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Home review In Print Letters To The Editor – April 1, 2022
Letters To The Editor – April 1, 2022
28 Adar II 5782 – March 30, 2022
Photo Credit: Jewish Press
Appreciation For Rebbetzin Neustein
Thank you for the informative and inspiring op-ed about the Ruzhiner Rebbe written by Dr. Amy Neustein (March 25). Reading it not only brought me feelings of confidence and courage as I was reminded once again of the irrepressible life force of our Eastern European Jewish progenitors, but also warmed me with memories of my dear (but now departed) friend, Rebbetzin Shirley Friedberg Neustein of Brooklyn.
Rebbetzin Neustein had a marvelous way about her that was seen in her loving and comforting smile. Her spirit of generosity and acceptance of others, especially those in trouble or distress, was an inexhaustible source of light and warmth in a world that often suffers from a lack of these qualities. And now it seems clear to me how she came by these graces from her prestigious lineage. Dr. Neustein was kind and thoughtful to write for us the history of her family.
We are all strengthened in these frightening times by having known people like Rebbetzin Shirley Neustein. Somehow I feel that the spirit of the Ruzhiner Rebbe that ran in the veins of Rebbetzin Neustein must also be making itself manifest in President Zelensky as well; truly, the neshama does not vanish!
Michelle Etlin
Pikesville, MD
Inspiration and Optimism From the Past
What a joy and inspiration to read Dr. Amy Neustein's upbeat appreciation of her ancestor, the Ruzhiner Rebbe (March25, 2022).
I had met Dr. Neustein decades ago, and have continued to be impressed with her growing list of achievements over the years. I knew that her father was a rabbi, and that he and his wife knew my parents, all OBM, but I had absolutely no idea how special Dr. Neustein's ancestry was. The Neusteins were never prone to self-aggrandizement, and because of that I hadn't known about the stellar accomplishments of the family of Rebbetzin Shirley Neustein, who descended from such a prominent Chassidic dynasty.
The article itself is a welcome breath of inspiration and optimism in a most trying time in world history. Thankfully we can draw from memories of persons like the leaders of this special family to give us hope during our bleakest moments.
I thank The Jewish Press for sharing such a beautiful story with all of us!
Rabbi Aaron Reichel, Esq.
Merciful Children of the Merciful
A defining trait of the Jewish people is that we are merciful; we are "rachamanim b'nai rachamanim." This trait was inculcated in us by our forefather Avraham Avinu, and is a sine qua non in the identity of a Jew. When responding to news of tragedies, whether abroad or domestic, whether among Jews or non-Jews, our first and only emotional reaction must be one of empathy. And our instinctive response should be: How can we help?
It is with this in mind that I write to convey my dismay at the sentiments expressed by some Jewish writers concerning the war in Ukraine. Rather than declaring utter disgust for the actions of an evil man, Vladimir Putin, writers have equivocated. Among these is Myron Hecker (Letters, March 18). After detailing the history of Ukrainian antisemitism, including the fact that many Ukrainians abetted the Nazis, he writes: "Today's Ukrainian people are the children and grandchildren of those who, by their betrayals, sent untold numbers of Jews to their deaths."
The sordid history of Nazi occupation and the collaboration by some Ukrainians is well known. Perhaps less acknowledged are the thousands of Ukrainian non-Jews who risked their lives to shelter and rescue their Jewish neighbors. Over 2,500 of these Ukrainian heroes have been honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Gentiles. Considering the stiff criteria required by Yad Vashem for inclusion, we can be certain that many thousands more deserve the honor. The recent story of Sharon Bass, the Israeli who this month rescued the grandchildren of Mariya Blyschchik, the Ukrainian who rescued Sharon's grandmother Fanya, is proof that as Jews, we acknowledge our debts to these rescuers. And so, while there are Ukrainian descendants of murderers, there are likewise descendants of heroes.
This, though, is beside the point; the nature and extent of Ukrainian evil during the Holocaust is irrelevant when it comes to current events. The collaborators are mostly dead by now, and their descendants are not guilty of genocide. They are innocent victims of Putin's hideous campaign of wanton destruction. As believing Jews, we should have one goal: the rescue of Ukrainians. Further, tens of thousands of Jews live in Ukraine. Last I checked, Putin's missiles do not differentiate among religions and races.
Years ago, during an earlier Russia-Ukraine flare-up, I heard someone comment, "I am cheering both sides on." This sort of callous comment is unacceptable, even when coming from a rav, which in that case it did. Rabbanim do not have the right to celebrate killing; if anything, I expect rabbanim, our leaders, to exercise even more discretion than I would expect from the average person.
Is it possible that Hashem has a calculation whereby nations are punished for their crimes long after the perpetrators are gone? Perhaps, but that calculation is best left to Hashem. I don't know who among us has the ru'ach hakodesh to make such a determination.
And so I, for one, harbor no ambivalence regarding the position we must take. Those who are unshaken by the horrid images of innocent men, women and children being wantonly slaughtered need to absorb anew that defining trait of the Jewish people: rachamanim b'nai rachamanim.
Avi Goldstein
Our Roots in Ukraine
I have been praying for both survival and victory for an independent Ukraine in general and Prime Minister Zelensky in particular, I have been thinking a great deal about the Jewish connection in the history of the Ukraine and its environs: Slavuta, the city of my maternal grandparents; Kishinev, Kiev, Lviv, Odessa, Tchernikhov, Babyn Yar; Uman, etc.
Much will undoubtedly be written on this subject in years to come. I am struck by an analysis of Putin's pan-Russian imperialistic aspirations to eradicate Ukraine's separate identity. In this context, it is important to mention that Stalin starved two million Ukrainians to death in the late 1920s. I wonder how many of our people were among them.
Ed Yitshaq Levenson
A Time Not to Be Silent
The article by Israel Kasnett ("US Prepares to Sign Iran Appeasement Deal," March 25) should spur every American Jew to write to their elected officials urging them to put forth legislation in Congress to oppose this folly of a deal. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak up; the time to speak up is now – or we will wring our hands later.
Are we simply going to adopt a "wait and see attitude" to see what Iran will do? Every day on our television screens we are witnessing what a "wait and see attitude" toward Russia has yielded in Ukraine. Sixty days after Biden took office, Russia began amassing troops and tanks around Ukraine's borders. First 30,000, then 60,000, then 100,000 and finally 150,000 troops unleashed barbaric strikes against Ukrainian cities and their populace. Our imbecilic leaders adopted a "wait and see attitude." Could they have been empty-headed enough to believe Putin's claim of "military exercises?"
America's decline in both foreign and domestic matters is apparent to all. Empires and civilizations come and go. Their demise has myriad reasons but one commonality is the ill-treatment of their own citizenry. The wealthy ruling elites treat their citizens with disdain, subjecting them to tyrannical regulations, keeping them illiterate (think about our failing school system) and impoverished. In the U.S., crushing taxes, crippling inflation and curtailment of civil liberties including free speech, is the norm with our divisive and destructive administration. Rome's "bread and circuses" appeased the populace for just so long. Today, substitute "stimulus checks."
Speak up while we can about inane policies. Silencing and canceling people is the modus operandi of this abominable administration. Celebrities like Dr. Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker who serve on the President's Council for Sports, Fitness and Nutrition – and are both running for office on the Republican ticket – have been asked to resign or be terminated by the Oval Office because their views are diametrically opposed to the empty-suit, puppet of the left president. Neither plans to resign. Do not be silent in the face of an outrage as it only emboldens our feckless leaders.
More than 50 years ago in college I took a history class called "The Glory That Was Greece…The Grandeur That Was Rome." Today, in 2022, I would amend that course title to add, "…. And The Greatness That Was America."
Theresa Rosenfeld
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Our Leadership Teamlister2021-01-21T07:59:02-06:00
Josh Braunstein
Todd Premo
Chief Product Officer
Ann Reist
Senior Vice President, Sales
Kyle Bennett
Senior Vice President, TTS
Andrew Stein
Vice President, Finance & Operations
"Innovation is about solving problems no one knew existed." As President of OnCourse Learning, Josh has extensive experience in growing B2B and B2C businesses within the software, information/publishing, EdTech and professional service fields. Josh joined OnCourse Learning in February 2020. He is an expert in accelerating revenue and customer wins, leading successful acquisitions and championing user-focused design methodologies to drive innovation. Skilled at building a culture across geographies, Josh creates shared goals that fuel positive change and growth. Most recently as Executive Vice President at Worldstrides, the largest educational travel company in the US, Josh led global teams on six continents serving students in higher education with transformative experiences focused on study abroad, internships and service learning. Prior to joining Worldstrides, Josh was an Executive Vice President at Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, a provider of B2B software, learning and workflow solutions. After successive leadership roles in operations and product management at Corsearch, a premier provider of intellectual property services and software, Josh assumed leadership of the business where he tripled revenue and quadrupled EBITA while transforming offerings and market position and expanding operations to six countries. Josh holds a BA in Political Science and East Asian Studies from Middlebury College in Vermont. He also studied International Relations at the London School of Economics.
Fun Facts About Josh
My three daughters are respectively a gymnast and lacrosse player, a hockey player, and an artist. I am good at none of those things.
As a family, we are avid skiers and hikers.
My hobbies include reef-keeping (we have multiple tanks) and wine collecting (we have multiple bottles).
While you can't tell from my accent, both sides of my family come from Brooklyn, NY.
"Creating effective products based in smart technology solutions and in response to real-world challenges has been a passion my entire career." As the Chief Product Officer, Todd leads an organization of passionate individuals in the delivery of innovative product and technology solutions. With a focus on experience and delivering superior outcomes, our success is measured in the eyes of our users. Todd has over 23 years of product, technology, and leadership experience building high performing teams and market leading product solutions in learning and talent, healthcare, and environmental industries. Prior to joining OnCourse Learning, Todd led teams at Pulse, Inc. – serving the ambulatory healthcare market with clinical and practice management solutions. Previously, he focused on Talent and Learning solutions at Click2Learn, SumTotal Systems, GeoLearning, and Skillsoft where he helped introduce integrated talent systems and innovative offerings in virtual and mobile learning. Todd earned both BS and MS degrees in Engineering from Purdue University, has completed the Harvard Leadership program and is a Pragmatic Marketing alumnus.
Fun Facts About Todd
A self-proclaimed audiophile, I enjoy more than just listening. I have designed and built systems and entered competitions.
My frustration with fitness is clearly due to my wife's awesome cooking.
Staying active with my kid's activities has turned into trying to keep up (see above).
Born in NY, lived in Japan, love to travel, and as a life-long boater, I especially love being on the water.
"Marketing and sales alignment is key to achieving our market and revenue goals. To be successful we must provide the right messaging, to the right person, at the right time and we must demonstrate how marketing impacts the bottom line." Ann leads the B2C and B2B go-to-market strategy at OnCourse Learning. Her team drives marketing strategy and execution by using data-driven insights to ensure a consistent stream of measurable inbound and outbound initiatives that increase awareness, drive conversions, pipeline and revenue, and positions OnCourse Learning as a leader in technology-based learning. Ann came to OnCourse Learning in April of 2017 and brings over 25 years in marketing strategy and execution. She has held marketing leadership roles in enterprise software and embedded technologies, education, healthcare, real estate, and direct marketing industries. She most recently led product marketing and demand generation for Flexera. Prior to Flexera, Ann held marketing roles at Follett Software Company, Enterprise Systems (purchased by McKesson), Melson Technologies, and LPC (purchased by Pitney Bowes). Ann has a Bachelor of Business in Marketing degree from Western Illinois University.
Fun Facts About Ann
I LOVE exploring the world. Learning about and exploring new places and cultures, puts me in my happy place.
I have an amazing (and very large) immediate and extended family that I love spending time with and sharing memories with.
I get excited reimagining old things – give me a hammer and a paintbrush and watch the magic!
"Deliver high quality solutions & service where the value is so easily recognized it never needs to be pointed out." Mike leads Sales and Client Experience functions within OnCourse Learning. He joined OnCourse Learning in June 2019 and has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience with a history of building and managing direct and channel sales organizations in Education, Healthcare and Postal Automation software industries. Mike is a Graduate of Northern Illinois University with BS in Business Administration and a Graduate of University of Phoenix with MBA. He currently live in Williams Bay, WI with Wife, Daughter, Son and our Beagle / Basset hound.
Fun Facts About Mike
I enjoy hiking, boating and apologizing to other golfers for being in their fairway
I'm a huge fan of classic cars and aspiring to get in the game someday soon
I have broken both wrists, both knees and a collarbone all while playing sports – all different accidents
Most memorable days: Wedding Day, Kids birth days and the Chicago Cubs finally winning the World Series
"Passion is contagious. Leading through doing, rather than telling is the most effective way to create a passionate team." Kyle Bennett leads OnCourse Learning's webinar division previously known as Total Training Solutions (TTS). TTS was a 2018 acquisition that allowed OnCourse Learning to increase it's market reach by offering leading webinars serving the training needs of the bank, credit union and mortgage industries. Kyle earned a BA in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then went on to earn his MBA from DePaul University. His career in the financial industry started as a Management Trainee with First American Bank in Illinois. Kyle then joined TTS in 2006 and his role has expanded from "Email Marketer" to Senior Vice President. Kyle currently resides in Mt. Prospect, Illinois with his wife and two daughters.
Fun Facts About Kyle
Our family cabin in northern Wisconsin is my favorite place on Earth…even in the winter when it's under three feet of snow.
Snowmobiling is my favorite recreational sport. Yes, I'm one of those weirdo's that love winter (see above).
I'm a proud owner of the Green Bay Packers. Go Pack GO!
Living with four women (wife, two daughters and our dog) has taught me a lot of things, but I still can't braid my daughter's hair.
"Operational precision is about aligning customer need with internal expertise to make things better than they were before." Andrew leads the Financial Planning & Analysis, Billing & Collections, Salesforce Development & Integration, Live Class Delivery and Customer Services functions at OnCourse Learning. Andrew came to OnCourse Learning in April of 2020 and has over 25 years of experience in finance, operational excellence, and strategic planning leadership with a history of implementing sustainable solutions that increase financial performance and profitability, reduce costs, transform organizations and improve operational efficiencies. Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. He currently resides in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife, son, daughter and their Cavachon pup.
Fun Facts About Andrew
Avid certified scuba diver who has enjoyed seeing the great corals and reefs around the globe but has yet to do a shark cage dive
Passionate about doing landscaping, bringing plants and color back to life after long cold Midwest winters
Enjoys coaching son and daughter's baseball teams, even when it includes shuttling them around different fields for each of their games on the weekends

