My Mega- News Post of #education and #edtech Goodness

<br /><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Sadly, my Diigo post- to blog feed is down and so these GREAT resources didn't post since July 3rd (and I've been blogging every day) so, now, you get a mega-dose of news and information instead of the usually smaller 4-6 items of note a day.  Sorry that this is a tad late. It is important to me to give you  two or three informative posts a day and I've been blogging away like crazy and didn't catch that it didn't come through due to my current book project, </div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Flipped classroom, behavior management, Olympics, some amazing research, cool videos, Tweets of the world visualized. Tons of things for you to peruse and read in one MASSIVE post. ;-) </div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><i>I hope this will be fixed very soon, I know Diigo is working on it. I love DIigo and it is one of my favorite tools - there is something going on with the new authorization method of Google, but they have assured me they're working on it.</i></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.cybraryman.com/classroom.html" href="http://www.cybraryman.com/classroom.html">Class Room</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Great page on Classroom management and Class Rules from Jerry Blumengarten. If this is an issue for you and you really need a TON of ideas, Jerry is one of the best curators on the web!</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/classroommanagement" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/classroommanagement">classroommanagement</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/rules" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/rules">rules</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/behavior" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/behavior">behavior</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.sharemylesson.com/resourcecalendar.aspx?nt=event&nbday=28&nbmth=7&nbyr=2012" href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/resourcecalendar.aspx?nt=event&nbday=28&nbmth=7&nbyr=2012">Parent's Day Activities</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Parents Day is July 28th. Here are 15 ways to incorporate parents into your classroom with some great ideas. You start off the school year trying to establish a positive, encouraging relationship with parents. It is one of the most important things you do. You each have a role with children. Plan NOW how you are going to relate to and encourage parents in your classroom this year - here are some ideas.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting">parenting</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.parentsday.com" href="http://www.parentsday.com/">National Parents' Day</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">National Parents Day is coming up on July 28th. I didn't know about this until I came across all kinds of things for celebrating this day. I saw that this is a US holiday but sometimes celebrated internationally as well. It is  a day set aside to celebrate the role of parents in a child's life. If you don't celebrate it then or aren't in school, you could tie this in with back to school or your back to school letter. Parents are important - it is a great reason to remind parents and encourage them to play an active role in their child's education. </div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting">parenting</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.mytowntutors.com/2012/07/top-5-twitter-accounts-for-teachers/" href="http://www.mytowntutors.com/2012/07/top-5-twitter-accounts-for-teachers/">Top 5 Twitter Accounts for Teachers | My Town Tutors</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A list of 5 Twitter accounts for teachers. Yes, I'm on the list but there are great twitterers on this page (as well as quite a few left out.) Thanks to mark Malloy for this list and information on each person.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/twitter" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/twitter">twitter</a></div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.sharemylesson.com/mypublicprofile.aspx?uc=1901259" href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/mypublicprofile.aspx?uc=1901259">Cool Cat Teacher on Share My Lesson</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I'm testing the share my lesson site, in particular, the friending feature. I've friended some people that I know but was hoping that some of you who are planning to join the site  or are already there would friend me. (If you're doing common core, it is a must join to get free resources and lesson plans aligned to common core.) This is the sister site to the TES site out of the UK that I've been using for some time now and if you have a profile there, just log in with that and accept the terms to move things over. If you uploaded to the TES site, you'll want to move over those resources. Thanks for helping me test it.  Full disclosure, I've been doing work for TES and share my lesson for some time now. As you can tell, I do love what they are doing and their passion to help teachers mobilize and organize their own free content to share with others. the TES site uses the UK system and standards and now they've done the same thing in the US. Thanks for helping me test. (I would also appreciate someone sending me a message to see if that works too and you can message me any feedback and I'll pass it along.)</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sharemylesson" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sharemylesson">sharemylesson</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBQ47s1qp1Y" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBQ47s1qp1Y">Classtools.net - YouTube</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Classtools.net is one of my all time favorite graphic organizer/ video game playing site and also creator of the Fantastic Fakebook activity where students can create fake profiles (not really on facebook, they are simulated) on famous figures in history and literature. These are ideal for 1:1 laptop programs but the games are flashbased so if you use on an iPad you'll need to use a Flash browser (I think atomic web browser has flash mode.)</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/graphic_organizers" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/graphic_organizers">graphic_organizers</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/game_based_learning" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/game_based_learning">game_based_learning</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/Olympic-themed-activity-handouts-6115082/" href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/Olympic-themed-activity-handouts-6115082/">Olympic themed activity handouts - Resources - SML</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This is a very popular handout to use with children to talk about the Olympics using history, art, and health areas. Returning to school, this will be a great resource. </div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics">olympics</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-lists/olympic-video-games" href="http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-lists/olympic-video-games">Olympic Video Games</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Common Sense media rates all of the Olympic Video games that you can purchase for children. Their top rating right now is for mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics which you can get on Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Great ratings. Also note that they are now beta testing learning ratings which I think should be on learning but also should rate the analytics that come out of games for parents and educators.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics">olympics</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/game_based_learning" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/game_based_learning">game_based_learning</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.commonsensemedia.org" href="http://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Reviews and Ratings for Family Movies, TV Shows, Websites, Video Games, Books and Music</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Kevin Jarrett pointed out to me that Common Sense media now has movie reviews for kids to help you determine what is appropriate for your children. Again, you have to take everything under advisement ad make decisions for yourselves but as long as we go to whatever Hollywood dishes out, they'll keep doing it. (After all, they did research and found that a "G" rating was a "death sentence" for a movie. That is crazy.)</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/movies" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/movies">movies</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/entertainment" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/entertainment">entertainment</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/reviews" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/reviews">reviews</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/internetsafety" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/internetsafety">internetsafety</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting">parenting</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/media" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/media">media</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/children" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/children">children</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.kids-in-mind.com" href="http://www.kids-in-mind.com/">Kids-In-Mind: Movie Ratings That Actually Work</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">My Friend Anne Truger recommended this site as a place to go for movie reviews for kids. You have to be careful not to read too much of it or you'll hit spoilers. I like this - it hits the different areas: sex and nudity, violence and gore, and profanity. I've had a couple of movies that I've felt were over the top on profanity and trash talk lately and am going to be checking out websites like this one from now on. This is one to share with parents.