News for today's 2018: 01/12/13

Here She Is, Miss America...Mallory Hagan

9:04 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQK8zyobK6hdMjAGYCzo5AqZO5rK8S2szzKeI9zrRsZXLWNcg_vJ9wl1_xGuDduXB0RD1fAjTqfrUD8Q8tfqay9lCQadkEpE7P8EpUff8Zt8gVUGdEwVgyoqO3IvAbF9tlkQqOuKl9nwY/s1600/Mallory+Hagan+Nude+Sey+Hot+Miss+America.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQK8zyobK6hdMjAGYCzo5AqZO5rK8S2szzKeI9zrRsZXLWNcg_vJ9wl1_xGuDduXB0RD1fAjTqfrUD8Q8tfqay9lCQadkEpE7P8EpUff8Zt8gVUGdEwVgyoqO3IvAbF9tlkQqOuKl9nwY/s400/Mallory+Hagan+Nude+Sey+Hot+Miss+America.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgynqiNXFtxdxrMrII-nSsxV82WcLEqJhC9DzVbvL6ZDVlkyOAeCooP6zYHDpbGC11zs17REFB_u5vuiOvxMRjUFp49Y3OZMDRSBoJf7xheqaYpg-CB2_EG2VhVaHnrMWU0rBumSk3Zk/s1600/MalloryHagan+Nude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgynqiNXFtxdxrMrII-nSsxV82WcLEqJhC9DzVbvL6ZDVlkyOAeCooP6zYHDpbGC11zs17REFB_u5vuiOvxMRjUFp49Y3OZMDRSBoJf7xheqaYpg-CB2_EG2VhVaHnrMWU0rBumSk3Zk/s400/MalloryHagan+Nude.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij48DJjyiG-SqyQsQhqTknMr4aR6arywVYt8EAxamD00ysc_kTQr_GXSLGDsCH0RvnFlxUGv3Mqr9oJk4yrtTUZtiA1akpjww_af2EvO4jCcJHe4r7L-I9C8ATYHZMixgElAi1pTChpE0/s1600/MalloryHagan+Miss+America+Hot+Sexy+Nude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij48DJjyiG-SqyQsQhqTknMr4aR6arywVYt8EAxamD00ysc_kTQr_GXSLGDsCH0RvnFlxUGv3Mqr9oJk4yrtTUZtiA1akpjww_af2EvO4jCcJHe4r7L-I9C8ATYHZMixgElAi1pTChpE0/s400/MalloryHagan+Miss+America+Hot+Sexy+Nude.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXYGVhKPLXUuxSVvDGc0UpJTeKIhHvqXGR8T9FmMH70snhCV4ABq2IqtqzzRKgOZ6BLrhnWMvwZQ0oWRnjMPPjqDe16DAb0Dki1YaG7CoEN1XkkiFLxNrsAQdC0U8IV8NQEEdc9wyN1s/s1600/miss+america+winner+Mallory+Hagan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXYGVhKPLXUuxSVvDGc0UpJTeKIhHvqXGR8T9FmMH70snhCV4ABq2IqtqzzRKgOZ6BLrhnWMvwZQ0oWRnjMPPjqDe16DAb0Dki1YaG7CoEN1XkkiFLxNrsAQdC0U8IV8NQEEdc9wyN1s/s400/miss+america+winner+Mallory+Hagan.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSAlTq69KIdN_XmXaM5Br1OecNsG8LYG3H_3X6LwslAuhJiUGe3k3j0en6tcT2NdJpU1LPQPps2_MnzWcaa9y4qBezLo7u52Nz5z329zVS9Lokyr5Qr5jOU2jG8ZlCvtZOErMS0kOaWfA/s1600/miss-america-mallory-hagan+nude-2013-miss_20046906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSAlTq69KIdN_XmXaM5Br1OecNsG8LYG3H_3X6LwslAuhJiUGe3k3j0en6tcT2NdJpU1LPQPps2_MnzWcaa9y4qBezLo7u52Nz5z329zVS9Lokyr5Qr5jOU2jG8ZlCvtZOErMS0kOaWfA/s400/miss-america-mallory-hagan+nude-2013-miss_20046906.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><br />Eh, if that's the hottest chick America has to offer, we're in trouble, however...<br /><br />Jay and I did a great show Saturday night as we talked about our hometown news.  If you missed it, you can catch all the hilarity right here:<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="270" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fim-with-stupid%2Fplay_list.xml%3Fitemcount%3D5&autostart=true&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fim-with-stupid%2fplay_list.xml%3Fitemcount%3D5&autostart=true&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=270&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="270" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">Im With Stupid</a> on Blog Talk Radio<br /><br /><br /></div></div>

Here She Is, Miss America...Mallory Hagan

Eh, if that's the hottest chick America has to offer, we're in trouble, however... Jay and I did a great show Saturday night as we t...

