi drivers.
Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's foreign affairs minister, and one of eight female ministers, said no one should view Rwanda's women parliamentarians as "window dressing". "We have a lot of influence," Mushikiwabo said. "The president is present most of the time in our cabinet meetings. He encourages us to think out of the box and initiate policy. It's a very open forum. That's where all the major decisions for the country are made."
Having a female majority voice can certainly change priorities. "The fact that we are so many has made it possible for men to listen to our views," said lawmaker Espérance Mwiza. "Now that we're a majority, we can do even more."
Rwanda's progress for women is being admired around the globe. The government convened an international forum on the role of leadership in gender equality and woman's empowerment, attracting women ministers, MPs and dignitaries from all over Africa and the world, including the UN deputy secretary general from Tanzania, Asha-Rose Migiro. "I salute you for bringing gender and equality to the heart of the political process," she told the forum in the Rwandan parliament.
So what is next for this African Renaissance? The government has now set its sights on getting the country to middle-income levels. Growth so far has come primarily from improving existing systems and services. Collier says that to reach middle income, "Rwanda needs pioneer investors and aid to support them with public infrastructure; I hope that it gets them. If it does, then, yes, poverty can continue to fall fast."
Rwanda's astounding achievements are welcome news on a continent where overall progress towards these goals has barely registered. They demonstrate what is possible when political will and innovative policy meet the promise of women in leadership.
http://www.unfpa.org/public/cache/offonce/News/pid/4262
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/28/womens-rights-rwanda
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-10-27/world/36868289_1_hutus-rwandan-patriotic-front-tutsi-women
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/02/how-did-rwanda-cut-poverty-so-much.html
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/16-years-after-the-genocide-rwanda-continues-forward/
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Wohoo! We made it to hump-day...week half over, holiday weekend coming up. Did I tell you that my car runs like it was new! Wohoo...I got real pep in my step...And the gas pedal too!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Plot Development, now we're moving on to General Story Techniques! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Brainstorming.
Did you ever hear a premise, snap your fingers, and think to yourself, "Now, that is a great idea for a story!" Or maybe you thought, "Boy, I wish I had thought of that one myself!"
Some ideas are like that: They immediately engage. They are naturals. Right away the story begins to write itself in your head. You can see what will happen first and exactly how it will go after that. Strangely, although the story already is familiar, so much so that you have begun to appropriate it, your feeling is not "How common," but "How original!"
What causes that reaction? Why is it that although there are no new stories, some ideas nevertheless feel fresh? I believe that there are several qualities that can invoke that feeling.
First is the surprising new twist on an old idea. Take the murder mystery: The essential story is the same every time. Someone is killed, and a detective figures out who did it. So familiar is this formula that it is frequently reduced to "who-dunit".
Every working novelist must come up with ideas, but beyond the premise, it is developed by brainstorming to develop it into a full-fledged plot. The key to keeping a novel lively and surprising is remembering the principle of reversal. When mapping out a scene, toss your first choices and go the opposite way. Why? First choices tend to be the safest, and most predictable.
Mostly, though, originality is within everyone's reach. Practice the techniques of brainstorming: new twists on old ideas, combining stories, gut emotional appeal, and reversing the expected. These techniques will steer you to some challenging, and definitely interesting, choices for your story.
Step 1: Pick a time and a place. Pick a problem...Brainstorm!
Step 2: Every time you write down an idea, reverse it. Go the opposite way. See where it takes you.
Note: The best villain is often less obvious; someone who is, say, connected to the hero in a personal way. A better choice than "senator" is almost always, "the hero's mentor." You see? It takes work to make that person a credible antagonist, but the conflict between hero and villain is a;already more complex because of their prior alliance.
Go through your folder of story ideas. Pick a check mark on those that offer a new twist to an old idea, or that have gut emotional appeal. Try combining ideas. Also try turning them upside down and inside out. Reverse them. See what happens!
Conclusion: Whatever you do, push your premise and plotlines further. Do not be satisfied with just a good story. Be satisfied with a story that is original, gut grabbing, unexpected, layered, and complex. In other words, stop working only when your story is great. How will you know? It will take longer than you think. Keep pushing!
Hey, hey, it's Tuesday! And I have my car back! Thank you Jesus...No more rides with my DH. I do love the man, but his driving leaves much to be desired! Ladies...You all know what I mean!
Well we only have a few lessons left in this book, so let's get at it!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Plot Development, now we're moving on to General Story Techniques! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Symbols.
Symbols, which sometimes go by their more academic name, objective correlative, are another literary device that feels old-fashioned. The very word takes you back to high school!
In their simplest form, though, symbols are anything outward that stands in for anything inward, or abstract, such as a mood or an idea. A statement like, "He was in turmoil" can feel blunt. Instead, we might substitute an image; say, "Outside, the Siberian Elms held their heads in their hands and swayed, wailing like a chorus of Greek women." Okay so it's over the top, but it nevertheless conveys an inner state.
Symbols can be glaringly obvious, of course. Think sunsets and trains rushing into tunnels. At their best, though, they are elegant and evocative. Their effect can be subliminal, barely noticed. A device they may be, but they also can be quite powerful.
Are there physical objects or recurring events that might serve as symbols in your novel? The exercise that follows asks you not to impose symbols on your manuscript, but to discover them already there. They are buried like artifacts that readers can happen upon and enjoy, either consciously or not, for the extra meaning that they add to your story.
Step 1: What is one prominent object, event, or action that appears in your novel?
Step 2: How can that object, event, or action recur at your novel's end?
Step 3: Find three other places where this object, event, or action can recur in the course of the story.
Note: Whether it is a gathering hurricane or a pink ribbon from a child hood Christmas package, symbols gain power as they recur. Naturally a hurricane forming in every scene would be a ridiculous run of bad weather, but as the opening and closing framework to a story? That could work.
Same thing with rings, ribbons, whooping cranes, green Packard convertible...Any natural or inanimate object that returns at portentous moments. Such objects soak up meaning and then release it.
Follow-up: What is the opposite of that object, event, or action? Find a place for that to appear or occur too.
Conclusion: Sometimes called objective correlatives, symbols can be overly obvious, but when cleverly chosen and tactically deployed they can punctuate a story in powerful ways!
1. Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"?
2. Where do forest rangers go "to get away from it all?"
5. Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
6. Why do they lock gas stations bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?
7. If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?
8. Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
9. Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
10. If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
11. Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
Good Monday...Well, it's Monday, but not necessarily good! The timing chain on my car decided that it was done with me on Friday...*sigh*...So I have been sans car. I'm riding with the DH but that's like taking your life in your hands as any given time. Let's just say I've been doing a lot of praying! My homegirl Debbie Brand picked me up for church, so I did get one safe ride this weekend!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Theme.
This is the final exercise in this section. It's called Making the Antagonist's Case.
