What if I don’t like my lender’s appraiser?

Borrower gets surprise in attempt to remove mortgage insurance

The real estate event of the summer

DEAR BOB: Can a mortgage lender force me to use a specific appraiser when I am in the process of removing my PMI (private mortgage insurance)? --Dave W. DEAR DAVE: Yes. However, if you don't like the appraiser's evaluation of your home's fair market value, you can hire your own licensed appraiser and then contest the lender's appraisal result. Purchase Bob Bruss reports online. Whether you are removing PMI or obtaining a new mortgage, the mortgage lender always selects the licensed appraiser. However, as a borrower I've often been asked by mortgage lenders if I have a preference for a specific appraiser. Usually, I don't. I suggest you speak up if you have a preference for a specific appraiser or you feel the appraiser selected by the lender is incompetent. However, please be aware many mortgage companies now hire appraisers through major nationwide appraisal management firms at negotiated fees. A "POUR-OVER WILL" SOMETIMES MUST BE PROBATED DEAR BOB: In recent article...


Wesley So wins US chess title despite struggling to break down opponents

The world No2 beat Alexander Onischuk 1.5-0.5 in a speed tie-break after finishing joint first with three wins and eight draws from 11 rounds

Chess 3490
3490: Yaroslav Zherebukh v Hikaru Nakamura, St Louis 2017. After Nakamura’s next Black move his opponent resigned. What was Black’s winner, and why did White give up?

Wesley So wins US chess title despite struggling to break down opponents

Wesley So got there in the end but he made heavy weather of it. The 23-year-old world No2, aiming for his first US title, found it difficult to break down the solid play of his opponents. The former Filipino did win in brilliant style in the ninth round, as featured in last week’s puzzle, but then cautiously halved out his final two rounds to end with three wins and eight draws.

The veteran 41-year-old Alexander Onischuk caught So in the final round to force a speed chess tie-break and there was a bunch finish with the top five players (of 12) covered by half a point: So and Onischuk 7, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian 6.5. So won the speed play-off 1.5-0.5 but again only after a hiccup as Onischuk had a winning position in the second game before allowing a draw by perpetual check.

Arguably the real winners from the event are the world champion, Magnus Carlsen, who can view a less than overwhelming performance by his rivals So and Caruana, and the ex-champion Vlad Kramnik, who advanced to No3 in the rankings after Caruana’s uneven results and is now in pole position as one of the two ratings qualifiers for the 2018 candidates which will determine Carlsen’s next challenger.

The tournament cycle rarely stops for long. Today the opening round of the Grenke Classic in Karlsruhe, Germany, can be watched free and live online, with Carlsen, Caruana and France’s world No5, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, all in the eight-player field.

On Thursday Shamkir, Azerbaijan tournament gets under way with So, Kramnik and the 2016 world title challenger, Sergey Karjakin, in action. Shamkir will be important for the England No1, Michael Adams, after the 45-year-old Cornishman finished last of six at Shenzhen, China, earlier this month. Adams dropped several places in the rankings and, though he remains in the top 20 who receive the bulk of elite invitations, he needs to reestablish himself at his 2016 level when he equalled his lifetime peak.

Meanwhile England’s two youngest grandmasters, Gawain Jones, 29, and David Howell, 26, are proving their stamina this year as they commute across the globe pursuing tournament opportunities. Both rank in the world top 100 but are well outside the charmed circle who receive elite invitations, so make their way in opens and national leagues.

Following his victory at St Louis Howell won both his games for Hockenheim in the German Bundesliga, advanced to England No2 behind Adams, and is closing in on the 2700 rating landmark.

Jones is competing virtually non-stop at the moment, but he was a school rugby player and is noted for his stamina. He was among the leaders at Sharjah before falling back at the end, but in the immediately following Dubai Open he led all the way, slowed at the end to finish in a seven-way tie on 7/9, then showed that he had studied the small print by emerging as the tournament victor from the complex tie-break rules.

Most opens split the money in the event of multiple ties for first, but Dubai did not, and Jones came away with $13,000 as against $2,000 for the poor fellow who finished seventh. Now it is on to Reykjavik, one of the strongest world opens, which starts on Wednesday 19 April and where Jones is the No7 seed behind the top seeded Dutchman, Anish Giri.

Jones’s lower rated opponent challenges him to a race with kings castled on opposite sides and mutual attacks, but the English GM gets in first and the white king perishes in mid-board at the bands of Black’s queen and rooks.

Gaurav Kumar v Gawain Jones, Dubai Open

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bc5 5 Nxc6 bxc6 6 Nc3 d6 7 Qd3 Nf6 8 Be3 Bb6 9 f3 Nd7 10 O-O-O Ba6 11 Qd2 Qc8 12 f4 O-O 13 g4 Rb8 14 g5 Ba5 15 a3 Qb7 16 b4 Bxf1 17 Rdxf1 Bb6 18 Bxb6 Qxb6 19 e5 a5 20 exd6 axb4 21 axb4 cxd6 22 Qxd6 Qe3+ 23 Qd2 Qa7 24 Nb1 c5 25 Rd1 Rxb4 26 Qxd7 Qa2 27 Qf5 Qxb1+ 28 Kd2 Rd4+ 0-1

3490 1...Ng4! and White resigned because of 2 Qd2 Rh1+! 3 Nxh1 Rxh1+! 4 Kxh1 Qh2 mate.


Gallery: New Triigi-Sõru ferry enters regular service ({{commentsTotal}})

Soela was completed a week ahead of schedule.
Soela was completed a week ahead of schedule. Source: (Veeteede Amet)
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Built in the shipyards of Baltic Workboats in Nasva, the latest of Estonia’s new island ferries, the Soela, will take up regular line service between the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa today Monday. Unlike the larger ferries recently introduced on the routes from the islands to the Estonian mainland, Soela was finished a week before the deadline.

Soela was christened and festively introduced to passengers at 7:45 on Monday morning. The ferry godmother is Milvi Vanatoa, who founded the local museum in the harbor town of Sõru. The Soela left Sõru for its first trip to Triigi at 8:15 a.m.

Compared to the other ferries on the route, Soela has more or less the same capacity in terms of passengers and vehicles, but the advantage that it doesn’t need to be turned around. This makes the trip a little shorter. The new ferry can accommodate up to 200 passengers and 22 cars or two trucks.

The ship is 45 meters long, 12 meters wide, has a draft of 2.7 meters, and a maximum speed when loaded of 12 knots. It will be operated by AS Kihnu Veeteed and has a crew of six.

Soela is financed by the European Union’s structural fund (85 percent) and the Estonian state (15 percent). It cost €9.4 million to build.

Soela is the last of six smaller ferries commissioned for the routes to Estonia’s smaller islands. The other ships already in service are Abro connecting Saaremaa and Abruka, Runö connecting the mainland and Ruhnu, Kihnu Virve connecting Kihnu, Manija, and the mainland, Ormsö connecting the mainland and Vormsi, and Wrangö connecting the small island of Prangli off the north coast with the mainland.

Editor: Dario Cavegn


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Media Bias - You keep saying that but I don't think it means what you think

Claims of media bias and protestations about “liberal media bias” are old hat at this point. Politicians from across the political spectrum routinely fall back to the idea that their position would be more broadly accepted but for “media bias.”

Leaving aside semantical debates about what “bias” is or what “liberal” or “conservative” actually mean, whining about media bias is common amongst most politicos and ideologues, regardless of their political leanings.  Generally when claims of biased reporting are made, what the claimants actually mean is that media outlet in question is intentionally distorting the truth, in order to advance some “agenda.”

In actuality, when claims of bias are made, what is generally occurring is that someone’s personal political bias is being challenged.

There are  dozens of different kinds of biases, from memory bias and anchoring bias to confirmation bias and familiarity bias. Humans are simply not particularly good at acting without some kind bias.  So yes, the media, being made up of fallible humans, is biased.