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA’S INTERNAL TWIST,

1:36 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_0fYwCcH6-NKtTACewdE0qZvnUT4FGDAgFgNlUTjuoT5vM-8OEPO3599b1pVX6Qz3s2SpEgGRi8oXI49to89YcqYHIwgUMXlitzPXNEyJ6HtGrdNvwuatGwotLE8t2L1m5eaZ5_HLEGR/s1600/7751857078_ce7b25427a_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_0fYwCcH6-NKtTACewdE0qZvnUT4FGDAgFgNlUTjuoT5vM-8OEPO3599b1pVX6Qz3s2SpEgGRi8oXI49to89YcqYHIwgUMXlitzPXNEyJ6HtGrdNvwuatGwotLE8t2L1m5eaZ5_HLEGR/s1600/7751857078_ce7b25427a_m.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A COUNTRY IN A POLITICAL COMA </span></b></span></span><br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XGv6irwNy_EdtE4l57hB3ty_YB1GvCfn5rjT_0FRLCLGwakLexHfk5yh7prOENeQY2ZpR9hwlPfj81msh3Nb-msHsVjktzMoHCd3vMfSgXT_a5acUC7sC74IC_cTmgVYleaBxnH1eNge/s1600/SDA+SDP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XGv6irwNy_EdtE4l57hB3ty_YB1GvCfn5rjT_0FRLCLGwakLexHfk5yh7prOENeQY2ZpR9hwlPfj81msh3Nb-msHsVjktzMoHCd3vMfSgXT_a5acUC7sC74IC_cTmgVYleaBxnH1eNge/s1600/SDA+SDP.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>I</b></span>ndependent Social Democratic Party (SNSD) and  Social Democratic Party (SDP)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b>Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) is today an ungovernable country where institutions are blocked, power is shared at the citizens' expenses, and democracy itself is in danger. </span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">After a long process to form the new government, the Council of Ministers is currently in crisis. What is the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">By journalist and political analyst Almir Terzić</span></b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BIH LEADERS OF DIFFERENT POLITICAL PARTIES AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND ACT ON NATIONAL BASIS </span></b></span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) at the moment is in a serious political crisis, to the point that it could be compared to a comatose state. Since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement (1995) onwards, there have been more or less important crisis, but today's is by far the largest. There has been no progress on the issue of the Euro-Atlantic path from the second half of last term (2006-2010), but rather constant setbacks. The last step was made in 2008, with the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. Stagnation has increased with the new government after the parliamentary elections of 2010.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE GOAL OF OLD POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE THREE ENTITIES (</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">MUSLIM, ROMAN CATHOLIC AND SERBIAN ORTHODOX</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">): KEEP BIH IN A STATE OF DISORDER AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, IN ORDER TO REMAIN IN POWER.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcx_L8ws6VtbrnShyqmRW31tj68lO5LJduU_aM9w8LKedeZUi7mkid7dfwevqQse6yWiOLhw4QwcIbq8omShyphenhyphenl4pXGMm1OYGhMGHe8565IlyzXtmfM8x_vIYgE7C4QI3PyaEwJwl7LxFp/s1600/bosnia_nov2011_400_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcx_L8ws6VtbrnShyqmRW31tj68lO5LJduU_aM9w8LKedeZUi7mkid7dfwevqQse6yWiOLhw4QwcIbq8omShyphenhyphenl4pXGMm1OYGhMGHe8565IlyzXtmfM8x_vIYgE7C4QI3PyaEwJwl7LxFp/s400/bosnia_nov2011_400_1.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One possible reason for all that is the failure of the so-called “April package” of constitutional amendments. Since then, the IC (International Community) has stepped out of the decision-making process. The leaders of different political parties continue to act only on a national basis, and in recent years have clearly demonstrated that they cannot agree, and often do not even want to, because the introduction of European legislation goes to their disadvantage. Their goal is to keep BiH in a state of disorder as long as possible, because this is the only way political leaders, under the guise of defending alleged national interests, can remain in power. BiH was way ahead in the process of approaching the EU, but in a very short time it ended up at the bottom of the race on a regional level.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INDEPENDENT SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SNSD) SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SDP) APPEARS TO BE THE MAIN GENERATORS OF THE CURRENT CRISIS</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFsw8nuRR38bCU9NlcWv9szl8g_Ar-IR39wO8Rwta4WYAXkywlBbpretwlJtubNw0aEYo0ctKFh6Il9S1lqBtIJIi9loA6HUHWnXODsK3mJGLtpwVvtMlTGks0I9hiTNzfdF8yL3V3xKF/s1600/146421_banjaluka01-zlatko-lagumdzija-sdp-milorad-dodik-snsd-foto-d-bozic_f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFsw8nuRR38bCU9NlcWv9szl8g_Ar-IR39wO8Rwta4WYAXkywlBbpretwlJtubNw0aEYo0ctKFh6Il9S1lqBtIJIi9loA6HUHWnXODsK3mJGLtpwVvtMlTGks0I9hiTNzfdF8yL3V3xKF/s400/146421_banjaluka01-zlatko-lagumdzija-sdp-milorad-dodik-snsd-foto-d-bozic_f.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Milorad Dodik<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>(SNSD) and Zlatko Lagumdžija<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (SDP)</span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The creation of a new parliamentary majority in June 2012, a few months after the formation of the Council of Ministers, has only increased the intensity of the divisions within the country, behind the screen of a false defense of national interests. People were expecting a lot more from the social-democratic option, particularly from Milorad Dodik's Independent Social Democratic Party (SNSD) and Zlatko Lagumdžija's Social Democratic Party (SDP). In the end, however, it turned out that these two parties, in combination with the nationalists, are the main generators of the crisis. This will surely last up to the elections in 2014, with possible aggravations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE CURRENT CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PARTY OF DEMOCRATIC ACTION (SDA) AND THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SDP)?</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The SDP, after a decade in the opposition, had developed strong desires to govern, especially to strengthen its position in the state-owned companies, where power is concentrated. The Government of the Federation of BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (FBiH), one of the two entities in which the country is divided, for months after its formation has dealt exclusively with the appointment of directors of companies and public institutions. Allegedly, the conflict broke out between SDP and SDA because of the latter's opposition to the adoption of the budget for 2012. In fact, the reasons are much deeper.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The SDP wanted to amend the Law on Internal Affairs of FBIH, in order to dismantle the independence of the police and rule the media, primarily the federal television (FTV). The SDA opposed this. The SDP also obtained companies, formerly run by the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Stranka za BiH), SDA's partner in the previous government. The financial situation of these companies was not a brilliant one to say the least, so the SDP sought to expand its influence in one of the most profitable state run companies: TELEKOM. The SDA, however, tenaciously defended this company from being controlled by the SDP, which was the straw that broke the camel's back.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The SDP decided to discontinue any relationship with the SDA and began to fire its public servants. It found a strong partner in the BiH Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH), another party only interested in positions of power. The bitter rivals joined to pursue the division of the state treasury in the interests of the party, under the false claim of defending national interests.