» Obama to End NASA Constellation Program
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted January 31, 2010. By Hostile
NASA
Apollo 12 Commander Charles Conrad Jr. examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity in 1967. The Lunar Module "Intrepid" is in the background.
On the eve of the fullest moon of the year, NASA scientists were told they won't be able to visit any longer. In his new budget, President Obama plans to eliminate the space program's manned moon missions.
When the president releases his budget on Monday, a White House official confirmed on Thursday, there will be a big hole where funding for NASA's Constellation program used to be. Constellation is the umbrella program that includes the Ares rocket -- the replacement for the aging space shuttles.
NASA will receive an additional $5.9 billion over five years, some of which will be used to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2020. The official said it also will be used to entice companies to build private spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the space station after the space shuttle retires.
SLIDESHOW: The Ares Rocket
The story was first reported in the Orlando Sentinel, which detailed that the forthcoming budget will include no funding for lunar landers, no moon bases, and no Constellation program at all. Instead, NASA will outsource space flight to other governments (such as the Russians) and private companies.
NASA's Constellation program aimed to create a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight, consisting primarily of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule and the Altair Lunar Lander. These spacecraft would have been capable of performing a variety of missions, from International Space Station resupply to lunar landings.
But according to the Sentinel, White House insiders and agency officials say NASA will eventually look at developing a new "heavy-lift" rocket that one day will take humans and robots to explore beyond low Earth orbit years in the future -- and possibly even decades or more.
In the meantime, the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects -- principally, researching and monitoring climate change
-- and on a new technology research and development program that will one day make human exploration of asteroids and the solar system possible.
There will also be funding for private companies to develop capsules and rockets that can be used as space taxis, reports the Sentinel. These companies may take astronauts on fixed-price contracts to and from the International Space Station -- a major change in the way the agency has done business for the past 50 years.
NASA's budget, just over $18.7 billion this year, is still expected to rise again in 2011, reports Space.com, though by much less than the $1 billion increase NASA and its contractors have been privately anticipating since mid-December. A White House-appointed panel, led by former Lockheed Martin chief Norm Augustine, urged these changes on the administration in December.
The panel also said a worthwhile manned space exploration program would require Obama to budget about $55 billion for human spaceflight over the next five years, some $11 billion more than he included in the 2011-2015 forecast he sent Congress last spring.
69 Comments
Posted January 31, 2010. By Hostile
QUOTE
On the eve of the fullest moon of the year, NASA scientists were told they won't be able to visit any longer. In his new budget, President Obama plans to eliminate the space program's manned moon missions.
NASAApollo 12 Commander Charles Conrad Jr. examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity in 1967. The Lunar Module "Intrepid" is in the background.
On the eve of the fullest moon of the year, NASA scientists were told they won't be able to visit any longer. In his new budget, President Obama plans to eliminate the space program's manned moon missions.
When the president releases his budget on Monday, a White House official confirmed on Thursday, there will be a big hole where funding for NASA's Constellation program used to be. Constellation is the umbrella program that includes the Ares rocket -- the replacement for the aging space shuttles.
NASA will receive an additional $5.9 billion over five years, some of which will be used to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2020. The official said it also will be used to entice companies to build private spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the space station after the space shuttle retires.
SLIDESHOW: The Ares Rocket
The story was first reported in the Orlando Sentinel, which detailed that the forthcoming budget will include no funding for lunar landers, no moon bases, and no Constellation program at all. Instead, NASA will outsource space flight to other governments (such as the Russians) and private companies.
NASA's Constellation program aimed to create a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight, consisting primarily of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule and the Altair Lunar Lander. These spacecraft would have been capable of performing a variety of missions, from International Space Station resupply to lunar landings.
But according to the Sentinel, White House insiders and agency officials say NASA will eventually look at developing a new "heavy-lift" rocket that one day will take humans and robots to explore beyond low Earth orbit years in the future -- and possibly even decades or more.
In the meantime, the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects -- principally, researching and monitoring climate change
-- and on a new technology research and development program that will one day make human exploration of asteroids and the solar system possible.
There will also be funding for private companies to develop capsules and rockets that can be used as space taxis, reports the Sentinel. These companies may take astronauts on fixed-price contracts to and from the International Space Station -- a major change in the way the agency has done business for the past 50 years.
NASA's budget, just over $18.7 billion this year, is still expected to rise again in 2011, reports Space.com, though by much less than the $1 billion increase NASA and its contractors have been privately anticipating since mid-December. A White House-appointed panel, led by former Lockheed Martin chief Norm Augustine, urged these changes on the administration in December.
The panel also said a worthwhile manned space exploration program would require Obama to budget about $55 billion for human spaceflight over the next five years, some $11 billion more than he included in the 2011-2015 forecast he sent Congress last spring.
69 Comments
» I'm going back to school! Yikes!
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted December 12, 2009. By Hostile
So I decided to go back to school this past week in pursuit of a Associates Degree in Applied Science. It was a field I can convert some of my current credits to. So I signed up for 2 classes with an additional one in a waiting list. It should be interesting. I'm a bit nervous but I feel much better after todays english placement test. It was a 2 hour test, I finished in 1 hour and scored a perfect 100%.
