- Just a reminder – Flag Day is Saturday June 14th. Fly Old Glory proudly and properly.
Flag Day is a commemoration of the adoption of our nation’s flag that officially occurred in a resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14th as Flag Day and in August of 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.
Flag Day is not an official holiday, however, according to the statute 36 USC § 110 it is at the President’s discretion to proclaim an official observance of a particular commemorative day. There is an annual Flag Day parade traditionally held in Troy, New York, as well as Framingham, Massachusetts and other villages, towns and cities of the United States. However some towns have considered eliminating the parade because of lack of turnout in recent years. What a sad country when citizens no longer are interested in attending or participating in local parades. What does that tell you about people who live here and claiming to be an American?
The National Flag Day Foundation holds an annual observance for Flag Day on the second Sunday in June (National Flag Week) and the program includes a ceremonial raising of the flag, recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, singing of the National Anthem (Star-spangled Banner), a parade and other events.
- A great humanistic story – Newsvine, Brian Bergstein (AP Technology Writer), Grandfather Builds Web Browser for Autistic Boy …
John LeSieur is in the software business, so he took particular interest when computers seemed mostly useless to his 6-year-old grandson, Zackary. The boy has autism, and the whirlwind of options presented by PCs so confounded him that he threw the mouse in frustration. LeSieur tried to find online tools that could guide autistic children around the Web, but he couldn’t find anything satisfactory. So he had one built, named it the Zac Browser For Autistic Children in honor of his grandson, and is making it available to anyone for free. LeSieur’s quest is a reminder that while the Web has created important communication and educational opportunities for some people with cognitive impairments, computers can also introduce new headaches for families trying to navigate the contours of disability.
The Zac Browser greatly simplifies the experience of using a computer. It seals off most Web sites from view, to block violent, sexual or otherwise adult-themed material. Instead it presents a hand-picked slate of choices from free, public Web sites, with an emphasis on educational games, music, videos and visually entertaining images, like a virtual aquarium. Other programs for children already offer that “walled garden” approach to the Web. But LeSieur’s browser aims to go further: It essentially takes over the computer and reduces the controls available for children like Zackary, who finds too many choices overwhelming. For example, the Zac Browser disables extraneous keyboard buttons like “Print Screen” and turns off the right button on the mouse. That eliminates commands most children don’t need anyway, and it reduces the chance an autistic child will lose confidence after making a counterproductive click.
Children using the Zac Browser select activities by clicking on bigger-than-normal icons, like a soccer ball for games and a stack of books for “stories.” The Zac Browser also configures the view so no advertisements or other flashing distractions appear. …
Autism generally affects a person’s ability to communicate, and Zackary doesn’t speak much. But his mother, Emmanuelle Villeneuve, reports that the boy can start the Zac Browser himself. He enjoys listening to music through the program and trying puzzles — things he always liked before but hadn’t been able to explore online, she said from her family’s home in suburban Montreal. Perhaps most tellingly, while he still acts out aggressively against the TV, she said, he doesn’t try to harm the computer.
LeSieur didn’t create the browser by consulting with people who are considered experts in disorders on the autism spectrum. The small software company he runs, People CD Inc., essentially designed the Zac Browser to meet Zackary’s needs, and figured that the approach would likely help other autistic children. Early reviews have been positive, though LeSieur plans to tweak the program so parents can suggest new content to add. Several autism experts were pleased to hear of LeSieur’s work, and not surprised that he had not previously found anything suitable for Zackary. After all, the autism spectrum is so wide that a particular pattern of abilities or impairments experienced by one autistic person might be reversed in another. In other words, creating software that would work for huge swaths of autistic children is a tall order. Indeed, the Zac Browser might do nothing for another autistic child. …
This is not to say the Web is necessarily barren for autistic children. James Ball, an autism-education consultant in New Jersey, said many children he works with enjoy Webkinz, where kids care for virtual pets. Others find chat rooms and instant-messaging a lower-anxiety way of socializing than talking to someone in person, he said. But the Zac Browser might turn out to be the rare tool that can be configured to strike a chord with a wide range of autistic students, said Chris Vacek, chief innovation officer at Heartspring, a special-education center in Wichita, Kan. Vacek is considering using the Zac Browser at Heartspring. One huge advantage is that the browser is free, while many assistive technologies cost upward of $5,000 and work only on specialized devices. But Vacek, himself a parent of an autistic child, said the Zac Browser’s best credential is that it appears to pass what he calls Heartspring’s “acid test”: It has a high chance of increasing a child’s ability to do things independently.
- New Yorkers must be a strange lot – I mean New York City folks, not New York state. This is reinforced by the article by Lauren Cox, ABC News – Preparation H Finds Place in Club Circuit …
Of all the drugs young people can use at clubs, the latest trend in New York may be the least hip among all circles: Preparation H. New York bouncer, blogger and author Rob Fitzgerald has noticed a trend among many of the macho young men waiting outside his clubs. He says the guys are slathering up their torsos with the hemorrhoid cream Preparation H to make themselves look “ripped” for the ladies. Fitzgerald asked one of these guys to describe the practice for his blog, Clublife, “The way you use it is to take your shirt off and rub it all over yourself before you go to the club,” a man who gave the alias, Peter Minichiello, says. “If you want to get [lucky], you have to know how to dance, and if you want girls to dance with you, you have to look ripped.” The idea is a bad imitation of a flab spot-treatment secret used by bodybuilders before a competition. But the clubbers who lube up may not like to hear what the medicine in Preparation H actually does to their frame or the real health risks it can pose.
- NJB is concerned about the new trends in our educational system – Math Instruction, Newsvine, June 2nd 2008 …
Over the last 5 years I have noticed a change in how math is taught. Even my math teacher friends can’t really explain it–except to say “well the research says”…but I have yet to meet one that has actually read the research. My biggest gripe is not with particular techniques as it is with the fact they no longer use math books. The state buys the books, ships them too the school and they sit in the book room–unused. I can’t say this is happening in all districts, but I know of several in where this indeed the practice. I’ve asked my math teacher friends about it. They say they just can’t find a book they like. As a result, the kids are passed out worksheets for homework. Worksheets in and of themselves are not evil, but if the child does not understand something, just how are they going to look it up? Call me old fashioned, but having the skill to look up the problem, find an example, copy the example a couple times if need be to figure out how to generalize it–is a valuable skill and a must have for college.
I have watched my 8th grader so frustrated he is in tears when I try to help him with his math homework. I would have to go get my old math books, or get on one of those home work helper websites so he could see how it was done. Maybe this is not an issue for someone higher math came easy for–I had to work hard to get it. I promise I would have never made A’s in grad school statistics without books for constant reference. Is anyone else seeing this? This trend really bothers me because it makes learning math harder than it needs to be and does not prepare our children for the skill set they need in higher education.
- Daily Mail, UK – Arsema Dawit was a 12-year-old living in London. I write was because she was recently murdered by 21-year-old Thomas Nugusse of Ilford, Essex, England. Arsema was a choir girl who met Thomas at the local church. But the mother learned from Arsema that Thomas began acting strange, began to stalk her and even made death threats. She then went to the local police to file a complaint. They did nothing. Now Arsema’s family must experience the grief of burying one of their own because the police didn’t perform their duty. In a nation that restricts firearms and personal protection one would think that the police would be more protective – a testament against those who would counter our Second Amendment rights here in America.