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/parenting">parenting</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/movies" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/movies">movies</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/entertainment" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/entertainment">entertainment</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/reviews" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/reviews">reviews</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://hub.olympic.org" href="http://hub.olympic.org/">Olympic Athletes</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The official hub to follow and find Olympic athletes. </div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics">olympics</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/technology/social-media-is-the-message-for-olympics.html?pagewanted=all" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/technology/social-media-is-the-message-for-olympics.html?pagewanted=all">Social Media Is the Message for Olympics - NYTimes.com</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Socialympics is what people are calling this summer's olympic games. There is a new Olympic Athlete's hub to help fans find and follow Twitter feeds and facebook pages. the Head of the IOC social media says that "London 2012 will ignite the first conversational Olympic Games." Let me make a point that most US schools will be left out of this conversation and bound to traditional media but that those who can connect at home will have access. Social media is part of how we communicate and does have  a place.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics">olympics</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="https://www.facebook.com/appcenter/olympicgamescity" href="https://www.facebook.com/appcenter/olympicgamescity">(14) Olympic Games City - App Center</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Facebook has launched an app where you can build the ultimate Olympic games in your city. It is part of Facebook's massive launch that will transform the Olympic games into the largest use of social media for a sporting event that we have likely seen in the history of the games and perhaps the world.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics." href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/olympics.">olympics.</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/w29cg/new_teacher/" href="http://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/w29cg/new_teacher/">New teacher : education</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I'm enjoying Reddit but only using the "Alien Blue" app on my ipad. It is a cool source of information and conversation. In this example, a teacher is asking for advice as a beginning science teacher. I hope some of you elementary science teachers will take time to answer. Check out reddit but also check out Alien Blue - it is an example of how an app makes a service so much more.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science_teacher" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science_teacher">science_teacher</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/education/no-child-left-behind-whittled-down-under-obama.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2_20120706" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/education/no-child-left-behind-whittled-down-under-obama.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2_20120706">‘No Child Left Behind’ Whittled Down Under Obama - NYTimes.com</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The New York Times wonders if the current behavior by the Obama Administration has effectively nullified No Child Left Behind. Worth a read.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/07/06/36finland.h31.html?tkn=SYWF9lvjO4I5QtrL5Mp4i%2BVZvr0M1TP2ZM3g&cmp=clp-edweek&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EducationWeekWidgetFeed+%28Education+Week%3A+Free+Widget+Feed%29" href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/07/06/36finland.h31.html?tkn=SYWF9lvjO4I5QtrL5Mp4i%2BVZvr0M1TP2ZM3g&cmp=clp-edweek&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EducationWeekWidgetFeed+%28Education+Week%3A+Free+Widget+Feed%29">Education Week: Finland Rethinks Factory-Style School Buildings</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Finland is an innovator in education and now they're doing it again. Schools need a facelift. If you're building a new school - rethink school. I'd look at the designs. Also, Ewan McIntosh wrote a great "7 spaces of schools" that is in the "Choice" chapter for those of you have bought my book Flattening Classroom, Engaging Minds - he talked about this on a boat in South Africa with me 2 years a go and is an expert to follow in the area of school design. "Finnish students consistently have placed among the top countries on the Program for International Student Assessment, which gauges 15-year-old students’ ability to understand and transfer concepts in reading, mathematics, and science. For example, in the most recent mathematics assessment, in 2009, Finnish students scored 54 points higher than their American peers on a scale of zero to 1,000. Pasi Sahlberg, the director general of the Center for International Mobility and Cooperation at Finland’s education ministry, attributes the nation’s academic achievement to a three-fold approach: quality of the academic curriculum, equity in educational access, “and the third one is the environment. How the environment and design of the school is supporting students’ learning. When we combine these three things we can say something about the overall goodness of the school system.”</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/finland" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/finland">finland</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/design" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/design">design</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2012/07/06/college-professors-fearful-of-online-education-growth" href="http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2012/07/06/college-professors-fearful-of-online-education-growth">College Professors Fearful of Online Education Growth - US News and World Report</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A new study shows most professors are afraid of elearning and the growth of online courses. I predict that in 4-5 years the same will be true of traditional classroom teachers. The fact is that we all must be innovative and learn to teach in blended and online environments. Change creates victims and victors - with great change comes great opportunity. The one thing I can promise is if you do nothing and ignore it, you'll not be on the winning side. Learn. Connect. The Flat Classroom is a fact and it is here -- we're doing it in k12 and it is about to grow exponentially. After schools flip they're going to flatten. One leads to the other.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/highered" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/highered">highered</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elearning" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/elearning">elearning</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://21cglobal.blogspot.com/2011/10/flat-world-and-our-place-in-it.html" href="http://21cglobal.blogspot.com/2011/10/flat-world-and-our-place-in-it.html">A Flat World and Our Place In It | 21C Global</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Suzie Nestico (Flat Classroom certified teacher and project manager) aligns her Flat Clasroom and NetGenEd projects with Common Core standards.) Here's how she aligned with common core writing standards. I like how she fully discloses to students what she's doing and why as well as providing links and instructions to the students.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ccchat" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ccchat">ccchat</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroom" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroom">flatclassroom</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroomproject" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroomproject">flatclassroomproject</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/Google-World-Wonders-50001498/" href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/Google-World-Wonders-50001498/">Google World Wonders - Resources - SML</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I uploaded some information, resources and lesson plans relating to the Google World Wonders resource. If you want to see what I upload you can follow me on sharemylesson.com - a great site for free resources for teachers. (They have entered the common core alignments so when resources are uploaded it requires that the resource be aligned with common core standards. If you create free lesson plans and resources or share online and work with educators in the US, you'll want to come and share over here as well. Send me a note about how you're using the site. I love free!  (Note that if you have a lot of resources to share, you may want to talk to them about becoming a content partner.)</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/google" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/google">google</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2007/08/take-kids-deep-inside-where-deep-web.html" href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2007/08/take-kids-deep-inside-where-deep-web.html">Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Take Kids Deep Inside Where the Deep Web Hides</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Do you understand the Deep web? Here's an article I wrote about the deep web and the importance of helping students dig into the databases that aren't crawled by search engines.