Glad to see I didn't completely lose my mind. Taking three classes to start after taking five years off of school might be ambitious. But they aren't difficult classes. But taking into account I work 50+ hours per week in my full time job, I'm still abit nervous.
So wish me luck. I begin Jan 11th. The nice part about not being broke is I can come right out and pay for it. No loans or anything unless 30 days on a credit card is a loan.
My classes:
111 College Composition I
115 Intro to Computer Applications and Concepts
100 Software Design
Each class is only 1 hour 15 minutes once a week for 4 months. So they can't be that hard. I was able to schedule them all on one day. So when I finish the three classes, go right to the library and finish the weeks assignments so I can sleep at night for the other 6 days.
Who knows, give me two years and I might actually be useful around here...
8 Comments
Posted December 12, 2009. By Hostile
So I decided to go back to school this past week in pursuit of a Associates Degree in Applied Science. It was a field I can convert some of my current credits to. So I signed up for 2 classes with an additional one in a waiting list. It should be interesting. I'm a bit nervous but I feel much better after todays english placement test. It was a 2 hour test, I finished in 1 hour and scored a perfect 100%.
Glad to see I didn't completely lose my mind. Taking three classes to start after taking five years off of school might be ambitious. But they aren't difficult classes. But taking into account I work 50+ hours per week in my full time job, I'm still abit nervous.
So wish me luck. I begin Jan 11th. The nice part about not being broke is I can come right out and pay for it. No loans or anything unless 30 days on a credit card is a loan.
My classes:
111 College Composition I
115 Intro to Computer Applications and Concepts
100 Software Design
Each class is only 1 hour 15 minutes once a week for 4 months. So they can't be that hard. I was able to schedule them all on one day. So when I finish the three classes, go right to the library and finish the weeks assignments so I can sleep at night for the other 6 days.
Who knows, give me two years and I might actually be useful around here...
8 Comments
» Strange visual Phenomenon in the north
From GNP Duke_Qa
Posted December 9, 2009. By duke_Qa
seen this morning around 0750 over the north and middle parts of Norway.
Here's a picture done with long exposure time, so its a bit bigger than what you see on the videos below, but very eerie.
streaming video 1
streaming video 2
the Astronomers have as of yet confirmed that they don't know what it is, because it sure as hell ain't Aurora Borealis. They suspect that it could be a Russian missile(spinning out of control, but that could be planned), but usually Russia warns us before they launch missiles, and no other launching facilities in the vicinity had anything planned.
The ironic thing is that if it is a Russian missile, you just can't help but find the timing with president Obama coming here tomorrow impeccable
If its not, then i claim it to be a portal to another dimension opening for a short while
28 Comments
Posted December 9, 2009. By duke_Qa
seen this morning around 0750 over the north and middle parts of Norway.
Here's a picture done with long exposure time, so its a bit bigger than what you see on the videos below, but very eerie.
streaming video 1
streaming video 2
the Astronomers have as of yet confirmed that they don't know what it is, because it sure as hell ain't Aurora Borealis. They suspect that it could be a Russian missile(spinning out of control, but that could be planned), but usually Russia warns us before they launch missiles, and no other launching facilities in the vicinity had anything planned.
The ironic thing is that if it is a Russian missile, you just can't help but find the timing with president Obama coming here tomorrow impeccable
If its not, then i claim it to be a portal to another dimension opening for a short while
28 Comments
» Can You Actually Imagine This Happening in America?
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted December 8, 2009. By Hostile
Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue is a wanted man -- at least according to the liberal activist group that's put a de facto bounty on his head.
A network of liberal groups known as Velvet Revolution started an ad campaign offering $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man whose trade organization has become a thorn in the side of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats.
The group is not leveling any specific charges of criminal behavior. Rather, it is casting a wide net, fishing for any whistleblowers from Donohue's past who might come forward with allegations of wrongdoing. The campaign against the Chamber was launched in response to the group's opposition to climate change legislation and health care reform, and its plan to spend $100 million lobbying against these and other initiatives.
"On every issue, the Chamber is kind of the lead corporate advocate for the status quo," said Kevin Zeese, a lawyer who sits on the board for Velvet Revolution, calling Donohue a "knee-jerk reactionary" and the Chamber a "right-wing extremist group."
The Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, decried the ad campaign and threatened possible legal action.
"The media should be following the money trail behind this scurrilous group instead of giving credence to its outrageous tactics -- and we are considering legal options with the ad," spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel said.
The Chamber has already taken a lot of heat from the White House. Top aides tried to neutralize the group earlier in the year by doing an end-run around the organization and dealing directly with members, as some big companies, like Apple, peeled off from the Chamber due to disagreements over issues like climate change.
The organization was also not invited to Obama's jobs forum in Washington last week.
But Zeese said the White House has nothing to do with the bounty on Donohue.
"It's individual donors. We have no connection to the White House or unions or anything like that," he said.
Velvet Revolution launched the StoptheChamber campaign in October and started offering a bounty for information on Donohue a month later. A $100,000 reward was increased to $200,000 early this month, thanks to what Zeese called a "handful of larger donors" whom he would not identify.