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF THE AGREEMENT RECENTLY SIGNED BETWEEN SNSD AND SDP?</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What are the reasons for the strong reaction expressed by NGOs such as Center of Civil Society, and why does the agreement not mention the Sejdić–Finci verdict?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A detailed look at the agreement shows that Lagumdžija and Dodik want to turn into another BELARUS and play the role of undisputed lords. Lagumdžija would become the lord of the FBIH, Dodik of REPUBLIKA SRPSKA (RS). Dodik already is, but the agreement with Lagumdžija would keep him there for the next years, perhaps decades. Considering that the proposed amendment of the electoral law, contained in the Agreement, provides for the closure of the list of candidates, means that the next seats in parliament and assemblies would belong to political parties rather than those who are elected. The introduction of the so-called "imperative mandate" is the worst form of suffocation of democratic processes and demonstrates the complete disregard of citizens' will.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lagumdžija and Dodik also want to eliminate the main centre of the counting of votes at the state level, which only in the last elections unveiled 100 attempts at electoral fraud. Were it not for this control system, all those irregularities would have passed and the election results would have been far different in many municipalities. If the elections were conducted by the electoral commissions of entities and municipalities, as suggested in the Agreement, not only would the electoral process in BiH fall apart, but this would open up the possibility of manipulation and electoral engineering.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS PROMPTED THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO INTERVENE IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY IN BIH </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This is a really crucial aspect which would guarantee the presidents of SDP and SNSD maximum durability in power, no matter the will of voters, who have significantly reduced their preferences for these two parties in the last administrative elections. SDP and SNSD fear defeat in the 2014 elections, and with this agreement they seek to avoid it. Civil society organizations, for the first time, have opposed all together (300) and prompted local and international institutions, primarily the Council of Europe, to do something in defense of democracy in BiH.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The agreement between Dodik and Lagumdžija also contains an attack on the independence of the judiciary, in particular through the proposed amendments to the system of appointment of judges, which would be transferred from the High Council of the Judiciary to the parliament. Other problematic issues relate to the functioning of the Central Bank and public energy companies also are at stake. The verdict of the Strasbourg Court in the case of Sejdić-Finci, on the issue of ethnic exclusivity for certain public offices, was not taken into account simply because it would be against the interests of political leaders and in favor of citizens'.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THIS SCENARIO?</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In recent years, the IC in BIH has adopted a rather passive role. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) has virtually disappeared; the OSCE mission now acts more as a consultant than anything else, just like the office of the COUNCIL OF EUROPE. The same can be argued for the Delegation of the European Commission in Sarajevo and his representative, Peter Sorensen, from whom BIH expected much more in terms of pressure on local politicians to lead the country along the Euro-Atlantic integration path. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The interests of parties continue to be dominant over those of citizens, which is why the country is in a state of “political coma”. Rumors that the Lagumdžija–Dodik agreement is supported by the IC seems somewhat farfetched, or otherwise Stefano Sannino, Director General for the EU enlargement, would not have written a letter to the BIH government, warning it not to touch the resources of the state electricity company. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If the IC exerted more pressure on the government to achieve these goals, the political landscape of BIH would change. The greatest progress and reforms in BIH were made between 2002 and 2006, when the international community had an important role to play in decision-making processes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SOLUTIONS TO RESOLVE THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN BIH?</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Party leaders should cater for the welfare of citizens. But this is not about to happen, they have already proven they do not want to. Under current circumstance and by excluding SDA from an agreement, the political crisis will last at least two more years. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2014 elections will be an opportunity to move ahead. Amending the electoral law and introducing compulsory voting at least for the 2014 election would improve the situation. It is not an anti-democratic measure; it has also been applied in developed countries such as Finland, Belgium, and Australia. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This system would de-legitimize forever parties' claims of having the citizens' full support. That 40-45% of entitled voters refrain from voting, because they are displeased with the country’s political disarray, could change the outcome. Should the situation remain the same after 2014, however, one could say that it is the will of the citizens of BiH. Until then, nor Dodik nor Lagumdžija can be leaders in BiH, because the votes they obtained is hardly ten per cent of the whole electorate.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Related articles on BIH</b></span>:  </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/08/bosnia-cursed-by-european-union-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/08/bosnia-cursed-by-european-union-eu.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-suffers-from-unresolved-issues.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-suffers-from-unresolved-issues.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-2012.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-2012.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">6 PART ARTICLE ON WAHHABISM IN BIH</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">:</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b>Almir Terzić </b>is a journalist of Sarajevo's daily Oslobođenje. He has chronicled the internal political work of the Parliament and of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the electoral process, and the work of international organizations in the country for over ten years. He is the author of policy and electoral analysis on Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the electoral law, conflict of interest law, and party financing law. Transparency International BiH published his analysis of the election campaign during the elections of 2010, and he collaborated in the publication "A critical analysis of the electoral law" on the Bosnian electoral system, published by the Centre for Civil Initiatives (CCI) of Bosnia Herzegovina with the support of the Council of Europe. He is a member of the advisory group set up under the project "Study of the social integrity system in BiH 2011", funded by the European Union Delegation in BiH and implemented by Transparency International BiH. He is a consultant on election legislation matters for the CCI BiH and member of Transparency International BiH and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Sarajevo.</span></i></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA’S INTERNAL TWIST,