Step 1: What does your antagonist believe in? Why do they feel justified and right? How would the world be better, through their eyes, if things ran the way they would like them to run?
Step 2: Make the antagonist's case stronger. Assume that the antagonist is actually correct: What support for their case can be found in philosophy or religion? On a practical level, how would things really be better? Explain in writing.
Step 3: Choose a character who supports your antagonist, and make the antagonist's case from that character's point of view.
Note: In many manuscripts the antagonists are cardboard. They are bluntly evil or wrong. One dimensional villains do not frighten me...or most readers. Far scarier are villains who have a good reason for doing what they do, and who can justify their intents and actions as working for the good.
Follow-up: find the moment in your story when your protagonist realizes that you antagonist is right, and why.
Conclusion: Certainly you want your hero to doubt himself at times, don't you? Why not push that all the way and let your hero doubt him/her self in the extreme? What would be the circumstances? How close to failure does your protagonist come? In that moment, you will be very close to your core values and theme.
Here's some Wisdom and Questions for you to ruminate on!
5. I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
6. Could it be that all those trick-or-treaters wearing sheets aren't going as ghosts but as mattresses?
7. If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
8. If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?
9. It there another word for synonym?
10. How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?
11. Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?
Wheeee! We made it to the weekend....Everybody's workin' for the weekend! I wish I could put little musical emoticons on this...LOL!
Anyhow...We are on another exercise of chapter 32 - Theme. Let's get to it!
This is the third and final exercise to this chapter. This one is entitled Same Problem, Other Characters!
Step 1: What is the main problem in the novel?
Step 2: Who else in the story besides your protagonist could have that problem? How would it manifest differently for these other characters?
Step 3: Incorporate the results of the previous step into the story. Make notes!
Note: Theme is not smeared onto your story in the final draft. Like frosting on a cake. Rather, it emerges from the very substance of the story. To make your theme large and resonant, let it work in your story in more ways than one. It doesn't matter that the central problem is different for other characters. Your variations on the theme will only reinforce the themes itself.
Follow-up: Who in your story could have the oppositeproblem? Incorporate that into your novel!
Conclusion: Just as it is advisable to strengthen your theme, it is also no problem to run counter to it. Does your hero rescue his family from the wilderness, struggling against nature? What about the hermit who helps them? He lives at peace with nature, yes? His struggle man be the opposite: to connect again with his fellow man.
And this joke...I got from my homegirl Debra Brand That's D-e-b-r-a...LOL, Hi Deb, just wanted to make sure credit went where credit was due, especially so people don't think my taste for jokes has headed...er, uh...south!
Ok, so a frog walks into a bank and tells the lady at the counter he would like to make a loan of $200,000. He notices her name is Paddy Wack, from her name tag on her blouse.
She says that that's quite a substantial amount and she will have to get authorization for it first, and that it may take a while.
She asks him what his name is and he says "Kermit Jagger, my dad is Mick Jagger so everything should be fine."
The teller lady tells him she will have to go and see the Bank Manager first. Upon which the frog gives her a little pink elephant and says "Here take this with you, give it to your Bank Manager."
"It's a nick nack, Paddy Wack, give the Frog a loan - his old man's a Rolling Stone..."
REMEMBER THIS WASN'T MINE...LOL, but it mad me laugh all the same, because it was so bad!
Good Thursday...The weekend is sneaking up on me! *Smack!* I saw you coming! Boy the days do so fast that it makes me feel old...LOL!
Yesterday we went over Theme, and the exercise was about alternate endings. Today we'll do "the Larger Problem" as an exercise.
Step: 1 Thinking about the story as a whole, what is the main problem facing your protagonist?
Step: 2 What is the bigger problem beyond that?
Step: 3 What is the problem that your protagonist cannot solve?
Step: 4 Find ways to introduce into the story the bigger problem and the problem that cannot be solved. How can that be accomplished?
Note: What public issues stir you up. If you could change the world what would you change. Allow the words to emerge from not only your heart, but from your protagonists problems!
Follow-up: What is the main problem in your protagonists second plot layer? Write it down and follow the steps above to develop a secondary theme.
Conclusion: Every issue conceals a bigger issue. At the heart of every big issue is a dilemma that has no answer. While it may sound downbeat to introduce these elements into your story, in fact they will amplify the problem at hand. the ripples that they send outward in your readers minds are, in essence, your novel's deepest issues, or to put in another way, it's theme at work!
This is a real story, I checked it out at Snopes.com!
tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.
want them to know that."
"those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt.
Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."
first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up."
"It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."
The name New York was reportedly revived for the warship (which was already under construction) at the request of New York governor George Pataki to commemorate the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., creating an exception to current U.S. Navy policy of using state names only for nuclear submarines.
Yahoo, I'm a Blogging Chick, that is so cool. Ladies, all ladies this is a Blogroll group that is just for ladies....no Blogging roosters allowed! There are 140 women, come join! Blogging Chicks, Blogging Chicks, Blogging Chicks...go check them out and join! Aren't they cute little chicks!
This chapter is too big to be one post, so I'll divide it up over a couple days!
There are many different ways to discover and develop the themes in your novel. Themes can be motifs, recurring patterns, outlooks, messages, morals...any number of deliberate elements that make your manuscript more than just a story...indeed, that makes it a novel with something to say.
What are the themes of your current novel, and how are you developing them? Whether you are making your point by creating a backward antagonist, or by giving other characters parallel problems, or by introducing problems that are bigger than your protagonist, or by showing us what your character is aiming for (or at least will settle for).
Be sure that you have a means to bring out what you want to say. A novel that has nothing to say will have a tough time breaking out!
Step:1 With respect to the story as a whole, what does your protagonist want?
Step:2 If your protagonist cannot get that, what would she/he take second?
Step:3 If he/she can get nothing else, what would he settle for?
Step:4 Work out alternative endings for the novel based on each of the above answers. How would each ending go?
Note: the point of this exercise is not necessarily to change the ending of your novel( although it might). It is to use alternate outcomes to understand what it is that your protagonist is really after, and why.
Is second-best or the minimum good enough? Then perhaps you need to raise the personal stakes so that those lesser outcomes are in no way acceptable. Buried in the results of this exercise also are clues to what you novel, really is about: it's theme!
Follow-up: Again thinking of the story as a whole, what outcome would be more than your protagonist possible could hope for?
Conclusion: Ah! The answer to that last question may open up even more possible outcomes for the story. Could it be that your protagonist (or you) has her sights set too low? Even if that dream outcome is not practical, how can that vision of greater good be incorporated into the story?
And now for a joke I got from my friend Sandra!
Two little kids are in a hospital, lying on gurneys next to each other outside the operating room.
The first kid says," A circumcision."
The second kid says, "Whoa, Good luck buddy! I had that done when I was born. Couldn't walk for a year."