A full-page print ad that looks like a "wanted" poster out of the wild West began to run in the Washington City Paper this week. It features a head shot of Donohue and offers a tip line for "insiders and whistleblowers possessing information not already in the public domain."
The tip line is live. When FoxNews.com called, the operator asked for "criminal" information about Donohue.
Zeese said that a handful of tips have come in which the group is "pursuing."
He said the hope is to forward any damaging information onto the Justice Department or Congress for further investigation.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/07...n-chamber-boss/
COMMENTARY FROM HOSTILE:
Think about this, a collective group of private people pulled funds together and will pay ANYONE who has info that will lead to the arrest of an individual that disagrees with the standing President while stating there are no existing charges based on their current finds, but if there are we'll pay you to destroy a political opponent for us?
AM I the only one who thinks this is totally wrong and hopefully illegal on some level? I don't care if it was convervatives or liberals, if you pay people to find dirt, they create dirt. Even if it's proven not true later. It doesn't matter, create dirt on our opponent and we'll cover the cost.
The liberal left has sunk to such a new low that this is mind boggling. What is left? To lynch Conservatives in a fashion like those from the Democratic south did against blacks? Left wing liberal progressives don't just lack the ability to discuss issues, they are far beyond steamrolling, they aim for total destruction of anything they don't believe in or agree with.
I mean, total destruction of any opposition. Personally, I like having both points of view where I can clearly see them and choose my path to my own personal consensus. Which is subject to change as my points of view on life change. I hope everyone's point of view should be that flexible.
3 Comments
Posted December 8, 2009. By Hostile
Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue is a wanted man -- at least according to the liberal activist group that's put a de facto bounty on his head.
A network of liberal groups known as Velvet Revolution started an ad campaign offering $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man whose trade organization has become a thorn in the side of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats.
The group is not leveling any specific charges of criminal behavior. Rather, it is casting a wide net, fishing for any whistleblowers from Donohue's past who might come forward with allegations of wrongdoing. The campaign against the Chamber was launched in response to the group's opposition to climate change legislation and health care reform, and its plan to spend $100 million lobbying against these and other initiatives.
"On every issue, the Chamber is kind of the lead corporate advocate for the status quo," said Kevin Zeese, a lawyer who sits on the board for Velvet Revolution, calling Donohue a "knee-jerk reactionary" and the Chamber a "right-wing extremist group."
The Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, decried the ad campaign and threatened possible legal action.
"The media should be following the money trail behind this scurrilous group instead of giving credence to its outrageous tactics -- and we are considering legal options with the ad," spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel said.
The Chamber has already taken a lot of heat from the White House. Top aides tried to neutralize the group earlier in the year by doing an end-run around the organization and dealing directly with members, as some big companies, like Apple, peeled off from the Chamber due to disagreements over issues like climate change.
The organization was also not invited to Obama's jobs forum in Washington last week.
But Zeese said the White House has nothing to do with the bounty on Donohue.
"It's individual donors. We have no connection to the White House or unions or anything like that," he said.
Velvet Revolution launched the StoptheChamber campaign in October and started offering a bounty for information on Donohue a month later. A $100,000 reward was increased to $200,000 early this month, thanks to what Zeese called a "handful of larger donors" whom he would not identify.
A full-page print ad that looks like a "wanted" poster out of the wild West began to run in the Washington City Paper this week. It features a head shot of Donohue and offers a tip line for "insiders and whistleblowers possessing information not already in the public domain."
The tip line is live. When FoxNews.com called, the operator asked for "criminal" information about Donohue.
Zeese said that a handful of tips have come in which the group is "pursuing."
He said the hope is to forward any damaging information onto the Justice Department or Congress for further investigation.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/07...n-chamber-boss/
COMMENTARY FROM HOSTILE:
Think about this, a collective group of private people pulled funds together and will pay ANYONE who has info that will lead to the arrest of an individual that disagrees with the standing President while stating there are no existing charges based on their current finds, but if there are we'll pay you to destroy a political opponent for us?
AM I the only one who thinks this is totally wrong and hopefully illegal on some level? I don't care if it was convervatives or liberals, if you pay people to find dirt, they create dirt. Even if it's proven not true later. It doesn't matter, create dirt on our opponent and we'll cover the cost.
The liberal left has sunk to such a new low that this is mind boggling. What is left? To lynch Conservatives in a fashion like those from the Democratic south did against blacks? Left wing liberal progressives don't just lack the ability to discuss issues, they are far beyond steamrolling, they aim for total destruction of anything they don't believe in or agree with.
I mean, total destruction of any opposition. Personally, I like having both points of view where I can clearly see them and choose my path to my own personal consensus. Which is subject to change as my points of view on life change. I hope everyone's point of view should be that flexible.
3 Comments
» How to Shut Down the 'Net: A Guide for Repressive Regimes
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted December 7, 2009. By Hostile
Facing student protests ahead of today's National Students Day — the anniversary of three student deaths in Tehran in 1953 — the state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) slowed or blocked completely access to the Internet for most of the state
The Internet may be a worldwide superhighway, but it's all to easy to shut it down. Governments aiming to squelch free speech in don't even have to work hard to do so: It's all too easy to restrict the Internet and keep their people in the dark.