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/deepweb" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/deepweb">deepweb</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-ps" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-ps" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-ps" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://zeitz.wikispaces.com/EIT+Wikibook" href="http://zeitz.wikispaces.com/EIT+Wikibook">Dr. Z - EIT Wikibook</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Dr. Leigh Zeitz shared at ISTE 2012 about his use of Distributed learning Communities to facilitate collaborative creation. Here, he talks about his Emerging Instructional Technology wikibook that his students build. This is an excellent framework for writing, collaborating, and working with technology and was presented as an example of writing standard W.x.6 (the x is the grade level).</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/technology" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/technology">technology</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="https://sites.google.com/site/robertsonwriting/home" href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertsonwriting/home">Roberts On Writing</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">My friend Jennifer Roberts is a digital lead teacher in San Diego. She copresented with us at ISTE on Common Core in the Cloud and rocked it. Here's the website she built about Writing Response groups and what she does in the classroom. She's very knowledgeable and I love what she's doing with her students.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat">engchat</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://ywp.nanowrimo.org" href="http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">national Novel Writing month is in November but this website is so much more. I heard Jennifer Roberts share this with our Panel on Writing with Common Core at ISTE 2012 and this website is a phenomenal way to meet the 3rd standard W.X.3 about Writing narratives. Students collaboratively work together. You can do this any time but November is the big emphasis. I think every school should participate in Nanowrimo -- just love it.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/writing">writing</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat">engchat</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://theconversation.edu.au/digital-dawn-open-online-learning-is-just-beginning-7758" href="http://theconversation.edu.au/digital-dawn-open-online-learning-is-just-beginning-7758">Digital dawn: open online learning is just beginning</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">"Around 7,000 online students recently earned the first certificates awarded by MIT and Harvard through their Edx partnership. That’s more than twice the number of degrees that MIT awarded at this year’s commencement. Another 147,596 observers signed up to marvel at what an MIT course is really like. Substantially greater numbers are expected for the spring course offerings." With a title like this, the blog post is a great overview of the infancy of online learning. Perhaps the information age is giving way to the learning age. Whatever the case, we no longer have silos of learning by location but rather, by connection. High speed Internet and self discipline will give you access to leading edge learning without having to leave an aging parent or move your family. A new age is certainly dawning.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/opened" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/opened">opened</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/mooc" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/mooc">mooc</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://gizmodo.com/5923450/where-the-worlds-tweets-come-from-visualized" href="http://gizmodo.com/5923450/where-the-worlds-tweets-come-from-visualized">Where the World's Tweets Come From, Visualized</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Location tagging is providing some great data like this visualization of where the world's tweets come from.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/twitter" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/twitter">twitter</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/socialmedia" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/socialmedia">socialmedia</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/scholastica-and-diy-open-access-journals/41141" href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/scholastica-and-diy-open-access-journals/41141">Scholastica and DIY Open Access Journals - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Researchers and institutions should continue to take note that Open is really the way things are moving. You may want to look at Scholastica. I could see schools creating their own journals. Now that would be fascinating. "With traditional journals suffering from rising costs and increased disinterest in print subscriptions, online open access is looking more appealing than ever. The team behind recently launched Scholastica is offering a new platform for those interested in joining the movement." It makes a great point that an academic paper is a poor discussion forum and gives you other options for creating your own open journal.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/research" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/research">research</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://classroomwindow.com/flipped-classrooms-improved-test-scores-and-teacher-satisfaction/" href="http://classroomwindow.com/flipped-classrooms-improved-test-scores-and-teacher-satisfaction/">Flipped Classrooms: Improved Test Scores and Teacher Satisfaction | ClassroomWindow - Where the best solutions win</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">New infographic surveying almost 500 teachers about flipped learning. 99% of teachers would use it next year. I am doing some work with Classroom Window and I love what they're doing with surveys and making the results meaningful to educators and decision makers.  Of note, 88% of teachers said it improved their job satisfcation and 67% report an improvement of test scores.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipclass" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipclass">flipclass</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFGAQrEUaeU" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFGAQrEUaeU">A Conversation With My 12 Year Old Self: 20th Anniversary Edition - YouTube</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Yesterday Jeremiah uploaded a video "a conversation with my 12 year old self" - it is hilarious and going viral because it has 26,121 likes but it says that it has only 309 views (views can take a while to catch up with the actual views from what I understand.) Intriguing and enjoyable. We could have kids do this sort of thing NOW (I talk about this in the Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds book - the importance of legacy and relating to yourself over time as one of the ways of connecting or flattening.) </div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/connection" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/connection">connection</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/06/world-wonders-new-flipped-classroom.html" href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/06/world-wonders-new-flipped-classroom.html">Cool Cat Teacher Blog: World Wonders: A new flipped classroom tool for teachers</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">World wonders is a phenomenal new site for Geography, Literature teachers who use the flipped clas model as it is not just a video but an interactive experience. Here's a blog post I wrote about World wonders and how it works on a computer as well as an iPad with notes and links to lesson plans.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/geography" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/geography">geography</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/geography_teacher" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/geography_teacher">geography_teacher</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipclass" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipclass">flipclass</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/20-iPad-Apps-for-Educators-50001270/" href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/teaching-resource/20-iPad-Apps-for-Educators-50001270/">20 iPad Apps for Educators - Resources - SML</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">A pdf with 20 ipad apps for educators - this may be something you could email to your teachers if they've just gotten ipads to teach them how to open and read a pdf on their ipad. This is really just a powerpoint converted to PDF but it does include links and screenshots.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education." href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education.">education.</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ipad" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ipad">ipad</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="https://drive.google.com/start?authuser=0#home" href="https://drive.google.com/start?authuser=0#home">Google Drive</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Information on Google Drive including a video about how the service works. I'm setting it up with my Google Docs and will let you know if it is a viable alternative to dropbox.