One of the most common and persistent forms of bias is confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that confirms one’s existing worldview, while simultaneously ignoring information that challenges it.

All humans perceive the world through these biases, or lenses. Individuals acquire over the years, from their parents, friends, and communities, a system of beliefs, or a collection of biases, that anthropologists call “worldview.”

A worldview consists of all the personal truths, political truths, and beliefs that one has and uses to understand one’s place and function in the the world.

Worldviews, unsurprisingly, differ from person to person, are heritable, and have enough flexibility and overlap to allow for grouping. Hence nationalism and the partisan divide in this country between “liberals” and “conservatives.”

The Commuters resident Tea Party Conservative, Dale Hummel, recently published a piece on media bias in which he lamented the current state of political discourse in this country and made the bold claim that, “The lack of reporting on the Benghazi scandal, Fast and Furious, voter fraud, The Secret Service prostitution scandal, Solyndra, the lack of positive Tea Party and Second Amendment coverage are clear signs that most of the media have a clear bias and far from real journalism.”

Rather than being a series of examples of blatant media bias, this is an excellent example of ideology and confirmation bias, leading one to the spurious conclusion that most media is liberally biased.

The easiest way to illustrate this bias is with one of Dale’s claims: the lack of positive Tea Party and Second Amendment coverage being clear signs of bias and shoddy journalism.

This claim rests on two testable assumptions. First, that the preponderance of news media coverage concerning the Tea Party and the second amendment is “negative,” and second, that the preponderance of news media, in general, espoused said view. This is demonstrably untrue.

According to reports at Mediaite on  Nielsen, a television ratings company, media research, “FNC ranked fifth in all of cable during January, behind only ESPN, USA, History and TBS (CNN and MSNBC ranked 23rd and 27th respectively).” The rest of the news networks don’t even place in the top 100 networks watched.

Simply put, Fox’s News coverage is, by definition, the mainstream coverage, as the most individuals who watch cable news watch it on a Fox network.

Given that Fox aggressively promoted Tea Party events, and even let one of their hosts, Glenn Beck, lead a Tea Party event, it is hard to accept the premise that some kind of “liberal media bias” has been occluding the Tea Parties true virtues.

Dale’s claim perfectly illustrates confirmation bias; for him, and many other Tea Partiers, that their own media outlets are dominant doesn’t affect their reasoning. To them, “the media” is against them, against their beliefs, and are biased.

Rather than being an oppressed minority, the Tea Party has received a tremendous amount of coverage, in no small part because of the National Tea Party patriots relationship with FNC.

They received so much coverage, that despite being a particularly small minority (50% of the Republican party at it’s height), they were able to derail the national conversation about the economy onto whether or not Barack Obama was a citizen.

If there were some kind of systemic liberal media bias it seems that their claims about his heritage would never have seen the light of day.

Dale’s further claims, about a lack of reporting on Benghazi and Solyndra are also examples of confirmation bias. One can quite easily find several articles on the NYT and WaPo, so called liberal institutions, lambasting the administration for their flat-footed response to the Libyan attacks. This alone undermines his entire argument about systemic liberal bias.

One can also find articles, from several different news sources, detailing how Solyndra was a poor investment choice. In fact, every single example that Dale points to as being an example of shoddy journalism, is merely an example of a news agency not agreeing with Dale’s political positions on specific issues.

Solyndra for example - yes, it was a bad investment, but it was an investment made along with several other investments, of which most have returned profits to the administration. It begs the question of why some insist on focusing on just one of the high risk investments, instead of looking at the total package of investments made.

The point here is that there is more than one way of viewing a story. One view may be that government was engaged in crony capitalism to enrich political allies, another view is that the administration was engaged in something called “venture capitalism,” a notoriously high risk/reward investment strategy.

That the bulk of the investments made by the administration in the green energy have panned out doesn’t seem to matter to the Tea Party. All that seems to matter is that one out of dozens failed.

The Fast and the Furious example is yet another story that has more than one view. Simply not believing in the Tea Party version is not an example of intentional bias, but rather is an example of differing political viewpoints.

It is completely possible, even reasonable, that the attempt by the Justice Department to curtail cartel purchases of firearms through sting operations, as are done in cities across the nation, was merely mishandled instead of being some kind of conspiracy.

All of which isn’t to say that explicit media bias doesn’t exist, but rather that most bias is of the incompetent or implicit kind, rather than the nefarious kind.

In fact, just this week Jon Stewart, a card carrying member of the “liberal elite”, took Obama to task over the IRS scandal and the DOJ appropriating AP phone logs. Stewart could have whitewashed, or even ignored these events, but instead he treated them just as he treats all political shenanigans, with wit and sarcasm. His bias towards using comedy as a means for illustration was in full view, but what wasn’t in view was some kind of political bias or secret agenda to support the president.

When individuals watch ostensibly partisan sources like Fox or MSNBC, according to research by FDU political scientist Dan Cassino, results show “Ideological news sources, like Fox and MSNBC, are really just talking to one audience. This is solid evidence that if you’re not in that audience, you’re not going to get anything out of watching them.”

Basically, if you are mostly watching, listening, or reading from ostensibly partisan outlets, everything else is going to be appear to be biased. This “ideological anchoring” is what causes individuals to believe that there is widespread media bias, when in point of fact what there is, is, widespread differences of political opinion amongst the media.


Wednesday, 7 October 2015

 Student Perceptions of ‘useful’ Digital Technology

It’s the context, stupid….
Then a miracle occurs….
"creative, collaborative, participatory and hyper-connected practices that tend to be foregrounded in discussions of digital education and learning technology".
 What is to be done?
Institutions need to support the logistical and strategic uses of technology.  This includes the development of VLEs to make them more user friendly - or providing accessible and reliable alternatives, as well as improving the accessibility of other core systems. But using digital technologies in more creative and empowering ways requires rethinking broader institutional practices, including the culture of teaching and learning. The authors conclude by suggesting that:

Using Screencasts for Teaching and Learning

header image

Last week I ran a workshop on Using Screencasts to Enhance Teaching and Learning. This is a summary of what we covered.

What is screencasting?

Examples of screencasting:

Here’s an example of a 'how-to' guide from the university library: which is on their YouTube channel along with many others.

She describes the process of creating her screencasts here:

Why should you use screencasting?

Because students like it, basically. The research shows that:
  • students think it enhances their learning
  • they can learn at their own pace
  • they can catch up on missed classes
You can also use it for a ‘flipped classroom’ approach - providing discussion materials before a lecture or seminar so students have already thought about the issues before they arrive.

How do you create screencasts?
The university provides some software via the Programme Installer:

Screencasts with Panopto
You can use the Panopto lecture capture software to do screencasts - it will record whatever is on your screen, not just your PowerPoint presentations and lectures. At the moment the software is limited to those members of staff involved in the pilot study, but you can request access to it via IT services.

Free online screencasting tools
You can save your videos to your PC, or upload them directly to YouTube. The free version places a small ‘screencast-o-matic' logo at the bottom of your video. The Premium version (paid for) removes the logo and gives you some editing tools.

Snagit for Chrome is a free app and extension for the Chrome browser. It's a version of Snagit screen capture software. Download both the app and the extension, and you can create screencasts, capture still images, and create gifs via the Chrome browser.

Using Blogs to Promote Writing and Student Interaction

  • improvements in their writing,
  • intellectual exchange with other students, and
  • motivation to write better.

Learning from the Early Adopters

Bennet’s Digital Practitioner Framework (DPF) has four levels:

the digital practitioner framework

The deficit model is often used to explain the lack of engagement with technology - it is the lack of skills that is the barrier. However, in this research skills did not seem to be the main barrier to the uptake of technology, rather it was the perceived usefulness of the technology.

The Problem with plagiarism detection software

turnitin logo
  photo credit: Jisc via photopin cc

Here’s a discussion between two students ‘from a prestigious university’, reported by McKenna and Hughes (2013):

Don: what is the extent to which we’re allowed to plagiarise, 17% or something?