The practice is all too too easy, and all too common.
First, the government talks to the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that control the flow of data in and out of the country. Not every country has the wide array of ISPs we have in the United States. In many countries, people get online through a limited selection that are authorized to work in the country.
For example, there were only nine ISPs controlling the physical lines connecting China to the outside world in 2002, according to a BBC report at the time. That makes it much simpler for the regime to control information.
And China is well known for restricting access to the Internet for its citizens, a project the country calls "the Golden Shield." The rest of the world calls it the Great Firewall of China. With the agreement and help of those ISPs, the government can control traffic through a variety of techniques, including filters that control certain words, blocks in specific domains or users, even by blocking entire domains (such as .com or .net).
"Governments can censor Internet traffic using the same technology tools found in large corporate enterprises," explains PCMag.com lead networking analyst Samara Lynn. "Sophisticated security and network management appliances and software can be used to block specific keywords or categories from Internet searches, and they can perform DNS blocking and Web filtering."
Keyword blocking prevents people from searching for such obviously dangerous words as "freedom" and "democracy." Custom black lists also server to block content that specifically rankles the government. Is it unions, student protests or something else?
Beyond the technical, these regimes rely upon a hand-picked group to police access. The Iranian police recently created a special 12-member Internet police unit charged with acting "against fraud attempts, commercial advertising and false information" and hunting down "insults and lies."
Police Col. Mehrdad Omidi, who heads the Internet crime unit, specifically said that the 12-member unit will intervene in "political matters on the Internet should there be an illegal act." The official said the unit will operate under the direction of the prosecution office.
Local activists often struggle to work around these restrictions. During the recent Iranian election scandal, activists turned to social networks like Twitter and Facebook to spread information the government would otherwise oppress.
"I think the Iranian government is learning quickly how to control and contain these things," Andrew Lewman, executive director of The Tor Project Inc., told the Associated Press.
His group's free downloadable Tor program allows Internet users to work through a network of relays run by volunteers around the world to access blocked sites and hide what they are doing on the Internet. Active sessions using Tor in Iran have jumped from a few hundred before the election to thousands after, the nonprofit group said.
Other governments are actively trying to help out as well. In July, the U.S. Senate approved the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act, which Congress hopes will strengthen the ability of the Iranian people get access to news and information and overcome the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian regime.
The bill authorized $30 million to support free radio broadcasts worldwide; $20 million to development technologies and Websites that will let Iranians gain access information; a report by the President on non-Iranian companies that have aided the Iranian government's Internet censorship efforts; and more.
If you're interested in helping out, there are several things you can do:
* Support Voice of America, the U.S. government funded radio station that broadcasts to over 125 million people a week.
* Post information about current proxies on your Web site. Proxies allow people to circumvent content filters; a list is updated weekly at VOANews.com.
* Spread the word about Freegate, software that lets people living in areas that restrict access view blocked sites.
7 Comments
Posted December 7, 2009. By Hostile
Facing student protests ahead of today's National Students Day — the anniversary of three student deaths in Tehran in 1953 — the state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) slowed or blocked completely access to the Internet for most of the state
The Internet may be a worldwide superhighway, but it's all to easy to shut it down. Governments aiming to squelch free speech in don't even have to work hard to do so: It's all too easy to restrict the Internet and keep their people in the dark.
The practice is all too too easy, and all too common.
First, the government talks to the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that control the flow of data in and out of the country. Not every country has the wide array of ISPs we have in the United States. In many countries, people get online through a limited selection that are authorized to work in the country.
For example, there were only nine ISPs controlling the physical lines connecting China to the outside world in 2002, according to a BBC report at the time. That makes it much simpler for the regime to control information.
And China is well known for restricting access to the Internet for its citizens, a project the country calls "the Golden Shield." The rest of the world calls it the Great Firewall of China. With the agreement and help of those ISPs, the government can control traffic through a variety of techniques, including filters that control certain words, blocks in specific domains or users, even by blocking entire domains (such as .com or .net).
"Governments can censor Internet traffic using the same technology tools found in large corporate enterprises," explains PCMag.com lead networking analyst Samara Lynn. "Sophisticated security and network management appliances and software can be used to block specific keywords or categories from Internet searches, and they can perform DNS blocking and Web filtering."
Keyword blocking prevents people from searching for such obviously dangerous words as "freedom" and "democracy." Custom black lists also server to block content that specifically rankles the government. Is it unions, student protests or something else?
- Iran Cuts Internet Access One Day Before Student Protests Scheduled
- Iranian Activists Search for Ways to Defy Internet Restrictions
- China Cracks Down on Online Sexual-Health Information
- China Cuts Off Google for Being Full of Porn
- China Says Web Filtering Software Launch Unchanged
- Company: China Stole Our PC-Censoring Software
Beyond the technical, these regimes rely upon a hand-picked group to police access. The Iranian police recently created a special 12-member Internet police unit charged with acting "against fraud attempts, commercial advertising and false information" and hunting down "insults and lies."