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/eduapp" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/eduapp">eduapp</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edapp" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edapp">edapp</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.wiziq.com/virtual-classroom/?gid=100039" href="http://www.wiziq.com/virtual-classroom/?gid=100039">The Best Virtual Classroom for Live, Online Teaching - WizIQ</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">WizIQ is a very stable platform. They do advertise on my site, but I've also used them. This is a good alternative to many of the online web based platform. Here's the link to a 30 day trial.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/parody-critiques-popular-khan-academy-videos/37543" href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/parody-critiques-popular-khan-academy-videos/37543">Parody Critiques Popular Khan Academy Videos - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">A parody critiquing Khan Academy is making the rounds and more of them are sure to come in since "Mr. Meyer, along with Justin Reich, a blogger for EdWeek, is sponsoring a competition offering $750 in prizes to the best user-submitted videos critiquing Khan Academy lessons." Khan is a start and has a very powerful supporter in the Gates Foundation, but after talking to those using the site for math instruction, I understand that the gamification elements behind working the math problems are what many teachers like. Some students use the videos to find answers and instruction when their teachers don't explain things well. However, I do agree that many of the videos could be improved. Of course, we need better videos to have an alternative because critiques right now are like chosing a set of store bought chocolate chip cookies or nothing. We need more elegant, informative videos for sure, but where to put them and how? Many open education services are providing the videos, but much of Khan's benefits are the searchability and the sheer volume of videos. What do you think?</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/khanacademy" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/khanacademy">khanacademy</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipclass" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipclass">flipclass</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://duvee.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/why-flip-out/" href="http://duvee.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/why-flip-out/">Why Flip Out? | DuVee</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">I'm enjoying reading how this teacher is flipping his classroom as he answers the question "what happens when kids don't do their -- homework (i.e. watch the videos.)" Very creative answers to this but ones we'll have to discuss.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipcclass" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flipcclass">flipcclass</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flippedclass" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flippedclass">flippedclass</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flippedclassroom" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flippedclassroom">flippedclassroom</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.ocspecialedattorney.com/supreme-court-declines-hear-zero-tolerance-case/" href="http://www.ocspecialedattorney.com/supreme-court-declines-hear-zero-tolerance-case/">Supreme Court declines to hear zero-tolerance case</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Zero tolerance policies give no leeway for wisdom or common sense. This young man was suspended and received criminal charges for shooting spitballs causing him to be unable to go to the Naval Academy. I find this completely ridiculous. I've seen other implementations of zero tolerance (a local kid suspended because he had a steak knife in his car from a barbeque the night before) that totally lack common sense. Educators need the freedom to work with children using discretion. Spitballs shot through a ballpoint pen are not what was intended. We need some common sense and to be able to hire wise administrators to use their judgement. Zero tolerance leave little room for interpretation when things like this happen. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, so it is still allowed in the US.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/discipline" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/discipline">discipline</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/texas-republican-party-2012-platform-education_n_1632097.html" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/texas-republican-party-2012-platform-education_n_1632097.html">Texas Republican Party Calls For Abstinence Only Sex Ed, Corporal Punishment In Schools</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">The platform adopted by Texas Republicans is drawing criticism as it should from many areas. I remain firmly apolitical on this blog as I've worked in DC for a Senator (Sam Nunn) who voted based on the issue not the political party. I find partisanship as being lived out today harmful for our country but this mention isn't about my own political views. I do not believe that higher order thinking (creating, etc.) is a problem. In fact, in a world where memorization is less important, this view that kids should be memorizing is completely misguided. As a Christian who has read Darwin, Nietzche and Marx, I have always ecouraged my children to make decisions and take positions out of a position of choice and education rather than one of ignorance. I just don't understand why they are taking this position against "higher order thinking." What research are they citing? People can blame teachers all they want but politicians who understand little to nothing about education are making a mess. I hope that Texas republicans will take a stand against this misguided platform - surely they didn't understand what they were voting on. The position causing the most controversy, however, is the statement that they oppose the teaching of "higher order thinking skills" -- a curriculum which strives to encourage critical thinking -- arguing that it might challenge "student's fixed beliefs" and undermine "parental authority."</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-02/teacher-s-wages-garnished-as-u-s-goes-after-loan-default.html" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-02/teacher-s-wages-garnished-as-u-s-goes-after-loan-default.html">Teacher’s Wages Garnished as U.S. Goes After Loan Default - Bloomberg</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">With the US government owed over $1 trillion in student loans, more stories of aggressive debt collection are coming out like this one. A teacher defaulted on a $3100 loan and had $2496 taken from her bank account without her approval. Interesting story from bloomberg.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/student" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/student">student</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/loan" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/loan">loan</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/highered" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/highered">highered</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/eq130/i_am_a_student_at_a_high_school_where_every/" href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/eq130/i_am_a_student_at_a_high_school_where_every/">I am a student at a high school where every student receives an iPad. : IAmA</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">1:1 ipad implementations- this is your nightmare. This comment from a student is going viral on reddit with more than 1,000 comments. Basically, the school bought ipads, required students to pay $50 for insurance, set up a wiki for teachers to post assignments (but the teachers don't.) The student actually posted this post from his/her ipad. Likely this experience on Reddit is going to be one of the best learning experiences of the year. Read this and share it with your 1:1 implementation team. iPads without a fundamental change in how you teach are just expensive toys. We need to change all of how school operates, not just what is in the kids' backpacks.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ipad" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ipad">ipad</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ipadchat" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ipadchat">ipadchat</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.aliquippa.k12.pa.us/domain/292" href="http://www.aliquippa.k12.pa.us/domain/292">Formative Assessment Strategies / Overview</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">A list of formative assessment strategies and definitions found via @marzanoresearch on Twitter. A good quick review.</div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/assessment" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/assessment">assessment</a></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div class="diigo-link" style="background-color: white;"><a _fcksavedurl="http://www.sharemylesson.com/article.aspx?storyCode=50000147" href="http://www.sharemylesson.com/article.aspx?storyCode=50000147">SML Newsletters - HTML Content - SML</a></div><div class="diigo-description" style="background-color: white;">Sign up for share my lesson newsletters to have free lesson plans that have been uploaded (and aligned to US standards) delivered to your inbox. </div><div class="diigo-tags" style="background-color: white;">tags: <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></div><div class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com" href="http://www.diigo.com/">Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher" href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher">here</a>.</div><br />

news My Mega- News Post of #education and #edtech Goodness

Sadly, my Diigo post- to blog feed is down and so these GREAT resources didn't post since July 3rd (and I've been blogging every day...

