Teacher's Comments (c & p)
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Posted:Jun 27, 2012 2:10 pm
Last Updated:Sep 28, 2023 10:38 pm 10550 Views
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Teacher whose barbed blog made headlines is fired
By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
A Pennsylvania high school teacher whose barbed blog posts about her students caused a national stir last year, has been fired for "unsatifsactory performance," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports
Natalie Munroe, an English teacher at Central Bucks High School East, was fired Tuesday by the Central Bucks school board in a 7-0 vote, the newspaper says.
In a statement, the board president said Munroe had been experiencing "performance difficulties well before her blog became an issue."
In anticipation of the dismissal, Munroe had filed suit against the board last week, claiming it had violated her constitutional right to free speech "by harassing and retaliating against her."
Munroe was suspended in February 2011 -- and later reinstated --after her blog posts, which referred to some students as "dunderheads" or "ratlike," became widely circulated.
"My students are out of control," Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."
Although the blog, which Munroe had been writing since 2009, did not name her school or identify any students by name, it did carry her photograph.
Three weeks ago, after receiving her third unsatisfactory performance evaluation, Munroe wrote in a post that she had been "set up."
An excerpt:
The issue with my job is bigger than me. It's about freedom of speech. It's about having integrity and not compromising the truth. It's about the downward spiral of our education system and the low value that people place on education. It's about making people accountable. It's about standing up for personal beliefs and not apologizing when those beliefs aren't popular.
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E-cigarettes grow in popularity: vaping, not smoking (c & p)
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Posted:Jun 18, 2012 8:04 pm
Last Updated:Jun 29, 2012 9:10 am 10380 Views
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Written by
Fort Myers News-Press FILED UNDER
Health News
Florida News
Top Stories
Fort Myers, Florida (News-Press) -- Mike Mangione can name more reasons than he has non-nicotine-stained fingers for switching from regular cigarettes to an electronic alternative.
He is among an estimated 2.5 million people now inhaling nicotine through a battery-operated device that heats liquid to make vapor, which takes the fire - and the tar and many other cancer-causing chemicals found in cigarettes - out of smoking.
At 41, he's conscious of breathing easier and assumes inhaling flavored water vapor must be healthier than taking in the 600 ingredients in cigarettes - 4,000 compounds when burned, according to the American Lung Association - including acetone, formaldehyde, tar, benzene, butane and lead. And he spends $30 to $40 a month "vaping." He used to spend $150 a month on Marlboros.
Plus, as a single man, he says "girls don't like smoking. It's a deal-breaker."
That goes double in his family. His twin brother, Steve, also quit smoking cigarettes about a month and a half ago. Their father, Dale, bought them their first devices, which cost $60 to $80, because they helped him give up tobacco.
That means the ranks of the 46 million smokers in the United States, according to American Medical Association estimates, are three fewer.
New generation
Scott and Lorrie Covington, owners of Vapin' in the Cape on Del Prado Boulevard South, also gave up what some users call "analog," or traditional, cigarettes in favor of the electronic variety.
E-cigarettes have grown up since a disposable cigarette facsimile with a weak battery began appearing in convenience stores a couple of years ago. The rechargeable next generation is sold in tobacco stores. It is composed of a rechargeable, battery-operated heating element, a replaceable cartridge that usually dispenses liquid nicotine, and an atomizer that, when heated, converts the contents of the cartridge into a vapor.
The couple's first whiff of this industry - growing steadily, according to the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, and certainly poised to challenge the financial interests of cigarette companies - came in November 2010, when they ordered starter kits online and tried yet another method of giving up cigarettes.
"Between us, what we were spending was equal to a car payment every month," said Lorrie Covington, who said she had been smoking two packs of cigarettes a day for 15 years and until trying electronic cigarettes "lived with Robitussin on the nightstand."
Scott Covington smoked a pack a day for 25 years.
When the starter kits ran out of battery life and liquid nicotine, the couple said, there was no place to replenish them. They ran out and bought cigarettes again.
So the former owners of an information technology company began researching products and the market and eventually went into business selling the devices and the liquid nicotine in flavors ranging from tobacco to fruit, candy, dessert, coffee, soft drinks and mixers. The sales counter at first was the back of their 1991 Honda Accord, then a local flea market.