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nerys Wheatley has an underabundance of excitement in her life and an overabundance of imagination which is constantly making up stuff in her head. She writes fast moving, action packed science fiction because she has to let the stories out somehow. She was born in the UK, which makes her spelling just that bit more thrilling. Her greatest wish is to wake up one day to find the remaining boxes from when she moved house two years ago have magically unpacked themselves. It hasn't happened yet, but she's still hoping.


20/11/2008 16:13 MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - Opium production in Afghanistan has increased by 150% since a NATO-led security and development mission entered the country in 2001, Russia's Federal Drug Control Service said on Thursday.
"Afghanistan has become the absolute leader in narcotics production, producing 93% of the world's entire opiates... Afghan drug dealers have in two years set up the successful production of cannabis [marijuana, hashish] with over 70,000 hectares of land being cultivated, taking Afghanistan into second place in the world behind Morocco in terms of the cultivation of such drugs," the service said in a statement.
Since the Taliban regime was overthrown in the 2001 U.S.-led campaign, Afghanistan, with almost all its arable land being used to grow opium poppies remains the world's leading producer of heroin.
According to the UN, Afghanistan's opium production increased from 6,100 tons in 2006 to 8,200 tons in 2007.
The narcotics trade has become an acute problem for the Central Asian republics due to a continual flow of illegal drugs from Afghanistan.


While I was in Detroit, my roommate was in Columbia and brought me back a small container of dulce de cafe. She told me to treat it the same as dulce de leche and to spread it on crackers or toast. Ingredients include milk, sugar and real Columbian coffee beans. I'm going to save this to accompany a good cup o' joe.


LONDON Hedge fund managers stepped up their purchases of oil and refined products last week on growing hopes of a U.S.-China trade truce and that the global economy will avoid a severe slowdown in 2019.
LONDON Hedge funds have started to accumulate bullish positions in crude oil and diesel once more, amid rising optimism about the outlook for the global economy in 2019.
LONDON Hedge fund managers show signs of having completed their recent sale of crude and refined fuels, with positions edging up slightly in the first week of the new year, amid hopes a recession can be averted.
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI China's data-driven "flash boys" - hedge fund managers who for years have been handicapped by government curbs on tools to short-sell stocks - are dusting off high-speed trading products as Beijing revives the country's financial derivatives market.
LONDON U.S. natural gas prices have fallen sharply as the unusual cold weather of late November and early December has given way to warmer-than-normal temperatures in the last four weeks.
LONDON Hedge funds are cautious on the outlook for oil prices, despite a slump at the end of last year, as fears about the global economy outweigh output cuts by OPEC and its allies.
LONDON Britain's top local authority pension plans have cut investments in hedge funds in favour of better-performing alternatives, a review of annual reports shows, adding pressure to an industry beset by weak performance, outflows and fund closures.
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Ab Eos Id Rem Minima. Ex Consequuntur Nihil Consectetur Quaerat Minim Laudantium. Ipsum Dolores Rem Elit.