Read more »

I'm just not a caveman

I tried to do the Whole 30 this past week, on and off. Actually, more off than on. I have issues with it. It made me feel awful. Maybe it wasn't the diet, maybe I was coming down with something, but I felt yukky all week.<br /><br />Deleting entire food groups from my diet didn't feel right. Milk, grains, legumes. Bad for me? The thoughts on how and when to exercise also concern me.<br /><br />There are good things about eating like a caveman. Eating real food, eating organic when  possible makes sense. Deleting dairy and grains doesn't make sense.  <br /><br />I know the primal/paleo diet works for a lot of people. I know this because I read it on their blogs. As much as I wanted to embrace the Whole 30, I just don't think it's a good fit for me.<br /><br />That being said, what is my plan? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out. Who knew that at almost 57 years old I still wouldn't have this figured out.<br /><br />My weight this morning, 216.4. Talk about feeling yukky. As my sister used to say right after her stroke (when she could still talk a little), I--am--mis--er--a--ble. <br /><br />Today was my first day at making an honest effort of eating carefully, getting in 30 minutes of exercise (walked at lunch and it was painful), and logging my food. Lots of water.<br /><br />I wore my BodyMedia all day. I was surprised it said I was active one hour and 45 minutes (how did that happen?), and had burned 2471 calories by 8pm. Calorie consumption 1675 (and I weighed and measured everything I ate today).<br /><br />Well, it's late and I have a book to read for a book club thing I'm doing tomorrow at work. Not sure how I got talked into it, but I said I'd go to the first meeting. Downloaded the book to my Kindle, but guess I actually have to read it now.  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Corner-Bitter-Sweet-Jamie/dp/0345505344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341984214&sr=8-1&keywords=hotel+on+the+corner+of+bitter+and+sweet" target="_blank">Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet</a> by Jamie Ford. No idea what it's about, only that I have to read it. <sigh><br /></sigh><br /><br />

I'm just not a caveman

I tried to do the Whole 30 this past week, on and off. Actually, more off than on. I have issues with it. It made me feel awful. Maybe it wa...

Read more »

WHO IS KOFI ANNAN?

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfacLN9rkiB3-blCZU47fCayE8kAeF5hy66GNlO_Yg6JcxwOR1RzPJWWq-1K2UJQd_0RnrgZHyPALoZyTkZGZHUzxEMPPPrZi_tow7Ssl-NRL2S3AT_e6eUfwmx8X9cVG6m5t32Uah_8qr/s1600/photo_1341005889691-7-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfacLN9rkiB3-blCZU47fCayE8kAeF5hy66GNlO_Yg6JcxwOR1RzPJWWq-1K2UJQd_0RnrgZHyPALoZyTkZGZHUzxEMPPPrZi_tow7Ssl-NRL2S3AT_e6eUfwmx8X9cVG6m5t32Uah_8qr/s400/photo_1341005889691-7-0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #3d85c6; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE UNITED NATIONS “PEACEKEEPER”, HANDPICKED BY THE US INTELLIGENCE SERVICES</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">?</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">b</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">y Thierry Meyssan </span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">via Voltaire Network</span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">PEACE NEGOTIATOR FOR SYRIA ..... THE RIGHT CHOICE? </span><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span> </span></b></span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although <b>Kofi Annan’s</b> track record at the UN is an indisputable success in terms of management and efficiency, he has been sharply criticized for his political shortcomings. As Secretary General, he aspired to bring the Organization into line with the unipolar world and the globalization of U.S. hegemony. He called into question the ideological foundations of the UN and undermined its ability to prevent conflicts. Notwithstanding, he is today in charge of resolving the SYRIAN crisis.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize, <b>Kofi Annan</b>, has been designated by <b>Ban Ki-moon</b> and <b>Nabil El Arabi</b> as joint special envoy to negotiate a peaceful solution to the SYRIAN crisis. With <b>Annan’s</b> extraordinary experience and shiny brand image, his appointment was welcomed by all.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What does this top international official really represent? Who propelled him to the highest-ranking positions? What were his political choices, and what are his current commitments? These questions are met with a discreet silence, as if his previous functions were in themselves a guarantee of neutrality.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">HANDPICKED AND TRAINED BY THE FORD FOUNDATION AND THE CIA?</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His former colleagues praise him for his thoughtfulness, his intelligence and subtlety. A very charismatic personality, <b>Kofi Annan</b> left a strong imprint behind him because he did not behave simply as the “secretary” of the UN, but more like its “general,” by taking initiatives that revivified an organization that was mired in bureaucracy. All that is known and has been repeated <i>ad nauseam</i>. His exceptional professional qualities earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, although this honor in theory should have been bestowed for personal political commitment, not a management career.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kofi and his twin sister Efua Atta were born on 8 April 1938, into an aristocratic family of the BRITISH colony of the GOLD COAST. His father was the tribal chief of the <b>Fante </b>people and the elected governor of <b>Asante</b> province. Although he opposed BRITISH rule, he was a faithful servant of the Crown. With other notables, he took part in the first decolonization movement, but looked upon the revolutionary fervor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah" target="_blank">Kwame Nkrumah</a> with suspicion and anxiety.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In any event, <b>Nkrumah’s </b>efforts led to the independence of the country in 1957 under the name of GHANA. <b>Kofi </b>was then 19 years old. Though not involved in the revolution, he became vice-president of the new National Student Association. It was then that he was spotted by a headhunter from the <b>Ford Foundation</b>who incorporated him into a program for “<i>young leaders</i>.” From there, he was invited to follow a summer course at <b>Harvard University</b>. Having noticed his enthusiasm for the UNITED STATES, the <b>Ford Foundation</b> offered to sponsor his complete studies, first in economics at <b>Macalester College</b> in Minnesota, followed by international relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in <b>Geneva.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FORD FOUNDATION, FACED FOR US INTELLIGENCE SERVICES?