 Mark: No, it’s just like 20%, but I mean that’s all with just the bibliography or literally a couple of words which they highlight and you just ignore that, but obviously if you’ve got a paragraph then….

What is the role of plagiarism detection software (PDS) in creating this sort of misunderstanding? McKenna and Hughes suggest that PDS has the following effects:

1. It potentially changes the relationship between student and teacher, especially in terms of academic trust. There is already a difficult power relationship to be negotiated between student and teacher, and student and university. PDS has the effect of grounding that relationship in mistrust from the outset. It suggests that students are not to  be trusted, that they are not partners in scholarship - their learning is individualised - they are lone dynamic individuals, responsible for their own actions, rather than participants in a cooperative and collaborative exercise. Processing of assignments via PDS  “lends an air of objectivity and neutrality to what is actually a system with implicit issues of trust, control and surveillance. PDS is seen as a routine part of assessment with no debate about what values are being communicated to students and indeed teachers.”

2. It increases the sense of writing as a product. In routinely processing assignments through third party PDS the students are further removed from the connection they have with their departments. Assignments become digital artefacts, uploaded to the PDS which becomes the sole arbiter of of what is ‘allowable’ when it comes to plagiarism. Instead of using drafts and ‘process-oriented’ writing, which encourages peer- and self-review, process and drafts are subjugated to the technology. Students are creating a product - a commodity to be judged.

3. A loss of the understanding of plagiarism With PDS ‘plagiarism’ becomes simply about copying text, and about percentages. This is not helped by, for example, the colour coding system in Turnitin. The  ‘similarity index’’ is either blue (no matching words); green (up to 24% similarity); yellow (25-49%); orange (50-74%); or red (75-100%). So, you can plagiarise up to 24% and you get a green light! And green means good to go, right? Discussions of plagiarism are fraught at the best of times, but PDS adds more weight to the discourse of plagiarism as  ‘fraud, transgression, control, immorality, and dishonesty’. It ignores the complexities that are involved when people are novices, when they are writing in a new language, or educational context, or subject. It ignores the nuances of scholarly discussion, or of different disciplinary and linguistic contexts.

4. It promotes a view of writing which demonstrates little awareness of the potential of digital technology for multimodality, and new ways of presenting academic texts. PDS are premised on an increasingly outmoded ‘print literacy paradigm’. This fails to acknowledge the potential for digital technology to be used for multimodal and hyperlinked texts. PDS is based on matching text (it is actually text matching software, not plagiarism detection software), so cannot assess ‘images, animation, colour, or other modes of meaning-making’. PDS may have the effect of discouraging such novel forms of scholarship and expression.

What can be done? It’s not all bad. In an age of massive amounts of online material, PDS obviously helps to spot potential plagiarism quickly and efficiently. Simple practical measures to address misunderstanding plagiarism would include teaching students what the ‘similarity index’ in Turnitin actually means, and how the index can be interpreted. Turnitin has a feature which allows drafts. The similarity index can then be used as an aid to teaching about plagiarism before the final draft is submitted - that it’s not just about copying and percentages, or how much plagiarism is ‘allowed’. Encourage students to reflect on the processes of their own learning by discussing the sorts of political and moral arguments about educational technology that McKenna and Hughes have highlighted. Each social science subject area should be able to contextualise the arguments about the uses of educational technology in this way.

Reference McKenna, C, Hughes, J. (2013) Values, digital texts, and open practices - a changing scholarly landscape in higher education In Literacy in the Digital University. Critical Perspectives on Learning, Scholarship, and Technology R. Goodfellow and M. Lea (eds) (pp. 173–184). London: Routledge.


Le collectif 07 STOP AUX GAZ DE SCHISTE affirme son refus de l’exploration et de l’exploitation des hydrocarbures de roche-mère et autres hydrocarbures dits non-conventionnels (gaz et pétrole de schiste, huiles lourdes, gaz de réservoir compact, gaz de couche, sables bitumineux ...) et de tous hydrocarbures dont l’extraction nécessite l’utilisation de techniques, quel que soit leur nom, nécessitant de fracturer, stimuler, acidifier ou encore de fissurer la roche et ayant pour conséquence de porter atteinte à son intégrité.

Accueil > Elsewhere in Europe, around the world > Shale Gas Euro-News

Shale Gas Euro-News

mercredi 3 juin 2015

The "Collective 07 Stop Shale Gas and Oil" launches its 2017 4-languages, international document : "SHALE GAS AND OIL : AN ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH ABERRATION "

As it is fundamental to realize the energy, environment and health aberration of these fuels of the past, this document is meant to inform, all along this year, as well over here as elsewhere, during the various events organized by all the collectives.

Collectif 07 Stop Gas and Oil Shale launches its document 2017.

A5, 6 pages, this document in 4 languages (FR, GB, GE, DU) can be downloaded in pdf format.
Download the document (pdf 950 ko)

The text below is the extended version of the A5-text and gives a more detailed argumentation as to why shale-exploitation should be banned.

No gazaran - Not here or elsewhere, not now or ever.

- Version française de l’aticle et du flyer
- Nederlandse versie van het artikel en de flyer
- Deutsch-Version des Artikels und Flyer

What makes the difference between "conventional" and "non-conventional" is not the hydrocarbons themselves -shale gas and coal bed methane (CBM) remain natural gas, in other words (mainly) methane, shale oil remains crude-, it’s where these fossil energies are located in the subsoil where they were all formed millions of years ago.

Conventional hydrocarbons migrated in porous geological layers, pushed by high pressure, and accumulated when reaching non-porous layers, called seals, to form reservoirs. The gas and oil can be extracted from these reservoirs by "simple" drilling and pumping.

The non-conventional shale hydrocarbons, gas and oil, were locked in the far less permeable shale-layer, making this layer a reservoir itself. To extract these hydrocarbons the shale has to be broken. Nowadays, the only used and known possible method to break the shale is hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The non-conventional coal bed methane -which will not be mentioned further here- is located in deep and unexploited coal reserves, and can be extracted by means of "horizontal drilling" (the most commonly used technique at this moment), usually combined with fracking.

Learn more about coal bed methane (CBM) and coal-mine methane (CMM)
Learn more about conventional/non-conventional reserves of hydrocarbons (in french)

Often, the subject "research" is brought forward as being a necessity. But it’s impossible to evaluate correctly the potential of a reserve of shale gas or shale oil without using hydraulic fracturing on every aimed geological site, or even on every single aimed well location.

In Poland, just like in Romania, Ukraine and Lithuania, the volumes of shale gas and shale oil as estimated by the International Energy Agency (IEA) before actual drillings were made, were gigantic. Drilling showed a far lower potential.
The results of the first drillings lead to the conclusion that these modest reserves are -from an economical point of view- unfit for exploitation, which made foreign companies leave. But the wells were drilled, and the population will have to live with all the possible short, middle and long time consequences. And local companies -often state-owned- still continue production.

After the initial, exaggerated, optimism, based on overestimated assessments of the reserves, up to as high as billions of cubic meters, and on the interest shown by the big oil companies, the majors of the oil industry now estimate that exploitation of the European reserves is hardly profitable, maybe even not profitable at all.
What’s more, Europe having a higher density of population than the US regions where shale is exploited, it will be much harder to drill the number of wells necessary to make the reserves profitable.

Learn more about the current situation of shale gas in Europe

Forover fifteen years now the US has produced shale gas and shale oil by means of fracking on great depths.