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I grew up in Colorado, just north of Denver. Since my earliest recollections, I can remember knowing that there must be a God somewhere, but He seemed so far away. Our family attended a Catholic church occasionally when I was young. Because an infant and a couple of toddlers were part of our family, we generally sat in the "cry room" which was a separated from the main sanctuary by several large panes of glass. In those days, that was my view of God: separate, distant and unapproachable. It was not until my freshman year of high school that I was introduced to God as a caring, close and approachable being through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The path God has taken me down since that time has been filled with many different experiences. I attend Colorado University in Boulder, Colo., for a short time. I then spent a few months working as a youth pastor on a military base in Germany. Once I returned to the United States, I attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to gain the basic classes I would need to earn a degree in Mission Aviation Technology. After two years on the Chicago campus, I traveled to East Tennessee to Moody's aviation school.
While at Moody Aviation, I obtained my FAA Airframe and Powerplant certificate and focused on studying aircraft avionics systems. It was during this time that God brought my wife and I together. Immediately following my graduation from Moody Bible Institute, I obtained my FAA private pilot certificate. I then spent a year in the electronics industry, and a year working with a missions affiliated avionics shop before God opened the doors for me to come and join the faculty at LeTourneau University.
Federal Aviation Administration Private Pilot Certificate, 1991.
Federal Communications Commission General Radiotelephone, 1990 - no expiration.
Federal Aviation Administration Certified Mechanic, Airframe & Powerplant Rating, 1989 - no expiration.
The use of technology in a technical education.
Introduction to Electronics Technology Curriculum, School of Graduate and Professional Studies, LeTourneau University, 1999.
Avionics Class and Lab Curriculum, Department of Aircraft Systems, LeTourneau University.
Aircraft Electronics Association , member.
Aviation Technician Education Counsel , member.
University Aviation Association Conference 2006.
Mission Aviation Training Summit 2006.
Garmin 1000 Line Maintenance Seminar 2006.
Aviation Technical Educator's Council conferences 1999-2005, 2007-2008.
International Association of Missionary Aviation conference 2001, 2011.
School of Aeronautical Science Advisory Committee, Aircraft Systems Science Department Liaison, 2002-Present.
Chair, Aircraft Systems Science Department 1999-Present.
Federal Aviation Administration Test Center Supervisor 1999-Present.
Aviation Technical Educator's Council conferences 2003-2005, 2007-2008.
FAA's Air Traffic Control Initiative conference, 2007-2010.
University Aviation Association conference, 2006, 2008-2010.
Aviation Electronics Association Seminar 2005.
Garmin G1000 line maintenance seminar, 2006.
National Instruments, Fundamentals of Lab View, 2003.
Fellowship Bible Church in Longview, member and deacon.
Manage the Fellowship Bible Church Library with my wife.
I am intrigued with the world God has placed around us, and the laws that He has put into motion that dictate its innermost workings. God has given us the ability to understand and use these laws to do amazing things, from the simplest glider to ultra-high efficiency turbine engines to the GPS navigation system. These all show man's seeking to understand and work with the world that God has given him. It thrills me to be able to participate with students as they strive to understand and use the laws God has put into place. That is why I teach at LeTourneau University.


