text:
THOMAS BUCHANAN "the Immigrant"
ABT 1740 - Feb 1787
RESIDENCE: ENG & 1760 Prince George's Co. MD
DEATH: Feb 1787
Father: BUCHANAN
Family 1 : Mary COOKE
+John BUCHANAN Judge
_ BUCHANAN __________|
|--THOMAS BUCHANAN "the Immigrant"
Charles Archer BURNETT
25 Dec 1906 - 1 Jan 1984
RESIDENCE: Nashville, TN and Birmingham, AL
BIRTH: 25 Dec 1906, Nashville, Davidson Co. Tennessee
DEATH: 1 Jan 1984, Birmingham, Jefferson Co. Alabama
Father: Joseph Lee BURNETT
Mother: Fannie Elizabeth JORDAN
Marriage 1 Caroline Beasley NORTON b: 1906 d. 1985.
_Joseph Bolling BURNETT _+
_William Wiltshire "Buck" BURNETT C.S.A._|
| (1829 - 1873)                           |
|                                         |_Anna BEASLEY ___________
|                                           (1800 - ....) m 1819
_Joseph Lee BURNETT ______|
|                          |                                          _________________________
|                          |                                         |
|                          |_Margaret J. ROUNDTREE __________________|
|                            (1830 - ....)                           |
|                                                                    |_________________________
|--Charles Archer BURNETT
|                                                                     _________________________
|                                                                    |
|                           _________________________________________|
|                          |                                         |_________________________
|_Fannie Elizabeth JORDAN _|
|                                          _________________________
|                                         |
|_________________________________________|
Dr. Ruel Keith COMPTON M.D.
TITLE: Dr.
OCCUPATION: Physcian
RESIDENCE: Pomonkey, Charles Co. MD and Beaufort, SC
BIRTH: 6 Apr 1828, Georgetown, Washington, DC
DEATH: Beaufort, South Carolina
RESOURCES: See: notes [S2993]
Father: John Smith COMPTON
Mother: Jane Harrison CLAGGETT
Family 1 : Rachael "Raveholy" Jackson DEMENT
MARRIAGE: 1850, Beaufort, South Carolina
Susan COMPTON
Catherine COMPTON
Jenny COMPTON
Ruel Keith COMPTON Jr.
Story of a chapel house From: RPalmer392@aol.com 14 Aug 2003
This is a story of a little Episcopal chapel in a small village called Pomonkey in Charles County Maryland. The chapel was built about 1841 when an earlier log structure was destroyed by fire. It was built next to the old cemetery that was across the old Port Tobacco Road from the earlier chapel on what is now called Bumpy Oak Road. The grounds of the cemetery and a 100 year old wood frame chapel known as St. John's chapel about a quarter mile up the road belong to the Christ Church, Accokeek Parish. St Johns chapel is a "chapel of ease". The little cemetery known as The Bumpy Oak was named for the huge old oaks with large bumps that live to around six hundred years. The Bumpy Oaks had been used as a meeting place for worshipers since the earliest days of the lower Potomac settlements. Today it is a quiet and solitary place with a growth of brush at one corner and old tombstones with familiar names from the area. A visitor might think this an insignificant little out of the way place. The cemetery and the old chapel that once stood there have a history that isn't taught in schools. The cemetery land was donated by a local family whose descendants lived on the surrounding lands until recently.
An elderly lady related a story of courage to me about her grandmother and great grandmother. It was 1861 and the occupiers were starting to pour into the areas around Washington. Charles County had many miles of shoreline along the Potomac River and by boat was a short distance to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Farms and churches were being taken over for use of encampment by these hordes of soldiers from other lands.
With a 5 year old child in tow Mrs. Rachael Compton, wife of Ruel Compton a local physician went into the small wooden chapel and smuggled out all the valuables they could hide and hid them in the attic of their house until after the war. The house which still stands and was about 100 years old at the time was near the cemetery and church. The chapel was quite small and was built by the local parishioners, pews, other furnishings, all built by the people who worshipped there.
Today there are two pieces of the original furniture that remain and are in use in the present chapel up the road. The yankee troops that occupied the area took over churches in the area and literally kicked the people out of their own houses of worship. Did these soldiers need a place to worship? Not at all. If they did it was done in camp like any army did. No, they used this small building as a stable for their horses. They ripped out the wood floors and pews and used them for firewood. They busted the windows out with glass shattered all around. I would suspect they did clean it up so as not to injure the horses. Anyone who knows horses and especially cavalry horses knows full well they don't need to be stabled. The only furniture that wasn't destroyed in this house of worship was the Bishop's chair dating to 1840 and a small table. The major in charge used these in his tent until they departed some years later.
Anyone who has ever been in a cemetery knows it is sacrilege and very disrespectful to sit on tombstones. These soldiers had no respect at all for the headstones of the dead buried there. Back in one section is an old tombstone dated 1862. Gerard Briscoe was a Pvt in the 1st Maryland who had been captured and sent to Old Capitol Prison where he died in the summer of 1862. His stone, now blackened with age is pointed at the top. One thing we look for when searching out graves of Confederate's in old cemetery's is a pointed headstone. Confederate dead were buried with these type stones to prevent the Yankees from sitting on them. Today when one orders a stone for a Confederate soldier or sailor from the Veterans headstone program you should order and get the Confederate headstone which is pointed at the crown. I have many relations who were soldiers and sailors in the Confederacy, all from Maryland save one. Three of these men left Maryland to cross the Potomac in early summer of 1862. They were members of this church and what happened to their little chapel no doubt played a big part in their decision. They joined the 2nd Maryland Inf in Richmond and fought all the way. One I know was wounded at Culps Hill in Gettysburg. The oldest, Corp James T Brown was captured in August 64 trying to defend the Weldon RR South of Petersburg. He was sent to Point Lookout Prison camp not many miles from his own home, the neighboring county. He died in Point Lookout on April 21, 1865 from Diarrhea as their records indicate. Diarrhea was a common report when a prisoner was shot for some reason. We will never really know. The other two, brother Sgt. Thomas and Pvt. Benjamin Hodges were captured defending Petersburg on April 3 1865 and were released in July 1865 from Point Lookout. They are buried next to each other in Bumpy Oak cemetery. Corporal James Brown's final resting place is known only to God since most of the graves at Point Lookout were destroyed by storms and erosion. His name is on the monument at Point Lookout. These young men did not leave their home to fight to maintain slavery. The Hodges didn't own any and James had set free two slaves after his father died before the war and had to sell the other two as anyone who knows you couldn't set slaves free unless you can prove they could take care of themselves. It was a federal law at the time. This story is just one of tens of thousands and why so many men and women risked their lives and fortunes, big and small to fight for a cause they believed was right and just. What weak coward would not lift a finger to defend their own home or land? The Confederate Army, outmanned and outgunned, gained the respect of the world and their northern counterpart for the fight they had. But then they were just doing what a man does, defend his home and loved ones.
The silver service set and other valuables that were smuggled out that night are now preserved for display in the Southern Maryland Center at the Charles County Community College. The table and Bishops chair are still in the newer St. John's, Pomonkey chapel which is now one hundred and two years old. The old chapel of the story was dismantled in 1901 when the new one was ready, moved to the new town of Indian Head where the US Naval Powder Factory had been built during the 1880's. It was used as an Episcopal chapel until 1916 when the present chapel was built in Indian Head and then a Baptist congregation took it over. Since the 1950's it has been used as a private rental property. I should maybe take a drive down and see what shape it is in, if it hasn't been torn down by now.
Rick In Olde Md
Pomonkey was an area people would cross the Potomac to Virginia. It was about a mile wide there and lots of boats and transport to be found.
Maryland Census, 1772-1890
COMPTON, RUEL State: MD Year: 1860
County: Charles County Record Type: Federal Population Schedule
Township: Coomes District Page: 751 Database: MD 1860 Federal Census Index
Name Age in 1880 Estimated Birth Year Birthplace Relation to head-of-house Marital
Status Race Gender Home in 1880 (City,County,State) Census
Ruel COMPTON 52 1828 Washington, D.C. Self Married White Male Pomonkey, Charles, MD
1860 Charles County census shows
Ruel age 31
Racheal age 31
Susan age 9
Catherine age 5
Jenny age 2
_William COMPTON ____+
_Wilson COMPTON _____|
| (1763 - ....) m 1790|
|                     |_Susannah WILSON ____+
_John Smith COMPTON _____|
| (1791 - ....) m 1817    |
|                         |                      _John SPEAKE ________+
|                         |                     | (1708 - 1773)