The Covingtons opened the brick-and-mortar store and recently had to expand to a larger space, where they have five employees, all former smokers.
Most users are recognizable by the lanyard and thin pipe-like device hanging around their necks.
"It's almost become like a cult," said Lorrie Covington.
Several users reported using the devices inside stores without consequences, since the exhaled vapor is barely noticeable and doesn't smell like cigarette smoke.
Unregulated
Vaping is largely unregulated, although the FDA, through the courts, is trying.
A preponderance of medical organizations supports regulation by the FDA, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Medical Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free .
But to do so, the FDA must use its authority under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to regulate "tobacco products," because the nicotine used in the liquid is extracted from tobacco leaves. It has attempted to sanction manufacturers for claims based on electronic cigarettes as Drugs or devices. But a federal appeals court ruled that the FDA cannot claim jurisdiction over the devices if they are not marketed as therapeutic.
And these legal distinctions are clouded in confusion, made worse by claims that electronic cigarettes contain antifreeze.
A similar compound, propylene glycol, is found in some liquids used in the devices, according to manufacturers and several independent sources. It is a food additive used in pharmaceutical and dental products that can be used to lower the freezing point of water, but it is not ethylene glycol, the toxic substance in antifreeze that is poisonous to humans and animals.
The FDA has asked for manufacturers' cooperation in standardizing ingredients, a task made difficult because components are often imported from other countries.
"Because clinical studies about the safety and efficacy of these products have not been submitted to the FDA, consumers currently have no way of knowing whether e-cigarettes are safe for their intended use, what types or concentrations of potentially harmful chemicals are found in these products, or how much nicotine they are inhaling when they use these products," reads an FDA publication on vapor cigarettes.
Result-driven
But local doctors have referred their patients who want to stop smoking, say the Covingtons and Justin Braatz, owner of Downtown Vapor on Boy Scout Drive in Fort Myers.
Bratz, 41, smoked cigarettes for 24 years before switching to the vapor variety. He said he previously had tried everything to quit, including "the patch, gum, lozenges." Although retailers can't claim vapor cigarettes are a smoking-cessation aid, they believe the results speak for themselves.
"I've had people who smoked for 45 years give me hugs because they're so happy they haven't had a cigarette," Bratz said. Smokers begin with liquid strengths based on the number of cigarettes they go through per day. A chart at Vapin' in the Cape recommends 16 to 18 milligrams of liquid nicotine for a pack-a-day smoker.
The goal for most smokers is to taper down the nicotine concentration over time. Liquids that are labeled as containing no nicotine at all are also sold.
Angela Wynn, a small-business owner who lives in Cape Coral, said she has been cigarette-free for almost three months. She is 42 and has used tobacco since she was 15.
"I am one of six family members who has quit this way," Wynn said. The lemon blueberry cotton candy and peanut butter flavors are her favorites.
The flavoring also has the attention of the FDA, which is concerned about vapor cigarettes' attractiveness to minors.
Neither store allows anyone under 18 inside.
Dayna Harpster, Fort Myers News-Press
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Is this place open to the public..?
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Posted:Apr 29, 2012 9:48 am
Last Updated:Apr 30, 2012 5:37 pm 5844 Views
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I came across a website with a bricks and mortar location that does consumer research.
Considering the types of clothing not allowed on their premises, I wonder if they are open to the public?
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What to Wear
The Consumer Opinion Center provides a casual and relaxed environment. To be respectful of other study participants, please do not wear any clothing that may be found offensive or otherwise deemed inappropriate by your fellow research participants, including:
•Clothing displaying obscene, profane or offensive images or words
•Torn or ripped clothing
•Low cut shirts or extremely tight clothing
•See-through clothing or clothing that exposes undergarments or midriffs
•Skirts or dresses shorter than mid-thigh
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Willie's Guitar
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Posted:Apr 13, 2012 8:39 pm
Last Updated:Apr 14, 2012 9:31 am 5477 Views
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You've been looking at Willie's guitar too long.
You've been looking at Willie's guitar too long.
It's a good song...
It's a good song...
It's gone on so long.
It's gone on so long.
You've been looking at Willie's guitar too long.
You've been looking at Willie's guitar too long.