A great set of articles by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms , "Understanding New Power" and a follow up riff on that article from from Michael Silberman on MobilizaitonLab have inspired some noodling around with their work.
In the table below, I remix a similar table provided by Heimans and Timms with a slightly different focus in order to point to the stability of the models used. I am reshuffling the layout by looking at gaps between production of power and value and the degree to which the producers of that value and power share in the governance and benefits of their contributions.
Potentially if a business/model is in different columns in the top row than in the bottom row, it is less stable and open to competition from competing models that are aligned and more stable. In some cases, the shift toward stability will come from revolt and/or organizing from within.
A more detailed response to the articles by Silberman and Heimans and Timms is published on Netcentric Campaigns' official blog, Netcentric Advocacy. I hope you'll check it out.
Netcentric Campaigns seeks a senior level Online Campaign Manager. Netcentric Campaigns is a division of Green Media Toolshed, a nonprofit organization that specializes in building advocacy networks to successfully champion social and policy change. Netcentric Campaigns provides training in online networking strategy, network assessments and scanning of online activity, consultation on online campaigns, and customized online networking tools and services.
The Online Campaign Manager is responsible for building and supporting advocacy networks. S/he will work with smart, seasoned Directors of Internet Strategy and will interact with our Founder & President on project work. The ideal candidate is self-motivated, has well-rounded communications skills, and moves projects ahead with little guidance. S/he will have the ability to prioritize competing responsibilities and resolve conflicts with team member and vendors. S/he will have experience in managing 2-3 team members and will successfully work on multiple projects with multiple supervisors. We're looking for someone who has an unyielding commitment to high standards as well as a tenacious approach to testing and troubleshooting. We want someone who sweats the details, will work well under tight deadlines, and can shift gears easily when a project changes direction.
Right On! Another great video from Annie and Freerange. It will be interesting to see how the quiz results connect audeinces to each other to mobilze work. Hope you get involved and support the work.
Maid Serives, Nail Salons, Taxi Cabs, Issue Groups and Complex Problems for Organizing Change.
We operate in a sector that has no profits, no barriers to entry, little overhead and low labor costs. In every other sector like our own, the dominate model of operations becomes small independent operations or very lightly controlled franchises. The world of issue organizing is joining the ranks of barber shops, landscaping, maid services, truckers, taxis, newspapers and nail salons. This shift threatens the core business model of important groups but it also gives rise to new models and services.
The life-cycle of a movement usually starts as an issue emerges inspiring individuals to act and organize. Founding groups in a movement are organized (NAACP, wilderness society, Teamsters, Amnesty International) get formed and grow. The new groups recruit talent and pulll together power to create change. As staff increase in skills, build personal and professional networks and talents, a percentage of the talented staff, Board members or funders get increasingly frustrated by the decisions of managers (boards, brands, etc) or politics (wrong message, wrong focus, to conservative or to radicle) so these talented staff split off to create splinter operations that compete directly for media, members, attention of policy makers and funders.
The basic barriers to entry and the overhead with being a political issue group have gone down toward zero. In the last ten years the tools to organize, collect information and broadcast messages has dropped drammatically. The overhead of running an organizaiton has dropped so much that new groups start up quickly and can compete with the same tools as the best funded groups. These new start ups can survive with less money and provide the niche organizing that the public wants. Additionally, the overhead of running an operation has dropped and is so low that both groups remain in operation and are likely to continue.
The trend willnot go away unless there is an increase barriers to entry or drastically increase overhead costs to stay in business (both unlikely). Political and issue organizing is a complex and chaotic environment in which we want many or all organizers to survive. In fact, we care about overall market share of people engaged and growing the base of people that wish to be a part of organizing for change. We know that the new groups often reach new segments and work on new issues so we are always interested in pushing new organizing to a new edge. We care about growing the overall engagement and overall success not the allocation of interests and members within individual groups.
The problem that has emerged is that as the cultural forces splinter organizing units into smaller and smaller factions the issues that must be addressed grow in scale and quicken in tempo. Issues such as balancing influence of multi-national corporations, climate crisis, human justice and dignity on an international scale, war, natural resource management and child safety have spiraled into global issues requiring extensive power to track, evaluate and promote solutions. Even in the US, our own government has take to moving prisoners overseas to complicate the extension of ability to address oversight by US activists groups.
Simply, the problems we want to address are getting bigger while the mechanisms working on the problems are getting smaller. Smaller groups are becoming more powerful but the sum of the smaller groups' power is significantly less than the potential power of the whole.
Given the transformation this trend represents to organizing, it is essential to actually solve the challenge of enabling a highly fractured network to work together in an advocacy and issue context. It is essential to invest in the strategy, training, analysis, research, tools and platforms that enable relationship building to occur and it is essential to train a new generation not just of managers but of network leaders.
Map of a Movement : Where are leaders working on childhood obesity? Are you on the map?
During the interviews and assessment phase before the project, we interviewed lots of leaders in the movement working to reverse the epidemic that wanted to know who are the other leaders in their cities. We heard "If we only had a map".... when we decided to build the map, we wanted to make it so everyone could "own it" this is their map.
We went the extra mile (ok 10 miles) to make it like a youtube video. This map can be embedded on lots of sites (including your own). You can just grab the code (copy) and paste it on any site.
As people join the movement, they are added to totals of supporters on the maps all over the internet. As leaders join the movement, they are added to the map with a way to contact them all over the internet.
This map is pretty netcentric. As it creates new pathways for people to connect to each other, it creates a shared resource, and it becomes a feedback tool for showing how and where the movement is getting organized to reverse the epidemic.
Let me know what you think? How many places will we see this map distributed in 6 months?
I like these tools to help tell the story. This widget misses a few important tweaks that would make it more valuable for both the user and PBS.
1. Sign up for updates on this story. (Name recruitment for PBS). Thank you emails should have links to charities and actions in them.
3. The logo link to news hour should be all the Gulf spill coverage NOT the homepage.
This is an interesting look into the role data plays in scaling social listening and being attentive to those that you are interested in sustaining the conversations.
View more presentations from Rapleaf.
This is in line with the training work we have been doing on twitter for activists. The power of Twitter comes from 3 sources for activists.
Impact: How can people use Twitter more effectively for social change?
JD: I think the biggest thing is supporting each individual update more, getting away from [Twitter] being a social network and focusing on individual tweets, so that you can create a whole movement from that. Right now we have the hashtag, which was invented by our users, but it's still a little bit cumbersome. But we've seen that tool have a dramatic effect on how people organize and it serves a particular event or a particular moment and then disperses when it's no longer necessary. Or, the hashtag becomes a full-fledged Twitter account which people can follow permanently. I think making that transition [to concentrate on the value of individual tweets] in an easy way would be very, very helpful.
I really thought this was a good presentation on innovation process and practice. I like how it resonates on personal experience level and how it bumps up against the network design issues and the paradoxes of building network power and performance to create intentional change.
First, the discussion fits well with the type of work I do with partners. It is interesting to see John focus on the conceptual clarity and need to ask and queue up the right questions. Partners often balk at the really important part of the work that is focused on syncing up the network vision and our efforts with the current contexts and realities that are buffering and shaping the context.
Second, this presentation bumps into the system and process questions at the network level. What systems do we have in place that actually DESTROY innovation at scale across groups and in an issue and advocacy network ? How can networks innovate? How can networks be supported in innovation process? I find it interesting that John limits this conversation and thinking (national or organizational level) to centralized planners and individual examples. John provides the right process (everyone knows the process, set of practices that work well, leads to value) but how does it scale to a distributed innovation by a network of allied activists?
How does a movement of 50 years get to a "beginners mind"? How do set process of leaders, foundations, donors and the most accomplished advocates ask new questions and direct the jazz band of change by adopting the Miles Davis "don't say to much" leadership?
Thanks to Momentum for posting the videos.
Facebook as a Financial Platform?
There are big changes going on at facebook that will reshape the ways nonprofits will be able to use and leverage the platform. The biggest of these changes is the launch of some "gift" tools for your social network. These changes seem little at first "who cares if you can buy a song for a friend" but anyone that watched ITunes, Skype, Amazon and online donations scale up realizes that getting people to cough up credit card for credits is the biggest hurdle in ultimately freeing people from money.
The more that facebook users get used to buying little bits of things online, using their credits, and making transactions online the easier it will be to help them convert facebook relationships into channels for sending money to your charity and campaign.
I expect online donations to charities and groups with "pages" will grow proportionally with the amount of total exchanges on facebook. So seeing them add features like the new "buy a song" for a friend will be a big boost to those of us that look to facebook as a space for organizing relationships with people that use if like the way traditional users focused on their inbox.
I have been hunting around for data like "google flu" those shadows cast by real people doing things that provide insight on big trends. I was looking at Facebook Lexicon to see what trend data could show.
I would imagine many people post something about "new job" or their friends congratulate them on "new jobs" via facebook. So I punched it into Lexicon.
You can see the Facebook crowd mirrored the economic collapse with some variation there is just not that many folks posting about "new job" on facebook. I assume when we see this line start to climb, we will know the job part of the recovery has started.
Make sure to use these tools to access the trends in data that impact your campaign efforts. I find these as interesting insights into the language to use (new jobs is how people talk about it "unemployment" doesn't even register), the traction major themes are getting (see old post on health care).
Netroots conference using UserVoice to sort questions from the large audience. It will be interesting to see how the questions that emerge are very much like or dislike the questions professional reporters would ask.
I will be using this asap. The power of voice and phone connected with the web. I can see a few options from phone bank reminders to a small event, reminders for house parties for everyone in a zip from the database, etc. It is just another way to leap content and organizing across divides.
Vontoo is a market-leading provider of automated voice messaging solutions. Our robust and flexible product offerings allow organizations of all sizes to leverage the power of voice in order to build brands, drive revenues, increase operational efficiencies and solve complex communication challenges.
When it comes to communication, nothing can compare to the power, excitement and authenticity of the human voice. Vontoo was founded with a clear mandate - to bring the power of voice marketing and communication to organizations eager to leverage its seemingly endless capabilities.
Web2.0 meets listserve? This is an embeddable discussion thread?
This is interesting. It is a discussion thread that can be ported and embedded around the web. It could have a nice potential for advocacy groups and creating collaboration and collective action between communities. It would need a few changes to be one of the "killer" apps for those of us in the nonprofit community.
1. Data tracking and ownership. If I embed it in my site (open site) I get a copy of the names and data of the people who post from my site (build out data and interest in my salesforce tracking of those people).
2. Data sharing. I can agree that the original person who set up the thread also gets a copy of the data like a PTa or Cancer survivor forum with data going to local group and livestrong (then it becomes a viral organizing tool spreading content and collecting data).
3. Full email integration. If someone posts to a topic I have commented on I get sent an email AND I can respond via email without going online. A copy of my reply goes into the online forum (stay in your inbox or on blackberry).
4. Secure hand off. My website (from a closed community like Ning or a Drupal site) can allow my logged in people to post without signing in again or needing to go online with everyone who is not logged in getting the post via email.
I sent some emails to the developers. This looks interesting make sure you play.
Has anyone used this in campaign and issue work yet? I would like to see the sympathetic music linked to issue ads to see if they produce any results. I am a big user of Pandora and I like the idea of seeing country songs about healthcare and cancer and dying linked to Health care reform campaign etc. Music is so powerful, I have to imaging that linking some songs to issue work has to be effective.
TargetSpot is the first end to end advertising platform and marketplace designed specifically for internet radio.
Advertisers use TargetSpot's award-winning platform to reach and target internet radio listeners with high-impact audio and video advertising. Traditional and web-only broadcasters alike turn to TargetSpot for its unique ability to support the growth of their streaming products and audience through its innovative advertising technology.
Since launch in 2007, TargetSpot has received numerous awards and recognition, including Always On's "Always On Media 100," Inside Radio's "Seven Changing Radio Now" and Radio-Info.com's "Radio's Innovators".
This kind of data consistently comes up in online organizing. who has access and what do the trends look like. I thought this was really interesting. I worry a little about the English survey skewing the results but broadband in the home ranging between 37% and 68% means that opinion leaders in almost all the groups will have access.
The Hispanics surveyed reported the highest penetration of cellphone ownership, at 89 percent. On a typical day, 14 percent of English-speaking Hispanics reported playing music and 5 percent reported watching video on a cellphone or PDA. In terms of overall digital activities, English-speaking Hispanics who are online or are cell phone users outscored the other two groups.
The study was conducted in English, so the Hispanic population surveyed was skewed to a higher socioeconomic group, the study notes. When Spanish speakers were factored in to Pew's December 2008 study, the rate of broadband penetration in Hispanic homes was counted at 37 percent, while in the most recent study of English-speaking Hispanics, the rate was 68 percent.
This company called COTWEET ( twitter tool for companies) offered beta users access to its services. (I currently use www.Hootsuite.com) . While beta services are not impressive, Cotweet also offered users the opportunity to join a "cohort". (See below).
It looks like participants in the cohort are going to be facilitated through a discussion of the product, and product use on a regular basis so that they can provide each other with tips and tricks. The company learns as the customers learn. Cotweet gets credit for connecting their users into a peer-to-peer network and taking advantage of the energy around twitter.