</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">After the Second World War, the <b>Ford Foundation</b>, created by famous industrialist Henry Ford, became an unofficial instrument of U.S. foreign policy, providing a respectable facade for the activities of the CIA .</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kofi Annan’s</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">overseas study period (1959-1961) coincided with the most difficult years of the AFRICAN-AMERICAN civil rights movement (the start of <b>Martin Luther King’s Birmingham</b> campaign). He saw it as an extension of the decolonization he had witnessed in GHANA, but once again did not get involved.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Impressed with <b>Annan’s</b> academic achievements and political discretion, his U.S. mentors opened for him the doors of the <b>World Health Organization</b>, where he landed his first job. After three years at WHO headquarters in Geneva, he was appointed to the Economic Commission for AFRICA based in <b>Addis Ababa</b>. However, not sufficiently qualified to pursue a career at the UN, he returned to the UNITED STATES to take up management studies at the <b>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</b> (MIT) (1971-1972). He then attempted a comeback in his home country as director of tourism development, but found himself perpetually at odds with the military government of <b>General Acheampong</b>; he gave up and returned to the United Nations in 1976.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A SUCCESSFUL CAREER DESPITE TRAGIC FAILURES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There, he held various positions, initially within UNEF II (the peacekeeping emergency force established to supervise the cease fire between EGYPT and ISRAEL at the end of the October 1973 war), then as Director of personnel at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It was at this time that he met and married Nane Lagergren Master, his second wife. The SWEDISH lawyer is the niece of Raoul Wallenberg, SWEDEN’S special envoy in <b>Budapest</b> during World War II. Wallenberg is famous for having saved hundreds of persecuted Jews by issuing them protective passports. He also worked for the OSS (forerunner of today’s CIA) as a liaison with the HUNGARIAN resistance. He disappeared at the end of the war, when the SOVIETS allegedly captured him to stem US influence in the country. In any event, <b>Kofi Annan’s</b> successful marriage opened the doors that he could not have passed through on his own, especially those of Jewish organizations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Secretary-General <b>Javier Perez de Cuellar</b> chose <b>Kofi Annan</b> as Assistant Secretary-General in charge of human resources management and staff safety and security (1987-90). With the annexation of KUWAIT by IRAQ, 900 UN employees remained stranded in that country. <b>Kofi Annan</b> was able to negotiate their release with <b>Saddam Hussein</b>, a feat that boosted his prestige within the Organization. He was then successively put in charge of the budget (1990-92) and peacekeeping operations under Secretary-General <b>Boutros Boutros-Ghali</b> (1993-96), with a brief interlude as a special envoy for YUGOSLAVIA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to Canadian General <b>Romeo Dallaire</b>, commander of the UN peacekeeping force in RWANDA, <b>Kofi Annan</b>failed to respond to his many appeals and carries the primary responsibility for UN inaction during the genocide (800,000 dead, mainly <b>Tutsis,</b> but also <b>Hutu</b>opponents) .</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A similar scenario was repeated in BOSNIA, where 400 peacekeepers were taken hostage by BOSNIAN SERB forces. <b>Kofi Annan</b> remained deaf to the calls of General <b>Bernard Janvier</b> and allowed the perpetration of predictable massacres.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In late 1996, the UNITED STATES vetoed the reappointment of the EGYPTIAN <b>Boutros Boutros-Ghali </b>as Secretary General, regarded as dangerously <b>Francophile</b>. They succeeded in imposing their candidate: a senior official from within the international organization itself, <b>Kofi Annan</b>. Far from playing against him, his failures in RWANDA and BOSNIA blossomed into assets after he candidly confessed to them and promised to reform the system so that they wouldn’t recur. He was elected on this basis and took office on 1 January 1997.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">United Nations Secretary General <b>Kofi Annan</b>immediately set up an annual two-day seminar behind closed doors for fifteen UN ambassadors. This “retreat” (sic) was generously hosted by the <b>Rockefeller Brothers Fund</b> at the <b>Pocantico Conference Center</b> (upstate New York). There, outside the official framework of the United Nations, the Secretary General discussed the reform of the Organization with the representatives of the States whose support he knew he could count on.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In this context, he reallocated the expenditures of the UN in line with political priorities and significantly reduced the budget of the General Secretariat. He reorganized the administrative functioning around four objectives (peace and security, development, economic and social affairs, humanitarian affairs). He created a post of deputy secretary-general to stand in for him and endowed himself with a real cabinet capable of acting promptly on the decisions of the Security Council and General Assembly.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">GLOBAL COMPACT CONCEPT – EMBRACED ONLY BY ANGLO AMERICAN ENTITIES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUm9j7kwc8ZFcDk3Bl_K8vpqr3lhOokoc-JYmuYNZmk68i_4DCi8hxYMRuvfNK8f3ehW9N6F9Uxj6oBPUY4vLGOqKIIMXjXdG1BWfR6DYwKQV8FZGM_F7Xn01a4uFm-abH1Af4Jz9HlHsR/s1600/globalcompact_logo(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUm9j7kwc8ZFcDk3Bl_K8vpqr3lhOokoc-JYmuYNZmk68i_4DCi8hxYMRuvfNK8f3ehW9N6F9Uxj6oBPUY4vLGOqKIIMXjXdG1BWfR6DYwKQV8FZGM_F7Xn01a4uFm-abH1Af4Jz9HlHsR/s320/globalcompact_logo(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kofi Annan’s</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">landmark initiative was the <b>Global Compact</b>, the mobilization of civil society for a better world. On the basis of a voluntary dialogue, businesses, unions and NGOs were brought together to discuss and commit to respect human rights, labor standards and the environment.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In practice, the <b>Global Compact</b> did not yield the desired effect on the ground. On the contrary, it deeply distorted the nature of the UN by playing down the power of nation-states and emphasizing that of transnational corporations and of associations which are “non-governmental” only in name and which are covertly funded by the great powers. By promoting lobbies as partners of the United Nations, <b>Kofi Annan</b> buried the spirit of the San Francisco Charter. It is no longer a question of saving mankind from the scourge of war by recognizing the legal equality of nations large and small, but of improving the human condition by supporting the convergence between private interests.