Over the years different problems occurred around the production sites :

- health problems of residents : respiration problems, skin-diseases, cancers, neurologic diseases ;

- contamination of water and air : the storage of large amounts of frackliquids gorged with all sorts of chemicals -some of which can cause cancers- is a source of pollution, by leaking, infiltrating and evaporating ;

- methane leaks : methane is a strong greenhouse gas with a global-warming potential (GWP) 25 times higher than CO2 over a time-horizon of one century (this being the life span of CO2 in the atmosphere and thus used as standard measuring period). Over a 12 year period (the number of years it takes the atmosphere to absorb methane) the GWP of methane is even 86 times higher than the GWP of CO2.
Methane leaks during exploitation of shale hydrocarbons in a proportion of 1 to 6% of the produced amount of gas or oil, and the leaking continues after the closing down of the well, for many years (some say even up to several centuries), but the leaked amount is hard to evaluate.
According to recent studies the leaks of methane during the average lifetime of an average shale-well are far more important than initially estimated. Scientists no longer mention "just" 1 or 2%, but give as more accurate figures 0,66 up to 6,2% (different values for each single well) of the produced volume of oil or gas. The methane leaks through imperfections of the casing of drill shanks, and through breaks in the surface of the earth both old ones, and new ones caused by fracking ;

Learn more : Harmonization of initial estimates - more references

- micro-earthquakes : investigations done by Oklahoma scientists establishe a direct link between shale exploitation and the recent –important- increase of the number of micro-earthquakes. These earthquakes are triggered by the breaking up of the deep subsoil, by the extraction of an important volume from this subsoil, and by the re-injection of used frack-fluids.

- toxic substances : a lot is said about the great number of chemicals used for fracking, but few know that the deep subsoil itself that is fracked is, by nature, gorged with all sorts of heavy metals and radioactive elements (uranium, thorium….).
These toxic substances sooner or later migrate upwards following faults and breaks and reach the aquifer, or eventually even the surface of the earth. They also reach the surface when frack-fluids are being recovered. Imperfections of the casing of the shaft of the wells also let these toxics reach the atmosphere, during production, and also during as many as over 100 years after closing of the well.

- A non-hydraulic technique of fracking (fracking with propane, for example) would carry the same pollution and contamination risks, as drilling and breaking up of the rock deep down could ("would" might even be a better word here…) create liaisons between the deep subsoil and the aquifer.
In all cases scenarios heavy metals and radioactive elements travel upwards with the drilling mud !
At present there’s no solution to treat this mud efficaciously. Storage of it represents the same risks as storage of frack-fluids.

All these problems were minimized by the oil-companies, ignored by authorities and the rest of the country, up to the day health scandals broke out.

- The degradation of real estate, agriculture production and touristic attraction would undermine local economy and social life.

The goal however is not asking for illusory compensation of these damages, but to refuse that whole regions are sacrificed.
These eventual compensations would be, in fact, impossible to calculate : how much to repair or compensate for the destruction of whole territories, nature, wildlife, agriculture, local economy, tourism, real estate value ?

The economic danger for investors -the speculative bubble- should be taken in consideration as well : a great numbers of companies were already forced to depreciate their assets in this domain. In the US, drilling companies have hard times to even their accounts, if these are not already frankly in the red.
In fact, a shale well (oil or gas) reaches its production peak right at the beginning. From this peak on, daily production diminishes quite rapidly. To maintain a constant (and high enough) production level of the field, new wells have to be drilled permanently.

In the US, wells can be counted by hundreds of thousands. Bear in mind that exploration or exploitation permits limit a perimeter where drilling is allowed, but don’t say anything about the number of drills that can be done within this limited area.

The enormous investments and the very short economic life-span of the wells need a quite high price of oil and gas. Recent history has shown that the course can drop rapidly -and stay low for a long time- on simple decision by the big (conventional) oil producing countries.

Learn more about the impact on American economy

At a time where scientists question themselves about the "points of no return" of global warming, such as the complete melting of the ice-cover of Greenland, what to say about investors who put money -lots of it- in research for and production of fossil energies, knowing that these hydrocarbons contribute massively to the destruction of the last ice that protects us ?

The IEA itself writes in one of its last publications (World Energy Outlook 2012) that "… No more than one-third of proven reserves of fossil fuels can be consumed prior to 2050 if the world is to achieve the 2 °C goal…". To continue research and drilling to find new reserves is in contradictory to the commitments taken by leaders to act to stay under this 2° limit.

There’s an urgent choice to be made, a choice that can’t be taken away from the people. We can no longer be satisfied with the (very) short-time vision of politicians, high civil-servants, companies and investors.

- And if we talked about CO2, and greenhouse gases ?
Theoretically, shale gas consumption -the use made of it by the end-consumer- liberates a bit less CO2 than the consumption of oil, and a lot less than the consumption of coal. But shale gas production demands far more energy than the production of "classic" crude or coal.
The great number of wells to be drilled, the transport of the enormous amounts of water and fracking-chemicals, the purification and transport of the produced gas, and last but not least the methane-leaks during and after the production period of the wells, all this makes that at the end of the balance sheet shale gas emits more greenhouse gases than oil or even coal.

- And if we talked about wastage ?
The US, land of fracking, produces mainly shale oil. Shale gas is considered as being "too complicated to exploit" (read : to sell with profit), as one needs storage tanks, purifying installations, pipelines…. This unwanted shale gas is therefore most of the time simply flared, burnt off, while we, the people, are supposed to moderate our energy consumption.

In Europe water quality and quantity are degrading quickly, thus imposing on citizens and local authorities frugal and sustainable management of the water resources ("grey water", phyto-purification, dry toilets for household use etc). Agriculture and tourist industry have to cooperate and plan water use, bearing in mind that downstream water is needed as well.

The threat of additional pressure on European watersheds is therefore unacceptable. It makes Europe fear for a new, further degradation of its water resources whereas the European Environment Agency calls for an integrated and efficient water management.

The enormous investments needed for exploration and exploitation of shale-hydrocarbons, carbon-based and greenhouse gas emitting energy-sources, should be spent on research for sustainable energy solutions, in accordance with the common interest of the population. The same goes for the enormous subventions and tax-cuts awarded to the oil-industry.

In France and elsewhere in Europe grass-root movements are demanding their governments to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to engage our nations in real de-carbonization of our economies, and to start a real energy-transition. This new orientation, based on efficiency and frugality in energy use, can do no other than ban research for, as well as production of, non-conventional hydrocarbons. Exploring and exploiting of this non-conventional fossil energy just witnesses that "the hunt after the last drop" is pushed too far.

Europe differs from the USA on various points (less wide territories, higher density of population, other laws regarding property of the subsoil, of resources…), but the way the industry lobbies is identical : the same communication strategy, the same "information war" are launched (all-expense paid trips to model-sites offered by the industry etc), and quite often this lobbying is fruitful with the European press and politicians.

- TAFTA : Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreement or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, treaty between the European Union and the US,
- CETA : Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, treaty between the European Union and Canada.
- TISA : Agreement on Trade in Services

These tradeagreements are meant to liberate exchanges between the US, Canada and the EUfor the profit of multinational corporations. TAFTA and TiSA (stilldrafts) would force countries who apply it to use US rules (equality by lowestlevels.) CETA, the Canadian/EU treaty signed by the European Council mustnow be validated by member states. These treaties remove all possibilityof maintaining its own environmental protections from Europe.

TAFTA/TTIP (different names for one and the same treaty) would -among other things- force to apply the American regulations, far less binding for the oil industry than the European rules (equality on the lowest level), in all countries that signed this agreement.
CETA is a similar free-trade agreement between Canada between the European Union and Canada.

Finally, these treaties would take away from the European countries all possibilities of legal action and environment protection, and could even force to apply these new standards all the way down to county-level, and for instance interfere with subjects like town-planning.

Learn more about the free-trade agreements

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Identifying Your Skills

When it comes to looking for work and successfully applying for vacancies, a CV is critical in ensuring your success. One of the primary functions of your CV is to identify your skills as well as your strengths, weaknesses, experience and other aspects that a CV will typically address. When trying to make potentially employers aware of your skills, a good CV is critical in identifying them.