I can't imagine a similar model working in all products (TurboTax cohort anyone?) . But when there is a pent-up demand and new "open ground" no experts or right or wrong answers (such as in the social marketing space) this cohort idea seems like it's going to be an effective additional customer service.
I have signed up to be a part of a cohort so that I can better understand Jerry's methodology. I also want to see how different our experiences in the nonprofit sector, compared to some of these big corporate clients.
The CoTweet Cohort allows participants to share knowledge, experiences and ideas about the effective use of social media among themselves through bi-monthly conference calls and an online forum for ongoing communications. The cohort will also provide ideas for future development of the CoTweet platform.
The CoTweet Cohort will be facilitated by Jerry Michalski, a highly respected technology consultant. Based in San Francisco, Michalski is a member of CoTweet's Advisory board.
In theory, I would love to organize a customer-service cohort around Green Media Toolshed or the work that we do with any of our other campaigns or clients.
Would GMT's communications people join a cohort on pitching bloggers? Or reaching out to journalists?
After tweaking and refining over the last several weeks, I finally believe I have a system of software and web services figured out that support me in my work to connect with peers, scan the web and react and publish my thoughts/reaction to the conversation. etc.
About me. I do not write code. I don't know how to operate a tar ball. I want things easy and out of the way. This entire package is a few dollars a month for typepad (hosts this blog ). I tend to work long hours and spend a bit of my nights scanning the online space. I don't mind putting the time in to set up each of these because they pay off pretty well. I have a Vista laptop with all Office 2007 tools and an Iphone.
Scanning the field for several projects (hundreds of feeds), grabbing notes that I may need or I want to share with other that are interested in the same project.
Working over the notes and developing some into riffs on networks and advocacy, or storing those notes for later cooking.
Publishing my thought process online, the raw materials and any final products. Sometimes, I need to create long and short riffs on the subject but also I am content to point people to other peoples brilliant content online.
As a network and organizer, my instinct is to leverage a vast and far flung collection of people accelerate my learning, broaden my view and deepen my thinking. I need to keep my ear to the web.
I am not interested in web traffic. I don't do this for ad revenue. I am mostly interested in more fully developing my thoughts. I am interested in getting things done in campaigns. I am interested in providing our partners and clients with a really solid understanding of what is going on across the online organizing space.
Additionally, my online activity is a bit "social". I am interested in sharing information with a small group of friends, peers and coworkers in the progressive movement. I am interested in conversation. I do some of my reading and reacting to stay in touch benefit from, and help my friends.
I don't want it to take more than an hour or two to scan, grab, kick around, react and publish.
I comment on others postings.
Twitter – My favorite part of twitter is see "who follows and who". The open connections are the most valuable part of the system to me. It enables me to reach very "far" across the web to connect with people that are outside my circle of information but still trusted by traceable by degrees of separation. I try to track lots of people right now as I am using it to see what is interesting. Many of the people that I am really close with are not yet on twitter so I use it to scan the larger field. I assume i will really use it more for work in the months ahead. I think the #tag stuff is brilliant.
Windows Live Writer (I love this)– As you are surfing a page or reading in firefox…you highlight the interesting section of the page and hit a little icon that windows live writer puts on your toolbar in firefox. A post opens up with a title and the content already linkined and in the post. It has one button publishing to send the text and images directly into your blog.
Firefox – quick publish – blogger. I set up a blogger account for "clips" I don't use the blogger account to write anything (it is linked to a www.wetpaint.com wiki) I just highlight and hit the right mouse button to see "send to blogger" and off the clip goes.
Typepad – 14 bucks a month. It works. i have been using it for years. They keep adding features, attacking spam and make sure the feeds work with almost every service (facebook, widgets etc.) It is easy to keep free of spam and has an Iphone app.
Blogger – just for clips.
Drupal – full content management system and preferred platform for most of my sites.
I like this overview. We do some of this in Demystifying the Web presentations.
I use different tools (blog,rss,google reader,listsenves) but the logic behind it is good. You let the network filter and clean the web for what is important to you. Small groups filter and discuss. (I let the indicaiton of discussion tell me something is interesting.) I focus my "filter value" on the networks issues.
I also like the technique at the end for Q&A. He turns to the video and then answers questions.
As powershift is in town. They are going to be one of the more connected movements to organize on the Capital that I have seen. Here is just a little summary of the ways these 11,000 activists are going to swarm together. Here is an interesting step-by-step for how people can plug in.
The 140 character updates you will be able to watch on the projection on site or on the Power Shift '09 website will be coming from observers both at the youth climate summit and remote commentators via the internet. The fast growing service Twitter.com, which should reach 1 million users by March 1, allows for the sharing of observations as well as conversation between users using event tags such as "#powershift09" or by referencing another user such as "@powershift09" in your posts or "tweets". Consequently, by simply "tagging" your thoughts or observations with a hashtag (#powershift09) a post becomes searchable for somebody trying to find out what people are saying about Power Shift on Twitter.
However, Twitter is only one component of how the conference will be integrated virtually for people who were not able to make the trip physically. For example, the keynote addresses will be streamed live for people to watch over the internet. Then people will be able to comment either via Twitter or discuss more deeply through the Discussion section of the Power Shift Facebook Fan Page. In addition, through the photo-sharing service Flickr.com, attendees will be able upload pictures to their Flickr accounts, tag them with "powershift09", and then they will cycled through public projections at the conference and through a Flickr application on our Facebook Fan Page.
So just remember to tag your photos and tweets and you too can be part of the conversation: #powershift09.
DonorsChoose.org Moving money into SC schools like Ty'Sheoma Bethea's!
Donor's Choose is opening a money pipeline into the classrooms in SC. teachers in these classes want beanbag chairs, rugs for cozy corners for reading, prewriting sets for kids with motor skill problems, etc. Teacher requests directly from SC classrooms.
Education in the spotlight: Support classrooms like Ty'Sheoma Bethea's!
If you were watching President Obama's address to Congress last night, Ty'Sheoma Bethea probably stole your heart, like she stole ours. The eight-grader from Dillon, South Carolina was in attendance because of the letter she wrote to Congress, about her school's terrible condition.
She concluded her letter with, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congress men like yourself and one day president…." To make a difference in high-poverty South Carolina classrooms like Ty'Sheoma's, you can start here.
DonorsChoose.org Blog: Education in the spotlight: Support classrooms like Ty'Sheoma Bethea's!
Network Flower Power: Project BudBurst - Participate!
1) Select and identify your plant using the plant list or by geographic area.
2) Describe the site where your plant is located. This includes finding the latitude and longitude of your site.
3) Determine which phenophase (phenological stage) you are looking for (i.e. Budburst/First Leaf, First Flower). For help, refer to the plant descriptions found in the plant list.
4) Begin observations (before expected time of budding or flowering)!
5) Report your observations online.
Register online with Project BudBurst to save your observation sites and plants that you are monitoring throughout this year and for coming years. This allows you to report the phenological events as they occur each week!
I love this site in just 10 seconds I get a snap shot of all the words on the congressional record for the day. This is all the speeches, bills and who is talking about them.
What does this image tell you in a glance?
It would be cool if there was a red state / blue state version to see how they differ.
It would also be cool to look at the differences between D and R.
I would like to be able to compare word clouds of politicians.
I also think it would be good to be able to click on the word for a report of the references. The trend is very cool.
links to advocacy letters or public comment periods associated with those words.
an improved and larger widget.
an ability to normalize the color maps based on the percentage of all things said by their state (CA and TX) dominate because of delegation size. (for example is it by % that TX talks most about the environment?
some way that I can grab a page like MD( http://www.capitalwords.org/state/MD/) and keep with a timeline on the top of a local political page (then have a blog and commenting under it) or a word (http://www.capitalwords.org/word/environment/) see the workds around the work environment and the legislators talking about it in a block of time.
Picking up on a riff from yesterday. I have been thinking about the issue of serving the unemployed and reconnecting the economy after the financial system reboots.How is this recovery going to be different from 1930's?
Unemployment benefits should be bundled with 12 months of Internet access. It is part of the investment in the transitioning worker. It is a critical part of the modern "safety net". It will create jobs.
People need to job hunt.
the unemployed need to interact with government agencies and services and online access would reduce government servicing costs.
It would help nonprofits and food banks squeeze more efficiency in the way the coordinate delivery of services and assessing needs.
It would create an intensive online training program (from basic computer skills (how to email, network and search) to all the free and more advanced training online.
employees could stay in touch with previous coworkers (DHL alumni group on Linked-in) and family at reduced costs.
it would up our workforces competitiveness and prepare the unemployed to collaborate on projects for new jobs.
the new free web services (gmail,google docs, skype, etc.) enable productivity in the cloud. so event thee $39 computer or the web books would meet basic needs.
it would open up lots of new self-organizing (laidoffcamp.org) and new business start up.
It is important for the families that are trying to figure out housing availability, stay connected with schools and teachers.
when companies want to rehire or pull from their former workforce they could easily reactivate the latent parts of our workforce.
They could cut off other services (like cable and phone) to save money.
It would generate a new revenue and industry from states for web businesses that could target reengaging the unemployed.
If it shortens unemployment of each persons by just a few weeks it would pay for itself. (480 per person per year).
It would accelerate the use of the stimulus dollars, tax programs, etc.
It would keep the unemployed a more powerful political force.
It is a manageable cost program. (worst case = 40 a month * 4 million unemployed * 12 = 2 billion ). The faster the unemployed find work and get into positions where they create value others are willing to purchase the faster the economy recovers.
Grid Computing for Our Network?
It would be interesting to see one of these cranked up among the progressive advocacy movement for running mapping, GIS, voter file, blogosphere analysis, voice to text recognition, campaign modeling. etc. Who knows maybe we can even use distributed networks to support VOIP, SMS, campaign emailing and emergency activation phone trees.
We may not need tens of thousands of those computers like the Proteome Folding project but I am sure there are many projects at the network scale that our movement is paying through the nose for.
What kinds of projects do you avoid because the computing costs are too expensive?
Grid computing joins together many individual computers, creating a large system with massive computational power that far surpasses the power of a handful of supercomputers. Because the work is split into small pieces that can be processed simultaneously, research time is reduced from years to months. The technology is also more cost-effective, enabling better use of critical funds.
Grid computing is not a futuristic technology. World Community Grid is at work right now applying this technology to exciting research projects that can benefit us all.
Our first project, Human Proteome Folding, is identifying the proteins produced by human genes. With this information, scientists can understand how defects in proteins can cause disease, making it easier to find cures.
In 2003, with grid computing, in less than three months scientists identified 44 potential treatments to fight the deadly smallpox disease. Without the grid, the work would have taken more than one year to complete.
At this stage, it is clear that nonprofit and advocacy groups are also headed for extraordinarily difficult financial times. The cash crunch for the advocacy movement will be as bad as we can imagine and far worse than we can easily manage. We need a plan for how to remain effective.
1. We are going to be poorer nation. We are going to have less money to work with and we are going to be paying off debts and expenses for years to come. We must squeeze value out of every asset we have built or purchased.The decline in the national economy is going to reduce the cash flow into the advocacy movement by between 20 and 50 percent. Almost every organization will lose staff. The progressive advocacy movement at the end of 2010 will look very different from the movement at the end of 2008. all the best "recovery plans do not really mean "go back to 2007" they mean avoid 1929.
2. Unlike large, centrally managed corporations, the movement is going to dissolve in unpredictable and erratic ways. The sector's many externalities, as well as its unregulated and dysfunctional reward and punishment systems, will bring about a rapid, non-linear unraveling of capacity. This means that the most effective groups might not survive, and the least effective groups will not automatically disappear. Nor is there a model to predict which group, partner, campaign staff, or policy wonk is going to be around next month. No one knows what regional offices national groups will close. The groups are not coordinating reductions. The talent and assets that remain are going to be scattered across the landscape. The movement will be left with a bunch of loose threads. The economic crash is going to require a sustained effort to repair and reconnect these threads--the elements of our movement--in order to continue to mount successful campaigns.
3. The deepening recession, environmental changes, political shifts, technological evolution and the ongoing wars will combine to create movement toward rapid change and cultural instability. There will be a quickening of political, cultural and individual behavioral change. For at least two years, the federal government is going to be dominated by Democrats. They are going to be able to move legislation and government action quickly on issues like health care, energy and public works. Opportunities to influence significant events and policies are going to come in tighter and more intense waves.
These assumptions will drive the way leaders in the nonprofit sector plan their organizational budgets. In the advocacy and social change movement, however, we rely on networks in addition to organizations to lead and drive change. Just as managers are creating plans for their organizations, the networks need plans to rationally deal with the reductions in overall capacity while also capitalizing on the opportunities that these disruptions will produce. We need something that is not "more of the same," only smaller.
If we can ask the energy industry to remake itself, if we can ask health care industry to transform, if we can assume the auto industry will be totally different ...where is the vision for our own sector?
The network plan should take advantage of the technology and organizing tools developed in the last several years to manage a constructive reorganization and establish a new model for organizing that is smarter and more effective than the current model primarily dominated by large silos of competing institutions.
Forget a Rerun. Watch Clay Shirky tonight.
Clay is a great thinker in this space and the impact of the culture revolution on organizing. Clay lays out a nice summary of the shifts and what they may mean to group expression and advocacy.
It is through immersion in this type of understanding that drives us to start to think of an Advocacy2.0. Stop asking how does the network help me do what I am doing today better. Ask how does the network change the strategy to get what I want?