|                         |_Eleanor Ann SPEAKE _|
|                           (1765 - 1792) m 1790|
|                                               |_Elizabeth STONE ____+
|                                                 (1720 - 1789)
|--Ruel Keith COMPTON M.D.
|                                                _____________________
|                                               |
|                          _____________________|
|                         |                     |
|                         |                     |_____________________
|_Jane Harrison CLAGGETT _|
(1793 - ....) m 1817    |
Willie Elbert DUDLEY
Karen Hope FOGLE
William Southall GRAVES
23 Sep 1804 - ____
RESIDENCE: Charles City Co. VA
Father: Edmund Valentine GRAVES
Mother: Elizabeth SOUTHALL
_Ralph GRAVES III____+
_Richard Croshaw GRAVES _|
|                         |_Elizabeth___________
|                           (1680 - ....)
_Edmund Valentine GRAVES _|
|                          |                          _Joseph VALENTINE ___+
|                          |                         | (1720 - 1771)
|                          |_Elizabeth VALENTINE ____|
|                            (1740 - ....) m 1771    |
|                                                    |_____________________
|--William Southall GRAVES
|                                                     _____________________
|                                                    |
|                           _William SOUTHALL _______|
|                          | (1770 - ....)           |
|                          |                         |_____________________
|_Elizabeth SOUTHALL ______|
|                          _____________________
|_________________________|
Sir THOMAS HARRISON Knt.
TITLE: Sir
OCCUPATION: Mayor of Yorkshire
RESIDENCE: ENG
DEATH: 1573, Yorkshire, England
RESOURCES: See: [S720] [S1670]
Father: CUTHBERT HARRISON
+CUTHBERT HARRISON
Lord Thomas HARRISON, KNIGHT, MAYOR Of Yorkshire ____ - 1573
Repository ID Number: I5072, RESIDENCE: Yorkshire, England; BIRTH: Yorkshire, England; DEATH: 1573, Yorkshire, England
Ancestor of this line ... though we are missing at least one generation before Cuthbert.
_CUTHBERT HARRISON __|
|--THOMAS HARRISON Knt.
Hon. and Col. William Henry JACKSON
3 Jun 1786 - 8 Aug 1875
TITLE: Hon. and Col.
OCCUPATION: U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1857-61.
RESIDENCE: Savannah and Macon, Bibb Co. GA
RELIGION: Presbyterian
BIRTH: 3 Jun 1786, Savanah, Georgia
DEATH: 8 Aug 1875, Macon, Bibb Co. GA
BURIAL: Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, GA
Father: James JACKSON of Georgia "the Immigrant
Mother: Mary Charlotte YOUNG
Family 1 : Mildred Lewis COBB
James JACKSON C.S.A.
"son of JAMES JACKSON, GOV. DEATH AND OBITUARY NOTICES FROM THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE 1867-1878, Issue of September 1, 1875: My father, Col. Wm. H. Jackson, was born in Savannah, Ga., June 3d, 1786 and died at my residence in Macon, August 8th 1875. He was the eldest son of Gov. James Jackson, whose memory is almost idolized. He joined the Presbyterian Church in Athens. James Jackson.
Children of MILDRED COBB and WILLIAM JACKSON are:
i. MARTHA COBB17 JACKSON, b. 1818; d. September 26, 1893.
ii. JAMES JACKSON, b. 1818, Georgia; d. 1887. Grandson of James Jackson (1757-1806); nephew of Jabez Young Jackson. Born in Georgia. Member of Georgia state legislature; state court judge; U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1857-61. Interment at Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Ga."
Henry Jackson's nephew, William Henry Jackson, married Howell Cobb's sister, Mildred Lewis Cobb.
_James JACKSON ______|
_James JACKSON of Georgia "the Immigrant_|
| (1757 - 1806) m 1785                    |
|                                         |                      __
|                                         |                     |
|                                         |_Mary WEBBER ________|
|                                           (1740 - ....)       |
|                                                               |__
|--William Henry JACKSON
|                                                                __
|                                                               |
|                                          _____________________|
|                                         |                     |__
|_Mary Charlotte YOUNG ___________________|
(1760 - ....) m 1785                    |
John H. KIRTLEY
1764 - 19 Apr 1824
RESIDENCE: Culpeper Co. VA and Smiths Grove, Warren and.Barren Co. KY
BIRTH: 1764, Culpeper Co. Virginia
DEATH: 19 Apr 1824, Breckinridge Co. Kentucky
BURIAL: Barren Co. Kentucky
Father: Thomas Sydnor KIRTLEY Sr.
Mother: Judith CALLOWAY
Family 1 : Mary LEWIS
MARRIAGE: 10 Jun 1794, Culpeper Co. Virginia
John Kirtley born in 1764 married Mary, daughter of Henry Lewis; died in Barren County, KY in 1824.
Abraham Kirtley b. 13 JUL 1796 in Orange Co. VA d. 26 FEB 1871 in Prairie Twp. Tipton Co. IN m. Lydia Underwood.
Ambrose Kirtley b. 5 JUN 1800 in Smiths Grove, Warren Co. KY
Paschal J. Kirtley b. 29 APR 1802 in Smiths Grove, Warren Co. KY d, 29 JUN 1882 in Cave City, Barren Co. KY m. Mary McDaniel
Sarah "Sally" Kirtley b. 1808/1810 in Smiths Grove, Warren Co. KY m. Samuel Perrin Bowdry (Husband)
Elizabeth Kirtley b. 1804 in Smiths Grove, Warren Co. KY
Mary Kirtley b. 1806 m. Thomas Henry (Husband) Marriage: 4 MAR 1835 in Barren Co. KY
_Francis KIRTLEY I___________
| (1664 - ....)
_Francis P. KIRTLEY II "the Immigrant"_|
| (1690 - ....) m 1722                  |
|                                       |_Frances BEAUFORD (BUFORD) __
_Thomas Sydnor KIRTLEY Sr._|
|                           |                                        _John J. ROBERTS Jr._________+
|                           |                                       | (1658 - 1724)
|                           |_Margaret M. ROBERTS __________________|
|                             (1698 - 1781) m 1722                  |
|                                                                   |_Elizabeth TRAMMELL _________+
|                                                                     (1672 - ....)
|--John H. KIRTLEY
|                                                                    _Thomas CALLOWAY (CALLAWAY) _
|                                                                   | (1649 - ....)
|                            _Francis CALLOWAY _____________________|
|                           | (1674 - ....)                         |
|                           |                                       |_____________________________
|_Judith CALLOWAY __________|
(1736 - ....) m 1750      |
|                                        _____________________________
Mary Schuler MCCANTS
RESIDENCE: St. John Parish, Berkeley Co. SC
BIRTH: 20 Nov 1884
DEATH: 29 Nov 1971
RESOURCES: See: [S11] [S306] [S2816]
Father: Nathaniel Evans MCCANTS
Mother: Arabella C. MCCANTS
Family 1 : George A. BAKER
MARRIAGE: 5 May 1912, South Carolina
+Martha Bell BAKER
_John James MCCANTS Jr._+
_John Owens MCCANTS C.S.A._|
|                           |_Martha CANNON _________+
_Nathaniel Evans MCCANTS _|
|                          |                            ________________________
|                          |                           |
|                          |_Pauline CUMMINS __________|
|                            (1833 - 1863) m 1853      |
|                                                      |________________________
|--Mary Schuler MCCANTS
|                                                       _John James MCCANTS Sr._+
|                                                      | (1777 - 1819) m 1805
|                           _Thomas Whitfield MCCANTS _|
|                          | (1814 - 1874) m 1860      |
|                          |                           |_Mary Eleanor OWENS ____
|                          |                             (1786 - 1845) m 1805
|_Arabella C. MCCANTS _____|
|                            ________________________
|_Ava_______________________|
WILLIAM PAULET
+ELIZABETH PAULET
James PETTUS
RESIDENCE: Louisa Co. VA
Father: William PETTUS
Mother: Susanna GRAVES
Listed in father's 1795 will.
_Thomas PETTUS of Littleton_+
_Dabney PETTUS _______|
| (1685 - ....)        |
|                      |_Mary Elizabeth DABNEY _____+
|                        (1660 - ....) m 1675
_William PETTUS _____|
|                     |                       _Samuel OVERTON ____________+
|                     |                      | (1685 - 1725) m 1710
|                     |_Anne OVERTON ________|
|                       (1718 - ....)        |
|                                            |_Annie (Mary) CARR _________+
|                                              (1690 - ....) m 1710
|--James PETTUS
|                                             _Jeffrey GRAVES Jr._________+
|                                            | (1683 - ....)
|                      _Thomas GRAVES Sr.____|
|                     | (1698 - 1767) m 1720 |
|                     |                      |_Elizabeth__________________
|                     |                        (1680 - ....)
|_Susanna GRAVES _____|
|                       _William DAVENPORT _________
|                      | (1660 - ....)
|_Sarah Ann DAVENPORT _|
(1696 - 1782) m 1720 |
|_Ann WOODRUFF ______________
Howard R. PEVY
Ann PRICE
RESIDENCE: VA
Family 1 : Jordan Turpin HARRIS
+ Ann Price b: Abt 1763
Harriett SHIRLEY
RESIDENCE: Bullitt Co., KY In 1850
BIRTH: 1807, Not Known As Recorded By Census Taker
RESOURCES: See: [S24] [S428] [S460]
Father: Robert SHIRLEY
Family 1 : John T. BASS
MARRIAGE: 17 Sep 1828, Bullitt Co., KY [S460]
C. A. BASS
Elizabeth BASS
Samuel BASS
Mary E. BASS
William BASS
John L. BASS
Amanda BASS
Elija BASS
_Robert SHIRLEY _____|
|--Harriett SHIRLEY
|_Elizabeth___________|
RESIDENCE: NC or TN?
+Catherine WALKER