Well good Tuesday, we're almost done with this series. I'm looking for other books that will help us in our writing.
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Character Delineation.
Having sharpened the POV's you have chosen for your novel, it is now time to take the next step and make sure that your characters sound, act, and think differently from each other. That's the business of character delineation.
How are your characters different from one another? In your mind, I'm sure they are quite different, but how is that specifically conveyed to your readers? Use a chart to create separate vocabularies, traits, actions, and more for your characters. You will be surprised how much more individual they become.
Step 1: Create a chart in a spread sheet program like Excel. Write down the first column: sofa, bureau, dress, pants, shoes, auto, soda, coffee, alcohol, cash, "Hello", "Cool", "Oh well", God, mother, father, partner/spouse, man, woman, attractive, unattractive, music, periodical. Now in the next three columns to the right place a POV character at the top. Down each column fill in the character's word for the one you've listed.
Note: You can make the list as long as you want. The point is to find each characters voice.
Follow-up: for each POV character give them unique traits, gestures, rationalizations, peeves, hot buttons etc.
Conclusion: Have you ever read a novel where all the characters sounded the same? That's weak POV writing. Strong POV is more than just the words, even cadence and sentence structure will be different. Make your characters different just as people are different!
Hey, it's Monday and I have my head screwed on straight...well relatively speaking anyhow! The Christian Fiction Blog Alliance website is up and running. The CFBA Blog is also open for commenting. The CFBA Blogroll is almost done, just a little Beta testing to do, and a half dozen other projects are nearing completion, so we're back on schedule.
Hey, I remember where we left off! Today we continue with Donald Maass' Writing a Breakout Novel. This is a fabulous book and I encourage each of you to buy it. What I'm presenting here is by no means a full lesson and there is a wealth of insight and additional info that will help you.
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Point of View.
Most contemporary novels are written from the POV of their characters. This can get quite intimate...first person being as intimate as you can get! But there are plenty of alternate POV's to employ, including the objective and authorial POV's.
Although these are older approaches as somewhat out of fashion...Hey who ever though bell bottoms and platform shoes would come back...LOL!
Whatever your choice, POV is the perspective you give your readers on the action of the story. It pays to make it strong.
What sort of voice do you have? Soprano? Alto? Tenor? Bass? What kind of soprano...bright? What kind of tenor...high? Is your voice pop, smooth, operatic, or belting? The type of singing voice you have makes a difference to the sound that comes out of your mouth, correct?
So it is with the voice of your novel. The voice will largely be determined by your choice of POV, but more than that by how you use that POV. Are the voices ordinary and generic, or are they highly colored and specific?
Heighten POV throughout your manuscript, and you will strengthen your story's impact.
Step 1: Open your manuscript at random. Whose POV are we experiencing the action through?
Step 2: On this page, select anything the POV character says, does, or thinks. Heighten it. Change the dialogue. Exaggerate the action. Grow the emotion, thought, or observation to make it even more characteristic of this character.
Follow-up: Turn to another page at random. Do the same exercise....repeat the steps about once in every scene in your novel.
Conclusion: What would happen if you did this exercise instead of just think about it? Your novel would take longer to write, but wouldn't it be stronger? Good news. The next exercise is a tool that might make the job easier!
The new website for the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is live!
I fudged and used a Blogspot blog as the blog link...I didn't like the format on the .com blogs. And I still have one more page I can make. But for the most part it's pretty much set!
All of our active members are present and accounted for on the Reviewer page.
Our upcoming books are listed on the Schedule page.
There's several good industry links on the page of the same name.
And there's the greeting page...LOL...I'm tired...on to the spreadsheet for member genre preferences.
I haven't forgot you guys. I just promised the membership that this would get done this week!
Hello, hello, hello! We're home! I'm safely ensconced back in upstate New York as of Saturday evening...in time for Buffalo Chicken wings, I might add! And Mimi is safely back in North Carolina as of Sunday evening!
Oh, and greetings and salutations to all my new readers from the conference! If you need help with blogging just email me!
Well folks I can't say enough about the conference. If you've never went to one, especially the GPCWC This wonderful lady pictured right below with me, Marlene Bagnull, did a fabulous job of setting up this conference. The schedule was full of so many interesting classes that Mimi and I never even had time to find a Phila Cheesesteak sandwich!
The GPCWC also has its Own Blog Check it out!
Ooh, ooh....this mysterious blonde in between Mimi and I, is none other than Kathryn Mackel. Remember we reviewed her latest book, The Hidden. Go check out the review on my Book Reviews in the top Navbar! Mimi and I took her three day Continuing Sessions course on Story Structure for Novelists. She taught us everything from Concept to Climax. And spent personal time with each of us and our manuscripts!
This little dark-haired beauty is none other than my friend and author, Lisa Samson She will have a new novel out soon called Straight Up. She's got 16 novels out there...so...LOL...she's doing something right! I call her my Bohemian friend...*sigh* I probably should change that since she cut off all her long blonde hair and went au natural...Oh, well...Lisa...babe...BACK UP YOUR HARDDRIVE!...ROFLOL!
This tall gentleman with the mustache is William K Jensen, the literary agent!
While this gentleman is none other than Terry Whalin, the fiction acquisitions editor at Howard Books. I'm holding up his Book Proposals That Sell. Believe me when I say, if you want a leg up on the competition, this is a book that you need!
And this darling girl, is Jennifer Peterson. The Senior review editor for Peterson Ink, the inhouse publishing company responsible for Heartsong Presents line of Barbour Books. She is just delightful...and thanks again Jenn, for the help with the prologue!
So here we sit, tired and happy...and with funny, glowing eyes from the camera! We met so may cool people that I can't even name them all, but Jeff Edmondson...Yikes! LOL...sorry Jeff, I just realized what I said on your tape!, Julie Smith, Bryan Davis, Wanda Dyson, Patricia Haley, Cec Murphey, Joyce Moccero, and Pam Halter (I know she has a blog! Mimi, what's the address??) top the list!
I've got the book proposal done. Packing is in progress, and my best blogging buddy M.C.Pearson (Mimi) and I are good to go! I leave on Wednesday morning! Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference (GPCWC) here we come! Philadelphia will never be the same! I'll try and blog from the conference!
No Maass lessons this week, I'm preparing for the conference! Have a cute story that I posted last year.
Have you ever told a white lie? You are going to love this especially all the ladies who bake for church events!
Alice was to bake a cake for the Church ladies' group bake sale, but she forgot to do it until the last minute. She baked an angel food cake and when she took it from the oven, the center dropped flat. She said, "Oh dear, there's no time to bake another cake."
So, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. Alice found it in the bathroom...a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with icing. The finished product looked beautiful, so she rushed it to the church.
Before she left the house, Alice had given her daughter some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the minute it opened, and to buy that cake and bring it home.