Training is a single player game mode where you can learn the basics and gain some footing before trying everything else out.
The Tutorial will take you through Basic and Advanced gameplay techniques. Complete them all to earn the Learning is Fun achievement / trophy.
Practice Mode allows you to try out the game against one character. When you start, the enemy character will not move at all. This can be changed in the Pause menu. Try out the techniques you have learned in the Tutorial mode. The first time you enter this, you will earn the Practice Makes Perfect achievement / trophy.


text:
Being new to Boy Scouts can be daunting, here are a few questions that we have answered that may help you.
How is Boy Scouts Different from Cub Scouts?
The differences between Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts can be described in three general areas: Organization, Activities, and Advancement.
Organization: In Cub Scouts, the adults are the most important leaders, fostering growth and instilling the values and methods of scouting in leader-planned activities. Boy Scouting is intended to be "boy lead." This means that the boys plan what activities they want to pursue, and the adults support the boys. While Cub Scouts are organized in dens consisting of boys the same age, Boy Scouts are organized in patrols. Patrols consist of boys of various ages and interests who function as a unit while at camp and while at meetings. They plan meals together and eat together and plan activities as well.
Activities: Boy Scouts are engaged in a variety of activities. Once a month, scouts have the opportunity to participate in overnight campouts, lock-ins, or cabin camp experiences. This contrasts with the more limited opportunities for adventure in Cub Scouts.
Advancement: Boy Scouts are responsible for their own advancement. The Troop provides ample opportunities for the scouts to learn the skills and principles of scouting, it is up to each boy to seek out Assistant Scoutmasters in order to get "signed off" on the requirements for the rank that he is working on. This contrasts with the Cub Scout experience in which the adult leader keeps track of, and creates activities which lead to, advancement. A second difference between the advancement of Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts is that, while Cub Scouts of the same age have the same rank, it is not uncommon to see boys of the same age with different ranks. This difference happens because Boy Scout determines his own pace of advancement.
What is the "Patrol Method?
The Patrol Method is so fundamental to scouting that Baden Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, once said, "The patrol system is not one method in which Scouting for boys can be carried on. It is the only method." The Patrol consists of a team of scouts who function as a unit within the larger troop. Boys in the patrol take turns with a variety of leadership roles within the patrols so that all can experience the different aspects of what it takes to lead and to serve.
What are the different ranks in Boy Scouts?
Upon joining a Scout Troop, each scout who meets the joining requirements is given the rank of "Scout." Upon meeting specific requirements detailed in the Scout Handbook, Boy Scouts make the following ranks: Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and Eagle. Not all Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle. You could read about the requirements for the different ranks here.
What is the significance of achieving the Eagle rank?
The fact that a boy is an Eagle Scout has always carried with it a special significance, not only in Scouting but also as he enters higher education, business or industry, and community service. The award is a performance-based achievement whose standards have been well-maintained over the years. Not every boy who joins a Boy Scout troop earns the Eagle Scout rank; only about 5 percent of all Boy Scouts do so. This represents more than 2 million Boy Scouts who have earned the rank since 1912. Nevertheless, the goals of Scouting—citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness—remain important for all Scouts, whether or not they attain the Eagle Scout rank.


This week we learn the melody for the classic tune Careless Love. We also go over my first chorus of solo from my upcoming May release Ear Worms which includes this track. It's really fun to play this melody on the low strings in the Duane Eddy style. The solo is simple and very reminencent of a Duane solo.