This small yet efficient tomato slicer is made of an ABS structure with serrated stainless steel blades, creating slices ¼" (5.5 mm) thick with each push. Non-slip feet are made of plastic. Works best with firm tomatoes. Dishwasher-safe.
Cutter is made of an ABS structure and eight stainless steel blades.
Blades create 1/4" slices; not adjustable.
Non-slip feet are made of rubber.
Works best with firm tomatoes.
View More In Tomato Knives.


patience was the topic of discussion last night (thanks sidra). why am i rushing this? He is what i want. He represents something incredibly pleasurable for me so why keep intruding on His time and trying His patience. well because He's not like other men i've been attracted to in a variety of ways. men i meet love to talk about themselves and then end up telling me things they had no intention of ever letting slip through their lips. Emperor is not like those men. it's not exactly like pulling teeth but while i'm sitting at His feet (metaphorically that is ROFLMAO) He's not gushing because i'm there. some nights we have great stimulating and sweet conversations. other nights it feels like i really am just a nice kitty curled up at His feet that He periodically picks up to absentmindedly pet before placing back on the floor. but i end up sitting a little disoriented because i'm used to having to flee my "owner" to get some time alone and in this situation He is definitely controlling how long my leash is to continue the analogy.
so i'm going to attempt to really be a good "kitty" for a minute. i'll come when i'm requested. i'll do my own thing when i'm not. no my primary focus hasn't shifted because if this isn't what Emperor wants then i'll of course do what He wants and find another way to cope with my fluxing insecurities. some days you couldn't tell me i wasn't cute and He wasn't just happy as all hell that He found me. but just like every woman i struggle on those days that i'm not feeling my best or like most subs those days i'm unsure as to what is going to make Him happy. it's not my job to overthink Him but it is my job to be there when He wants me to be. to provide those things that He wants and desires as much as i can. it's a job i cherish so we'll see if i can really get my mind around resisting both the desire to demand information(so not gonna work lol) and to be upset cause He's not sharing what i'd hope or when. both work against my happiness and against my natural desire to just keep a smile on His face. i can't do that by antagonizing Him or when i'm not taking care to make sure i'm happy as well.
to that end i'm going to keep working on that present for Him. it may be coming along sooner than hoped. i'm gonna keep playing with launch cast and get ready for the end of my day.


text:
#ifndef _lucene_index_MultipleTermPositions_
#define _lucene_index_MultipleTermPositions_

#include "Terms.h"
#include "CLucene/util/Array.h"

CL_NS_DEF(index)

class Term;
class IndexReader;

class CLUCENE_EXPORT MultipleTermPositions : public TermPositions {
private:
	class TermPositionsQueue;
	class IntQueue;

	int32_t _doc;
	int32_t _freq;
	TermPositionsQueue* _termPositionsQueue;
	IntQueue* _posList;

public:
	/**
	* Creates a new MultipleTermPositions instance.
	*
	* @exception IOException
	*/
  MultipleTermPositions(IndexReader* indexReader, const CL_NS(util)::ArrayBase<Term*>* terms);
	virtual ~MultipleTermPositions();

	bool next();

	int32_t nextPosition();

	bool skipTo(const int32_t target);

	int32_t doc() const;

	int32_t freq() const;

	void close();

	/**
	* Not implemented.
	* @throws UnsupportedOperationException
	*/
	void seek(Term*);

	/**
	* Not implemented.
	* @throws UnsupportedOperationException
	*/
	void seek(TermEnum*);

	/**
	* Not implemented.
	* @throws UnsupportedOperationException
	*/
	int32_t read(int32_t*, int32_t*,int32_t);

	/**
	* Not implemented.
	* @throws UnsupportedOperationException
	*/
	int32_t getPayloadLength() const;

	/**
	* Not implemented.
	* @throws UnsupportedOperationException
	*/
	uint8_t* getPayload(uint8_t*);

	/**
	*
	* @return false
	*/
	// Java-TODO: Remove warning after API has been finalized
	bool isPayloadAvailable() const;

	TermDocs* __asTermDocs();
	TermPositions* __asTermPositions();
};

CL_NS_END
#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    >
    <RelativeLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:background="@color/yellow">

        <ImageView
            android:id="@+id/pinglun_back"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
            android:padding="11dp"
            android:src="@mipmap/back" />

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_centerInParent="true"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:text="用户评论"
            android:textColor="@android:color/white"
            android:textSize="23sp" />
    </RelativeLayout>
    <ListView
        android:id="@+id/yonghupinglun_listview"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        >
    </ListView>
    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:background="@color/yellow"
        android:padding="10dp"
        android:gravity="center"
        >
        <ImageView
            android:id="@+id/zan_pinglun"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:src="@mipmap/zan2"
            />
        <ImageView
            android:id="@+id/cha_pinglun"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:src="@mipmap/cha1"
            android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
            />
        <EditText
            android:id="@+id/yonghupinglun_edittext"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@drawable/yonghupinglun"
            android:padding="5dp"
            android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
            />
        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/pinglun_textview"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="评论"
            android:textColor="@color/white"
            android:textSize="20sp"
            android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
            />
    </LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>


4. Adjustable ball head and thumb screw locks for multiple angle shooting with 180 degrees position.
10. Comes with a phone clip, supports wideth between 5.5CM-8.5CM, supports iphone 4, iphone 5, Samsung S3, S4, Note 2, Note 3.
8. we want cooperate long time not one time .
LED Bottle Sticker │ LED Flashlight │ LED Keychain │ LED Promotion Gifts │ SEO │ Apparel Manufacturer │ LED © 2006-2016 Glorious Promo CO., Limited All Rights Reserved.


text:
Biliran Elections
Registered voters to reach some 85T in Biliran
By RODRIGO S. VICTORIA (PIA Biliran)
NAVAL, Biliran � As the registration of voters scheduled by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ended last December 31, 2006, the Provincial Election Supervisor (PES) of this province has estimated that the number of registered voters in the province of Biliran will reach to some 85 thousand.
According to Atty. Sabino C. Mejarito, PES of Comelec-Biliran, in an interview with PIA Monday, the big turn-out in the registration of voters in each of the eight municipal election offices in the province showed that there is a significant increase in the number of new registered voters especially those coming from the youth sector.
The PES also informed that those who just submitted their registration form and whose respective biometrics like pictures, fingerprint and signature have not been taken yet thru computer due to insufficiency of time last December 31, 2006. More new registrants will be accommodated until January 7, 2007 in all Comelec offices nationwide
He said that based on the latest statistical data of Comelec-Biliran there are already 79,058 registered voters in the province of Biliran as determined by the members of the Election Registration Board (ERB) as of the last hearing conducted on October 16, 2006.
He explained that the ERB which is composed of election officer as chairman and district supervisor and local civil registrar as members is the body that will scrutinize to determine whether one is considered a qualified voter or not.
It is also during ERB hearings conducted that any opposition or who sought the disqualification of person who filed an application for voter�s registration will be heard and be granted to any person or party in interest, Atty. Mejarito said.
He said that the decrease in the number of registered voters from 81,963 based on the 2004 elections records to 79,058 in October 16, 2006 is due to the exclusion from the lists of registered voters the names of voters who died already, transferees and those who failed to vote twice during the regular scheduled elections as determined by the members of the ERB in its hearings conducted, Atty. Mejarito said.
Of the 79,058 registred voters in the province of Biliran as of October 16, 2006, Naval has 20,916 registered voters, followed by Kawayan with 10,884, Caibiran-10,447, Cabucgayan-9,828, Biliran-8,088, Almeria-7,817, Culaba-7,005 and the island municipality of Maripipi with 4,103.
Atty. Mejarito added that the ERB provincewide will conduct a series of hearings from January 8 to 12 this year to all voter�s registration applications submitted to the respective municipal election offices from October 17 up to December 31, 2006 in order to determine the total official number of registered voters in the province of Biliran who are eligible to vote for the 2007 elections.
He also said that based on the raw data received from the Comelec municipal offices in the province, the municipality of Naval posts the highest number of new registrants with more than 4,000 and more than 1,000 also for the other municipalities except for Maripipi which recorded a low voter�s registration percentage. These raw data of voter�s registration from the eight municipalities are still subject for ERB hearings which are scheduled this month.
The big turn-out of voter�s registration in the province of Biliran is an indication of the willingness of the Biliranons to exercise their right of suffrage as mandated by law and as provided by a democratic society like the Philippines, Atty. Mejarito said.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