The next day, Alice was invited to a friend's home where two tables of bridge were to be played that afternoon.
Alice saw the cake, she started to get out of her chair to rush into the kitchen to tell her hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, one of the other ladies said, "What a beautiful cake."
Alice sat back down in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say, "Thank you, I baked it myself."
Think about it...What would you have done?
Here's a funny story to hold you 'til Monday!
nutritionally complete so he was going to try it again.
enthralled with his story, particularly the guy who was behind the woman he was talking to.
He told her no; he'd been sitting in the street licking his uh, er family jewels and a car hit him.
The guy behind the woman, staggered out the door laughing so hard, it looked like he was going to need an ambulance!
Yahoo! We made it to another weekend, and some of the heat has dissipated...Thank you Jesus! This week was a good example of why I want to avoid hell! Yikes! Did I say that...!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Setting.
How many settings are there in your current novel? From how many POV's is each of them seen? Each outlook on each location is an opportunity to enrich your story. In your novel, how many of those opportunities are you taking?
Our perception of place changes as we change. The difference between a town as remembered from long ago and how it seems now is the difference between who we once were and who we are now. The same is true of characters in fiction. Take them anywhere and show us how they feel abut the place, or how that place makes them feel, and you will reveal to us volumes about their inner frozenness, or growth.
Step 1: Pick a high moment, turning point, or climax involving your protagonist. Where is it set?
Step 2: Write a paragraph describing how this place makes your character feel, or how your protagonist feels about this place.
Step 3: Move forward one week in time or backwards one week in time. Return your protagonist to this place. Write a paragraph describing how it makes your character feel now.
Note: There is something powerful about returning to to a place of significant action and discovering how it feels different. Pinning that down is using the psychology of place, that is, employing the perception of place as another way to measure change.
Follow-up: What is the setting that recurs most often in your novel? From whose point of view is it most often seen. Count the number of times that character is in that place. Write a list, and for each return to that place find one way in which that character's perception of it changes.
Conclusion: Bringing to life the world of your novel is more than just describing it using the five senses. A place lives most vividly through the eyes of characters. Delineate those evolving perceptions, and the world of your novel will feel rich, dynamic, and alive!
my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.
And....a woman's thought for the day!
"Don't think of it as getting hot flashes. Think of it as your inner child playing with matches."
Good Thursday. While we northerners are sweltering in the heat, our southern brothers and sisters are battening down the hatches....I pray all goes well with you folks down there! At the end of this post I have a little 'hurricane humor' that might give you five minutes of smiles!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Inner Change.
We grow and change. We also note the growth and change in others. The moments in breakout novels in which such changes are observed are milestones that measure the journey that is each story.
Change in characters, or rather, characters' perceptions of the changes within themselves and others, may happen within a scene or across long stretches of time.
It doesn't matter. Inner changes calibrate a plot, lending it a sense of inexorable progress and pace.
How does your protagonist's picture of himself change throughout the course of your novel? How does she/he view others in the story, and how do those views change? How do others see your protagonist? How do those assessments, in turn, alter? Delineate these shifts in your characters' self-perceptions and perceptions of each other. It is yet another way to tighten the weave of the story.
Step 1: Find a moment in your manuscript when your hero is speaking with a major secondary character, or when that secondary character carries the point of view while speaking with your hero.
Step 2: Create a paragraph in which your hero assesses this other character; that is, delineates for himself this other character's qualities, mood, or situation in life. Put simply, how does your hero see this character right now?
....Alternately, have your point of view character regard your hero by the same criteria. How does she view your hero at this particular moment?
Step 3: Move forward to a later point in the story when these two characters are again together on the page. Repeat the previous step. How does your hero view this character now?
....Alternately, how does that character view your protagonist at this point?
Note: You grow and change, so do your characters. But you need to once in a while measure the difference so that we as readers see it!
Follow-up: Find three points in the story in which to delineate your antagonist's view of your protagonist.
Conclusion: allow characters occasional moments to take stock of each other is a powerful way to mark each players progress through the story. Examine your hero from several points of view; later, show us how those views have shifted.
STEP 3. Drive to Illinois and remain there until Halloween.
Unfortunately,statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay in Florida.
(2) It is located in Illinois.
Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay you money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss.
If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area.
If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now. Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of Spam.
In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies: 23 flashlights; at least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights. Bleach.
A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant. A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.) A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators.
(Ask anybody who went through a hurricane; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.) $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.
Good luck, and remember: its great living in paradise.
Hey it's Hump day...time sure flies when you're having fun! I know, I know...the heat had dried out my little brain and my synapses are misfiring...it got to be like 98 yesterday...Ya'll in Texas might be used to that kind of heat, but we here in NY aren't...LOL...Wahhhh!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: Moments in Time.
There's no doubt that immersing ourselves in another world is one of the pleasures of reading a well-written novel. But as a writer, how can you capture the world of the story, and lives of the characters in just the right way?
As an exercise, it is, in part, a matter of selecting individual moments to freeze for the reader. How do you delineate these in your current manuscript? Can you identify six passages in which you go beyond simple scene settings to capture the flavor of the moment in time, the feeling of an historical era of the uniqueness of a place like no other?
If nit, is there any reason not to put that stuff in!
Step 1: find in your novel a moment of transition, a pause, a moment of character definition or testing, a place where the action can be momentarily frozen, or the prelude to (or the aftermath of) an important plot event.
Step 2: What are three things that make this minute in time different from any other minute in time?
Step 3: What are three things that make this place uniquely different from any other place.
Step 4: What are three things that define the social world of the story at this precise moment?
Note: Yes we always want to keep things moving in our stories, but it must happen in time, in space and in social context that is credible, detailed and specific! Use the steps above to create at a given moment a snapshot of the story's time to bring the world of the story into sharp focus.
Follow-up: Choose four other moments in time to freeze in the novel and delineate them using the steps above.
Conclusion: Here is where you apply your powers of observation. Give your protagonist the same awareness of the world that you have, or maybe one that is keener!
Egads! It's August already...The kids start going back to school at the end of the month. Let's hear a shout for all the frazzled moms...School, school, school!
Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference (GPCWC) next week! My best blogging buddy M.C.Pearson (Mimi) and I have been keeping our noses to the grindstone for the last few weeks preparing.
We're going for the whole three days. This will be great fun because we've been friends for about a year and a half. But we live so far away that other than the net and phone calls we've never met face-to-face. And not only that but we'll get to me a lot of our favorite writers...Wahoo! I'm so excited!
In case your just joining us...What I am attempting to do here is present truncated versions of each of the lessons in the workbook. We're done with Character Development, now we're moving on to Plot Development! Today's lesson is in Section THREE: General Story Techniques.
Oh, BTW...I've been using this book as a review for the manuscript I just edited, so I had to work ahead of you guys so that I was done by the time I leave for Phila!!