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The <b>Global Compact</b> is a deviation from the nearly universally accepted logic that international law serves the common good, to a logic embraced only by the ANGLO-AMERICANS for whom the common good is a chimera and good governance consists in bringing together the largest number of special interests. Ultimately, the <b>Global Compact</b> has had the same effect as the charity galas in the U.S.: to give oneself a good conscience by launching high-profile initiatives while condoning structural injustices.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY (NED) AN AGENCY THAT AIMS TO CARRY FORWARD SUBVERSIVE ACTIONS OF US INTELLIGENCE SERVICES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXT6qvHFzdK1KmhJKkfJYmjLaI8YQL3mNGrcMQCaMRFiSJx0liOtDAB0_BDfC4tVqnARykHVBkZLdyD87nF7dsMXLU2cCWvxHeGShnCo6xuW_ppMkz93hhy7jrJzPdMsjSfCRPxCL8WqP/s1600/ned1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXT6qvHFzdK1KmhJKkfJYmjLaI8YQL3mNGrcMQCaMRFiSJx0liOtDAB0_BDfC4tVqnARykHVBkZLdyD87nF7dsMXLU2cCWvxHeGShnCo6xuW_ppMkz93hhy7jrJzPdMsjSfCRPxCL8WqP/s320/ned1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In that sense, the terms of <b>Kofi Annan</b> (1997-2006) reflect the reality of the historical period, that of a unipolar world subjected to the globalization of U.S. hegemony at the expense of nation-states and the peoples that they represent.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This strategy is in line with the device set up by Washington in the 1980’s involving the <b>National Endowment for Democracy</b>, an agency that, contrary to its title, aims to carry forward the subversive action of the CIA by manipulating the democratic process. <b>The NED subsidizes, legally or not, employers’ organizations, labor unions and associations of all kinds. In return, the beneficiaries participate in the Global Compact, thereby bending the positions of the Nation-States which lack the means to fund their own lobbies.</b> Peace has stopped being a concern for the UN since the unipolar world has its own policeman, the U.S.; thus the organization can concentrate instead on absorbing all forms of protest to better corroborate the global disorder and justify the progressive global expansion of U.S. hegemony.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The soothing rhetoric of <b>Kofi Annan</b> reached its zenith at the <b>Millennium Summit</b>. 147 heads of state and government pledged to eradicate poverty and solve major health problems worldwide, including AIDS, in fifteen years. Universal happiness can dispense with political reform, provided everyone makes an effort and chips in. Why didn’t anyone think of this earlier? But alas, the Millennium remained wishful thinking; injustice was not eradicated and continues to nurture war and misery.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the same vein, Secretary-General <b>Kofi Annan’s</b> 20 September 1999 speech to the General Assembly outlined what has been termed the “Annan doctrine.” Using his own impotence in RWANDA and BOSNIA as an excuse, he argued that in both cases the States had failed in their duty to protect their own people. He therefore concluded that the sovereignty of States, guiding principle of the UN Charter, constitutes an obstacle to human rights protection. The AFRICAN Union adopted this view under the name of “Responsibility to Protect;” the UN followed suit in 2005 during the World Summit responsible for the follow-up of the Millennium Summit. The Annan doctrine is nothing more than the reincarnation of the right to intervene invoked by the BRITISH to wage war against the OTTOMAN EMPIRE and, more recently, updated by Bernard Kouchner. The new concept has been used explicitly for the first time to legalize the colonial operation against LIBYA .</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“OIL-FOR-FOOD” PROGRAME, BECAME AN INSTRUMENT IN THE HANDS OF THE USA AND THE UK TO BLEED IRAQ</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwq-H2OQWQO2-TT852DP_HORYAQ4acGBnE3LROx2GHDJsfvbVGVUgloq5kDv3fZwjEMTkVbseoqKWlBOOlj1MMctgOejDSyREmzYk-3FCtsXvqNU3wEfmgx-IE_HpEK2mjDprebGwBaihn/s1600/UN_Emblem_'Oil-for-Food'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwq-H2OQWQO2-TT852DP_HORYAQ4acGBnE3LROx2GHDJsfvbVGVUgloq5kDv3fZwjEMTkVbseoqKWlBOOlj1MMctgOejDSyREmzYk-3FCtsXvqNU3wEfmgx-IE_HpEK2mjDprebGwBaihn/s320/UN_Emblem_'Oil-for-Food'.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In addition, <b>Kofi Annan’s</b> terms as UN Secretary-General were marked by the “Oil-for-Food” programme which was devised by the Security Council in 1991, but was effective only from 1996 to 2003. It was originally intended to ensure that IRAQ’S oil revenues would be used exclusively to meet the needs of the IRAQI people and not to finance new military adventures. However, in the context of the international embargo and under the personal supervision of <b>Kofi Annan</b>, this program became an instrument in the hands of the U.S. and the UK to bleed IRAQ while they occupied the “no-fly zone” (<b>which corresponds roughly to the current autonomous KURDISTAN region</b>) until the outbreak of the aggression against and destruction of the country. For years, the population was undernourished and deprived of life-saving medicines. Several international officials who were in charge of that program qualified it as a “war crime” and even resigned after refusing to apply it. Among them, the UN Assistant Secretary-General <b>Hans von Sponeck</b> and UN Humanitarian Coordinator <b>Denis Halliday</b> considered that this program brought about the genocide of 1, 5 million IRAQIS, including at least 500,000 children.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was not until the invasion and destruction of IRAQ that <b>Kofi Annan</b>finally rebelled and denounced those who had paid for his education, propelled his rise to Secretary-General of the UN, and awarded him the <b>Nobel Peace Prize</b>. He described the attack on IRAQ as illegal and voiced public concern that this precedent would eviscerate International Law Washington responded brutally with a spying operation against <b>Kofi Annan</b>, his cabinet, his family and even against his friends. The Secretary-General’s son, <b>Kojo Annan</b>, was accused of embezzling “oil for food” program funds with his father’s blessing. The prosecution did not manage to convince UN member states and, on the contrary, consolidated the authority of the Secretary-General However, during the last two years of his mandate, <b>Kofi Annan</b> was paralyzed and forced to toe the line.