How are you all? I just came home from a great vacation with family and friends on one of the most beautiful islands in the country. Now I have to catch up with blogging. I'm coming up with a new section in my blog where I will feature hot homes and their owners.. The idea came to me when I saw a social media post by a very kind friend of mine, Jigs Mayuga. He was fixing his new home and I was so thrilled when he agreed to have me feature it.
The home of Jigs and George is uniquely decorated with a quirky, tasteful and eclectic style. Showcasing his former life as a flight attendant, Jigs now displays his current profession as one of the country's best makeup artist through the makeup books that standout in his wall unit. Jigs has lived in condominiums for the last few years of his life and has mastered the art of utilizing small spaces. He gets his inspiration from Domino magazine, something that he has collected since their maiden issue to the time they folded. He does have his own artistic streak as manifested in his career of makeup. This reflects in the way he decorated his home as well. "I'm not really a design by numbers type of guy, I usually just trust my instincts and luckily, it works.", shares Jigs.
I love the quirky details! Especially his Funko Pop figures.
Marilen: Tell us about the book shelf that highlights your living room? How did you come up with its concept and color?
Jigs: I collect tons of magazines and books and finding a way to display them without making it look cluttered was a real challenge in our previous condo rental. I wanted shelves in the living room to house our entertainment system as well as photos, boxes and all our reading material since an entertainment console would take up so much precious space and wouldn't hold as much storage space. As you know, storage space is prime real estate in condos. I discussed with my contractor and showed him possible designs from photos on the internet but i really just wanted it to be white. It was constructed on one side of our living room wall and it was perfect!
Marilen: I love your leather sofa! Why did you pick this style?
Jigs: The sofa was custom-made from Crossings. We picked out a Chesterfield sofa in a masculine worn leather finish just to balance out the soft decor in the living room.
The dark blue color of Jigs' bedroom is called Ming Vase from Ace Hardware. It adds an elegant yet inviting mood to the room. His furniture is mostly re- purposed furniture from thrift shops. It takes a good eye, and lots of determination to acquire and revamp old pieces like these.
Jigs' bedroom color is just elegant but relaxing.
Fabulous finds from Kamuning and Evangelista thrift shops complete his bedroom.
Marilen: Tell us about your fabulous finds from second-hand thrift shops.. How much did you get the pieces for and where did you have them refurbished?
Jigs: I love scouring second-hand stores and thrift shops in Evangelista and Kamuning with my good friend Pam Quinones. Most items are a steal if you know how to bargain and each piece is unique so you know you won't find it anywhere else. The Chair i bought 6 years ago in Evangelista and had it re upholstered with some brocade fabric in bought at Larry's. The mirror, table, bust and lamp are all from Kamuning which i acquired on one of my trips there with Pam. They probably all cost 12k total.
The guest room unfolds with color and patterns put together in a tasteful manner, it energizes a person. Artwork from the gallery at Cubao Expo, a collection of Funko Pop dolls, and comic books well-preserved are just but some of the things that will intrigue you.
Marilen: I have honestly never seen these cute dolls before. Tell us about your collection.
Jigs: I collect female Funko Pop figures. It started as a gift from my sister, Joy a couple of years back. She gave me Batgirl and then Wonder Woman. Soon after a bride who i worked with, Jillette who eventually became my good friend made a super sweet gesture of giving me 6 more as a present. That's when i seriously considered collecting all female funko figures.
Audrey, the most adorable good smelling dog ever!
The cutest puppy dog greeted me as I walked into their home and my heart instantly melted. Her beady eyes and color highlights compliments her sweet and charming demeanor. She even knew how to pose for the camera!
Marilen: Audrey is the most adorable dog! How long have you had her and how does having her around impact your life?
Jigs: We've had her for about 14 months now. She has taught me so many things about myself. The fact that she is around has changed the way we view life in general. She brings us so much unconditional joy and love.
Marilen: Any tips for animal lovers and condo living? Maintenance and cleaning etc?
Jigs: Be patient with your pet and take the time to train them so you can live harmoniously in your condo. The rewards are boundless. And always take them out for a walk. Everyday if possible.
Marilen: Describe a typical day in the life of Jigs Mayuga.
Jigs: Everyday is different since i do freelance work but i always make it a point to workout, eat healthy and spend time with family and friends. It's nice to come home to a beautiful space everyday with your loves ones.
Marilen: What was your biggest challenge in decorating this space?
Jigs: Waterproofing the guest bedroom. I purchased the unit from a previous owner and there was a leak from the corner of the ceiling that had damaged the existing wood floor and caused bubbles to the paint while we were renovating. Luckily we were able to fix it in time. The floor we just covered with an area rug to camouflage the damage since we didn't have budget for new flooring in the guest bedroom.
Thank you Jigs for allowing me to feature your home! I enjoyed every detail. This home tour was also very special to me because a good friend of mine, Marty Ilagan agreed to give me a crash course on photographing interiors. I learned to use a tripod, how to utilize natural light, and how to frame photos and make sure all lines were straight and defined. Thank you Marty!
Hope you enjoy this Hot Home Tour!


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Due to an overwhelming response to this issue's theme, Professionalization and the Writing Center, Praxis has decided to do its first double issue! The first part of this series takes on a wide range of questions and perspectives on the topic of the writing center's place in professional development. Our idea for the issue came out of our own Undergraduate Writing Center here at UT. In a Praxis query of the UWC staff, one consultant had this to say, "Working at the UWC has opened a world of opportunities for me to interact with several departments on campus in a leadership capacity. I have sharpened my skills as a presenter, researcher and writer. Moreover, I have learned new and innovative ways to connect with people, students in particular, which serves me well in my own work. While working at the Undergraduate Writing Center, I have grown as a scholar and as a person." With former consultants becoming directors, such as this issue's director of the Featured Center, Eliana Schonberg, and a dedicated staff of graduate and undergraduate consultants, the Praxis editors felt professionalization was a topic close to home for all writing centers.
Our Focus section reveals the many ways in which writing center personnel look at the process of professionalization in their own centers. Jonikka Charlton, in surveying larger trends in the field, demonstrates how the roles writing center director and writing program administrator are being professionalized by an increase in dissertations specializing in their areas. Tiffany Bourelle, on the other hand, shows us how being a writing center tutor has prepared her for the administrative responsibilities she faces as a professor, something, she says, that writing her PhD could never have taught her. Julian Brasington and Wendy Smeets show how when directors rely on tutors for insight, the tutors in-turn professionalize their own roles. Similarly, Naomi Silver, Carrie Luke, Lindsay Nieman and Nichole Premo track the growth and development of tutors going from consultants to colleagues. Conversely, Claire Lutkewitte details how her role as director has been shaped by interaction with her tutors. Jennifer Jefferson, Amy Cohn, Ellen Goldstein, Chris Wallis and Lindsey Campell discuss the role the writing center plays in their varied careers: a writer, an editor, an instructor, and an alumna. And, finally, Tim Taylor, Nia Klein, Kristi McDuffie, Fern Kory, Devin Black and Serena Heath explore how proper timing plays a tremendous role in consulting, professionalization, and personal development as a tutor and writer.
In our Training section, Rebecca Day Babcock's interview with Ben Rafoth (a Ron Maxwell Award winner) continues the conversation began in Charlton's essay about the move toward professionalizing the field of writing center work. They discuss the current state of jobs, research and dissertations in the field. R. Evon Hawkins reviews The Everyday Writing Center: A Community of Practice by Anne Geller, Michele Eodice, Frankie Condon, Meg Carroll and Elizabeth Boquet. Hawkins explains the relevance and importance of this book to tutor practice at the everyday level. Finally, Katerina Koutsantoni discusses valuable training models for tutoring students with special circumstances.
In our Consulting section, Virginia Tucker bridges the gap between "normal" student discourse and the "abnormal" discourse of the academy, and writing specifically. At the same time, she emphasizes that classroom discourse needs to more closely approximate the discourse developed between tutor and tutee, using the teacher or the tutor as a resource instead of source of knowledge. Kelly Kamp offers insight into brainstorming consultations and topic generation.
Our Featured Center this month is the University Writing Center at Denver University. The DU center was a natural choice for this issue of Praxis since the Director of Denver University's Writing Center, Eliana Schonberg is a former consultant and Assistant Director of the University of Texas's Undergraduate Writing Center, as well as a founding editor of Praxis. We asked Schonberg about her specific thoughts on professionalization and the move from UT to DU. Our Consultant Spotlight this issue is Sydney Boyd, a consultant at University of Idaho Writing Center.
In our Columns section, the Undergraduate Writing Center Research Group discusses professionalization from the perspective of three graduate students consultants. The paper discusses the experiences of these three consultants and how their varied academic backgrounds play a role in their writing center work. The Merciless Grammarian answers your questions about proper email etiquette.


FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Welcome to a GPS special: GLOBAL LESSONS ON GUNS. I'm Fareed Zakaria.
On December 14th, 2012 a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut shocked the country. The horrific tragedy jolted the nation's conscience. Yet as awful and traumatic as Newtown was, that gruesome day in December was not an anomaly. It was part of an American trend. 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook that day. But every day in 2010, the most recent year of complete data, an average of 86 people were killed with a gun.
In total that year, there were more than 11,000 gun murders. More than 19,000 gun suicides and over 73,000 nonfatal gun injuries. This American reality is truly unique. Compare it to other rich countries. In 2009, the United States had six times as many gun homicides per hundred thousand people as Canada; 16 times as many as Germany. And 33 times as many as England and Wales. As far as gun violence is concerned, America is on another planet.
So can Americans learn something from other countries on this crucial issue -- of keeping its citizens safe? In this hour, we're going to travel the world to look for solutions. We'll visit one country where liberals and conservatives actually reached an agreement that caused shootings to plummet. In South America, we'll meet a former guerrilla once imprisoned on gun charges. We'll show you how he reduced violence in one of the world's most dangerous countries.
But first, let's visit a nation whose people are obsessed with video games even more so than Americans. Is gun violence an even bigger problem there? Let's get started.
ZAKARIA: In the weeks following the Newtown massacre a clearer picture of the shooter Adam Lanza began to emerge. Alienated and alone he played military video games in his basement for hours on end, according to reports. With access to a small arsenal, he turned video game fantasies into reality leaving 26 dead at Sandy Hook.
So in our search for global lessons on guns, we wanted to find a country that could teach us about gaming and gun violence.
We decided to visit Japan because few nations on earth have more avid gamers than the Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese play many of the same violent video games that we do. In 2012, consumer spending on video games in Japan was second only to the U.S. But there's another factor to consider here when it comes to gun violence -- Japan has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. The basic premise of those laws: if you want to own a gun, good luck. Japan's Firearm and Swords Control law states no person shall possess a firearm. Before listing a few narrow exceptions for hunters and other categories.
For the brave few still willing to apply for one, they face an intricately designed bureaucratic obstacle course. Just ask Rick Sacca, a former U.S. Marine living on Mount Fuji. He says he's one of only a handful of foreigners in Japan to legally own a gun.
Back at his house, he showed us the binders full of paperwork he's had to deal with over the years. They were a bit overwhelming, even to explain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What all do you have to do?
RICK SACCA, GUN OWNER: It is -- such a -- initially -- want to help me?
ZAKARIA: Sacca took over 20 hours of lectures, a written test, a shooting range class and he passed a criminal background check. A doctor gave him a full physical and psychological exam. He also visited the police station more than five times where he was interviewed in an interrogation room.
SACCA: Are you having any problems with alcohol? Are you having any problems with drugs? Are you having any problems with relationships, family, work, money?
ZAKARIA: The police also questioned Sacca's family, his coworkers, even his neighbors. And to top it off, he had to give them a detailed map of his home.
SACCA: To produce a floor map of where your firearm will be stored in your home. It's kind of unusual. And photos that actually detail all of the locks that we have to have in there and show that it's done properly.
ZAKARIA: It took Sacca over a year to get approved.
SACCA: That's our actual firearms license.
ZAKARIA: And he must renew his various licenses regularly.
SACCA: The intrusion that occurs with the process regularly would never ever be tolerated in the U.S.
ZAKARIA: It's a process meant to discourage people from even trying to get a gun and it works. Japan has fewer guns per person than almost any other country -- less than one firearm per 100 people, according to one estimate.
And the country's gun murder rate is astonishingly low. In 2012, this nation of 130 million counted only four gun murders -- that's right, four. By comparison, the United States had over 4,600 gun murders per 130 million people in 2010.
ZAKARIA: Jake Adelstein was a reporter for Japan's largest daily newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun for 12 years.
ADELSTEIN: This is the area where they stop and made to get out and this is where they made the arrest.
ZAKARIA: He authored a memoir of his reporting days called "Tokyo Vice". He says there is a dark side to the Rising Sun but it seldom leads to shots fired.
ADELSTEIN: I have not met a cop who has fired his gun in the course of duty. And I mean I know a lot of cops. I mean since 1993 I've been working as a reporter in Japan, mostly on the police beat.
ZAKARIA: In fact, guns are so rare and tightly regulated here, that even mobsters avoid using guns.
Known as the Yakuza and often recognized for their full body tattoos, Japanese organized crime doesn't lack for muscle. They have reportedly had enormous reach in business and politics. Once described as largest private equity group in Japan by Morgan Stanley.
But many don't like conducting business with a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Guns are like nuclear weapons -- weapons that the Yakuza has but won't use.
ZAKARIA: A former Yakuza boss sat down with us to give us his take on the mob's attitude. He insisted on wearing a mask but showed us his tattoos and his partially missing finger. Another Yakuza trade mark to prove his identity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Guns are kept and controlled by strict regulations within the Yakuza organization, so it is prohibited for members to take the gun out and use it.
ZAKARIA: That's because punishment for gun infractions are very high in Japan, he says. Simply firing a gun can get you life in prison. And if a foot soldier in the mob gets caught with a gun, his boss can also be held responsible. So these days, the Yakuza conduct business using less efficient methods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There aren't specific orders on what weapons we should use but obviously there's only knives or Japanese swords instead of guns to kill.
ZAKARIA: Jake Adelstein says Japan's lesson for the U.S. is a simple one.
ADELSTEIN: If you make strict gun control laws and you assign cops to enforce those laws and you actually enforce them, the rate of gun deaths in the United States would plummet. But you have to do it.
ZAKARIA: So despite lots of barbaric video games gun violence barely exists in Japan but the country does seem different from America.
Well, next we will visit a country with lots of guns just like the U.S. but not a lot of gun violence. Find out their secret when we come back.
ZAKARIA: If there's one country with a love for guns that rivals America's, it's the nation best known for its Alps -- Switzerland.
Welcome to the Felt Scheutzen -- Switzerland's annual field shooting festival that's said to be the largest shooting competition in the world. Towns and villages across the country stage tests of marksmanship.
Families bring the kids. And after the competition, there's a gigantic party. One festival in the town of Salvenach (ph) was especially boisterous this past year. The winners of each event were cheered wildly. And the champion of the prestigious 300-meter competition, known to all as the shooting king, was wheeled out triumphantly to the tune of cow bells.
Switzerland is, by many measures, a gun-lover's paradise. According to one estimate the Swiss rank third in the world with 46 guns per 100 people. Trailing only Yemen and, of course, the United States.
ZAKARIA: Why is Switzerland armed to the teeth? Well thanks to a tradition that dates back to the dawn of the nation, it's citizen militia that forms its army. All able-bodied men from farmers to financers serve at least 260 days in the militia. They are all trained to shoot and most of them keep their guns at home.
Militiamen can hone their skills at their local shooting clubs, gun appreciation societies that boast hundreds of thousands of members offering classes, competition and camaraderie.
URSULA LUTZ, GUN OWNER: We do competitions together. And we are young people and we are older people.
ZAKARIA: Pistol-packing Ursula Lutz has been shooting for most of her life. At this day on her club, she hits the bull's eye 18 out of 20 times. Not bad for a 70-year-old.
LUTZ: I was very surprised, yes. I never did it.
ZAKARIA: Even the youngsters here are expert marksmen. Dave Hah- Bairt is all of ten years old and started training two years ago. His advice for the inexperienced -- don't fidget while shooting.
Despite the Swiss people's enthusiasm for guns, gun homicide rates are much lower than the United States. Six times lower, in fact. Supporters of gun rights in America have claimed that the Swiss prove one of their main points -- lots of guns doesn't necessarily mean lots of gun violence.
But that's not the whole story here in Switzerland.
DR. MARTIN KILLIAS, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN: Their interest definitely is not that any crazy man with a criminal history should go out and be able to buy a gun at any spot.
ZAKARIA: Dr. Martin Killias is a professor of criminology at the University of St. Gallen. He points out that many Swiss gun law is are much stricter than those in America.
KILLIAS: There are nowadays far more controls than there used to be in the past.
ZAKARIA: Everyone who buys a gun must pass a background check. Automatic weapons are banned and gun purchases must be registered with the government.
The NRA, Killias says, would not be very happy.
KILLIAS: Oh, they would say it is a communist country, definitely.
ZAKARIA: In the militia, soldiers can take home their weapons but not their ammunition.
ZAKARIA: After a soldier has completed his service, he must now reapply for the right to keep his gun.
HERMAN SUTER, VICE PRESIDENT, PROTELL: You are penalized. Every militia soldier is a potential murderer.
ZAKARIA: Herman Suter is the vice president of ProTell, Switzerland's version of the NRA. It's named for William Tell, Switzerland's mythical marksman who according to the legend shot an apple off his son's head.
Suter sounds a lot like Charlton Heston.
SUTER: Only over my dead body. I will not give my personal arm away.
ZAKARIA: The truth is, many gun owner's attitudes in Switzerland are very different from the NRA.
Ursula Luz, the pistol-packing 70-year-old loves to shoot. But she is not interested in looser (ph) gun laws like in America.
LUTZ: I don't want people who walk on the street with the guns.
ZAKARIA: Switzerland may look like a gun utopia but it combines the availability of firearms with significant gun control.
Next, we'll visit a country where politics about guns was very contentious but liberals and conservatives there actually reached a political agreement on some far-reaching measures.