Today we're going to look at First and Last lines. No doubt about it, a great first line pulls us immediately into a story. It hooks. It intrigues. It opens a world in which things already are happening, in which discovery awaits.
Or it can, sadly, lie flat on the page doing nothing helpful all all, merely setting a scene or in some other way getting ready for the story rather than telling it. Weak first lines greet us like a limp handshake.
What makes a first line effective? Part of it would be the intrigue factor. It's the element that makes us wonder..."What does that mean? or "What happens next?...and therefore leads us to the next line where we may find the answer.
All of this usually happens so fast that we don't notice it. In the few seconds it takes to read an opening line, our subconscious minds are already racing ahead!
Just as surely as an intriguing first line can draw, a stunning exit sentence can propel a reader onward in wonder...wondering perhaps, when your next novel will be out!
Have you yet reached the last line of your current novel? If you have, go back. If you haven't, pause when you get there. Take the time to get your last line just right. Whether it leads forward or lifts our spirits or softly closes a door. Make it a line we will remember...Especially when we see your next novel on the bookstore shelves!
Step 1: What is the intrigue factor in your opening line? What question does it pose, or what puzzle does it present?
Step 2:If you are not able to answer the question in the first step, try shortening your first line. If that doesn't work, audition your second line for the lead spot. Or combine elements from your first paragraph into one short, supercharged sentence. Whatever you do, choose or construct a different first line.
Note: the one thing that all good first lines have in common is the intrigue factor.
Follow-up: Work on your last line until it has wit, a touch of poetry, or a sense of dawning peace. Try it out on others!
Conclusion: Whether it is a sigh of satisfaction, a soaring passage of word art, or nothing more than a clever exit line, put the same effort into your last line as went into your first. A book needs front and back covers to hold together; in the same way a novel needs strong brackets to bind it!
This next little story is not a joke, but a memory of says gone by...So shoot me, I'm old. I like this kinda'' stuff!
I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
Send this to those who would know, and love the story about Grandma's aprons.


BJU Press has partnered with HomeWorks by Precept to represent their homeschool products at live meetings. HomeWorks Consultants are typically homeschool parents with years of experience using BJU Press materials. They give advice and help homeschool families nationwide.
If you can't make it to a local event, join us online for the same experience and discounts April 15th - 19th, for a Nationwide Facebook Party! You'll hear from experienced homeschool moms, meet BJU Press staff, watch live product demos, ask our consultants questions, be entered into drawings for giveaways, and so much more all from the comfort of your own home!


This comfortable street front 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom modern duplex half with a lock up garage is the perfect buy for a young family, retiree or investor.
Situated within close proximity from the local amenities, this property provides easy access to the Stirling Central Shopping Center and transport links.
This property boasts a tiled open plan kitchen and dining area, and separate lounge room. The kitchen has a gas cook top and provides plenty of bench space.
The main bedroom has its own well appointed en-suite.
For the astute investor, this property is currently being leased at $370 per week.


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In Hong Kong, the wealthy Ogden Mears is traveling in a transatlantic and is near to be assigned Saudi Arabia Ambassador and is divorcing from his wife Martha. His friend Harvey and he are invited by their old friend Clark to go to a nightclub with three aristocratic Russian refugees on their last night. Ogden drinks too much and spends the night with Countess Natascha. On the next morning, while sailing back home, Ogdeb finds Natascha hidden in his cabin wearing a ball gown and with no documents. The stowaway explains that she wants to go to the United States and Ogden is worried with his career. But Harvey convinces him to help Natascha. Ogden falls in love with Natascha and together with Harvey, they plot a fake marriage of Natascha with his valet Hudson. But things get complicated when immigration requests her documents and Martha arrives on board.


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Home /Home/Vladimir Putin, president until 2036?
PoliticsMarch 16, 2020
Vladimir Putin, president until 2036?
MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin has backed a proposal to "reset" the two-term presidential limit once planned constitutional changes are adopted, meaning he could remain in power until 2036.
In a surprise speech in parliament on Tuesday, Russia's leader of two decades tempered the fevered speculation about his future that began when he called for constitutional changes in January. Debate about what position Putin could hold once his current term ends in 2024 now appears redundant as he has signaled he will stay in the Kremlin.
If the constitutional change is approved, it would reset Putin's presidential term count back to zero, meaning he could stand in the next two elections. If Putin does run for president in the 2024 and 2030 elections, he could be in charge longer than any ruler since Peter the Great, surpassing even Joseph Stalin. By the time of the 2036 election, Putin will be 83.
"He's going for the record," Andrei Kolesnikov, analyst for domestic politics at Carnegie Center Moscow, told POLITICO. "This is a personalized, harshly authoritarian regime, it's not a hybrid. It's the personal power of one person, absolutely vertical, which is being continued in an unconstitutional manner."
Tuesday's announcement began not with Putin but with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space and a national hero who is now a member of parliament for the ruling United Russia party — suggesting that the Kremlin had prepared the decision with the best public optics in mind.
Tereshkova was met with applause when she called on the parliament to stop "circling and overthinking" potential constitutional amendments and either remove the presidential term limit or "put into law the possibility for the current president to be reelected in accordance with the revitalized constitution."
The speaker, a former top aide to Putin, duly adjourned parliament to consult with his former boss, and less than an hour later the president himself strode into the chamber.
Memorial* and Higher School of…
Putin knows a recipe of…
More than a dozen attack…
President Donald Trump has refused…
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin…
The Russian and US governments…
The Russian government said Tuesday…
The former CIA director John…
U.S. President Donald Trump on…
In the summer of 2015…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


No matter how well prepared, every student has questions and needs support in college.
The Owen Center for Academic and Career Support provides academic and career support to all students at every stage of their educational path. You'll find academic support through one-on-one tutoring, study groups, and learning strategy workshops. When you're ready to start thinking about life after college, the Owen Center offers resume and cover letter workshops, internship placements, and can help you with your job search. Learn more about what the Owen Center can do for you.
When you transition to a department, generally in your sophomore year, you will work with a faculty mentor in your major department. Quality mentoring is essential for you to make the most of your college experience. Heidelberg professors enjoy working with students and provide resources, advice, and networking opportunities for you.
I love getting to work with students throughout their entire Heidelberg career. I can track their development, focus in on each individual's needs, and adjust what I'm doing to best challenge my students. Helping students progress over a semester is great, but helping them progress over four years is amazing. This is a place that will challenge you, encourage you to take risks, and teach you how to adapt to new situations.
Beeghly Library is filled with resources that will help you access the information you need for any assignment. From books to ebooks and online databases, and the space to work independently or collaboratively, Beeghly Library is a popular spot on campus, especially at the end of a semester, when the pressure is on to complete a project or study for final exams.


My Angular Learnning Notes  Angular Routing and Directives - Caught By .Net!