Police Col. Mehrdad Omidi, who heads the Internet crime unit, specifically said that the 12-member unit will intervene in "political matters on the Internet should there be an illegal act." The official said the unit will operate under the direction of the prosecution office.
Local activists often struggle to work around these restrictions. During the recent Iranian election scandal, activists turned to social networks like Twitter and Facebook to spread information the government would otherwise oppress.
"I think the Iranian government is learning quickly how to control and contain these things," Andrew Lewman, executive director of The Tor Project Inc., told the Associated Press.
His group's free downloadable Tor program allows Internet users to work through a network of relays run by volunteers around the world to access blocked sites and hide what they are doing on the Internet. Active sessions using Tor in Iran have jumped from a few hundred before the election to thousands after, the nonprofit group said.
Other governments are actively trying to help out as well. In July, the U.S. Senate approved the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act, which Congress hopes will strengthen the ability of the Iranian people get access to news and information and overcome the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian regime.
The bill authorized $30 million to support free radio broadcasts worldwide; $20 million to development technologies and Websites that will let Iranians gain access information; a report by the President on non-Iranian companies that have aided the Iranian government's Internet censorship efforts; and more.
If you're interested in helping out, there are several things you can do:
* Support Voice of America, the U.S. government funded radio station that broadcasts to over 125 million people a week.
* Post information about current proxies on your Web site. Proxies allow people to circumvent content filters; a list is updated weekly at VOANews.com.
* Spread the word about Freegate, software that lets people living in areas that restrict access view blocked sites.
7 Comments
» Global warming
From GNP Articles
Posted December 2, 2009. By Allathar
What happened to global warming?
By Paul Hudson
Climate correspondent, BBC News
This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.
But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.
And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.
So what on Earth is going on?
Climate change sceptics, who passionately and consistently argue that man's influence on our climate is overstated, say they saw it coming.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299079.stm
Discuss.
15 Comments
Posted December 2, 2009. By Allathar
What happened to global warming?
By Paul Hudson
Climate correspondent, BBC News
This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.
But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.
And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.
So what on Earth is going on?
Climate change sceptics, who passionately and consistently argue that man's influence on our climate is overstated, say they saw it coming.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299079.stm
Discuss.
15 Comments
» The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted November 23, 2009. By Hostile
By Nancy Gibbs Friday, Nov. 20, 2009
The insanity crept up on us slowly; we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old's "pencil-holding deficiency," hooked up broadband connections in the treehouse but took down the swing set after the second skinned knee. We hovered over every school, playground and practice field — "helicopter parents," teachers christened us, a phenomenon that spread to parents of all ages, races and regions. Stores began marketing stove-knob covers and "Kinderkords" (also known as leashes; they allow "three full feet of freedom for both you and your child") and Baby Kneepads (as if babies don't come prepadded). The mayor of a Connecticut town agreed to chop down three hickory trees on one block after a woman worried that a stray nut might drop into her new swimming pool, where her nut-allergic grandson occasionally swam. A Texas school required parents wanting to help with the second-grade holiday party to have a background check first. Schools auctioned off the right to cut the carpool line and drop a child directly in front of the building — a spot that in other settings is known as handicapped parking.We were so obsessed with our kids' success that parenting turned into a form of product development. Parents demanded that nursery schools offer Mandarin, since it's never too soon to prepare for the competition of a global economy. High school teachers received irate text messages from parents protesting an exam grade before class was even over; college deans described freshmen as "crispies," who arrived at college already burned out, and "teacups," who seemed ready to break at the tiniest stress. (See pictures of the college dorm's evolution.)
This is what parenting had come to look like at the dawn of the 21st century — just one more extravagance, the Bubble Wrap waiting to burst.
All great rebellions are born of private acts of civil disobedience that inspire rebel bands to plot together. And so there is now a new revolution under way, one aimed at rolling back the almost comical overprotectiveness and overinvestment of moms and dads. The insurgency goes by many names — slow parenting, simplicity parenting, free-range parenting — but the message is the same: Less is more; hovering is dangerous; failure is fruitful. You really want your children to succeed? Learn when to leave them alone. When you lighten up, they'll fly higher. We're often the ones who hold them down.
A backlash against overparenting had been building for years, but now it reflects a new reality. Since the onset of the Great Recession, according to a CBS News poll, a third of parents have cut their kids' extracurricular activities. They downsized, downshifted and simplified because they had to — and often found, much to their surprise, that they liked it. When a TIME poll last spring asked how the recession had affected people's relationships with their kids, nearly four times as many people said relationships had gotten better as said they'd gotten worse. "This is one of those moments when everything is on the table, up for grabs," says Carl Honoré, whose book Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting is a gospel of the slow-parenting movement. He likens the sudden awareness to the feeling you get when you wake up after a long night carousing, the lights go on, and you realize you're a mess. "That horrible moment of self-recognition is where we are culturally. I wanted parents to realize they are not alone in thinking this is insanity, and show there's another way." (See the 25 best back-to-school gadgets.)