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Happiness: It's Not in the Jeans (c & p)
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Posted:Mar 8, 2012 7:47 am
Last Updated:Apr 2, 2012 7:30 pm 6258 Views
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2012) — You may throw on an outfit without much thought in the morning, but your choice is strongly affected by your mood. And the item of casual wear in almost everyone's wardrobe -- denim jeans -- is what most people wear when depressed, new research from psychologists at the University of Hertfordshire reveals.
A study conducted by Professor Karen Pine, co-author of "Flex: Do Something Different, found that what a woman chooses to wear is heavily dependent upon her emotional state."* One hundred women were asked what they wore when feeling depressed and more than half of them said jeans. Only a third would wear jeans when feeling happy. In a low mood a woman is also much more likely to wear a baggy top; 57 percent of the women said they would wear a baggy top when depressed, yet a mere 2 percent would wear one when feeling happy. Women also revealed they would be ten times more likely to put on a favorite dress when happy (62 percent) than when depressed (6 percent).
The psychologists conclude that the strong link between clothing and mood state suggests we should put on clothes that we associate with happiness, even when feeling low.
Professor Pine said: "This finding shows that clothing doesn't just influence others, it reflects and influences the wearer's mood too. Many of the women in this study felt they could alter their mood by changing what they wore. This demonstrates the psychological power of clothing and how the right choices could influence a person's happiness."
Accessories can make a difference too. The study found that:
••Twice as many women said they would wear a hat when happy than when depressed.
••Five times as many women said they would wear their favorite shoes when happy (31 percent) than when depressed (6 percent).
The study found that 'happy' clothes -- ones that made women feel good -- were well-cut, figure enhancing, and made from bright and beautiful fabrics. Professor Pine pointed out that these are exactly the features that jeans lack: "Jeans don't look great on everyone. They are often poorly cut and badly fitting. Jeans can signal that the wearer hasn't bothered with their appearance. People who are depressed often lose interest in how they look and don't wish to stand out, so the correlation between depression and wearing jeans is understandable. Most importantly, this research suggests that we can dress for happiness, but that might mean ditching the jeans."
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Red-headedness...
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Posted:Dec 29, 2011 8:15 am
Last Updated:Dec 30, 2011 2:15 pm 6026 Views
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...is one of life's most intriguing punctuation marks!
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As the national dialogue begins...
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Posted:Jan 13, 2011 10:51 am
Last Updated:May 26, 2024 6:43 am 4578 Views
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As the national dialog begins on the nature of the national dialog in the U.S., there is much to consider. The United States is not alone in much of the public distress it experiences. While politics has the our current attention, political discourse is merely a symptom of matters that have become en-grained in our social fabric.
A pallor has come over much of our domestic public interactions. We have cast aside many of the formalities that helped define our politesse. Laid-back has led us down a slope where modest effort towards decorum is viewed with a jaundiced eye.
Many media presentations have become yet another attempt to outdo the previous level of shock and awe. One actress described her own contributions to this process as, "a bit over the top." Yet those efforts of not so many years past could seem mild when compared to today's offerings.
Responsibility and freedom have become decoupled. The right of free speech now seems to be interpreted as an obligation to express opinion despite the consequences of damage to the public well being. Nowhere is this more evident than on the internet where our beliefs are evermore stridently proclaimed from the relatively safe confines in front of our computer monitors. While some may view public discourse as an evolutionary process, the past fifty years of public vocalization of our concerns has moved us further from public harmony. If this is justice, it is justice without peace.
Our pundits, speaking from their bully pulpit studios serve themselves at the cost of an evermore antagonized public. Truth has become a brand choice.
Our leadership can take a lead in helping us find a 'kinder and gentler' public. Caution is offered in seeking political solutions via the elected and appointed officials in our government. After all, it is within the politics that the symptoms are most apparent to many. We must look beyond that system for holistic healing. Our media has an opportunity here. Some may look to their spiritual leadership. Most of us can improve our own housekeeping.
While sentimental sloganeering might at times ease the immediate stresses, the job ahead of us will take something more than mantras for full realization.
The goal of our efforts must be the full restoration of domestic tranquility.
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A Personal Statement
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Posted:Oct 14, 2010 3:56 pm
Last Updated:Oct 7, 2012 12:09 pm 5460 Views
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I am currently boycotting National Football League televised broadcasts of games which feature players with fuchsia gloves, towels, shoes and other such adornments.
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