A well written CV can make the difference between being successful for a vacancy and being unsuccessful. Baxter Personnel has advice that will enable you to write a higher quality CV and improve your chances of success, you can view Baxter Personnel’s CV tips here as well as five common CV mistakes that you should avoid here.

Identifying your skills is critical in writing a good CV, identifying your skills can be difficult to do and identifying all of your skills can be difficult if they’re not in use in your current position as skills can often be overlooked. There are numerous ways to identify your skills so that you can then compile them for your CV. Some of the methods for identifying your skills include making a list of your previous vacancies and skills involved as well as your hobbies and skills involved with those.

In order to identify your skills, you will need to first make a list of your previous places of employment and the tasks that you were assigned which can significantly help in determining your skills for your CV. Day to day activities will likely comprise of the majority of your skills list. This can also include volunteer work or other professional experience.

In addition to making a list of your previous jobs and tasks that were involved, making a list of your hobbies can be equally constructive as this will allow you to identify skills that you may be proficient with outside of the workplace. Making a list of your hobbies can significantly expand your skillset and will indicate to a potential employer your interest as well as personality.

Once you have your list of current skills, you can proceed to identifying the vacancies that you would like to apply for and the skills required for these positions. Once you have the list of vacancies and required skills this can be compared to your list of current skills and suitable jobs can be determined.

When determining your skills and listing them, it’s vital to be realistic about your skills and the level that your skills are at. Knowing what your skills are and being able to put them forward to potential employers is critical, it is vitally important however that all of the skills that you mention can be demonstrated.

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Why Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a safe and effective manual treatment option for many health care conditions. Pain is usually the first thing that drives people to seek help regarding their problem. Unfortunately, pain can also be the last sign given by the body to alert you to dysfunction. You do not have to live in pain. Chiropractic can help relieve your pain, keep it away, and help you live a more healthful lifestyle.

The important point about chiropractic is the ability to restore not only motion in the joints leading to better function, but also restoring proper nervous system signaling. Since the nervous system is the main system controlling all the organs of the body, proper communication between the brain/spinal cord and the organs ensures proper functionality of those organs.

Numerous research studies have recently been published on the effectiveness of chiropractic care in the treatment and management of many healthcare conditions. These include but are not limited to the following: low back pain, neck pain, scoliosis, tension headaches, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, sprains, tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), and golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis). Research also continues to support many visceral benefits of chiropractic improving conditions such as asthma, acid reflux, and menstrual cramps. A significant percentage of pregnant women report having low back pain during pregnancy and labor. Recent published research studies supported the effectiveness of chiropractic care and acupuncture in alleviating low back pain during pregnancy and labor. Research has also supported reduced labor time.

Click on this link to Checkout the Top 14 Chiropractic studies in 2014

Chiropractic, when integrated with acupuncture and rehabilitation, can alleviate your pain, restore motion in your joints, and steer you to a more healthful lifestyle.

Mikhail Family Chiropractic & Sports Rehabilitation Center, LLC may be able to save you from surgery with our integrated approach in utilizing a diverse range of natural, manual therapies at an affordable cost.

No one is too old or too young to benefit from chiropractic care.

So what is a Chiropractic Adjustment?

A chiropractic adjustment is a gentle, effective, and specific thrust delivered to a certain joint in the body with a specific force, speed, and direction. The adjustment helps restore proper joint motion and neuromuscular stimulation. So not only pain is reduced, but proper signaling occurs between the brain/spinal cord and the organs, and therefore, better functionality is restored. Chiropractic adjustments can be applied using many techniques, such as the Diversified Technique, Thompson Technique, Sacro-Occipital Technique, Cox-Flexion Distraction Technique®, Activator Technique®, and Logan Basic Technique. Diversity in techniques allows the doctor more options for treatment, tailored for each patient’s individual needs.

So what is that cracking sound that you hear with the adjustment?

What you hear is dissolved gases—oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide—being released into your joints. When a joint gets adjusted, you stretch the joint capsule. Gas is then released quickly, which forms bubbles. That is the same concept when you crack your knuckles.

*If you crack your knuckles, let us show you a safer technique to allow better flexibility in your hand joints.

A joint the moves properly will function properly.

thomas davisthomas davis


Leeroy Stagger, No River, The Collapse

Leeroy Stagger

"I believe that love and understanding will right the wrongs in the world," says folk-rocker Leeroy Stagger, who certainly tries to convey the sentiment on his sixth album to date, Little Victories, set for immediate release on February 4, 2011. Released on his own label (newly minted Rebeltone Records), Little Victories showcases Stagger's penchant for evocative lyrics and inspired songwriting.

Little Victories is Stagger's most realized effort to date and he begins the album with a standout track, "Everyone's On Drugs". A haunting tune with far more than just an effortless melody and a tender vocal performance, the song tells a complex tale of substance abuse. As the song progresses, the layers unfold and revelations about the societal implications of self medication bring themselves to the forefront, demonstrating Stagger's thoughtful lyrical style. Tracks such as "Poor Little Rockstar" shine in a stark and ethereal arrangement. "I Believe in Love" (an ode to John Lennon) precedes the beautifully tragic closer "Love Will Let You Down". Produced by Stagger and Kevin Kane (Grapes of Wrath), Little Victories was recorded at Rebeltone Studios in Lethbridge, Alberta and mixed by Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, Blue Rodeo, Jim Bryson, The Weakerthans). The album features musical guests Bob Egan (Blue Rodeo, Wilco), Romi Mayes, Daniel Lapp, Christina Zaenker and Geoff Hillhorst (Deep Dark Woods). Also on hand to helm the album were Stagger's core band, The Wildflowers: Kevin Kane (guitar), Tyson Maiko (bass) and Kyle Harmon (drums).

Born in Victoria, British Columbia and raised on a little island on the very west coast of Canada, Stagger spent most of his youth with his grandparents who exposed him to the world of country music. Developing his musical drive early on, Stagger formed his first punk rock band at age 18. Songwriting came shortly after with themes revolving around his childhood, traveling, relationships, substance abuse and the tribulations of life. Having collaborated with one of his icons, Danny Michel, Stagger found commercial success in the song, "Just in Case", which was featured twice on the television hit, Grey's Anatomy.

The life of being on the road and touring at a fast pace did not wear easily on Stagger, who at age 26, realized he had an alcohol problem that was affecting his ability to perform with the commitment and heart his songs demanded. Clean and sober since, Stagger has a strong desire to inspire young musicians that they do not have to succumb to the pitfalls of substance abuse, which can be prevalent in a musician's touring lifestyle.

Little Victories is Stagger's musical imprint for those who have faced difficulties, but refuse to give in. While disappointment is a part of life, we can either spin in or out, and as long as we grasp onto the sense of purpose beneath the challenges, those are indeed our own Little Victories.

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Anita Bondi asked Susan Featro's Pleasant Valley Intermediate School's seventh grade German class, "What is improvisation?"

"Expressing feelings," one said.

"Making up some stuff," said another.

"Why is it important to make up stuff?" Bondi asked.

"So the story will go on," replied one student.

"To make it fun," said another.

Then Bondi and Stan Stewart led the class through a series of improvisational exercises, starting with going around and having each one say his or her name and one thing they like to do after school. Then they gave their German name and had to tell something they like to do but by gestures. Bondi and Stewart led them in exercises using stomping feet and clapping in rhtymic sounds followed by voice sounds.

Bondi and Stewart are certified InterPlay instructors. They teach InterPlay to adults every Monday night at Welspring Holistic Center in Stroudburg.

"InterPlay is an active creative way of unlocking the wisdom of the body," says Bondi.

"It makes connections in the brain. When called upon to do something on the spot, different parts of the brain are used. It brings fun to the learning process," said Stewart.

"It requires students to be creative, to improvise, to think quickly on their feet, to tell stories through words and movement and it helps to develop teamwork. These are all things that are important in learning a foreign language and I believe this 'playshop' will lead students to become better writers in all of their classes, preventing students from having 'writer's block' and help students to allow their true voices to come out in their writing," said Featro.