Navigation for My Angular Learnning Notes  Angular Routing and Directives - Caught By .Net!
template can be a html file generate in fly.
f. $route.reload() reload the page without refresh.
Controller name can passed in directive attributes.
Include the jqueryUI, and put something like datepicker in a directive. But it is not nessary, you can use jqueryUI directly.


text:
Tag: standards
What Is Meant by "Technical Barriers to Trade" and How Might TTIP Reduce Them?
By Daniel J. Ikenson
One of the best presentations at the Cato TTIP conference on Monday was given by Michelle Egan, a professor at the American University's School of International Service. Professor Egan managed to explain (in about 15 minutes) one of the most complex and possibly intractable subjects under negotiation in the Transatlantic trade talks: Standards-related trade barriers.
A major objective of the TTIP (as well as the TPP and other modern trade agreements) is to reduce "non-tariff barriers" (NTBs) of which so-called "technical barriers to trade" (TBTs) are an important subset. It turns out that differing product standards, which can act as TBTs, are more common than any other kind of NTB. According to Egan, "Governments, on average, impose TBTs on 30 percent of products. For firms active in international markets, different national requirements from conformity assessment measures can impede access to foreign markets."
Read the rest of this post »
International Economics, Development & Immigration, Trade Policy
October 6, 2015 4:41PM
A Case for Making TTIP Better for Workers
In today's Cato Online Forum essay, George Washington University Professor of Foreign Affairs Susan Ariel Aaronson argues that the "TTIP provides an opportunity to think differently about how policymakers in advanced industrialized economies can protect labor rights, encourage job creation, and empower workers." After describing some of the concerns workers have about the TTIP and explaining why certain parts of the agreement could serve to undermine labor rights, Susan provides some fresh recommendations for making the TTIP more appealing to workers.
Read it. Provide feedback. And register for Cato's October 12 TTIP conference.
Foreign Policy and National Security, International Economics, Development & Immigration, Trade Policy
Forethought on Rules of Origin and Regulatory Coherence Essential to TTIP's Success
Today's Cato Online Forum essay takes a look under the hood – or, rather, describes what should be under the hood – of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal, if it is to succeed at minimizing trade diversion and spreading its benefits to third countries. In her essay, Inu Barbee explains why today's globalized value chains necessitate smart rules of origin and inclusive regulatory standards in the TTIP. Read it. Comment. And register to see and hear more at Cato's TTIP conference on October 12.
April 7, 2014 12:03PM
Education, Standards, and Private Certification
By Jason Bedrick
Can there be standards in education without the government imposing them?
Too many education policy wonks, including some with a pro-market bent, take it for granted that standards emanate solely from the government. But that does not have to be the case. Indeed, the lack of a government-imposed standard leaves space for competing standards. As a result of market incentives, these standards are likely to be higher, more diverse, more comprehensive, and more responsive to change than the top-down, one-size-fits-all standards that governments tend to impose. I explain why this is so at Education Next today in "What Education Reformers Can Learn from Kosher Certification."
Paranoia Roundup
By Neal McCluskey
Last week, national standards super-advocate Chester Finn called me "paranoid" for arguing that "common" curriculum standards states adopt in pursuit of federal money will somehow end up being federal and, as a result, bad. Well it seems that Jay Greene and I – the two paranoiacs Finn identified by name – are not alone. Here's a roundup of some recent rantings from other realists Finn would no doubt accuse of wearing tinfoil helmets:
The Heritage Foundation's Jennifer Marshall, cutting through the joke of "voluntary" national-standards adoption and dispelling several of the shallow arguments trotted out by national-standards supporters.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, warning that "as homeschoolers know, if the federal government funds something, the federal government is going to control it."
The Pacific Reasearch Institute's Lance Izumi nailing the voluntarism deception; noting that national standards will have to be paired with national tests (indeed, they're already in the works); and pointing out that the proposed national standards are likely worse than some state standards.
Ben Boychuk of the Heartland Institute going after the big voluntarism lie and explaining how much worse a process national-standards setting is than was even the Texas Social Studies Standoff of 2010.
The Pioneer Institutes Jim Stergios exposing the State of Massachusetts' national-standards trickeration.
It looks like national-standards paranoia is starting to run kinda deep.
Education and Child Policy, General
Unfortunately, One Man's "Paranoia" Is Everyone Else's "Reality"
Finished with my woman
'Cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane
Because I am frowning all the time
- Black Sabbath, "Paranoid"
According to the Fordham Institute's Chester Finn, I and others like me are "paranoid." So why, like Ozzy Osbourne, am I "frowning all the time?" Because I look at decades of public schooling reality and, unlike Finn, see the tiny odds that "common" curriculum standards won't become federal standards, gutted, and our crummy education system made even worse.
Finn's rebuttal to my NRO piece skewering the push for national standards, unfortunately, takes the same tack he's used for months: Assert that the standards proposed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative are better than what most states have produced on their own; say that adopting them is "voluntary;" and note that we've got to do something to improve the schools.
Let's go one by one:
First, as Jay Greene has pointed out again and again, the objection to national standards is not that the proposed CCSSI standards are of poor quality (though not everyone, certainly, agrees with Finn's glowing assessment of them). The objection is that once money is attached to them – once the "accountability" part of "standards and accountability" is activated – they will either be dumbed down or just rendered moot by a gamed-to-death accountability system.
This kind of objection, by the way, is called "thinking a few steps ahead," not "paranoia."
It's also called "learning from history." By Fordham's own, constant admission, most states have cruddy standards, and one major reason for this is that special interests like teachers' unions – the groups most motivated to control public schooling politics because their members' livelihoods come from the public schools – get them neutered.
But if centralized, government control of standards at the state level almost never works, there is simply no good reason to believe that centralizing at the national level will be effective. Indeed, it will likely be worse with the federal government, whose money is driving this, in charge instead of states, and parents unable even to move to one of the handful of states that once had decent standards to get an acceptable education.
Next, let's hit the the "voluntary" adoption assertion. Could we puh-leaze stop with this one! Yes, as I note in my NRO piece, adoption of the CCSSI standards is technically voluntary, just as states don't have to follow the No Child Left Behind Act or, as Ben Boychuk points out in a terrific display of paranoia, the 21-year-old legal drinking age. All that states have to do to be free is "voluntarily" give up billions of federal dollars that came from their taxpaying citizens whether those citizens liked it or not!
So right now, if states don't want to sign on to national standards, they just have to give up on getting part of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund. And very likely in the near future, if President Obama has his way, they'll just have to accept not getting part of about $14.5 billion in Elementary and Secondary Education Act money.
Some voluntarism….