How We Got Here
Overparenting had been around long before Douglas MacArthur's mom Pinky moved with him to West Point in 1899 and took an apartment near the campus, supposedly so she could watch him with a telescope to be sure he was studying. But in the 1990s something dramatic happened, and the needle went way past the red line. From peace and prosperity, there arose fear and anxiety; crime went down, yet parents stopped letting kids out of their sight; the percentage of kids walking or biking to school dropped from 41% in 1969 to 13% in 2001. Death by injury has dropped more than 50% since 1980, yet parents lobbied to take the jungle gyms out of playgrounds, and strollers suddenly needed the warning label "Remove Child Before Folding." Among 6-to-8-year-olds, free playtime dropped 25% from 1981 to '97, and homework more than doubled. Bookstores offered Brain Foods for Kids: Over 100 Recipes to Boost Your Child's Intelligence. The state of Georgia sent every newborn home with the CD Build Your Baby's Brain Through the Power of Music, after researchers claimed to have discovered that listening to Mozart could temporarily help raise IQ scores by as many as 9 points. By the time the frenzy had reached its peak, colleges were installing "Hi, Mom!" webcams in common areas, and employers like Ernst & Young were creating "parent packs" for recruits to give Mom and Dad, since they were involved in negotiating salary and benefits.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...s#ixzz0aZo7lfUt
There are three more pages to the article if you want to get the full story.
NOTE: I copy pasted a few paragraphs and it automatically added the Read more link. How cool is that? Somehow that site detected I copied and it added the link at the end. I love Web 2.0.
0 Comments
Posted November 23, 2009. By Hostile
By Nancy Gibbs Friday, Nov. 20, 2009
The insanity crept up on us slowly; we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old's "pencil-holding deficiency," hooked up broadband connections in the treehouse but took down the swing set after the second skinned knee. We hovered over every school, playground and practice field — "helicopter parents," teachers christened us, a phenomenon that spread to parents of all ages, races and regions. Stores began marketing stove-knob covers and "Kinderkords" (also known as leashes; they allow "three full feet of freedom for both you and your child") and Baby Kneepads (as if babies don't come prepadded). The mayor of a Connecticut town agreed to chop down three hickory trees on one block after a woman worried that a stray nut might drop into her new swimming pool, where her nut-allergic grandson occasionally swam. A Texas school required parents wanting to help with the second-grade holiday party to have a background check first. Schools auctioned off the right to cut the carpool line and drop a child directly in front of the building — a spot that in other settings is known as handicapped parking.We were so obsessed with our kids' success that parenting turned into a form of product development. Parents demanded that nursery schools offer Mandarin, since it's never too soon to prepare for the competition of a global economy. High school teachers received irate text messages from parents protesting an exam grade before class was even over; college deans described freshmen as "crispies," who arrived at college already burned out, and "teacups," who seemed ready to break at the tiniest stress. (See pictures of the college dorm's evolution.)
This is what parenting had come to look like at the dawn of the 21st century — just one more extravagance, the Bubble Wrap waiting to burst.
All great rebellions are born of private acts of civil disobedience that inspire rebel bands to plot together. And so there is now a new revolution under way, one aimed at rolling back the almost comical overprotectiveness and overinvestment of moms and dads. The insurgency goes by many names — slow parenting, simplicity parenting, free-range parenting — but the message is the same: Less is more; hovering is dangerous; failure is fruitful. You really want your children to succeed? Learn when to leave them alone. When you lighten up, they'll fly higher. We're often the ones who hold them down.
A backlash against overparenting had been building for years, but now it reflects a new reality. Since the onset of the Great Recession, according to a CBS News poll, a third of parents have cut their kids' extracurricular activities. They downsized, downshifted and simplified because they had to — and often found, much to their surprise, that they liked it. When a TIME poll last spring asked how the recession had affected people's relationships with their kids, nearly four times as many people said relationships had gotten better as said they'd gotten worse. "This is one of those moments when everything is on the table, up for grabs," says Carl Honoré, whose book Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting is a gospel of the slow-parenting movement. He likens the sudden awareness to the feeling you get when you wake up after a long night carousing, the lights go on, and you realize you're a mess. "That horrible moment of self-recognition is where we are culturally. I wanted parents to realize they are not alone in thinking this is insanity, and show there's another way." (See the 25 best back-to-school gadgets.)
How We Got Here
Overparenting had been around long before Douglas MacArthur's mom Pinky moved with him to West Point in 1899 and took an apartment near the campus, supposedly so she could watch him with a telescope to be sure he was studying. But in the 1990s something dramatic happened, and the needle went way past the red line. From peace and prosperity, there arose fear and anxiety; crime went down, yet parents stopped letting kids out of their sight; the percentage of kids walking or biking to school dropped from 41% in 1969 to 13% in 2001. Death by injury has dropped more than 50% since 1980, yet parents lobbied to take the jungle gyms out of playgrounds, and strollers suddenly needed the warning label "Remove Child Before Folding." Among 6-to-8-year-olds, free playtime dropped 25% from 1981 to '97, and homework more than doubled. Bookstores offered Brain Foods for Kids: Over 100 Recipes to Boost Your Child's Intelligence. The state of Georgia sent every newborn home with the CD Build Your Baby's Brain Through the Power of Music, after researchers claimed to have discovered that listening to Mozart could temporarily help raise IQ scores by as many as 9 points. By the time the frenzy had reached its peak, colleges were installing "Hi, Mom!" webcams in common areas, and employers like Ernst & Young were creating "parent packs" for recruits to give Mom and Dad, since they were involved in negotiating salary and benefits.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...s#ixzz0aZo7lfUt
There are three more pages to the article if you want to get the full story.