Featro applied for a Pleasant Valley Educational Foundation grant, making it possible for InterPlay to work with her classes throughout the day.

Bondi and Stewart told the students to think about commitment.

"Focus on one spot. Then I want you to go to that spot. You can get there anyway you want to but get there and then own it. Make it yours," instructed Bondi.

Some students got there in slow motion, others rushed, while others waved their arms, twirled and made ryhtmic sounds.

In the final moments of the class, Bondi asked each student to finish the sentence of "Improvisation is great because..."

The answers ranged from "I can be crazy," to "it let's me express myself," to "it's awesome."

"Improvisation puts you in the present moment. I hope the students get some skills for life from this. Things don't always go the way we want it to in life. Improv helps us switch gears on the spot, better able to handle those things thrown at us in life," said Bondi.


Cultural Masculinity and Crime Essay

Custom Student Mr. Teacher ENG 1001-04 30 August 2016

Cultural Masculinity and Crime

Masculinity is a fact that is conceptualized in Goliath in various ways and to a number of argumentative ends. On the other hand, there is a unique culture of masculinity which is identified as a connection between the ‘tough’ and ‘rough’ males and the law enforcers. Other connections include the nature of significance that is attached to homosocial bonding as well as the masculine camaraderie and familiar social concerns of the youth. This is a common masculine culture that maps well onto the cultural traits of hegemonic masculinity that is depicted elsewhere within the literature on crime and masculinity.

Therefore, masculinity is to some extend, used in the description of a given culture together with a series of activities that are ideologically and empirically allied to men. The fact that men are vilely overrepresented in almost all major violent events is not unusual. This kind of prevalence of male’s takes place in the arrest, character report as well as victimization data. Therefore, lack of attention paid to what it is being male that causes sadistic behavior is not anything surprising.

However, recent work has recommended that masculinity is a crucial construct when it comes to understanding both crime and violence. Toughness, coupled with eagerness to resort to vicious behavior to be in position to resolve some of the interpersonal disputes are central characteristics of mannish identity. Conviction that gender roles are constructed socially is highly approved in the social science context. Basing on this construction, it is important to note that not all men posses the same levels of masculine traits.

Primary differences in gender roles are highly inclined to be crucial variables in the comprehension of violence (Vold, 2002). Consequently, any form of male-to-male violence examination without fully understanding and unfolding the influence as well as the meaning of masculine gender is incomplete. Moving towards the relationships that exist between crime and masculinities, various criminologists have highly centered on men and boys but fully ignored women and girls. The main reason behind this is that there exists a considerable realism that the male dominate crime.

For these criminologists, women are most subjected to exhaustive as well as all- embarrassing criminological gaze. Specifics of men are disgraced. Each in his own way has generally contributed to what has become a traditional criminology. Therefore the investigator needs to inspect and examine women and not men, to be able to examine the high gender ratio in crime. Men have a implicit monopoly on the charge of syndicated corporate and opinionated crime. Criminologists have continuously advanced gender as the main analyst of criminal occurrences.

Historically as well as contemporaneously, criminologists have related masculinity purely with men and boys. Criminology is therefore dualist; it concentrates mainly on gender differences in crime eschewing an assessment of gender similarities in crime (Messerschmidt, 1993). Pre-feminist criminology The earliest theories of criminology relied mainly on indispensable ‘sex roles’ frame work to be able to explain the relationship that exists between crime and masculinity. These sex roles were used to find out the various types and range of offenses committed by both male and female.

Therefore for sex-role theorists, criminological theory is termed cryptically as biological differences that exist between men and women. Criminal behavior is learnt in the same manner as conforming behavior. Therefore various people may come to engage in criminal behavior due to the excess of definitions that are favorable to the violation of the law compared to the definitions which are unfavorable. Boys get involved in crime to a great extent compared to girls. Higher levels of criminal acts among the boys may possibly be explained through differences in care as well as supervision of the male and female.

In as much as boys and girls exist within poverty-stricken neighborhoods, the nature of social setting does not explain the rate delinquency among the boys as well as girl delinquency which is always low. The main difference comes about because girls are supervised a little bit more carefully in their behavioral traits in accordance with the known social codes. This takes place with greater care and consistency compare to boys. They are taught to be nice while the boys are taught to be ‘real men’, meaning they have to force themselves through situations.

Boys whose behavior closely related to girls were considered ‘sissy’. The issue of masculinity and the connections it has to criminal traits in male has been discovered in both the past as well as the present criminological contemplation discussions. An attempt to link the issue of masculinity with felony was brought about by (Sabo & Kupers, 2001) He alleged that masculinity was internalized mainly during adolescence. Boys engage in highly delinquent forms of behavior compared to girls. Boys are taught to be both ‘tough’ and ‘rough’.

The common traits associated with masculine behavior like toughness and dominance that are termed essential in asserting a strong reputation in masculinity, are acquired through these contacts with older males. Sabo and Kupers view the family as a structural conformity that has biological demands, working well for the society when the role of women is emphasized mainly in the internal affairs of the family; a wife being the manager of the household and men providing income-earning function in the society

Masculinity within patriarchal society is stereotypically referred to as independent, aggressive, dominant, competitive as well as unemotional. It represents characteristics which are direct opposition to femininity. Sex roles differentiate some of the behaviors that are appropriate for men and women. The characteristics of masculinity are closely related to both positive and powerful terms of social identity (Vold, 2002). When gender roles are over exaggerated and their terms barely defined, negative consequences can easily occur.

For instance, certain behaviors tend to be viewed positively, like independence. Conversely, assistance from others is required to overcome some of the personal problems like drug and alcohol addiction or even financial hardships. Independence can get in the way of potential remedy and behaviors that are productive. In addition to that, aggressiveness and high level confrontation can be of great use in various circumstances; on the other hand, they can be counter productive when trying to promote compromise.

Fascinatingly, criminologists have persistently identified gender as the key predictor of behaviors associated with crime whereby men and boys commit disproportionate amount of crime. Masculinity is developed through learning and imitation whereby organizations, peers, and society as well as parents tech and train patterns that are appropriate as far as behavior is concerned. Those kinds of support and peer networks maintain and encourage the existence of ideas about masculinity.

In many situations, if men decline to adhere to the stringent guidelines that are masculine gendered, or publicly express attributes of feminine, they are usually considered weak and also vulnerable. There are existences of theories which try to argue out that using criminal male accomplishment in reference to status achieved by the toughness as well as courage which it takes to perpetrate the level of crime. This is likely to be there when the masculinity of an individual is questioned. There is lack of traditional outlets that can be used to prescribe the stereotypical masculinity.

Various forms of violence incidences were highly likely to include men who are highly masculine who had few outlets to affirm their level of masculinity. Prison environments are usually designed to restrict substitute modes of adaption that is separate from hypermasculine responses to both the prison as well as other inmates (Messerschmidt, 1993). On a stronger note, prisons are meant to socially castrate males together with their ability to adhere to good definitions of masculinity allowing for multiple modes of responding to their ability for success and incarceration.

Rational outlets of Masculinity Explanations as to whether the outlets for traditional masculinity are essential only in a sense of dichotomous sense are not common and whether the quality of every single outlet play a crucial role too is not also clear. Therefore the operationalizations of what are commonly known as masculine outlets, for that reason are poorly constructed. Though the idea of proper traditional outlets addresses the subject of perceived status, satisfaction on a personal level may play a crucial role in how an individual others view them.

For example, being married during the time of an offense is likely not to be important like being married happily at the time of an offense. The condition of being married is bound to be crucial; the quality of the affair may play a similarly important role in masculine accomplishment. Incase success within a marital affiliation is a desirable position; men with similar position can uphold their desirable success. On the same note, knowing whether a man has children or not is likely to be different from knowing whether a man is living in the company of his children.