A COUNTRY IN A POLITICAL COMA I ndependent Social Democratic Party (SNSD) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)...

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 01/12/2013

11:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://guest.portaportal.com/sbataan">Stacey Bataan's portaportal</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">a Portal build for an elementary school with links that they'll be using on each module in class. This is a nice, concise way to share links with parents for the year.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elementary">elementary</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/portaportal">portaportal</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/01/10-ways-for-living-large-in-lunch-duty.html">10 Ways for Living Large in Lunch Duty Land</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">As I look back on the best of last year and am looking month by month, this blog post about Living large in lunch duty land got quite a bit of response. Each time you are around children you have time to make a difference in the life of a child. I have lunch duty next week and instead of being crabby about it, I'm going to challenge myself to live large, interact with students and make a difference. Take a reminder about lunch duty or any duty when you interact with students. </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/excellence">excellence</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/administration">administration</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/connection">connection</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.theartofed.com/2013/01/11/timesaving-trick-making-time-for-weekly-lesson-planning/">Timesaving Trick: Making Time for Weekly Lesson Planning | The Art of Ed</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">I totally agree with Jessica - designate ONE period a week just for lesson planning. Nice post and right on.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lesson plans">lesson plans</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/01/becoming-a-better-school-leader-using-the-pronoun-test/">Becoming A Better School Leader Using 'The Pronoun Test' - Edudemic</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Nice post about the words we use.. I'm reading a book my friend Angela Maiers recommended about "Why" and this post relating to Dan Pink's book, Drive, relates to it as well.  A nice post from Bill Powers over on Edudemic  "Another point Mr. Pink made in regards to the WORDS we use is that many times organizations and people focus to much on How something will be completed when we should be focusing more on the WHY we are doing what we do.  I can’t think of a better way to explain our purpose and drive as educators. WE should focus on WHY are WE doing this. WHY are WE teaching this concept? WHY is this an important topic to teach OUR students? WHY do WE allow OUR students choice in producing and creating to show learning? WHY did a particular student act out? WHY do we include character education in what WE do? WHY – I could go on and on."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/leadership">leadership</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rae-pica/a-dress-code-for-teachers_b_2458791.html?utm_hp_ref=education">Rae Pica: A Dress Code for Teachers? Or Anything Goes?</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Dress codes are touchy. My school is pretty simple - jeans only on Fridays. Men should have shorter hair. Women should be modest and not show cleavage or wear clothes too tight.   I think it is vital to remember, particularly if working with adolescents that being immodest introduces an element into the classroom of sexuality that can be a distraction. While a teacher can't help if he/ she is attractive, he/she can help whether he shows too much skin.  This is a hot button, but I do agree with Rae that as teachers, if we want to be treated as professionals, that we should dress as a professional. We each have to define what that means for us, but certainly, if you're dressing like you would for a date or to "look hot" I would question your motives.  I had a great conversation with a male friend who is a teacher about this topic and he told me, on the request of anonymity, that he wished I would mention this from time to time. He says that he has felt very uncomfortable when staff members or teachers  have nipples hanging out of their shirts or such short skirts that they are flashing and that it isn't professional but also a distraction. While he's happily married, I totally agree with him. If we want to focus on our work, let's be professionals. Be beautiful but be covered.   Some may think this crude, but I've heard it before the B3 should never be free: Breasts, Belly and Bottom -- keep them COVERED. ;-)   Meanwhile, read this great article on Huffington from my new friend Rae Pica. </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 01/12/2013