ZAKARIA: John Fidler, his wife Gaye, and Walter Mikac can relate to the horrors of the Newtown massacre all too well.
JOHN FIDLER: He just walked up and stood in front of people and just shot them. Shot them in the heads.
WALTER MIKAC: I know what it is like waking up the next day. It's your birthday. You wake up alone and there's a card on the bedside table that's not been written in, and there's no noise in the house. And it's not going to change for quite a long time.
ZAKARIA: The Fidlers and Mikac were forever changed by the worst mass shooting in Australia's history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heard the gunshots.
ZAKARIA: On April 28, 1996 over 30 people were shot dead at a crowded tourist destination -- a historic prison in Port Arthur, Tasmania. 28-year-old Martin Bryant arrived at the site, ate lunch, then walked into a cafe and pulled a semiautomatic rifle out of his bag.
His first shots killed three of the Fidler's best friends, Wally Bennett, Kevin Sharp and Kevin's brother, Ray Sharp, who were gunned down right in front of them.
J. FIDLER: I froze. I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. I thought this is the end.
GAYE FIDLER, WIFE OF JOHN FIDLER: I said to John, (inaudible) and with that, he turned around and pushed me under the table. And the man behind me hasn't gone ahead. And now the others under the table told me to be quiet. And John told me to shush, and the we pretended to be dead.
ZAKARIA: Miraculously the gunman moved on. And the Fidlers escaped with their lives. Outside the cafe Walter Mikac's wife Nanette and their daughters Alana and Madeline had been having a picnic. Nanette flagged down a car so they could escape. But in that car was the gunman himself. Nanette pleaded for her family but the killer shot her and (inaudible) Madeline, then chased down Alana and shot her near a tree where she was trying to hide.
MIKAC: Like the doctor said Nanette and the girls are all dead. I just remember this primal scream. I really wanted to be with them. At that point in time, I would have been much happier to be dead than alive.
ZAKARIA: In all, 35 people were killed before Bryant was captured by the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not take your children for granted.
ZAKARIA: It was said to be the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman the world had ever seen until 2011 when Anders Breivik shot almost 70 people to death in Norway.
JOHN HOWARD, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: The overwhelm willing feeling was, this is terrible. We had to do something about it.
ZAKARIA: Prime Minister John Howard had been elected just weeks before the massacre. Other mass shootings in Australia had provoked outrage, but with so many victims from different parts of the country, the Port Arthur shooting shocked this small nation of 18 million to its core.
HOWARD: In politics you either use political capital for a good cause or you watch it waste away and I felt that I had to use the authority of my office to change things.
HOWARD: Howard proposed the toughest gun laws in Australia's history -- a ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and pump action shotguns, mandatory gun registration requiring a reason for buying a gun, and new rules for storing guns. If they pass, they will represent one of the most dramatic changes to a country's gun laws the world had ever seen.
It wasn't going to be easy. Howard was a conservative and many of his supporters were rural gun owners who were dead set against tighter laws.
As he traveled the country to sell the plan, Howard met plenty of resistance.
HOWARD: Those decisions are not going to be changed.
ZAKARIA: Wearing a bulletproof vest at one rally.
TIM FISCHER, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER TO JOHN HOWARD: It wasn't all that popular. There was a lot of critical outbursts in the media. But was it the right call, overall for Australia? Yes, it was.
ZAKARIA: Tim Fischer was Howard's deputy prime minister and somewhat unlikely ally -- a proud gun owner and a veteran of the Vietnam War. But he supported Howard's efforts wholeheartedly.
FISCHER: I'm totally opposed to automatics and semiautomatics being in the suburbs of Australia or anywhere.
ZAKARIA: Thanks to Howard's broad coalition, all of Australian's state and territories enacted the reforms within about two years of the Port Arthur shooting. To get rid of all of the newly banned guns, the government sponsored a gun buyback program paying everyone to turn in their illegal guns so they could be destroyed.
Over 600,000 guns were eliminated, an estimated one-fifth of Australia's civilian firearms. After the new measures were passed, some of Prime Minister Howard's right wing allies were voted out of office. But overall, the reforms were popular.
HOWARD: In a short period of time, they are rising out of a terrible tragedy. We did bring about a change which over the years demonstrated to save lives.
According to one study, gun suicides fell 65 percent in the decade that followed and while the sample size for gun homicides were small, they still fell 59 percent. What's more? There hasn't been a single mass shooting in Australia since Port Arthur. Still, for the victims of Port Arthur, painful memories will never be too far away.
G. FIDLER: One of the things that affect me the most is if we wake up to the radio in the morning and there's been shootings overseas, particularly America. And that really does make us take a step back sort of thing.
MIKAC: Almost like what happens in those events is not that far from this normal life. It is the cancer that's eating away the United States of America. But it is possible to change the way things are.
ZAKARIA: Australia offers a hopeful example for those who support gun control -- that political leadership can make a difference.
Up next, the remarkable story of a former guerrilla fighter turned big city mayor who reduced gun violence in one of the world's most dangerous countries.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): This is a Ciudad Bolivar, a mountainous shanty town in Bogota, Colombia. An area notorious for its high levels of violence.
Here and throughout Bogota, police take to the streets daily to confiscate guns and other weapons. At this bar, they find this knife. It is all part of an effort to disarm Colombia's capital and largest city, since General Luis Martinez, the head of Bogota's Metropolitan Police.
GEN. LUIS MARTINEZ, HEAD OF BOGOTA'S METROPOLITAN POLICE (through translator(: Bogota has a grave problem. And that is that on weekend it's the product of the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Crimes like homicide and personal injuries increase.
ZAKARIA: Bogota, a city of almost eight million people had over 1,600 murders in 2011 alone. Most involved guns. When Gustavo Petro took office as mayor in January 2012, he decided to take this crisis immediately.
MAYOR GUSTAVO PETRO, BOGOTA (through translator): In a country they had a president who said for eight years consecutively, arm yourself, self defend, create a culture of us against them. I propose a totally different thesis. Disarm yourselves. Let's all disarm ourselves.
ZAKARIA: So Petro instituted a trial ban on guns in public places. No weapons allowed on streets of Bogota, not in cars, not in bars. It is a bold proposal in a place where guns form the fabric of daily life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this very unique countries of Latin-America, very few people prefer to self protect and to investing their own security. These are cities of walls and cameras and fences and guards.
ZAKARIA: Jorge Restrepo (ph), the director of CIRAC (ph), an independent think tank that analyzes armed conflicts, points out that the right to bear arms is not enshrined in Colombia's Constitution.
In order to obtain a gun legally here, you need a permit from the military. To get that, you need to prove a genuine reason whether you want the gun for sport, collection, or for personal protection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then after demonstrating that, you pass some medical examinations and clinical examination background checks. And you can get a weapon.
ZAKARIA: Restrepo (ph) estimates tat there are about one million guns, legal and illegal, in circulation throughout Bogota. And what the ban does is allow cops to confiscate every weapon on the streets. The gun restriction which began as three-month trial, was generally supported by the public and was implemented by the military and the police. But Mayor Petro's measure banning weapons in public was not without great irony.
PETRO (through translator): Part of the reasons for violence is that we have armed ourselves. The state has armed themselves. The insurgencies. I was part of the Colombian insurgency.
ZAKARIA: That's right, Mayor Gustavo Petro, the second most important elected official in Colombia and one-time candidate for president used to be a member of the N-19 guerrilla group. An insurgency that once sought political power through arms struggle.
PETRO (through translator): The war hit us hard. I was imprisoned. They tortured me. The majority of my friends died.
ZAKARIA: He spent almost two years in prison. The charge, illegal possession of a firearm. Now decades since Petro first disarmed, he asked his constituents to do the same.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very notorious for man that wasn't armed against the state to say, let's get those guns back to the state. Those guns need to be in the hands of the security personnel and professionals of security. And we are going also to provide security to the people. That's the main focus of his mayorship. And he is being quite successful with that. In other areas he is a disaster. But in that area, he is successful.
ZAKARIA: Indeed, he has been so disastrous in those other areas that lawmakers are trying to impeach Gustavo Petro for lack of due diligence and for restricting competition.
Now the gun ban may be the only positive part of his legacy. And there are numbers to prove it. The weapons restrictions along with better strategic policing have reduced Bogota's murder rate by 24 percent in 2012. According to the mayor's office, this represents a three-decade low for the city. The ban has been extended and will be in place for the foreseeable future. And Petro thinks that the United States could stand to revolutionize its attitude on guns as well.
PETRO (through translator): I watch from afar, but it's undoubtable that there is a sickness within the American society with regards to an idolatry of guns which is part of its history. But which is doing it much harm.
Could it be that Bogota can say to Colombia and to the most violent region in the world which extends even close to Washington that we can escape violence.
ZAKARIA: If that sounds far fetched, consider this. Last year, Detroit and New Orleans had about 54 homicides for every 100,000 people. Bogota, Colombia had 17 homicides for the same population and that has declined since then.
ZAKARIA (on camera): Up next, a retired United States general who wants to take away soldiers' guns. Stay with us.
ZAKARIA (on camera): Every day in the United States, on average, about a hundred Americans die by suicide. More than half of these cases involved firearms. For members of the military, between 2008 and 2010 nearly two thirds of all suicides involve firearms.
One man says, enough. He is a seasoned leader from an organization that literally lives and dies by guns.