Fathering a child is different from being the father of a child. Successful parenting is an enhanced traditional outlet than simply having a child. The quality of the relationship between a parent and a child is likely to bring about a sense of pride that in turn can form a positive outlet for the display of masculine nature. Any given position that can be envied by other males would be an affirmative arena for masculine behavior. One other problem concerning customary outlets is the use of just the traditional outlet to emphasize masculinity. Some other alternative outlets may play a fundamental role.

The use of violence is seen as an alternative incase legitimate means for the display of masculinity are not available. What is not a there in most cases is, however, the discussion about other means of legitimate masculine display apart from violence. For example, the number of sexual associates of the past can be. The show of one’s manhood through various sexual encounters has been highly theorized as an essential feature of masculinity. As an extension of the idea, literature about anthropology show that a number of children that a man can father are likely to play a crucial role.

More numbers of express the virility of the man (Popay & Jeanette, 1998). The past displays of violence are an additional area that is likely to be important in the acquisition of the knowledge about masculinity. Incase a man has proven his level of masculinity in the past several time; then he has the ability to draw from those experiences to affirm his masculinity in any given occasion. The existence of quite a number of less appropriate outlets for a man to be able to demonstrate his masculinity is an essential area to explore in future.

The idea of traditional outlets needs to be reconceptualized then broken down into two separate categories. Tog start with, a category that has positive social outlets, for instance, successful parenting and job satisfaction would be the most appropriate ways of assign successful masculinity. Addition of less appropriate outlets like number of past sexual partners, children as well as successful violent encounters can tap into different way than the way a man can assert some level of masculinity without necessary involving violence within the existing condition.

Due to the fact that the determination of masculinities and femininities can not be done biologically, it makes meaning to identify and also examine some of the possible masculinities by the females (femininities by both men and boys) and the nature of relationship that exist between them and crime. Masculinity is evoked by a way of clarification of the various activities of the male, especially the young and strong. The actions of both the police and the youths can be described as assertion of masculinity (Campbell, 1993).

Masculinity is viewed as being ‘accomplished’ through engagement in rioting, violence as well as a variety of displays of machismo by the young men. It is Campbell’s argument which, upon being faced with the problem of the reconstruction of a male identity in circumstances of social immobility and expanded levels of adolescence in which importantly, traditionally empowered masculine qualities is absent. These young and lower working group men find other highly destructive forms of masculine expressions. The consequential mode of masculinity is in some ways, not dissimilar from that of sub-cultural accounts that are usually experienced.

Within the face of justifiable opportunities that are ‘blocked’, a means of being victorious ‘as a man’ is usually associated with engagement with crime or delinquency. Men and women have got different experiences in life based on the present social and economical marginal communities (Burke, 2005). The interaction of race as well as class with gender puts in some different dynamics to the masculinity that is negotiated (Popay & Jeanette, 1998). Though doing gender is one way of looking at the accomplishment of masculinity, some of the imposed characteristics are likely to play a fundamental role in gender display.

The examination of masculinity the way it is constructed for the male through political, cultural and class can lead to varied results compared tog the examinations of masculinity which are believed to be constructed by men (Burke, 2005). Factors which are not within the realm of masculinity need to be discussed when it comes to understanding the causes and effects of masculinity as a source of criminality. Situational variables are likely to essential where the issue of violence is concerned more than just the personal level traits of masculinity.

Other than the types of masculine traits that are highly intrinsic to violent men, the forms of situational variables, for instance, location, time of the day as well as presence of others are highly likely to take place in a male-male situations of violent. Hegemonic Masculinity Males who try to exhibit higher levels of masculine traits and who posses fewer acceptable outlets to fully affirm masculinity are highly like to get involved in events that are violent. This confirms the notion that men who do not have masculine resources are more likely to resolve to criminal acts.

To add on that, traditional situational variables like presence of third party, use of drugs and alcohol, physical location among other factors are likely to cause some level of impact to the outcome of the events that are usually associated with violence and crime. At the same time, the unfolding actions such as the use of character attacks as well as sequencing of various actions have to be highly considered (Messerschmidt, 1993). These contexts can easily strengthen or even change the brunt of masculinity on both violent as well as non violent events.

Females are more liable to experience the strains, for instance the burden of family members and restrictions on their behavior. Female are highly restricted to the confidential sphere. This form of strain involves restraint of the available opportunities of criminality as well as the excessive social control. It is a little bit hard to participate in serious violent as well as property crime incase someone spends a little time in public and is burdened with the demands of the family. The chances of men being in public is higher compared to that of women, therefore they go through conflicts with others as swell as criminal victimization.

Therefore they are more likely to be involved in violence. On this thread, the various forms of strain which are experienced by men and women lead to higher rates of crime done by the former (Collier, 1998). Male and female also differ basing on their response towards strain emotionally. Strain leads to certain forms of negative emotions for instance anger. In turn, this creates a considerable amount of pressure to take corrective action. Though they both respond to anger, male and female have different experiences in anger. Female anger is usually accompanied by high levels of emotions such as fear and depression.

Male anger on the other hand, involves moral outrage. Women learn to blame themselves for negative treatments by others and are ready tog view their anger as inappropriate and some failure of self control. Conversely, men tend to b lame others for their negative conduct and view their fury as an assertion of their masculinity. As a result, men are more likely to commit property and violent crimes while women tend to resort tog self destructive forms of deviance like the use of drugs and eating disorders (Pease & Camilleri, 2001). Beyond Dualism

A result of exclusive concentration of the differences in gender has been aimed at directing the theory in criminology away from factors that seriously complicate gender differences, for instance when the female engage in what has been traditionally and culturally been defined as “male crime”. Such forms of approaches lead tog a full as well as complete situational appreciative of what really gender and crime is. Abstracting gender from within its social context as well as the insensitivity to issues of agency like perspectives masquerade the possibility that gender patterns of crime may vary situationally.

The dualism that exists between individuals as well as social and the split between psychology has remained focal to sociogenic criminology. But the problem with criminology, as pointed out by the feminists has not been due to the fact that a range of experiences have been unified, the result being ways in which both men and women are likely to exist within different relations to the notions of community. Criminology has failed in trying to engage with the ways upon which the subjects that are under scrutiny have been produced within discursive limits.

In trying to conceptualize individual as well as historical form of subject positions, the approach exposes itself to analysis of the various ways in which criminal boys as well as men have themselves been produced through a set of apparatuses of social regulation together with management (Messerschmidt, 1993). The framing of debates around boys, schooling as well as urban disorder through making a reference of the catastrophe of masculinity transcends the specialty of crime and criminality. The masculine group in this context is can be referred to the outlaw, a figure produced by the cultural construction of the socially powerful.

Literary, a sub-cultural criminology outlaws represents the joy riders, the urban trash scroungers and the gang members who engage in what they do with a destructive mind in operation. They are deemed to move within space of everyday as a fully absorbed body of experience. It involves a subject without a topic, a body of wrongful desires colliding with others along its teleological route (Burke, 2005). The sub-cultural theme lacks the common ethical part due to the conception of everyday as a series of the symptoms that are idiosyncratic; this form of criminality becomes rendered as a set of lifestyle of choice.

(Arnot, & Cornelie, 1999). It is long been a truism that girls are fond of internalizing and boys tend to externalize their pain and despair. For that reason, boys are highly likely to be arrested for serious crimes of all sorts. The fact that a large number of boys and girls are brought up in dysfunctional families can act as a proof as to why the habit is rampant and provides with reasons as to why criminal ways and cultural constructs of masculinity contribute to the prevalent behavior.

In many occasions, boys are locked up for exhibiting some sort of behaviors which are contrary to the expectations (Burke, 2005). In most cases, these behaviors take place in the inner city where effects of racism as well as poverty often cause young, poor and black males strike as a way of exhibiting compulsive masculinity to be in position to compensate for the feeling of shame, frustration. And in compulsive masculinity, the masculine values tend to be rigid prescription for toughness, thrill-seeking as well as a willingness to use violence to iron out interpersonal conflict.