NOTE: I copy pasted a few paragraphs and it automatically added the Read more link. How cool is that? Somehow that site detected I copied and it added the link at the end. I love Web 2.0.
0 Comments
» The Republican Party was Founded on helping Black People
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted November 21, 2009. By Hostile
I've known this for most of my life. But many blacks do not. The Republican party has a long history of supporting blacks in America. From the Quakers Ideals (Not Republicans) up to Abraham Lincoln. From the civil rights movement up to abolishing Affirmative action.
Democrats believe that they have the black vote by default. Yet many black Democrats have little idea that it's the Republicans that have paved the way for them. Lincoln freed the slaves. The Republican Party was founded to counter the Democrats, who owned many slaves.
http://errvideo.com/Links/24/
Look to the 1960's, it was the southern Democrats that tried to counter the national consensus against segregation lead by Republicans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-Ameri...E2%80%931968%29
Republicans are not the Wall Street Bankers, the fat cat CEO's, they are simply or used to be, people who want the best for the most people possible without heavy government influence. Free your mind people. Democrats are not for the greater good of humanity. They have little history of their compassion when southern Democratic governors orders whites to shoot fire hoses at blacks to keep them from being able to assemble peacefully as the Constitution allows.
Now here is an article written by a black man. Imagine that. Let yourself read his words free from bias or "affirmative action."
Now Read this from Deroy Murdock, a black who has chosen to bring to light the history of Democrats and Republicans regarding who has been looking out for black people in this country. Never throw a good friend too far, you never know when you may need them.
http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murd...00502180737.asp
19 Comments
Posted November 21, 2009. By Hostile
I've known this for most of my life. But many blacks do not. The Republican party has a long history of supporting blacks in America. From the Quakers Ideals (Not Republicans) up to Abraham Lincoln. From the civil rights movement up to abolishing Affirmative action.
Democrats believe that they have the black vote by default. Yet many black Democrats have little idea that it's the Republicans that have paved the way for them. Lincoln freed the slaves. The Republican Party was founded to counter the Democrats, who owned many slaves.
http://errvideo.com/Links/24/
Look to the 1960's, it was the southern Democrats that tried to counter the national consensus against segregation lead by Republicans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-Ameri...E2%80%931968%29
QUOTE
During this period, the white-dominated Democratic Party resumed political control over the South. The Republican Party—the "party of Lincoln"—which had been the party that most blacks belonged to, shrank to insignificance as black voter registration was suppressed. By the early 1900s, almost all elected officials in the South were Democrats.
Republicans are not the Wall Street Bankers, the fat cat CEO's, they are simply or used to be, people who want the best for the most people possible without heavy government influence. Free your mind people. Democrats are not for the greater good of humanity. They have little history of their compassion when southern Democratic governors orders whites to shoot fire hoses at blacks to keep them from being able to assemble peacefully as the Constitution allows.
Now here is an article written by a black man. Imagine that. Let yourself read his words free from bias or "affirmative action."
Now Read this from Deroy Murdock, a black who has chosen to bring to light the history of Democrats and Republicans regarding who has been looking out for black people in this country. Never throw a good friend too far, you never know when you may need them.
http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murd...00502180737.asp
QUOTE
Contemporary partisan hyperbole? Consider this 1866 comment from Governor Oliver Morton (R., Ind.), who is immortalized in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall: "Every one who shoots down Negroes in the streets, burns Negro school-houses and meeting-houses, and murders women and children by the light of their own flaming dwellings, calls himself a Democrat," Morton said.
19 Comments
» Chinese Talk about Racism Ahead of Obama Trip
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted November 14, 2009. By Hostile
This article referenced was too long to post, so I'll link directly to it so you can read it and refer to points I've highlighted here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33936653/ns/wo...ashington_post/
The article goes on. It's an interesting perspective to view how the Chinese have befriended African nations over the decades, but only for certain personal gain. When Africans are viewed as a whole by the Chinese, they are viewed as inferior to other races. Something that is disturbing to say the least.
It reminds me of an article I wrote regarding Chinese troops patroling the streets of Zimbabwee. The Chinese aren't there for any other reason than most other nations who have traversed Africa. Simply because it's a continent rich is culture and rich in resources, but not very rich in ways to keep themselves from being exploited.
So now that the Africans are coming to China, what will they do? It appears that the Chinese are more than happy to aquire their resources and manual labor but not their immigrants. I'm not sure what is to be said of the world wide tradition of raping Africa but I figure I'd point this out for personal reflection.