You're a general, you're an army man. You have spent your life around guns. You are comfortable with them. You know they can be used responsibly. But you also feel that when people are at risk, in terms of mental issues, it is very dangerous for them to have access to guns.
GEN. PETER CHIARELLI, RETIRED, FMR. ARMY VICE CHIEF OF STAFF: It is very dangerous for them to have access to guns. I believe that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General Chiarelli will discuss the reports and suicide prevention efforts in the Army.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): General Peter Chiarelli now retired, took over as the Army's vice chief of staff in 2008. The Army's suicide rate had doubled since 2001.
CHIARELLI: This is an area we have to in fact attack.
ZAKARIA: And he was tasked with battling the epidemic.
CHIARELLI: I would be very, very careful in not underestimating the impact of 13 years of war on an all-volunteer force. I think we are seeing in the suicide numbers some of the affect of repeated deployments and high stress and trauma.
ZAKARIA: To better understand the issue, Chiarelli was briefed on the details of every single suicide that occurred during the four years that he was the Army's number two officer. In 2010, a eureka moment.
ZAKARIA: Admiral Michael Mullen then chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff had sent an article from a medical journal to the Pentagon's top brass.
CHIARELLI: It showed how this particular medical organization working with a high risk population of people, who could commit suicide, have lowered their suicide rate to zero for a three-year period, solely by recommending to people who were in crisis to separate themselves from their privately-owned weapons. That was striking to me.
ZAKARIA: But when he tried to institute it in the Army, Pentagon lawyers told him it was a no-go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our freedom is under attack like never before.
ZAKARIA: The NRA, they said, would block him. And that's exactly what the gun advocacy group tried to do.
The NRA got Congress to include a provision that barred military commanders from even collecting information about a troop's personal weapon. Was that frustrating?
CHIARELLI: It is frustrating when you work with at-risk population. The reason why it is so frustrating is that this science is so in exact. We need to have the ability to recommend to that individual that they separate themselves from that personal weapon. That's what's frustrating about it.
ZAKARIA: Frustrating also to a dozen senior retired generals and admirals who joined Chiarelli in lobbying Congress to amend the law. They argued it was directly prohibiting conversations that are needed to save lives.
Shouldn't you be able to order a soldier to do this. I mean, given how compelling that research was?
CHIARELLI: Well, the fact of the matter is, as far as Congress was willing to go, was that we can make the recommendation. We can't confiscate. We can't force. ZAKARIA: It may not be the law Chiarelli wanted but the National Defense Authorization Act now allows military leaders to ask troops about private firearms if they believe members are at risk of harming themselves or others.
CHIARELLI: I think we are on a journey. I think it was a huge win for us to get that out of legislation so commanders can now ask that question.
ZAKARIA: Just look at Israel. In 2006, the Israeli defense forces tackled the rising suicides among their troops. They forbid soldiers from bringing their weapons home on weekends. On weekends, the suicide rate dropped by 40 percent. Weekday rate remained flat.
CHIARELLI: It is hugely powerful. You don't have to just look at Israel. There are just so many studies.
ZAKARIA: What do you say to those who say, there is a second amendment and that's why you can't go much further with your efforts?
CHIARELLI: I don't buy that. I don't believe the second amendment was put in place to take a person who is at high risk for hurting themselves and put in their hands a weapon that, that in an impulsive moment, at a time when they're not thinking straight, they can end their life.
ZAKARIA: Last year, a record 350 soldiers killed themselves. That's more than died on the battlefield. And it is not just a problem for the armed forces. More than 38,000 Americans kill themselves in 2010 using guns and other methods. That's more than double the number that died in homicides, according to the CDC. Over the last decade, suicides among middle-aged Americans increased by a staggering 28 percent.
ZAKARIA: Retired General Peter Chiarelli thinks mental health professionals should also be able to do what the army has started to do.
CHIARELLI: I think we should look that nationally. Individuals that provide behavior health counseling to people who are at risk, that they make that recommendation to their patients.
CHIARELLI: That they separate themselves from their guns. I am not a doctor. But I've read enough evidence along these lines that indicate that would truly be a best practice that we should adopt.
ZAKARIA: A study by the Harvard School of Public Health shows that suicide rates were higher in states with lots of guns. States like Wyoming, where 63 percent of households report owning guns. The 15 states with the highest levels of household firearm ownership have about 116 million people. That's roughly the same population as the six states with the lowest rates of gun ownership, which have 119 million people.
And yet, between 2000 and 2002, almost twice as many people committed suicide in the 15 high gun states as in the six low gun states. Again, that's comparing two populations of roughly the same size.
Another study just released shows that reducing gun ownership by 10 percent in all states would result in between 1,640 to 2,960 fewer deaths by suicide each year. Suicide is a complex problem but one thing seems clear, certainly to retired General Peter Chiarelli.
CHIARELLI: We need to quit pointing the finger at the services and look at this huge national problem. Are we putting the resources we need against the research necessary to understand this and study it. When 38,000 of our citizens take their own lives every single year, this is a national problem that we need to attack. And we can.
The good news is that active duty military suicides were down 22 percent this year. That still meant 245 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have killed themselves by the end of October. That's 245 too many. The reasons are complicated. Increased awareness and vigilance likely play a role, but also, the shrinking of the U.S. military. As it draws down in Afghanistan and as it deals with the sequester, many active duty are turning into veterans, and they're the numbers that are not very promising.
The most recent statistics show that one out of every five people who kill themselves in America is a military veteran. That's 8,000 people every year.
(on camera): Up next, what to make of all these lessons from all over the world. My own conclusions coming up.
ZAKARIA: We've gone all over the world in search of solutions, ways to bring down the epidemic of gun violence that afflicts America.
We saw many interesting ideas that work. All of them centering around some simple common sense ideas that will put some checks on the unfettered sale and possession of firearms. What we did not find was a large scale nationwide example when expanded attention to mental health issues could be tied to a reduction in homicides or suicides using guns.
This might surprise you. Every time there is a serious gun massacre in the United States, and these are fairly common, the media focuses on the twisted psychology of the shooter and asks why we don't pay more attention to detecting and treating mental illness.
ZAKARIA: But as people like General Peter Chiarelli told me, and he was tasked by the United States Armed Forces to look into this issue, while you can identify mental issues and be aware of reasons for stress, it is ultimately impossible to predict who among the many under pressure will snap, when that might be, and what form that break will take.
The question we should really be focused on is not the specific cause of a single shooting, but why there are so many of them in America. To remind you, in recent years, there have been around 10,000 gun homicides a year in the United States. According to the U.N., in Germany and Canada, there were fewer than 200. In Spain, fewer than 100. In Australia, fewer than 50.
America's per capita gun homicide rate in 2009 was 12 times higher than the average of Canada, Germany, Australia, and Spain. Does anyone think that we have 12 times as many psychologically troubled people as they do in these countries? There are other reasons often given for gun violence. Popular culture and violent video games in particular. But as this survey across the world should have shown, countries that imbibe much the same gory culture in Europe and Australia have much lower levels of violence.
Japan with its particular fascination with violent video games is actually stunningly low in gun deaths.
So whatever you think of violent video games and movies, they don't seem to be the key cause of gun violence.
And we do have an actual experiment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) dramatic reduction.
ZAKARIA: In the aftermath of its own New Town like massacre, Australia changed its gun laws. The result homicide and suicides plummeted in the decade that followed.
Of course, like all real world problems, the link between guns and violence is a complex issue. But one rarely has so much evidence pointing in the same direction. That finally leaves the issue of the American constitution.
The argument that the second amendment makes any kind of serious gun control impossible. I'm not a legal historian, but I will note that many serious ones have pointed out that the second amendment was not invoked for much of American history, often applied only to well- regulated militias, and for many decades did not stand in the way of sensible gun regulation, and that the Supreme Court upheld such regulation.
All that started to change in the 1970s and '80s as part of a spirited political movement to make gun rights inviolable. As I said, I'm not a lawyer, but listen to someone who was.
Warren Burger. He was chief justice of the Supreme Court for 17 years. A conservative Republican appointed by Richard Nixon. Here's what he said about the second amendment.
WARREN BURGER, FMR. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: This has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud - I repeat the word fraud - on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime. Look at those words. There are only three lines to that amendment. A well regulated militia. If the militia, which was going to be the state army, was going to be well regulated, why shouldn't 16, 17, 18, or any other age persons be regulated in the use of arms?
Someone asked me recently if I was for or against a bill that was pending in Congress calling for five days waiting period. I said "Yes, I'm very much against it. It should be 30 days waiting period."
ZAKARIA: But let's get away from the legal issues. Here's how I think about it basically.
One of the most important tasks for a government is to keep its citizens, especially its children, safe on the streets and in their schools. Every other developed country in the world is able to fulfill this basic mandate. America is not. And the greatest tragedy is that we know how to do it.
Tune in to our regular show every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Good night, and thanks for watching this GPS Special.