Stacey Bataan's portaportal a Portal build for an elementary school with links that they'll ...

Cookie of The Season

11:29 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JnHPrOWEIsU/UPG3vjng5eI/AAAAAAAAE9M/xgkVeNQg4NM/s1600/Alternative+baking+co.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JnHPrOWEIsU/UPG3vjng5eI/AAAAAAAAE9M/xgkVeNQg4NM/s320/Alternative+baking+co.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whoa, a cross between a muffin and a cookie! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No way!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Cookie of the Season is called Cranberry Orange muffin cookie.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://alternativebaking.com/">Alternative Baking Company</a> has a wide selection of cookies to choose from.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are gluten free, contain no eggs or dairy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It not only sounds good it is good!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love muffins and cookies and Alternative Baking Co. has made this delicious cookie taste just like a cranberry orange muffin!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love the tangy cranberries and the citrus zing of the oranges and the crunch and nuttiness of the walnuts!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check them out online!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/alternativebaking?fref=ts">https://www.facebook.com/alternativebaking?fref=ts</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>

Cookie of The Season

Whoa, a cross between a muffin and a cookie! No way! The Cookie of the Season is called Cranberry Orange muffin cookie. Alternative Baking ...

New York City Hospitals to Tie Doctors’ Performance Pay to Quality Measures - NYTimes.com