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BACK TO SQUARE ONE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">After 10 years as Secretary-General, <b>Kofi Annan</b> continued his career in several more or less private foundations.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In December 2007, elections in KENYA degenerated into conflict. President <b>Mwai Kibaki</b> appeared to have defeated the candidate backed by Washington, <b>Raila Odinga</b>, reportedly a cousin of then-<b>Senator Barack Obama</b>. U.S. Senator <b>John McCain</b> challenged the election results and called for revolution as waves of anonymous SMS exacerbated inter-ethnic differences. Within days, riots left more than 1,000 dead and 300,000 displaced. <b>Madeleine Albright</b> proposed the mediation of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. The institute sent two mediators: former Norwegian Prime Minister <b>Kjell Magne Bondevik</b> and former UN Secretary-General <b>Kofi Annan</b>, both members of the Board of Administration.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As a result of that “mediation,” President <b>Kibaki </b>was forced to bow to U.S. wishes. He was able to stay in office, but first had to accept a constitutional reform that stripped him of his powers in favor of the Prime Minister and to agree to the choice of Odinga as Prime Minister. In his role as wise old African, <b>Kofi Annan</b> helped to give a veneer of legitimacy to a regime change imposed by Washington.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kofi Annan</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">currently exercises two key responsibilities. First, he chairs the <b>Africa Progress Panel,</b> an organization created by <b>Tony Blair</b> after the G8 summit held in Gleeneagles for the purpose of ensuring media coverage of the actions of the BRITISH Ministry of Cooperation (DFID). Unfortunately, like the Millennium Summit, the G8 promises were not fulfilled and the activity of the AFRICA Progress Panel is negligible.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SOLVING THE FOOD PROBLEMS OF THE BLACK CONTINENT THROUGH BIOTECHNOLOGY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He also serves as chair of the <b>Alliance for a Green Revolution</b> in AFRICA (AGRA), which aims to solve the food problems of the black continent through biotechnology. In fact, AGRA is a lobby funded by the <b>Bill Gates</b> and <b>Rockefeller Foundations</b> to promote the dissemination of GMO’s produced by <b>Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Syngenta</b> and others. Most independent experts agree that, beyond the issue of their environmental impact, the use of non-reproductible GMO crops keeps farmers under the thumb of their suppliers and introduces a new form of human exploitation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Regarding Monsanto See also</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/monsanto-global-monster-corporation.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/monsanto-global-monster-corporation.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/monsanto-part-2.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/monsanto-part-2.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">KOFI ANNAN IN SYRIA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyNh0b-McnCp_qEfiY2JC69XZiNVsNKa0VNP0qrNjA29jeX0jlfvCwjnM5dpCRBr2TaZSArzvsOTxsr3GFlNWPBMdmzfhyphenhypheniegwC40BNISksVwo7J2TypTIpxMbAS1vr9BWmSCKRkFlq5p/s1600/16186561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyNh0b-McnCp_qEfiY2JC69XZiNVsNKa0VNP0qrNjA29jeX0jlfvCwjnM5dpCRBr2TaZSArzvsOTxsr3GFlNWPBMdmzfhyphenhypheniegwC40BNISksVwo7J2TypTIpxMbAS1vr9BWmSCKRkFlq5p/s400/16186561.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So what has this former high-ranking international official come to SYRIA for? In the first place, his appointment suggests that the current UN Secretary-General <b>Ban Ki Moon</b>, whose image has been tarnished by his kowtowing to the UNITED STATES and by a string of corruption scandals was not up to the task, while <b>Kofi Annan</b>, despite his balance sheet, still enjoys a positive image.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Secondly, a mediator can succeed only to the extent that he has been selected by the parts in the conflict. But this is not the case. <b>Kofi Annan</b>represents the Secretary-General of the UN and his <b>Arab League</b> counterpart. He defends the honor and reputation of both institutions in the absence of clear political instructions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If the appointment of Mr <b>Annan</b> was approved <i>de facto</i> by the members of the Security Council and those of the <b>Arab League</b>, it is because it satisfies conflicting expectations. For some, the joint special envoy is not intended to broker peace, but to clad a peace that has already been negotiated between the great powers so that everyone can stand tall. Others expect him to repeat the KENYAN script and bring about regime change without further violence.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">DEMAND BY SAUDI ARABI AND QATAR VIA KOFI ANNAN: PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD SHOULD STEP DOWN BECAUSE HE IS AN ALAWITE AND THAT POWER BE TRANSFERRED TO THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR BEING A SUNNI</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over the past months, the action of <b>Kofi Annan</b> has been to present his own plan, an amended version of the one developed by RUSSIAN Foreign Minister <b>Sergey Lavrov</b>. In doing so, he has rendered the plan palatable for Washington and its allies. In addition, Mr. Annan has intentionally introduced an element of confusion by suggesting that he had convinced President <b>al-Assad</b>to appoint one of his vice presidents, <b>Farouk al-Shara</b>, to negotiate with the opposition. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This is portrayed as a concession made by SYRIA to the GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL. In fact, Vice President <b>al-Shara</b> has been in charge of these negotiations for a year and the demand made by SAUDI ARABIA and QATAR is totally different: that President al-<b>Assad</b> should step down because he is an <b>Alawite</b> and that power be transferred to the Vice President for being a <b>Sunni.</b> It would thus seem that the joint special envoy is engineering a way out for those states that have attacked SYRIA and invented the fable of a democratic revolution crushed in blood.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">However, the doublespeak of Kofi Annan, who when in Damascus was satisfied with his meeting with President al-Assad but expressed disappointed once back in Geneva, has not raised any questions about his true intentions.</span></b></span></div>

WHO IS KOFI ANNAN?

  THE UNITED NATIONS “PEACEKEEPER”, HANDPICKED BY THE US INTELLIGENCE SERVICES ? b y Thierry Meyssan  via Voltaire Network PEACE NEGOTIATOR ...

Read more »