I saw Dr. Merguerian from the time I was 3 years old until I was 18. He consistently provided the most compassionate care I have ever received from a physician. He always made sure that I understood my condition and what it would mean for the future. My mother still talks about him to this day. He always reassured her and made sure it was clear I was getting the best medical care for my ureter blockages.
My son was one of Dr. Merguerian's early patients at Sick Kids in Toronto. At four months, he had had a surgery to correct a right upper pelvic junction blockage, which unfortunately was unsuccessful. At nine months, Dr. Merguerian performed another surgery on his right kidney, which was successful. While it has been many years now, I've never forgotten Dr. Merguerian's compassion, skill and dedication in the care of my son. For that, I will forever be grateful. Dr. Merguerian gave my son an opportunity to live a normal life, which is a priceless gift. It may interest you to know he's recently graduated college as a Law Clerk. Also, his older brother has often mentioned how affected he was by the dedication of the entire staff at Sick Kids, which has led to him pursue a B. Sc. in Microbiology and Molecular Chemistry. He will graduate this coming spring as a Dean's List student and as the recipient of numerous academic and citizenship awards. He will be writing the MCAT exam with a goal of becoming a doctor himself. My son's younger brother is in his third year in the Co-op Computer Science program at Waterloo University and his youngest brother is finishing Grade 12 with a 99.5% average in a full academic sciences curriculum. His goal is to follow his brother to Waterloo Computer Science. While I'm obviously proud of each of my sons accomplishments, I'm always mindful of the impact the time spent at Sick Kids has had on their lives. To see and experience the passion of each and every person associated with that amazing institution has been central to their approach to academics and to life. For all of your service to our family, Dr. Merguerian, please accept my thanks.
Dr. Merguerian helped my family and we appreciate what he did. From the get go he was easy to reach and to the point. He saw us just a couple days after our diagnosis. He was calm, knowledgeable and most importantly removed my son's kidney and tumor in a safe way. We knew that most of the time these tumors are cancerous, but Dr. Merguerian was confident it wasn't, but only pathology could tell. During our one week wait, his words were reassuring. We were very lucky as the Dr. was right. However, if it was cancerous, I had full trust in Dr. Merguerian and his teams decision. Dr. Merguerian is a true professional and not arrogant as were his team of folks that worked on my son.
We moved to Bellevue from another state and I called to Seattle children's hospital and explained the Urine Reflux problem my son has. They suggested few available doctors finally I approached Dr. Merguerian. I don't know the name before, met him twice with appointments. He explained clearly what could be the condition after 6 months or 1 year if we continue using the medication what we were using. Finally we opted for a surgery suggested by Dr.Merguerian. He told us that everything will be alright. That went really well and my Son got recovered very soon. Based on my interaction with few doctors in my home country and Dr.Merguerian I can definitely say Dr.Mergerian is different and he is Outstanding. Dr.Merguerian, his staff and Staff at Seattle Children's Hospital took care of my Son very well.
We've all met really good doctors. They're good, they know it, and they act like it. Dr. Merguerian is on a different level. He's SO good, that he doesn't need to show it. You can tell how brilliant he is very quickly just from the way that he talks and carries himself. For such a good doctor to show the compassion he has shown for both our son and our family throughout the process has made a lasting impression. He has taken the time to thoroughly explain the procedures and answer all of the questions that we have. We feel incredibly fortunate and thankful that we happen to live in the city where he works.
Dr. Merguerian is a highly skilled, compassionate doctor who was able to take our child from a "scary place" following several urethral reconstructions with complications and poor outcomes, which were performed at a top rated hospital by a different surgeon, and "fix" the problems. Dr. Merguerian allowed us (parents) to ask questions without getting defensive or frustrated and gently reassured us throughout the years he cared for our child. We were deeply saddened to learn that Dr. Merguerian was moving out of our area and would not be able to follow our child further, however we continue to be thankful for the highly skilled and caring service he provided while he was in the Northeast region.
Dr. Merguerian is a fantastic Doctor who has saved our daughter's life from when she was born August 29, 2005 to current. He has performed many surgeries and reconstructions on our daughter from her cloaca anomaly, repairing of her fistula to bladder surgery and many more. He worked hard to get Rylie to a state were she could function and be as independent as possible. He is very caring and takes pride in his work. We highly recommend Dr. Merguerian. Your child will be in good hands. If Rylie needed another major surgery we would travel across county just to have him perform the surgery on our daughter.
Evaluation of Urinary Tract Infections in Children: What is the Evidence?
Should Geometric Mean Calculation of Differential Renal Function be Used When Evaluating Children with Moderate to Severe Hydronephrosis?
Renal cell carcinoma in children, adolescents and young adults: a National Cancer Database study.
Resource utilization and costs associated with the diagnostic evaluation of nonrefluxing primary hydronephrosis in infants.
Commentary to "Does Bladder Augmentation Negatively Affect Renal Transplant Outcome in PUV Patients?"
Digital photographic measurement in hypospadias: Validation and comparison to intraoperative measurement.
Effective and organ specific radiation doses from videourodynamics in children.
Antenatally diagnosed hydronephrosis: current postnatal management.
Commentary to 'short-term outcome of mild isolated antenatal hydronephrosis conservatively managed'.
Hypospadias, Bladder exstrophy, Undescended testicles, Hernia and hydrocele, vesicoureteral reflux, hydronephrosis, urinary tract infections, Disorders of Sexual Differentiation, Neurogenic bladder and Spina Bifida.
Evidence base outcomes in pediatric urology, Quality improvement, Patient safety.


Matafaluga Management was founded in 1992 in Sant Feliu de Codines. After 26 years, now based in Caldes de Montbui, we are a reference in the distribution of herbs and spices in Catalonia.
We serve butcher's shops, fruit shops, grocery stores, as well as many restaurants and gourmet shops. From herbs and spices, to seawater, through dried or canned mushrooms, honey, organic olives (and derivatives such as organic olive oil), nuts, cereals, gluten-free stews, pâtés, caramelized sesame, organic juices, jams, sauces (allioli, romesco, xató, calçots…), pasta, dull brown sugar.
We are also the official distributors of the brands: La Barraca, Bionsan, Conservas Coll, Ordi Natura, Delizium, Casa Pau, Kromenat, La Moianesa, Capell, Zara, Ebre, Cooperativa Foment Maialenc and Can Galderic.


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Shady Brook is an unincorporated community in Dickinson County, Kansas, United States.

History
Shady Brook (spelled historically Shadybrook) had a post office from 1901 until 1907.

References

Further reading

External links
 Dickinson County maps: Current, Historic, KDOT

Unincorporated communities in Dickinson County, Kansas
Unincorporated communities in Kansas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Photos: Shelton High's Class of 2021 celebrates graduation
June 16, 2021 Updated: June 16, 2021 10:23 p.m.
Shelton High School graduate Caitlin McNeil walks with the Class of 2021 during graduation.
Jason Edwards / For Hearst Connecticut MediaShow MoreShow Less
Shelton High School graduates Casey An, Brooke Doolan and Megan McCarthy sing the National Anthem during graduation for the Class of 2021 on Wednesday.
Shelton High School graduate Amy Agreda wears a floral inspired cap during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton High School Senior Class President Clarissa Pierre addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Senior Class Vice President Brandon Acervida addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Senior Class Essayist Carly Hajducky addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton High School graduation for the Class of 2021 on Wednesday, June 16 2021.
Shelton High School Salutatorian Jessica Jayaker addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton High School Valedictorian Majd Saymeh addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton High School graduate Ashley Coppola blows bubbles during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton Public Schools Superintendent Kenneth Saranich addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton High School Principal Kathleen Riddle addresses the audience at Finn Stadium during graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16, 2021.
Shelton High School graduate Andrew Estevez gives a thumbs-up during the processional at graduation for the Class of 2021 on June 16 2021.
Shelton High School graduation for the Class of 2021 on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
High school seniors, with their families watching, gathered as a group Wednesday to once again celebrate a traditional graduation.
For the past 16 months, students have dealt with a pandemic that prevented a traditional graduation for the Class of 2020 and forced most of the present graduating class into remote learning for long stretches.
On Wednesday, at Finn Stadium, 306 seniors got to walk the aisle, get their diploma and toss their caps in what is a true rite of passage.


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Stairway to history
Maharashtra is a land of forts which stand as silent sentinels while offering a glimpse of the past. The Sinhagad Fort is situated about 30 kilometres from the heart of Pune city, and is a favourite weekend getaway for people wishing to momentarily escape the daily hustle and bustle of city life.
A favourite picnic spot now, Sinhagad Fort was once a battleground witnessing fierce battles for its possession - the most epic battle being the one fought in 1670 when Chhatrapati Shivaji's forces, led by Tanaji Malusare, recaptured it from the Moghuls; a battle that is now a folklore in Maharashtra.
Start marching.
A visit to the fort is, therefore, like entering a time machine to take you into the past. There is a road - a narrow and not very ship-shape one though - that takes the visitor right up to the fort situated on a cliff at a height of about 2300 feet or 700 metres from the plains. But for the adventurous and the trekkers it is the laborious climb from the base of the fort that holds more excitement.
A bus, from the city, takes us to the base of the fort after an almost one-hour journey. Then begins the climb. Without further ado, I started marching. But there are no marchers ahead nor behind me. This, at first, does not bother me. But very soon I reach a point which appears not to have been treaded before. It is like a cul-de-sac. What do I do now?
That's not the kind of
road I had in mind!
There was not a soul in sight from whom I could seek directions. So, I turned back and was contemplating my next move when I espied a local approaching with a huge load on his shoulders and breathing heavily. I asked him the directions and he showed me the right path.
Then I was on my way, merrily rushing ahead in the hope of reaching the summit shortly. A climb of 700 metres could at the most take me 30 minutes, I calculated - a calculation that was utterly incorrect as I found out later. The climb became a bit harder as time progressed, and my poor legs started complaining. But the fort was still nowhere in sight!
Hey, wait for me.
How I wish I were young again!
The solitary march had begun to be somewhat disconcerting. But soon I saw three youngsters carrying on relentlessly ahead, and that was motivating. However, I was thrice their age and could not keep pace with them, with the result that they soon disappeared from sight and I was back to being alone.
Now the poor legs refused to budge. So, what could I do? I sat down on a boulder and rested for a while. Soon I saw a man, certainly a few years older than me, bounding down with the agility of a soldier. He had been to the top and was now making the descent. I complimented him on his fitness and asked him how far was it to the top. "This is just the beginning," he told me with a grin. That left me quite deflated because I had been at it for nearly an hour, and thought I had almost reached the top.
Nevertheless I chalked out a strategy - I walked 200 steps, rested for a while, and then resumed my progress. That strategy worked well and my legs thanked me for it. I later learned this was not a good strategy at all.