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The Tyranny of (School) Choice
Early Childhood Opinion
By Dave Powell — October 18, 2016 7 min read
Dave Powell
I spent a good portion of one of my mornings last week in a meeting. That part is not unusual. What was unusual was the topic: I'm on a committee that has the unenviable task of evaluating my employer's health care coverage and sorting out competing offers from insurance companies who say, very earnestly, that they want our business but don't seem to be all that interested in giving it to us at a price any of us can afford. This week we'll double our pleasure (maybe even quadruple it) when four separate insurance companies come to town to pitch their products to us. They say they'll be serving lunch that day, but I'm hoping for something stronger.
Sitting through the meeting last week I couldn't help but flash at times to thoughts about our education system and where it may be headed. It seems reasonable to me to think that the health care "industry," as we call it, offers a cautionary tale for those of us concerned about the future of public education. Let me see if I can explain what I mean.
We all probably know the outlines of the problem where health care is concerned: health care costs have been accelerating at an unsustainable pace, and finding a way to ensure that everyone has affordable coverage is becoming more and more difficult. (Astute observers will note that this is a problem across a number of different areas of our economy, from housing to higher education; if you're really astute, you'll notice that the trend is not confined to a single industry but is, instead, a symptom of something larger—which should, if you're really really astute, lead you to the conclusion that it's not individual industries like health care or the housing market or colleges and universities that are irrevocably broken but something else that might be causing the distress. But we'll come back to that in a minute.) Some years ago we made a political commitment (well, some of us did) to addressing a few of the shortcomings in our health care system—a lack of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, insurers that kicked children off their parents' plans, people simply forgoing insurance altogether—via the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I think it's safe to say that we're in a better place, collectively, than we were six years ago.
What hasn't worked, of course, is that ACA ("Obamacare") was layered on top of an existing health care delivery system that pulls in a very different direction than ACA does. Where the Affordable Care Act is designed to push us closer to the goal of universal health coverage as a fundamental right, the system we have for making sure that happens is a private, profit-driven one motivated by an entirely different set of concerns. In other words, we took a top public priority and asked the private sector to manage its implementation. The results, to my eye, have been pretty predictable. They have been messy, expensive, and unsatisfying.
The system is messy, expensive, and unsatisfying because private insurers are necessarily driven by the need to make their businesses profitable. To do that they offer us choices—lots and lots of choices. Because it's very difficult to get hundreds (or even thousands) of people to agree on what they want, insurance companies offer us customized plans in an effort to please everybody. Some have higher deductibles. Some require higher co-pays for office visits or emergency room trips. Some increase the limit of out-of-pocket costs in a given year. All encourage us to make risky decisions about our health coverage and finances by offering up a slew of different options that essentially boil down to a simple choice: do you want to pay more now and protect yourself from a possible financial catastrophe later, or do you want to roll the dice and pay less up front, hoping that the catastrophe never comes?
What bothers me about this is not only that it forces people to make excruciatingly difficult decisions for themselves (and their families) without having all the information laid out in front of them, but that it also, by giving us the illusion of choice, leads us to think that ultimately we're responsible for how things turn out. So you chose that plan with low deductible and the much higher out-of-pocket costs? Well, you shouldn't have gotten sick then. We all get sick eventually. Why didn't you plan ahead?
In the process we forget the fact that maybe we shouldn't have had to make that decision in the first place. I know that sounds naive—if everybody gets a Cadillac health plan, we're told, we'll all just give up on trying to be healthy and take advantage of the system and costs will spiral out of control—but just because we're told that doesn't make it true. Remember: the folks making that argument are the ones ultimately paying the bill, after your premium is accounted for, and they need to make their investment in this market profitable. They have an incentive to make an argument like that. We could, if we wanted to, build a system that substituted security for choice, a system based on the principle that protecting your health, and the health of your loved ones, is more important than having the right to make a choice. We could focus our resources on that, instead of trying to negotiate our needs through a middleman.
Of course we can't have that system as long as insurance companies have to find a way to finagle a profit out of us in the process. And this is where we circle back to the education system. Why would we trade a system that ensures that every single child has access to education for one resembling our health care system? Choice is all the rage in education circles right now. We seem to believe, against almost all available evidence, that simply giving parents a choice about where their kids go to school will inevitably make our system better. We're even willing to let for-profit players enter the space. If parents get to choose then schools will have to compete for students, we're told. That competition will make them better. Is that how it's working where your health insurance company is concerned?
Okay, then, we're told. At least we have to admit that the system has failed too many kids for too long. Breaking up the "government school monopoly" will bring much-needed innovation to the education sector and give those kids who have been left behind a fighting chance at a good life. But the idea that public schools are a government-run monopoly is simply a fantasy. Our tradition of local control ensures that the people running our schools at different levels of government—many of them popularly-elected members of school boards—are as different from each other as the day is long.
The truth is that our ongoing national experiment with school choice has simply reinforced the idea that not all schools are the same—I like to think we knew that already—and that the people running them are really the variables that determine their effectiveness. The only thing school choice has definitively proven is that giving people more options doesn't, by itself, improve the system. Maybe, in fact, the people running individual schools—and the people responsible for providing them with adequate resources—are where we should focus our energy. Maybe structural change, in the form of more choices, isn't what we need. Maybe we need to place more emphasis on making sure that every kid attends a school with adequate resources and is taught by teachers who have been professionally trained and are compensated like professionals too. Addressing these fundamentals would be a better use of time and resources than experimenting with an approach that can't be harnessed, let alone controlled, because it introduces unnecessary complexity into the system.
To me the only choice we need to make is this one: we need to commit to public education for everybody, not just for those lucky enough to win an enrollment lottery or lucky enough to have parents who live in the right zip code. The illusion of choice, as it exists now, simply helps redirect resources away from the places where they're needed most. The only people who really have choices—and this is true both in health care in in education—are the ones who already have the most resources to begin with. In the end, it's not a "government monopoly" that's crippling our potential; it's power exercised in cruel, unreasonable, and arbitrary ways to ensure that some people get advatanges others can only dream of. If that's not the definition of tyranny I don't know what is.
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The opinions expressed in The K-12 Contrarian are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.
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