Finally, there's the "we've got to do something to fix the schools" argument. I certainly agree that the education system needs fixing. My point is that it makes absolutely no sense to look at fifty centralized, government systems, see that they don't work, and then conclude that things would be better if we had just one centralized, government system. And no, that other nations have national standards proves nothing: Both those nations that beat us and those that we beat have such standards.
The crystal clear lesson for those who are willing to see it is that we need to decentralize control of education, especially by giving parents control over education funding, giving schools autonomy, and letting proven, market-based standards and accountability go to work.
Oh, right. All this using evidence and logic is probably just my paranoia kicking in again.
Plowing Through the Defenses of National Education Standards
Arguably the most troubling aspect of the push for national education standards has been the failure – maybe intentional, maybe not – of standards supporters to be up front about what they want and openly debate the pros and cons of their plans. Unfortunately, as Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios laments today, supporters are using the same stealthy approach to implement their plans on an unsuspecting public.
Standing in stark contrast to most of his national-standards brethren is the Fordham Institute's Mike Petrilli, who graciously came to Cato last week to debate national standards and is now in a terrific blog exchange with the University of Arkansas's Jay Greene. Petrilli deserves a lot of credit for at least trying to answer such crucial questions as whether adopting the standards is truly voluntary, and if there are superior alternatives to national standards. You can read Jay's initial post here, Mike's subsequent response here, and Jay's most recent reply right here.
I'm not going to leap into most of Jay and Mike's debate , though it covers a lot of the same ground we hit in our forum last week, which you can check out here. I do want to note two things, though: (1) While I truly do appreciate Mike's openly grappling with objections to what might be Fordham's biggest reform push ever, I think his arguments don't stand up to Jay's, and (2) I think Mike's identifying national media scrutiny as what will prevent special-interest capture of national standards is about as encouraging as BP telling Gulf-staters "we've got a plan!"
Let's delve into #2.
For starters, how much scrutiny does the national media give to legislating generally? Reporters might hit the big stuff and whatever is highly contentious, but even then how much of the important details do they offer? Think about the huge health care debate that just dominated the nation's attention. How many details on the various bills debated did anybody get through the major media? How much clarity? Heck, sometimes legislators were debating bills that even they hadn't seen, much less reporters. Of course, the health care bill was much bigger than, say, the No Child Left Behind Act, but remember how long after passage of NCLB it was before the Department of Education, much less the media, was able to nail down all of its important parts?
Which brings us to a whole different layer of policy making, one major media wade into even less often than legislating: writing regulations. How many stories have you read, or watched on TV news, about the writing of regulations for implementing anything, education or otherwise? I'd imagine precious few, yet this is where often vaguely written statutes are transformed into on-the-ground operations. It's also where the special interests are almost always represented – after all, they're the ones who will be regulated – but average taxpayers and citizens? Don't go looking for them.
Finally, maybe it's just me, but I feel like I keep hearing that daily newspapers are on their way out. Of course they might be replaced by cable television news, but those outlets almost always fixate on just the few, really big stories of the day – war, economic downturns, murders, golfers' affairs, celebrity arrests – and education can rarely compete for coverage. And that seems likely to remain the case even if the education story is as scintillating as, say, federal regulators reducing the content of national standards by five percent. Indeed, education is so low on the reporting totem poll that the Brookings Institution has undertaken a crusade to save its life, and has noted that right now "there is virtually no national coverage of education."
Wait, virtually none? Uh-oh. If national media scrutiny is supposed to be the primary bulwark protecting national standards from the special-interest capture that has repeatedly doomed state standards, the fact that almost no such coverage actually takes place really doesn't give you a warm-fuzzy, does it? And if special-interest capture can't be prevented – if standards can't be kept high – then the entire raison d'etre of national standards crumbles to the ground.
Which helps explain, of course, why national standards supporters are typically so eager to avoid debate: Their proposal is hopelessly, fatally flawed.


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Child deaths fell below 7 million in 2011 but 19,000 boys and girls under 5 still die daily
UNITED NATIONS — The number of children under the age of five who die annually fell below 7 million in 2011, but the U.N. children's agency says about 19,000 boys and girls are still dying every day from largely preventable causes.
A report released Wednesday night by the United Nations Children's Fund said that four-fifths of under-five deaths last year occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the report that since these regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa, "will account for the bulk of the world's births in the next years, we must give new impetus to the global momentum to reduce under-five deaths,"
He said lives can be saved with vaccines, adequate nutrition and basic medical and maternal care.
"The challenge is to make these available to every child," he said.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120918214317/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/…


Since I don't have any big thinky thoughts or rants to share today, I thought I'd direct you to a feature of LA Mag that always makes smile; My LA A to Z is a nice column where LA creatives (actors, etc) talk about their favorite spots. It's been a bit of a boy's club of creatives so far in term of their interviewees, but I assume they'll pull their heads out and realize 1) female creatives exist and 2) they, too, go to coffee shops and restaurants.
That snark aside (it's never snark free in this corner of the inter webs), Van Dyke Parks was recently interviewed, and his selections are wonderful. Then go look at everybody else's selections. While you're at it, go listen to Van Dyke Parks' new singles.


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Negotiating the Epistemologic Implications of Oenophilia
Italian-English wine glossary
The world according to Soldera
Posted on September 30, 2010 by Do Bianchi
Above: Gianfranco Soldera, legendary, enigmatic, and paradigmatic winemaker, a Trevisan farmer turned Milanese industrialist turned Montalcinese winemaker.
Anyone who's ever had the good fortune to be invited to visit Gianfranco Soldera's estate, Case Basse, in the southwestern subzone of the Brunello appellation will surely share my impression that his winery, vineyards, and contiguous botanical garden come together to form what is undeniably one of the most impressive estates in the world.
When he began looking for an estate to purchase in the early 1970s, the Piedmontese wouldn't sell him a decent plot of land, he told me the other day when we visited. So he decided to to buy a parcel in Montalcino on the advice of a friend who had told him you could pick up a piece of land there for a boccon di pan, a mouthful of bread, in those days.
Above: The botanical gardens at Soldera's Case Basse include a swamp (to create a maritime influence) and a white flower garden (to encourage nighttime pollination). "Ah, the white flower garden," remembered wistfully my friend Dr. Lawrence O, the other day when he spied my visit on Facebook. Lawrence has visited there, of course.
When you talk to winemakers in Langa (Piedmont), many of the current generation still look to Soldera as a doktorvater (like Beppe Rinaldi, who told me that he often seeks advice and guidance from Soldera when the elder visits Barolo).
In many ways, it's as if Soldera, when faced with the fact that he couldn't make wine in Piedmont where he so obstinately desired to do so, decided to construct his own microclimate within the Brunello macroclimate. As he explains very openly, the remarkable botanical garden on his property (manicured by his wife) creates a unique ecological balance of plant and swamp life, including the "white flower garden," so famous among wine insiders, intended to encourage pollination at night because the bright peddles attract the insects in darkness.