15 Comments
Posted November 14, 2009. By Hostile
This article referenced was too long to post, so I'll link directly to it so you can read it and refer to points I've highlighted here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33936653/ns/wo...ashington_post/
QUOTE
So nothing prepared Lou, whose father is a black American, for the furor that erupted in late August when she beat out thousands of other young women on "Go! Oriental Angel," a televised talent show. Angry Internet posters called her a "black chimpanzee
" and worse. One called for all blacks in China to be deported.
" and worse. One called for all blacks in China to be deported.QUOTE
As the country gets ready to welcome the first African American U.S. President, whose first official visit here starts Sunday, the Chinese are confronting their attitudes toward race, including some deeply held prejudices about black people. Many appeared stunned that Americans had elected a black man, and President Obama's visit has underscored Chinese ambivalence about the increasing numbers of blacks living here.
The article goes on. It's an interesting perspective to view how the Chinese have befriended African nations over the decades, but only for certain personal gain. When Africans are viewed as a whole by the Chinese, they are viewed as inferior to other races. Something that is disturbing to say the least.
It reminds me of an article I wrote regarding Chinese troops patroling the streets of Zimbabwee. The Chinese aren't there for any other reason than most other nations who have traversed Africa. Simply because it's a continent rich is culture and rich in resources, but not very rich in ways to keep themselves from being exploited.
So now that the Africans are coming to China, what will they do? It appears that the Chinese are more than happy to aquire their resources and manual labor but not their immigrants. I'm not sure what is to be said of the world wide tradition of raping Africa but I figure I'd point this out for personal reflection.
15 Comments
» My Dad Died Today...(Burial Pic included now)
From GNP The O'Really Factor
Posted October 23, 2009. By Hostile
I got as far as the title before I had to go out for a smoke and then the floodgates let loose. I found out my dad died four hours ago. He was Stanley Joseph Edwards and was going to celebrate his 60th birthday January 18th 2010.
He was a tall 6'1 a strapping handsome guy. He was the man who explained the atom to me when I was three and was pleased when I explained it back to him in my own words.
He was tough as nails, skilled in the art of kicking ass, and yet had poetry printed in books. He was my father. He was not perfect but he was a collection of stories about his life I'll never know how true they might have been.
He did once say to me, "the best punch in the face I ever got was from a one armed man."
I will miss him. He knew so much about everything. Even ready for some advice on a good traditional recipe I might be cooking.
I talked to him last Tuesday after I moved my fiance's stuff here. He talked to Daisy (my fiance) for some time on the phone and told her he had a gift for her when we come to see him. He promised not to tell until we showed up. He died Friday. No one knew he died because we all kept calling and no answer. He lived in another state from us. A friend of ours drove to his place and found mail over flowing.
That was a bad sign. So my brother drove up 3-4 hours tonight to open the door to the smell of death. He was dead for almost a week. We decided to have him cremated for that reason.
The man who cuts his lawn showed up and my brother said "we will no longer be needing your services."
Next Friday should be the funeral. Losing a parent is something that one cannot explain the pain. I am hurting bad right now. I just wanted to catch this moment in my life so I may reflect upon it in the future as I reflect on all my posts at Revora.
My dad died.
The irony of the story about the attached image is the fact that my mother and father were married 17 years and after that they didn't see each other for 25 years. They saw each other because I called Mom and said Dad is dieing, see him before he goes. So she did.
This is the only picture of the them in 25 years being in the same place.
Do you want to know how I feel right now? My dad died...
You have no idea how much that hurts...
26 Comments
Posted October 23, 2009. By Hostile
I got as far as the title before I had to go out for a smoke and then the floodgates let loose. I found out my dad died four hours ago. He was Stanley Joseph Edwards and was going to celebrate his 60th birthday January 18th 2010.
He was a tall 6'1 a strapping handsome guy. He was the man who explained the atom to me when I was three and was pleased when I explained it back to him in my own words.
He was tough as nails, skilled in the art of kicking ass, and yet had poetry printed in books. He was my father. He was not perfect but he was a collection of stories about his life I'll never know how true they might have been.
He did once say to me, "the best punch in the face I ever got was from a one armed man."
I will miss him. He knew so much about everything. Even ready for some advice on a good traditional recipe I might be cooking.
I talked to him last Tuesday after I moved my fiance's stuff here. He talked to Daisy (my fiance) for some time on the phone and told her he had a gift for her when we come to see him. He promised not to tell until we showed up. He died Friday. No one knew he died because we all kept calling and no answer. He lived in another state from us. A friend of ours drove to his place and found mail over flowing.
That was a bad sign. So my brother drove up 3-4 hours tonight to open the door to the smell of death. He was dead for almost a week. We decided to have him cremated for that reason.
The man who cuts his lawn showed up and my brother said "we will no longer be needing your services."
Next Friday should be the funeral. Losing a parent is something that one cannot explain the pain. I am hurting bad right now. I just wanted to catch this moment in my life so I may reflect upon it in the future as I reflect on all my posts at Revora.
My dad died.
The irony of the story about the attached image is the fact that my mother and father were married 17 years and after that they didn't see each other for 25 years. They saw each other because I called Mom and said Dad is dieing, see him before he goes. So she did.
This is the only picture of the them in 25 years being in the same place.
Do you want to know how I feel right now? My dad died...
You have no idea how much that hurts...
26 Comments