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Chaos Walking (2021)
In the not-too-distant future, Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) discovers Viola (Daisy Ridley), a mysterious girl who crash lands on his planet, where all the women have disappeared and the men are afflicted by "the Noise" - a ...
Dance of the 41 (2020)
Based on the Ball of the Forty-One which was a society scandal in early 20th-century Mexico. The incident revolved around an illegal police raid carried out in November 1901 in a private home in Mexico City. The scandal ...
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
Winnie Slade, a young divorcee, buys an old historic house from nutty Professor Billings, who lives there with his daffy housekeeper and bizarre neighbors, in order to convert it into a hotel. She allows them to continue...
Taxi zum Klo (1980)
Frank Ripploh is a bit of a rascal: he's a bearded and shaggy-haired teacher, and he's gay with a very active sex life and an interest in making films. He keeps his personal life and teaching separate, but he sometimes c...
Test (2013)
San Francisco, 1985: Frankie confronts the challenges of being an understudy in a modern dance company as he embarks on a budding relationship with Todd, a veteran dancer in the same company and the bad boy to Frankie's ...
The Hour of Living (2012)
Theo goes looking for someone who can tell him about his dad and the person he loved. His quest leads him into the Alps, where George has been living as a recluse for ten years. As they meet, the two men start to make se...
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Parvis, the son of exiled Iranians, was caught shoplifting. He is sentenced to community service at a refugee shelter where he meets the siblings Banafshe and Amon, who have fled Iran. As a romantic attraction between Pa...
Beloved (2011)
In London, a mother and daughter navigate their respective romances: Madeline rekindles an affair from thirty years earlier, while her daughter Vera is caught between a musician who cannot commit and her ex, who still pi...
4 Moons (2014)
Four stories about love and self-acceptance: An eleven year-old boy struggles to keep secret the attraction he feels towards his male cousin. Two former childhood friends reunite and start a relationship that gets compli...
All About E (2015)
A beautiful sexy DJ is forced to run when she stumbles on a bag of cash. Can she keep the money, conquer her demons, AND get the girl? All About E is a road trip, a comedy, and a love story. E, a beautiful, young Arabic ...
Les Invisibles (2012)
"Les Invisibles" (The Invisible) of the title are a group men and women born between the two world wars. They have nothing in common except they are all gay and that they decided to be open about their homosexuality at a...
Two Friends (2015)
Two best friends have their relationship tested when Abel tries to help his friend Clement with the latter's love interest Mona.::Mistikawy...
Iron Ladies Roar! (2014)
A team of gay volleyball players take on the best of Thailand in pursuit of the national championship.::anonymous...
Home of the Giants (2007)
A story about basketball and befriending. Gar is a High School journalist who, while covering the team to the state championship, is best friends with the teams' main "Star" Matt Dunbar. Matt's older brother persuades hi...
Rosa Morena (2010)
Thomas, a Danish gay man, is unable to adopt in his home country. He visits a friend in Brazil to explore the possibility of bringing home a child. Eventually he meets Maria, a poor woman who is willing to give away the ...
Pride & Protest (2020)
After the recent media frenzy around the Birmingham anti-LGBTQ+ protests against relationships education in primary schools by a group of Muslim community members, a team of queer community reporters from various ethnic,...
Into the Lion's Den (2011) (V)
When three gay men on a cross-country road trip enter a redneck bar, the culture clash has deadly results.::Anonymous...
Cold Lunch (2008)
Christer (27) is on his way to work when a seagull shits on his shirt. Down in the Laundromat in the basement he suddenly remembers that all his rent money is in his shirt pocket. In an attempt to save the money, he take...
Rent Boys (2011)
Berlin stories behind sex for money. Despised, stigmatised and suppressed to the fringe of society - this is the reality young, male prostitutes face in Berlin. Most of the hustlers are immigrants, a lot of them act out ...
Against the Law (2017) (TV)
In 1952 journalist Peter Wildeblood, at a time when same-sex was a crime, picks up RAF corporal Eddie McNally, thus beginning a love affair, often conducted through letters. Peter introduces him to Edward, Lord Montagu a...
Mulligans (2008)
Tyler Davidson invites his college buddy Chase home for the summer holidays and a secret is revealed that threatens to tear his perfect family apart. When Tyler's mother, Stacey discovers her husband Nathan in an unspeak...
Another Country (1984)
Based on the award winning play by Julian Mitchell, the film explores the effect of Public School life in the 1930's on Guy Burgess as his homosexuality and unwillingness to "play the game" turns him eastwards towards co...
Rites of Passage (1999)
When lawyer DJ Farraday discovers his father has been having an affair, the two drive out to the remote family cabin to talk things over. What neither expects is that DJ's estranged gay brother Campbell will already be t...
Diamantino (2018)
Diamantino, the world's premiere soccer star loses his special touch and ends his career in disgrace. Searching for a new purpose, the international icon sets on a delirious odyssey where he confronts neo-fascism, the re...
Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway (2008) (TV)
Set in New York City's gritty East Village, the revolutionary rock opera RENT tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. "Measuring their lives in love," these starving artists strive ...
Beauty Boys (2020)
In a small village, Leo, 17 years-old, has a strong taste for make-up. His big brother, Jules, who fears to be laughed at, stands against this passion. On the night of the open stage, Leo shows up in full drag.::Yukunkun...
Madame (2019)
MADAME takes us onto an intimate journey where Caroline, a flamboyant 90-year-old grandmother and her filmmaker grandson Stéphane explore the development and transmission of gender identity in a patriarchal environment. ...
Jeffrey (1995)
Jeffrey, a young gay man in New York, decides that sex is too much and decides to become celibate. He immediately meets the man of his dreams and must decide whether or not love is worth the danger of a boyfriend dying....
I Am Happiness on Earth (2014)
Emiliano looks at his life with the eyes of a film director, mixing the objective reality with the processes of the artistic creation. The story he is filming flounders with his daily life, until his world is trapped in ...
Quarter to Two Before Jesus Christ (1982)
Rahatlocum is a North African Roman colony where Julius Caesar came to spend an expensive holiday. The revolt rumbles among the small people who find a leader in the person of Ben-Hur Marcel....
The History Boys (2006)
In 1980s Britain, a group of young men at Cutlers' Grammar School all have the brains, and the will to earn the chance of getting accepted in the finest universities in the nation, Oxford and Cambridge. Despite the fine ...
Semper Fi: One Marine's Journey (2007) (TV)
A gay Marine ignores the pleas of his West Hollywood friends and ships with his unit to Iraq because he believes in answering his country's call. What he finds there breaks his heart and upon returning home he begins tou...
Seashore (2015)
During a weekend in the winter, two young men attempt to rekindle their friendship, witnessed by a cold raging sea. BEIRA-MAR is a film about memories. When the directors met in film school, they realized they had had a ...
Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)
Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson, an out-and-proud gay college student, crawls back into the closet to survive the holidays with his family. He keeps his cool as his quirky Midwestern-hearted parents try to set him up with his h...
Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach spends his days working a dead-end job and helping his needy sister care for her son. In his free time he surfs, draws and hangs out with his best friend, Gabe, who lives ...
Funny Boy (2020)
Sri Lanka of the 70's and 80's. The elegant world of upper class Tamils, a minority group in a largely majority Sinhalese country. At 8, Arjie loves dressing up like a bride and acting out a bridal procession with his gi...
Jess & James (2015)
Jess is a bohemian youth with secrets to hide from his shrewd parents. James feels trapped living with his irritable mother. After meeting for a sexual encounter, the two young men set off on a spontaneous road trip acro...
Whatever Works (2009)
Attempting to impress his ideologies on religion, relationships, and the randomness (and worthlessness) of existence, lifelong New York resident Boris Yellnikoff rants to anyone who will listen, including the audience. B...
One Kiss (2016)
The story of three teenager friends not accepted by their peers....
Tomcat (2016)
Andreas and Stefan lead a happy and passionate life: Together with their beloved tomcat Moses, they live in a beautiful old house in Vienna's vineyards. They work as a musician and as a scheduler in the same orchestra an...
AERO x NEZZY
i want a slender leg...
i want to become tisa...
i want to become a sexy slender leg...
i want to wear converse...
sequel France revenge 2010 2015 based-on-novel mother-son-relationship father-son-relationship female-protagonist Italy 2007 Canada death love China Australia male-nudity nudity 2014 2006 dog one-word-title two-word-title new-york-city Germany 2017 India psychotronic-film tv-special tv series 2012 bare-chested-male 2016 independent-film United States f-rated husband-wife-relationship Japan Spain Hong Kong 2021 father-daughter-relationship violence bare-breasts 2009 2019 police 2008 blood murder South Korea friendship 2020 character-name-as-title 2018 2013 2011 United Kingdom female-frontal-nudity female-nudity