| 10 Ways to Avoid Post-Holiday Regrets
The holidays are upon us, bringing all those images and sensations we cherish—the glow of the menorah, the fragrance of home-cooked meals and sugar cookies, and the sounds of the season in holiday songs, laughter, and shrieks of joy from kids discovering Santa's generosity. But for many of us there are a few not-so-joyous holiday sights (a purse overflowing with credit card receipts) and sounds (the ca-ching! of the cash registers marking our escalating debt). These negatives can easily outweigh all that we love about the holiday season, especially when we consider the financial consequences we'll still be suffering long after the last gift is opened. "Americans already spend more than they can afford," says Eric Tyson, author of the new book Let's Get Real About Money! Profit from the Habits of the Best Personal Finance Managers (FT Press, December 2007, ISBN-10: 0-1323416-1-1, ISBN-13: 978-0-1323416-1-5, $19.99).
Oxford students disrupt David Irving debate - Summary
London - Angry student demonstrators forced their way Monday into an Oxford Union debating hall, disrupting an event at which the controversial historian David Irving was due to speak. Irving, who is British, has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and served a prison term in Austria for the offence. Police said that a group of about 30 students were staging a sit- in inside the debating hall of the renowned Oxford Union, which is attached to Oxford University. A hard core of some 30 protestors, singing and chanting anti- fascist slogans, stopped the debate from getting under way, reports said. They had broken away from up to 500 protestors and scaled a wall to force their way into the building, shouting "shame on you" and "fascists out." Irving and Nick Griffin, leader of Britain's racist British National Party (BNP), had arrived hours before the evening event to be escorted into the building.
Teaching the Science of Life at GCE A/L
An education is not complete without the activities no doubt; but there should be a balance between the curricular and extra - curricular activities. Thankfully the Minister of Education has decreed that some of these activities should be held only during week - ends or during school holidays. Whatever is said and done I still hold the view that the science syllabuses are too long and cannot be completed satisfactorily during the limited time in schools. Some of it is covered as tutorials. I am not surprised at all about the thriving private tuition classes. They stolidly march through the syllabus for they do not have to think about practical work or even feedback in the form of tests. The most striking change in the educational reforms of 1977 - 98 was reducing the four Advanced Levels subjects to three.
Police action over TV film 'undermined free speech'
MPs have accused West Midlands Police of seeking to undermine freedom of speech by making a "perverse" complaint about a Channel 4 programme that exposed extremism in a British mosque. Police claimed that the Dispatches programme Undercover Mosque misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics through misleading editing. The programme featured undercover recordings from speakers alleged to be homophobic, antiSemitic, sexist and condemnatory of nonMuslims. West Midlands Police rejected calls to take action against the preachers for stirring up racial hatred. Instead, they pursued a complaint against the film-makers, accusing them of undermining community relations. But Ofcom, the media watchdog, threw out the police complaints. It found that the programme had "accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context".
I am going on strike too, sort of
Today marks the fourth day of the Writers Guild of America strike, and I must say that I am both inspired and dismayed.
Several sitcoms and late night talk shows are already off the air, and although many shows have stockpiled episodes, hour-long dramas are soon to follow.
Picketers are already attacking everything we hold dear. On Tuesday, they surrounded a "Desperate Housewives" set chanting, "We write the story-a, Eva Longoria."
After I overcame my initial shock that this was the best chant Hollywood writers could come up with, I decided they were probably on strike from writing their own slogans too (or they really wanted Eva to know they wrote the story). Either way, Eva gave them some pizza, which would probably stop me from striking.
Anyway, if you are like me, you are probably worried about two things right now.
Dear Prof. Ochs,
Do you see new 'Minhagim' only in Reform and conservative Judaism, or
you think that the Orthodox also adapt to the "New world". It is at
all possible for the Orthodox to "invent" new rituals?
Thank you for the interesting discussion,
Robert Weiss
There are lots of new rituals constructed by Orthodox Jews. Their
innovations must respect halacha (Jewish law), but we see often that
halacha allows for flexibility and interpretation. Compared to rabbis and laypeople who innovate in liberal denominations, Orthodox Jews
characteristically feel a need to be more discrete and private about their
innovation, particularly if it will invoke criticism from the members of
their religious community. Thus, for instance, an Orthodox couple
performing a brit habat, a welcoming ceremony for their baby daughter,
might choose to do it at home and not at the synagogue.
Kenya: Streamline Teacher Training First, And the Rest Will Follow
EDUCATION HAS LONG BEEN one of the most powerful political persuaders throughout the world, and Kenya is no different. Politicians are all claiming that they will give more and do better in terms of the education of our children. But are all their claims and discussion just hot air? The Government says there are many well-trained teachers, that we are actually exporting them as a resource. Why then is it so difficult for some schools to find teachers? And why are there so many issues with those we do have? .
A taste of the rat-race world
WHEN the school bell tolled recently for the final time of the year, ushering in the long year-end break, thousands of students all over the country feel like Atlas having the big globe removed from his back. They certainly feel relieved that they can now put down their heavy schoolbags, sleep a bit longer, spend more time in front of the TV set or computer, lepak at the shopping complex, and do what they like without the pressure of rushing to complete homework and assignments. Traditionally, this is what a typical teenage student does during the long school break - having complete rest and recreation, watching all the favourite Astro movies, playing the latest computer games till late at night, hanging out at shopping malls all day long, and, for the more fortunate, a holiday back to the ancestral hometown to be spoilt crazy by grandma or even a trip overseas. .
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