Nevertheless it is usually recommended with great dismay that the reform about feminism refers to turning men into women; making men ‘soft’, emasculating them so that they unable to battle or stand with fulfillment in the world. Solving the problem of violence as well as building the culture of certainty of peace needs change in masculinities. However, this does not mean that should become weak or incapable. On the other hand, violent usually takes place due to masculinities that are constructed to make violence an easy option or simply the only option to be considered.

Building peace is a highly complex and arduous undertaking and it is worthy of heroic effort both from men and women. This understanding of competence essentiality to some masculinity can be connected to equality other than exclusiveness: democracy requires skilled practitioners. Education can not easily re-socialize both boys and men to the extent of pressing them into a non-violent mould but it can open up a varied diversity of pathways so that the boys and men have an ability to use broader scale of their capacities such as the nature of communication, emotions and politics.

Education has the ability to show boys and men quite a number of ways of being a man. It can enable them to familiarize this kind of diversity. It can inculcate in them the capacities for actions that are non-violent and train them some of the techniques that involve peace because of the acquisition of the techniques of combat (Collier, 1998). Efforts in education in this line cannot produce considerable results in isolation.

There is need for a strong support through action in some areas of life that are likely to make greater range of experience possible for men as well as non-violent conducts which are easier for them. This involves actions that are aimed at reducing gender hierarchies together with antagonisms within the spectrum of social life. To achieve this fit, they should be addressed in the recommendations from the meetings, media, work places, public arena and other spheres of life including both private and public institutions.

An example of the need for change is the important social mission of peacekeeping. This is presently performed by the organizations like police as well as international peacekeeping forces that are overwhelmingly staffed by men who are perceived to have a profoundly masculinized cultural behavior and are highly liable tog acts of confrontation. In this case, there is need for organizational change both in culture as well as in the femininity division of labor.

The effective and a long term strategy aimed at reducing adolescent male crime would need to confront the highly daunting challenges of trying as much as possible to change the patriarch gender order, together with oppressively hierarchical group structures and their attendant masculine social construction. Conclusion Masculinities and crime are terms of conceptual revolution within the social life and they reflect the various changes within our understanding of the real world as factors that that are present within our midst.

Questions about femininity and masculinity should be given an upper hand due to the fact that they influence our lives directly. References Vold, G. B. , Bernard T. J. , & Snipes J. B. (2002). Theoretical Criminology. Georgia: Oxford University Press. Messerschmitt, J. W. (1993). Masculinities and Crime: Evaluation and Reconceptualization. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Sabo, F. , & Kupers, T. A. (2001). Jail Masculinities. U. K. Temple University Press. Burke, R. H. , (2005).

A preamble to Criminological Theory. New Jersey: Willan Publishing, 2 Collier, R. (1998). Masculinities: Acts of Crime and Criminology. New York: SAGE Publishers, Arnot, M. L. , & Cornelie, U. (1999). Gender & Crime in present Europe. London: Routledge Publishers. Popay, J. , & Jeanette, E (1998). Men, femininity Divisions and Wellbeing. U. K. : Routledge Publishers. Pease, B. , & Camilleri, P. J. (2001). Performing with Men within the Human Services. New Jersey: Allen & Unwin Press.

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Sentence Examples with the word inexplicable

Amongst the legitimate reasons for suspecting the correctness of a text are patent contradictions in a passage or its immediate neighbourhood, proved and inexplicable deviations from the standards for forms, constructions and usages (mere rarity or singularity is not enough), weak and purposeless repetitions of a word (if there is no reason for attributing these to the writer), violations of the laws of metre and rhythm as observed by the author, obvious breaks in the thought (incoherence) or disorderly sequence in the same (double or multiple incoherence).

So great is this variation as to be inexplicable except on the view that the nature and proportions of the active principles vary greatly in different specimens.

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And can only be explained on the theory that gonophores are degenerate medusae, and is inexplicable on the opposed view that: medusae are derived from gonophores secondarily set free.

This would be inexplicable if Eph.

There are in reality two species of substances, or entirely distinct things, those which are impenetrably resisting, and those which are conscious substances; and it is impossible to reduce bodies and souls to one another, because resistance is incompatible with the attributes of spirit, and consciousness inexplicable by the attributes of body.


Ideas for games and special activities during April showers

April showers may bring May flowers, but they can seem a dreary waiting time for preschoolers (and parents!) eager to be outdoors in the warmer weather. Here are some games and special activities to brighten those rainy days without spending a lot of money.

Scavenger hunt. Make a list of five or six items that can be easily found in different locations in your home. Then send the child to find and return with one item at a time.

The list can be short and simple for younger hunters, longer and more complex for older ones. A sample list might include such items as a block, a big shoe, a rubber band, a toy, and a book. Check each item off as the child brings it.

You might want to reinforce new concepts your child is learning by specializing your list. For instance, the concept of shape might be emphasized by requesting something round, something long, something flat, and so on.

In the same way, the list could focus on colors, textures, numbers (specifying 3 books, 5 pennies, 1 shoe, 10 crayons), or even letters of the alphabet (requesting something that begins with the letter B, something that begins with the letter I, and so on).

Keep track of the time it takes for the child to complete the scavenger hunt, and then have him ''race the clock'' to return each of the items to its proper place. Reading a story could be the prize.

Robots (see drawing). Smaller cardboard boxes can make wonderful robot headdresses. Cut a round hole in the box bottom, just large enough to allow the top of the child's head to protrude.

If the box is too deep, cut away arches on the sides to prevent it from riding up on the child's shoulders. Cut a horizontal strip from the front side of the box for seeing through.

Crayons or glue and aluminum foil ''buttons'' can be applied. Games in this costume may vary, but in our home we have found young robots to be enthusiastic in performing a variety of tasks and chores.

Clown day. An adult's T-shirt and a touch of lipstick and eyebrow pencil (removable with cold cream) can transform any toddler into a very convincing clown. On sunny days our children have enjoyed putting on parades for a few of our indulgent neighbors, but indoor parades can be entertaining too.

Push toys and pull toys, oatmeal box drums, whistles, and music on the record player (marching music or any tune with a lively beat) can all help to increase the activity and raise the decibels to meet a preschooler's parade standard.

Following the parade a show might be in order, possibly dancing, clowning, or even an animal act using stuffed animals or stray sock puppets. Of course, the key element to the show's success is parental applause.

Puddle walk. Rainy days don't have to be spent indoors. Boots and umbrellas can turn even an everyday walk into an adventure. You might choose to go puddle wading or (if you don't mind a complete change of clothes afterward) puddle stomping.

Children enjoy experimenting, too. Do things float or sink in a puddle? Test a leaf, a twig, a stone, or bring some small things from home. A small stick or a piece of bark can become a very satisfying little ship.

Be sure to carry a plastic bag to take back the wet items you've brought from home and any other treasures you may have discovered along the way.

Chef play. One smart grandmother we know gave us this tip. Keep a special collection of clean, empty food packages set aside for young chefs to play with when cooking.

Most practical are those containers made of durable plastic, cardboard, or metal with no rough edges. Egg cartons, spice cans, small plastic juice containers, and metal cocoa powder boxes are all good additions to the collection. Margarine tubs, plastic spoons, and a few small yard-sale items can be employed as pans and utensils.

If you want to create a portable play kitchen, three cardboard boxes can easily be transformed into refrigerator, counter, and stove.

To make the stove more realistic, glue large foil circles on top as burners, and cut three sides of an oven door in the front to be folded open and closed. When not in use, these cardboard appliances can be inverted to store the cooking collection.

Preschoolers are naturally inventive and eager for novelty. Try sitting down with your child after breakfast some morning and ask him to think of a special activity for the day.

It is fun, but be prepared for a fresh new view of the world!