Kudos to Maryland 6th District Republican Representative Roscoe Bartlett who is currently, as I write this, giving a long (going on more than 45 minutes) discussion on the House floor on the dangers of impending Peak Oil, including extensive charts and graphs from SAIC’s Dr. Robert Hirsch that are consistent with everything we have discussed regarding dwindling oil resources. “We are about 100-150 years through the age of oil (about 1/2 way).” “The world has never faced a problem like this.”
His website indicates that Peak Oil is a key interest of his.
Educators Find Extra Attention Paid to Students at Tumultuous Time Reaps Rewards Later
As someone whose initial high school years were pure hell, I can vouch for the necessity of programs like this…
By 2001, Margee Walsh had dealt with every variety of that anxious species known as the ninth-grader. So when she met Ishmael Salandy, who had gotten into some minor trouble at school, she thought she knew right away what he needed.
Salandy lived in a low-income part of Alexandria. Only one parent was at home. But there was a spark in Salandy, a yearning for something better that Walsh could recognize in his tone of voice, his choice of friends, his promising grades. Walsh was principal of the Minnie Howard School, one of the few schools in the country that has only ninth-graders, and she had made it a rule that her students would all get very personal attention.
Much later, Salandy told Walsh he saw she had written these words on a form with his name on it: “Need to get him a mentor. He’s a real leader.”
“How did you know that?” Salandy asked Walsh, after he was elected president of his high school class. The answer, from Walsh and several other educators, is that they make it their business to know. Teachers are increasingly searching the records of each new ninth-grader before school begins and talking to their families and previous teachers. Because ninth grade, the beginning of high school in most cases, can save or ruin a young life.
Click here for link.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4953920
Here is a powerful essay by a woman facing death in the face.
Secret Service’s Reach Questioned
But Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who sponsored the provisions, and his aides said the concerns are misguided. The changes are meant to clear up legal confusion about the Secret Service’s role at major events and to ensure that venues are fully secure before the president or other top officials arrive, they said.
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The measure is the latest point of contention in a GOP-approved conference bill that would make permanent most parts of the Patriot Act anti-terrorism law and would renew two other provisions for four years. A bipartisan group has vowed to fight the proposal, and several lawmakers proposed legislation yesterday that would give Congress an additional three months to negotiate.
Click here for link.