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This statement is what drives Flemming to help other injured service members every day. He reaches out through his website and public speaking. According to his website, to date, he has personally mentored over 1,000 combat veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the areas of business, marriage and family, h...
Resiliency was a common theme among all nine wounded warriors on this trip. Regardless of the severity of their physical injuries, each one repeatedly echoed how important it was to stay connected and remain positive always moving forward.
Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry spoke about his injuries; physical, emotional and mental.
"Everyone sees my prosthetic hand, but most don't know that I was also shot in the leg," said Petry. "My leg gives me more problems than my arm. Coming back here has really helped me. It's twofold. It helps me and I can take what I've seen and experienced back and share."
During a discussion with Silva about the mental recovery of injured service members, he stated that staying connected and not losing a sense of who you are remain the two largest factors to successfully move forward with recovery.
He went on to explain the hardest thing about the process is not having a sense of being.
"Your place at the dinner table is taken away," said Silva. "You're treated as a patient instead of a Marine, Soldier or service member. The doctors would call me 'Mr. Silva.' One day I looked at one of them and told them, 'My name is Staff Sgt. Silva.'"
He also offered two pieces of advice when working with wounded warriors.
"Support from the unit is vital, they are your family," he said. "Don't be afraid to approach a wounded warrior. That's how they learn (to deal with their injury) and don't treat me like a patient."
The chief executive of the Telecommunications Industry Group (TIG) Rob Spray has resigned and his position will not be replaced in the near future.
Spray was appointed CEO in July 2009 to lead the Group, which was originally formed with eleven members in April that same year. Noticeable by their absence at the time of the TIG’s formation were 2degrees and TelstraClear and in the past year CallPlus, Citylink, Compass Communications and Woosh have left the Group.
TIG Chair and Vodafone CEO Russell Stanners says the board accepted Spray’s resignation at its meeting last week and it won’t appoint a new CEO until at least the New Year. He says the Group is waiting for decisions around the government’s Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) plan to be made and for more “clarity” in the industr...
Stanners says TIG’s existing membership remains committed to the Group and that it will continue to hold monthly meetings and engage the services of its secretariat ONZL (the same company that provide support to the Telecommunications Carriers Forum).
In the 14 months Spray has been CEO his most high-profile achievement was staging the Planet 2010 event in March which featured astronaut Buzz Aldrin. There are no plans to hold a similar event in 2011, although Stanners isn’t ruling it out.
Stanners says TIG members want to see an industry conference on the role of retail service providers in the new fibre world. He says the Group wrote to the Minister of Economic Development last month requesting a conference around the role of the ISP in the UFB. “It’s evolving an entirely new industry, what’s the role ...
Stanners says that the focus has been on the wholesale side of the UFB and there needs to be discussion about how retail services will be managed, such as industry standards for complaints, service levels and faults in the new fibre-based broadband environment.
Another area highlighted by Stanners where the TIG has been proactive is a shared database of fraudulent customers, which he says operates among its members. That is, if a customer runs up a bill and then leaves the carrier without paying his or her details are entered into shared database which other telcos within the...
Stanners is the inaugural TIG Chair, a position that was to be rotated annually; however he will continue in the role in the meantime.
Meanwhile Spray has a new role in the telecommunications industry, which he is not able to announce, but it is not with one of the members of the TIG.
Two reports released today in conjunction with the International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York highlight the lessons the United States can take from other countries' reform efforts.
The United States should make teaching more attractive by raising the status of the profession, write Andreas Schleicher, the director of education for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Steven L. Paine, a vice president at CTB/McGraw-Hill and a former West Virginia schools superintendent. A...
That report, titled "What the U.S. Can Learn From the World's Most Successful Education Reform Efforts," emphasizes that PISA scores are not a reflection of spending. "Only Luxembourg spends more money per capita on its students than the U.S., both persistently less-than-stellar performers, and U.S. spending patterns v...
A second report from the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education looks to Finland, Singapore, and Ontario, Canada, for "lessons" and comes away with some of the same conclusions.
Those three high-performing jurisdictions get "the right people" into teaching and prepare them well, make the profession attractive, provide ongoing teacher support, and develop high-quality leadership, according to Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University professor and co-director of the center, and Robert Rothma...
International comparisons are becoming plentiful. (See previous Education Week coverage of PISA results and McKinsey & Co. reports on global reform efforts and teacher recruiting.) So what's new here? As of now, it's hard to tell. But I'll be headed to New York tomorrow to catch the bit of the summit that's open to the...
• What exactly does it mean to "raise the status of the profession?" What does that look like in practice? Have other countries been successful in doing this?
• How far does increasing teacher pay go toward raising the profession's status? Is that a good place to start?
• Can these sorts of "lessons" be implemented at the federal level? Or are they meant to be heeded by individual states?
• How can the U.S. reallocate spending to be more in line with the highest-performing countries?
• Will efforts to limit teachers' collective bargaining rights, such as those in Wisconsin and Idaho, affect America's ability to elevate the profession?
What else would you like these international education leaders to comment on?
NOTE: This post originally appeared on Education Week's Teacher Beat blog.
Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter,” Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and the Chris Meledandri-produced “The Lorax” are among five studio pics that will receive Gallic tax rebates for international shoots.
“Hereafter” and “Inception” lensed in France last year for five days, the minimum shoot time necessary to pull down tax coin. Both French shoots on the Warner Bros. pics were handled by John Bernard’s production services company, Peninsula Film.
Aided by rebates, Gaul’s Duran Duboi will help deliver “Underworld 3D,” a spatialized version of 2003’s “Underworld,” directed by Len Wiseman and produced by Screen Gems/Lakeshore.
In a second coup for France, Paris’ Buf Compagnie, a top Gallic vfx/toon house, will serve as the lead vfx house on “Thor,” channeling tax coin into the Marvel production.
A sixth film to pull down tax coin is Raoul Ruiz’s long-mooted “Love and Virtue,” based on “The Song of Roland” and produced by the U.K.’s Fountain of Life Prods.
The total expenditure in France for the six films is $62.1 million, said Gaul’s CNC French film board, which adjudicated the rebates. Five international movies, including “Despicable Me,” pulled down international tax rebate coin in the CNC’s first round of funding last December.
The key to the rebates is not only the number of films that have tapped rebates but “their diversity,” said Film France managing director Patrick Lamassoure.
“Awarded films range from live-action movies from Hollywood, Japan and the U.K. to live-action television — the BBC series “Merlin” — animation and 3D films,” he said.
Yorkshire could be set to bask in glorious sunshine once again, according to experts at the Met Office.
Pictured cooling down in the Bridlington sea (left to right) Dillan Bielby, 6, Millie Bielby, 4, and Ryan Dixon, 6.
And that comes as good news following last weekend's heavy downpours and thunder storms.
Forecasts say that August should be a generally warm and dry month, but there will be the chance of more rain in isolated conditions for some parts of the UK, particularly in the south.
But it is the second part of August that is set to include the 'higher than average temperatures'.
there is a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms breaking out as the month wears on, again more likely in the south, while the north is predicted to be affected by cloudier conditions at times.
A Met Office spokesperson said: "For the latter half of August, slowly changing weather patterns are likely to continue.
"This means that drier and warmer than average conditions are the most probable overall.
"Short unsettled interludes are also possible however, and these are most likely in the south, with a risk of heavy showers or thunderstorms breaking out at times.
"The north and northwest may also possibly be affected by occasional wet and cloudier conditions.
"Temperatures are expected to remain widely above average for most, with further spells of very warm or perhaps even hot conditions probable, especially in the south."
The town is beautiful and connects South Mississippi to Slidell. It has access to waterways and boasts some of the most beautiful and serene views I’ve ever seen. After Katrina, an iconic image was taken by a Sun Herald photographer that showed a statue of Mary amid the rubble of a washed-away Catholic church.
Since the hurricane, it seems as if the publicity Pearlington received has faded.
Would you travel a little way to eat at new restaurants along the water in Pearlington, overlooking Louisiana?
Heck, I drive 30 minutes down to Bay St. Louis at least once a week to eat at one of my favorite restaurants. I would love to see Pearlington prosper, but the question of how remains.
For now, I’ll continue to randomly drive down the scenic roads, taking in the air, the nature and the beauty of this hidden gem in South Mississippi.
Russia has confirmed its vessels have used weapons to stop Ukrainian ships that had entered Russian waters in the Black Sea illegally. Three Ukrainian sailors were wounded and have been given medical assistance.
The three Ukrainian vessels – the ‘Berdiansk’, the ‘Nikopol’ and the ‘Yany Kapu’ – were ignoring "legal demands to stop" and "performing dangerous maneuvers," and the Russian warships had to open fire to force them to stop, the FSB says. The ships were then seized and towed to the Crimean port of Kerch.
Three Ukrainian sailors, injured in the altercation, were given medical assistance by Russian servicemen. Their lives are out of danger.
Russia has launched a criminal investigation of the border breach.
Following the clash at sea, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed to declare martial law in the country. The proposal has been approved by the Ukrainian National Security Council, and will go before parliament on Monday for final approval.
NATO has urged both parties to show restraint. NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement that NATO has been “closely monitoring developments in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait,” while voicing support to Ukraine.
“NATO fully supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity, including its navigation rights in its territorial waters,” the statement read.
Singapore Polo Team's Trunks "Inappropriate"
Singapore rebuked its national water polo team for wearing swim trunks that feature an "inappropriate" likeness of the city-state's flag.
The trunks, which were designed by members of the men's team currently competing in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, show the flag's white crescent moon jutting up from the groin area with five stars to the side on a red background.
"Unfortunately the team did not seek our advice on the use of the crescent moon and stars when they designed their swim trunks," the Information Ministry said in a statement Thursday. "We would have told them that their design is inappropriate as we want elements of the flag to be treated with dignity."
The ministry, which normally evaluates the use of the flag on uniforms on a case-by-case basis, declined to specify which part of the design was objectionable.
The trunks sparked a controversy in the local media and on Internet message boards, with some offended by the use of the national flag while others were amused at the furor.