6:14 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In a bold experiment in performance pay, complaints from patients at New York City's public hospitals and other measures of their care — like how long before they are discharged and how they fare afterward — will be reflected in doctors' paychecks under a plan being negotiated by the physicians and their hospitals.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The proposal represents a broad national push away from the traditional model of rewarding doctors for the volume of services they order, a system that has been criticized for promoting unnecessary treatment. In the wake of changes laid out in the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court/affordable_care_act/index.html" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Affordable Care Act</a>, public and private hospitals are already preparing to have their income tied partly to patient outcomes and cost containment, but the city's plan extends that financial incentive to the front line, the doctors directly responsible for treatment. It also shows how the new law could change longstanding relationships, giving more power to some of the poorest and most vulnerable patients over doctors who run their care.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"I would expect that we're going to see this become more and more prevalent in compensation arrangements," said Alan Aviles, president of the city's <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/html/home/home.shtml" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Health and Hospitals Corporation</a>, which runs the city's 11 public hospitals and is the country's largest public health system, handling more than 1 million emergency room visits a year.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The corporation's plan would make doctors' raises dependent on their performance on quality measures. The details are being negotiated with the doctors' union, but both sides expect to reach an agreement that incorporates the idea.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Still, doctors are hesitant, saying they could be penalized for conditions they cannot control, including how clean the hospital floors are, the attentiveness of nurses and the availability of beds.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">And it is unclear whether performance incentives work in the medical world; studies of similar programs in other countries indicate that doctors learn to manipulate the system.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"The consequences in a complex system like a hospital for giving an incentive for one little piece of behavior are virtually impossible to foresee," said Dr. David U. Himmelstein, professor of public health at the City University of New York and a visiting professor at Harvard Medical School, who has reviewed the literature on performance incentives. "There are ways of gaming it without even outright lying that distort the meaning of the measure."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Over the next few years, the federal government will financially reward or penalize hospitals based on how they perform on benchmarks that are believed to be correlated with better patient outcomes. By aligning doctors' pay to the same benchmarks, city hospitals hope to perform well enough to qualify for federal bonuses.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Under the proposal, bonuses of up to $59 million over the next three years would be distributed to about 3,300 doctors, and would be given to physicians as a group at each hospital, rather than as individuals, so that even the worst doctor would benefit. They would amount to up to 2.5 percent of salaries, which range from about $140,000 for entry-level primary-care physicians to $400,000 for experienced specialists.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Bruce Siegel, president of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems and a former head of the hospitals corporation, called the plan "unprecedented for American public hospitals, in terms of scale, in terms of moving us into a new model."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Los Angeles County, which has the nation's second-largest public health system after New York, does not have anything similar, said Dr. Anish Mahajan, director of system planning for the <a href="http://www.ladhs.org/wps/portal/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Los Angeles County Department of Health Services</a>. "What an intriguing idea," Dr. Mahajan said. "That's something we would hold out as a potential thing we do in the future."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Administrators at several private New York hospitals said they were considering incorporating the federal benchmarks into their salary structures, but have not yet done so on a significant scale.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The public hospital system has come up with 13 performance indicators. Among them are how well patients say their doctors communicate with them, how many patients with heart failure and pneumonia are readmitted within 30 days, how quickly emergency room patients go from triage to beds, whether doctors get to the operating room on time and how quickly patients are discharged.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Union officials said they were still fighting for wage increases, in addition to performance bonuses. The union has also proposed expanding the indicators to 20, including measures that would give doctors bonuses for going to community meetings, giving lectures, getting training during work hours, screening patients for obesity and counseling them to stop smoking. It has also proposed excluding some patients — like developmentally disabled patients, homeless people and those who have no place to go — from incentives aimed at reducing the time patients spend in the hospital.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">A union official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to upset negotiations, said doctors considered the proposal demeaning. "To say we'll stick a carrot in front of you and therefore you're going to be a better doctor is a little disingenuous," he said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In a written statement, Dr. Barry Liebowitz, the president of the union, the Doctors Council S.E.I.U., said it supported performance incentives in theory, if they "will improve patient care." But he called for a team approach and hinted that the union would demand more doctors and support staff.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The traditional physician incentive payments, tied to the income they generate for hospitals, have been roundly blamed in recent years for driving up costs. (The hospitals corporation had not used these incentives but, in some cases, had required doctors' groups to meet minimums for billing.) Studies have found that they can lead to excessive testing and "upcoding," or diagnosing ailments as worse than they really are, to justify more patient treatment and higher payments. Mr. Aviles said the corporation's plan would not tie payment to the volume or intensity of care.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But Dr. Himmelstein said there were still hazards in the city's plan. He said that when primary-care doctors in England were offered bonuses based on quality measures, they met virtually all of them in the first year, suggesting either that quality improved or — the more likely explanation, in his view — "they learned very quickly to teach to the test."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"I think the most interesting finding is, things that were not measured, in a few studies, appeared to have gotten a bit worse," Dr. Himmelstein said. For instance, patients were not as likely to stick with the same doctor, possibly because they were encouraged to see whichever doctor was available — speed was one quality measure — rather than the doctor who might know them best. In another example, while the doctors reported that they had controlled blood pressure in virtually all their patients, a random survey showed no downward trend in blood pressure or strokes.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">There could have been any number of ways of outsmarting the system, he said: "If you take blood pressures three times and report the lowest, is that lying or merely tipping the numbers in your favor?"</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Himmelstein also said doctors could try to avoid the sickest and poorest patients, who tend to have the worst outcomes and be the least satisfied. But physicians within the public hospital system have little ability to choose their patients, Mr. Aviles said. He added that he did not expect the doctors to act so cynically because, "in the main, physicians are here because they are attracted to that very mission of serving everybody equally."</p><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/nyregion/new-york-city-hospitals-to-tie-doctors-performance-pay-to-quality-measures.html?&pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/nyregion/new-york-city-hospitals-to-tie-doctors-performance-pay-to-quality-measures.html?&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

New York City Hospitals to Tie Doctors’ Performance Pay to Quality Measures - NYTimes.com

In a bold experiment in performance pay, complaints from patients at New York City's public hospitals and other measures of their care —...