Above: "You find no vineyards with larger berries nor smaller clusters," said Soldera proudly of his fruit. The attention to detail in his vineyard management is truly stunning.
Soldera has famously stated that he makes "natural wine." Whether or not that's the case is something I'll leave that to the experts in the thorny field. He does seem to meet all the card-carrying members's requirements: manual vineyard management, no chemicals in the vineyards, ambient yeasts in the cellar, no temperature control, lowest possible sulfuring. While I was in his presence a few weeks ago, he scolded one very famous winemaker in absentia for using cement vats for vinification, noting that wood is the natural vessel for winemaking. He also scolded another very famous winemaker for suggesting that it was okay to use a starter yeast when he had trouble initiating fermentation in his cellar.
But is it natural, I wonder, to build a botanical garden using mountains of manure (however organically prepared) in a place abandoned by sharecroppers because nothing would grow there anymore? I've leave that one to the exegetic forces of the rebbes and erstwhile Talmudic scholars in our field.
One thing we can all seem to agree on is that his wines are among the best in the world (and accordingly priced). I had the good fortune to taste the 2008 (extremely good) and 2006 (exceptional vintage, one of the best I've ever tasted) out of cask with him in the cellar. And at dinner we drank the 2003: an infamously and remarkably difficult vintage for any winemaker in Italy yet a harvest for which Soldera delivered lip-smacking acidity and gorgeously nuanced fruit aromas and flavors in his Sangiovese. These wines are simply life-changing, mind-blowing, awe-inspiring… It's true…
Above: Soldera with Roberto Rossi, chef/owner of Il Silene, arguably the best restaurant in southern Tuscany. The drive up to Seggiano is worth it if only to taste Roberto's olive oil. The food and service were amazing.
Anyone who's ever had the good fortune to be invited to visit Gianfranco Soldera's estate, Case Basse, will tell you that Soldera keeps no secrets and he liberally shares his often salty opinions with those whom have been invited for an audience. (You'll be surprised to find out that he has a website.)
Our conversation spanned many generations of Italian winemaking the other day when I visited him and you can imagine the controversial topics we covered. But the thing that stuck with me was what he said when I asked him what he saw for the future of winemaking in Italy.
"Commercial winemaking has come to an end in Italy," he said referring to the recent Brunello controversy and rumors that the historic Barbi estate has plans to sell its property to Italian wine behemoth Zonin. "The nature of Italy cannot support industrial farming and commercial winemaking has run its course historically," he told me. However many grains of salt there may be in the world according to Soldera, there's certainly a grain of truth in this morsel of wisdom.
Above: Sunset at the Case Basse estate.
Another winemaker told me the same thing later on in my trip. Stay tuned to find out which one…
This entry was posted in de cibo, de rebus italicis, de vino and tagged Case Basse, Gianfranco Soldera, Il Silene, Lawrence Osborne, Roberti Rossi, sangiovese. Bookmark the permalink.
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U.S. Supreme Court Decision on State Sales Taxes for eCommerce
The United States Supreme Court (USSC) handed down a decision today in a much anticipated case dealing with sales taxes for eCommerce, though its implications will impact any company making sales to end users in states where they have no physical presence. In the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., Et Al No. 17-494 (please click here for a copy of the case) the USSC held that the physical presence standard, which the Supreme Court itself had followed in its earlier Quill decision in 1992 (Quill v. North Dakota), no longer applies due to the changing nature of shopping over recent years. In a 5-4 decision, Justice Kennedy, writing the majority opinion for the court noted, that the "physical presence rule becomes further removed from economic reality" and thus results in sizable lost tax revenues to the states.
Prior to today's case, the USSC decision in Quill was the standard for a state imposing a sales tax for out-of-state sellers. Quill, in effect, prevented states from requiring retailers to collect and pay in sales tax on sales to consumers unless the retailer maintained a physical presence in a state. South Dakota embarked on a course to overturn Quill when it enacted legislation in 2016 that defied this physical presence standard, and instead implemented an economic presence standard. This new standard imposed a requirement to collect sales tax in South Dakota if the businesses had over 200 sales transactions in the state or over $100,000 of total sales for the year. Soon after enacting its legislation, South Dakota brought an action against an out-of-state company, Wayfair, which had no physical presence in South Dakota, but met their new economic presence standard. The case then moved quickly through the courts and found its way to the USSC docket earlier this year.
Impact of Today's Ruling
Many parties are impacted by today's USSC decision in Wayfair:
Online retailers will need to determine the impact to sales they make to each state in which they have customers. This could be an added expense and an administrative headache in sorting out the rules in numerous states. Traditional brick and mortar stores will not be as impacted; they are already collecting and remitting sales tax in the states they now have stores in, since they meet the physical presence standard under the prior rules of Quill. The competitive disadvantage they felt toward online retailers under the Quill standard is now being eased.
Other businesses selling taxable products or services to end users may be required by states to collect sales taxes similar to what online retailers will be forced to do since they also are no longer able to rely on the fact that they do not have any physical presence in such states.
Consumers may be most impacted as they will be the ones bearing the burden of paying the sales tax on the various online purchases they now make; on many of which no sales tax was paid. Arguably, they still had an obligation to remit this tax, but under the Wayfair ruling today, it will be easier for states to collect this tax.
Finally, most states have long sought to tax online sales and many had started down the path that South Dakota went and were looking at similar economic nexus standards. They will all be carefully examining the Wayfair decision and looking to enact legislation or adapting their state laws to fall in line with the Court's decision.
A few other comments on today's ruling:
One of the key reasons the physical presence standard was established in the first place was because of the excessive compliance burden that would be placed on remote retailers to have to collect sales taxes in multiple states. The Court did not conclude that the compliance burden is no longer excessive, but concluded that the physical presence standard was an inappropriate test. The Court stated in its ruling "The physical presence rule is a poor proxy for the compliance costs faced by companies that do business in multiple states."
Second, it should be noted that although the holding does effectively overrule the Quill physical presence standard, the case is technically not over as it was remanded back to South Dakota to determine if the remote collection law otherwise meets the guidelines for the Constitution's Commerce Clause. In doing so, the Court pointed out that the South Dakota law provides several mechanisms that should make a strong case for it to meet the general Commerce Clause requirements.
There will be much discussion in the coming weeks about this Wayfair decision. States are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to collect additional tax revenues, while online companies re-group to assess how their business model will change. At Sikich, we will be following these developments and offer additional updates, articles, and planning observations as we analyze the aftermath of today's ruling.
Please contact your Sikich advisor for any questions you may have.
Brian Kelley
Brian Kelley, CPA, MST, is a managing director of State & Local Tax Services. He assists clients in areas such as multi-state income, sales and use, payroll, unclaimed property, and personal property tax services, multi-state nexus and exposure studies, audit defense and appeals and more.