Asian Games rules stipulate that a team's uniform cannot be changed in the middle of the tournament, so the government will allow the water polo players to wear the trunks when they play Kuwait on Thursday for fifth place. The team apologized and said it would retire the trunks after the Asian Games.
"We didn't have the slightest intention to do anything funny on our trunks to insult Singapore," team manager Samuel Wong, who helped design the trunks, told the Straits Times.
More than 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil Thursday night where parents shared their heartbreaking grief over the deaths of 17 students and staff killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The Palm Beach Post reports that Fred Guttenberg was one of the fathers who poured out his sorrow before the crowd over the loss of his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, who died alongside 16 others when 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz went on a rampage inside the school halls.
"This makes no sense," the devastated father said. "This is impossible. My girl, my 14-year-old baby ... For those of you who knew my baby, she was the energy in the room. She made people laugh and, yes, sometimes she made us cry. But she always made her presence known.
"I sent her to school yesterday. She was supposed to be safe. My job is to protect my children, and I send my kids to school. In the morning, sometimes, things get so crazy. She runs out and goes, 'I gotta go, Dad. Bye.' And I don't always get to say I love you. I don't remember if I said that to Jaime yesterday mornin...
"Jaime was such a special kid. All of the kids here are. What is unfathomable is Jaime took a bullet and is dead. I don't know what I do next. My wife is home. We are broken."
The 16 other victims, most of them students, were named by the Broward Sheriff's Office: Carmen Schentrup, Meadow Pollack, Peter Wang, Nicholas Dworet, Christopher Hixon, Aaron Feis, Luke Hoyer, Alaina Petty, Martin Duque Anguiano, Alyssa Alhadeff, Helena Ramsay, Scott Beigel, Joaquin Oliver, Cara Loughran, Gina Montal...
The deceased ranged in age from 14 to 49.
CBS Miami said that close to 1,000 people attended the vigil, with several other vigils also taking place in the area throughout the day. Florida Gov. Rick Scott was among those who attended an earlier noon prayer vigil outside Parkridge Church in Coral Springs.
The Thursday night vigil, which drew the largest crowd, included a memorable moment when 17 angels took stage, symbolizing the victims.
Many of the residents shared their shock at the tragedy.
"This is the park where our children play, now there are crosses around it," said Parkland resident Marilyn Krantz. "This is unfathomable in our community and in any community."
Allison Shonk, a student at Marjory Douglas Stoneman, said that Feis, who worked as an assistant coach, used his body to shield students from the gunfire.
"I said 'hi' to him almost every morning. All these losses hit really hard for everyone at the school. And, I'm just sorry for all the parents and all the loved ones we lost," Shonk said.
Former Stoneman Douglas student Marisa Leal added: "They were my neighbors that we had to bury, or my friend's siblings that we had to say goodbye to. There's really no justice in that except for being there for each other."
At one point during the vigil, someone in the crowd began shouting, "No more guns! No more guns!" CBS reported, reflecting the sentiments of some who are pushing for the government to confiscate citizens' guns.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former senior official in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Rick Gates, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy against the United States and lying to investigators, and he is cooperating with a federal probe into Russia’s role in the election.
Gates, who was a deputy campaign manager for Trump, is being investigated by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which is probing alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
Gates had been potentially facing decades in prison on much more serious charges, including bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Under the charges he pleaded guilty to, he faces a maximum sentence of nearly six years.
Prosecutors said they could ask the judge for a reduction in Gates’ sentence based on the extent of his cooperation with Mueller’s probe.
The plea increases pressure on Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign manager for five months in 2016, to also seek a plea deal. However, Manafort said in a statement issued after Gates’ plea deal that he maintained his innocence.
Cooperation by Gates, and potentially by Manafort at a later stage, could provide a rich vein of information for Mueller, whose Russia probe includes looking into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow to interfere in the election.
Gates’ plea deal appeared to be partially motivated by his concern over legal costs and the strain on his family.
Prosecutors allege that Manafort, with Gates’ assistance, laundered more than $30 million and duped banks into lending money. It says the pair used funds from secret offshore accounts to enjoy a life of luxury.
None of the charges to date against Gates or Manafort have made reference to any connection with Russian meddling in the 2016 election or possible collusion. Russia has denied the accusations of interference. Trump has said there was no collusion, and has also denied any attempt to obstruct Mueller’s probe.
Mueller, appointed by the Department of Justice last year, has a broad brief that allows him to look into any wrongdoing uncovered in the course of his investigation.
While it was not clear what Gates might be able to reveal to investigators, he was on Trump’s campaign team when his then-boss Manafort attended a meeting in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York between senior campaign aides and a Russian lawyer.
Mueller, according to sources familiar with the investigation, has taken a keen interest in whether Democrats’ emails allegedly hacked by Russian intelligence and made public six days after that meeting were discussed then.
Gates helped run the campaign’s day-to-day operations, played a key role at the Republican National Convention where Trump was chosen as the party’s nominee and accompanied Trump on campaign flights.
He stayed on in the campaign even after Manafort resigned in August 2016 amid a controversy over cash payments from Ukraine. After Trump’s election win, Gates was on Trump’s presidential transition team and his inaugural committee.

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