3 characteristics of a people builder

5:54 AM Tukiyooo 0

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="zemanta-img"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: Group of children in a primary school..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG/300px-Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">English: Group of children in a primary school in Paris Español: Niños en una escuela elemental en París Français : Enfants dans une école élémentaire à Paris (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In my <a class="zem_slink" href="http://rickwarren.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Rick Warren">Rick Warren</a> devotional today he made a point about being a people builder and that you should do three things if you want to be a people builder: </div><ul style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><li>challenging</li><li>encouraging</li><li>honest</li></ul><h2>CHALLENGING</h2><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I am writing these words on the whiteboard by my desk. I think that I'm encouraging and honest but I think I have to do a better job this year of challenging both myself and you to be more as well as doing these three things with my students in the classroom.</div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Before we can challenge others, we must challenge ourselves. I'm doing some simple challenges - every day I want to do one more pushup and one more situp than yesterday. Are you challenging yourself physically? Mentally? </div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Are you challenging your students to do more and be more? They will rise or sink to the level of your expectations.</div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I've got to challenge you more as you read this blog to take the actions to be the incredible, unstoppable teacher that you can be.</div><h2>ENCOURAGING</h2><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I'm all in on the Habitudes as shared in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.angelamaiers.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Angela Maiers">Angela Maiers</a>' book <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.lulu.com/content/4903951" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Classroom Habitudes">Classroom Habitudes</a>. It isn't about feeling good, it is about the research and about moving from extrensic, rewards based motivation which DOESN'T WORK (see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y">Dan Pink's video TED video</a> on this - embedded below) to intrinsic motivation. i.e. I am curious and want to learn more. I am persistent and will keep working even when it is hard. I am innovative and create new ways to do things.<br /><br /></div><object height="315" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rrkrvAUbU9Y?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rrkrvAUbU9Y?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I'm also in on the genius hour and Passion Driven Classroom, this totally fits with what I"m also doing with Flattening the Classroom and helping students learn to collaborate. Angela just spent two days at my school with some of the most transformative, motivating workshop teaching I've ever experienced in my life. I left with hope AND practical ideas to make my classroom a better place.</div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">She was encouraging, but she was also honest and challenging. Angela exhibited in a masterful way all three characteristics of a people builder and I thank her for coming. If you haven't read her two books, you're totally missing out.</div><h2>HONESTY</h2><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I think sometimes in an effort to try to be an encourager that many educators have been swayed away from being honest. Not every child deserves an award AND THEY KNOW IT. Not every child deserves a good job AND THEY KNOW IT. When you praise for a job well done when the job was half done YOU ARE LYING.</span></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Yes, find things that every child does well but BE HONEST about it. Not rude, not hurtful... honest.</div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">It is my goal to find something that each child does extremely well. When I do this, often the "A+" grade student will come up to me and say, "Don't I do that well too?" Often these students think there is some kind of finite amount of talent in the world and when someone else has it, it is less for the A+ student. I'll often answer, "You know, you have many things you do well and you might do this well, I don't know everything about you, but right now, this person is exceptional - they've found an ability that they do extremely well, and I'm so proud we found it. Let's work to find your talents and I'm sure they are many."</div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">By refusing the temptation to just dole out undeserved praise, my students know that I'm honest with them and they can trust me.</div><h2>Are you a People Builder?</h2><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Are you a people builder? If so, how?</div><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=ac69c359-6dfe-4330-a43d-a1dbda210a4d" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

3 characteristics of a people builder

English: Group of children in a primary school in Paris Español: Niños en una escuela elemental en París Français : Enfants dans une école é...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 01/12/2013

1:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/01/becoming-a-better-school-leader-using-the-pronoun-test/">Becoming A Better School Leader Using 'The Pronoun Test' - Edudemic</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Nice post about the words we use.. I'm reading a book my friend Angela Maiers recommended about "Why" and this post relating to Dan Pink's book, Drive, relates to it as well.  A nice post from Bill Powers over on Edudemic  "Another point Mr. Pink made in regards to the WORDS we use is that many times organizations and people focus to much on How something will be completed when we should be focusing more on the WHY we are doing what we do.  I can’t think of a better way to explain our purpose and drive as educators. WE should focus on WHY are WE doing this. WHY are WE teaching this concept? WHY is this an important topic to teach OUR students? WHY do WE allow OUR students choice in producing and creating to show learning? WHY did a particular student act out? WHY do we include character education in what WE do? WHY – I could go on and on."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/leadership">leadership</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/01/rfid-suspension-appeal/">Student Appeals Suspension for Refusing to Wear RFID Tracker | Threat Level | Wired.com</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">The RFID tracker on student badges caused quite a stir when a student refused to wear one on religious grounds. I do think this is only the beginning, not on religious grounds but all it will take is for someone to compromise a school network and use it to locate a child for a snatch and grab and it will all blow up. Most schools, I don't think, take hacking seriously and are not equipped to handle such sensitive data. I understand the need for RFID trackers but they do make me uncomfortable.  The way I read Revelations, I would refuse to have a chip of any kind put in my hand or forehead -- but I understand that she considers this a precursor to such things and indeed, she may be right. I understand her religious beliefs on this matter, however, the verses concerned are in revelations and up for interpretation, so if you're curious and want to determine what you think, you'll want to read Revelations for yourself.  Meanwhile, here's a synopsis for what happened, "Sophomore Andrea Hernandez was notified in November by the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio that she would not be able to continue attending John Jay High unless she wears the badge around her neck like all students. The district said the girl, who objects largely on religious grounds, would have to attend another high school that does not employ the RFID tags.  The devout Christian sued, and on Tuesday a Texas federal judge concluded the 15-year-old’s right of religion was not breached. That’s because the district, the court ruled, eventually agreed to accommodate the girl and allow her to remove the RFID chip while still demanding that she wear the identification like the other students.  </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/rfid">rfid</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/legal">legal</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lawsuit">lawsuit</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rae-pica/a-dress-code-for-teachers_b_2458791.html?utm_hp_ref=education">Rae Pica: A Dress Code for Teachers? Or Anything Goes?</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Dress codes are touchy. My school is pretty simple - jeans only on Fridays. Men should have shorter hair. Women should be modest and not show cleavage or wear clothes too tight.   I think it is vital to remember, particularly if working with adolescents that being immodest introduces an element into the classroom of sexuality that can be a distraction. While a teacher can't help if he/ she is attractive, he/she can help whether he shows too much skin.  This is a hot button, but I do agree with Rae that as teachers, if we want to be treated as professionals, that we should dress as a professional. We each have to define what that means for us, but certainly, if you're dressing like you would for a date or to "look hot" I would question your motives.  I had a great conversation with a male friend who is a teacher about this topic and he told me, on the request of anonymity, that he wished I would mention this from time to time. He says that he has felt very uncomfortable when staff members or teachers  have nipples hanging out of their shirts or such short skirts that they are flashing and that it isn't professional but also a distraction. While he's happily married, I totally agree with him. If we want to focus on our work, let's be professionals. Be beautiful but be covered.   Some may think this crude, but I've heard it before the B3 should never be free: Breasts, Belly and Bottom -- keep them COVERED. ;-)   Meanwhile, read this great article on Huffington from my new friend Rae Pica. </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Opinion+tier+university+education+answer/7807855/story.html">Opinion: Two-tier university education isn’t the answer</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">A fascinating conversation this week about a proposal in Canada that certain universities be designated for "excellence and research" and others JUST academics.  I agree with the author of this op ed that such a proposal is completely clueless that excellence can happen anywhere and everywhere greatness is combined with a person who shares openly and such greatness is no longer confined to ivory towers. Looks to me like some are trying to guarantee the existence of certain ivory towers without understanding that a fundamental shift in education is happening. I would say two tiers, but a blended be the second -- a blend of bricks and  clicks and a flattening of courses between colleges that cover the same topic - one prof at a college may lecture Monday f2f with others listening from another place and another on Thursday in reverse and beyond. The combinations are endless and opportunistic as education is being increasingly divorced from the requirement to be in a "certain" location.  Read more... "In a column this week, Mr. Aubin suggests that Quebec create two classes of universities — higher-funded institutions oriented toward research, and lower-funded universities that would focus only on offering a solid academic program.  Using Maclean’s magazine’s ranking of Canadian universities as a basis for creating these two tiers, he puts McGill University and Université de Montréal in the first category, where they would “actively pursue excellence,” and relegates universities such as Concordia and Université du Québec à Montréal to the second, where they would “not aim for stardom.”</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/highered">highered</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/opinion">opinion</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/01/11/yotaphone-2/">E-Ink on a Smartphone? This Android Phone Has 2 Displays</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">e-ink on one side and a full display on the other -- Yota phone -- that's right Yota will use the force its close namesake Yoda would watch with curiousity. We are moving to devices with dual displays and even different types of displays. What if an iPad was a kindle paperwhite-like display on one side for reading - a lower power requirement with an HD power-sucking display on the reverse side? Interesting. this review from Mashable talks about the Yota phone which is a fascinating thought.  Either way -- e-ink is in the future for schools, don't doubt it for a moment. Librarians should be considering how students will be able to check out books on their edevices for many reasons including the inevitability of the demand. I was just talking today with a teacher talking about how Learning Ally, a company contracting to provide service for the US government talking books program, is so much better as an app on the ipad.   Harbinger of things to come.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/phone">phone</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ebook">ebook</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/01/11/homeland-security-disable-java-security-vulnerability/1828011/">Feds warn PC users to disable Java due to security flaw</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">This is a big deal that someone better fix quickly. We are supposed to disable Java - I see many sources saying do it NOW, but in the blended classroom and one where we're using Gradebook systems like PowerSchool that are Java Based and online classrooms like Blackboard Collaborate that are Java  based, we literally can't do our jobs without Java. Please, say it isn't so. Get a sick computer or not do your job. This is a problem, but I need to let you know and share this so IT directors can follow this very important issue:  "Hackers could exploit the flaw to install malicious software or malware that could make users vulnerable to identity theft or allow their computers to be exploited by "botnets" that could crash networks or be used to attack web sites.  "Note that applications that use the Internet Explorer web content rendering components, such as Microsoft Office or Windows Desktop Search, may also be used as an attack vector for this vulnerability," the warning adds.  </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/security">security</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/java">java</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/hackers">hackers</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/malware">malware</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/virus">virus</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://blogs.acpsk12.org/virtualbookclub/">Virtual Book Club - Flat Classroom projects</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Kyle Dunbar is running a virtual book club. The first book is Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds. This website includes a blog that talks about the takeaways and the recordings that they are discussing. Please feel free to join in and mark your calendars - they are meeting on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm. I hope you'll join in.  It is vital that you and I both connect with other classrooms around the world. Students are the greatest textbook ever written for each other - they need to connect and learn from each other. You'll meet other educators and model the kind of learner you want your students to be. If you want your students to innovate YOU must be innovative. If you want your students to collaborate YOU must be collaborative.  Here's the schedule: January 7th – Meet the Flat Classroom, Chapters 1 & 2 January 21st – Connection and Communication, Chapters 3 & 4 February 4th – Citizenship, Contribution and Collaboration, Chapters 5 & 6 February 18th – Choice and Creation, Chapters 7 & 8 March 4th – Celebrating, Designing, Managing a Global Project, Chapters 9 & 10 March 18th – Rock the World</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/evernote">evernote</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 01/12/2013

Becoming A Better School Leader Using 'The Pronoun Test' - Edudemic Nice post about the word...