Business & Tech By Edmond Ortiz | 10 hours ago

Lea Thompson for the Rivard Report

Ensuring that more people have access to computers, could help boost economic, educational, and personal opportunities.

San Antonios firstDigital Inclusion Summittook placeWednesday, and participants agreed that comprehensive training must accompany efforts to increase digital access and literacy.

More than 100 people attended the day-long conferenceat the Central Library. Speakers said progress in bridging the digital divide is being made by extending high-speed internet access citywide, especially in lower-income communities.

That, and ensuring that more people have access to computers, could help boost economic, educational, and personal opportunities in such neighborhoods, they added. Attendeesalso called for increased focus on outcomes of greater access and literacy.

San Antonio Public LibraryDirector Ramiro Salazar said the library systems increasing number of branches help with this effort.

For many communities, [libraries] are the only access they have to high-speed internet, Salazar said.

Molly Cox, president and CEO of SA2020, said digital inclusion is key to personal empowerment in many communities. But its more than simply having computer or web access its about using it productively, she noted.

How can you fill out a college application without internet access? How do you look for a job? How do you sign up for health care without an email? Cox added.

One in six San Antonians do not have a computer or internet access, Cox said,citing research. Smartphones alone are inadequate for completingmore complextasks, such as writing school papers or developing a rsum, she added.

Mayor Ivy Taylor has long advocated forSan Antonio becominga globally competitive city where everyone has a chance atprosperity. The mayors office spearheads a digital inclusion initiative, where the City, theSan Antonio Housing Authority, and private and public partners work toward solutions.

We cant achieve that vision without bridging the digital divide, Taylor said. Its the gap between people who have broadband access and know how to use it and those who dont.

Taylor said not having internet access at home or in neighborhoods prevents people from completing essential tasks, such as applying for a job, paying bills, or discussinga childs school performance with ateacher.

Even engaging in local government is a challenge without reliableweb access, Tayloradded. As a result, people without adequatedigital access do not get to share educational and workforce skills with others, she explained.

Socioeconomic inequality exacerbatesthe digital divide, especially among younger and lower-income families and the elderly. Such individuals often lack the digital or financial literacy to achieve upward mobility, Taylor said.

According to the 2013 American Community Survey, San Antonio ranked in the bottom third of major cities based on percentage of households lacking internet access. Taylor said developing public and private sector partnerships is vital to closing the digital gap.

Think about that for a minute: up to one in four San Antonians may be functionally illiterate, she said. The most important thing we can do to address the digital divide is to build relationships that help our residents learn basic skills that apply competently to new technology.

Panel discussion participants talked about how such partnerships and innovation shore up access, training, and literacy.

More than one year ago, the Housing Authoritybegan working with ConnectHome, a pilot initiative launched by then-President Obama in 2015. The program links communities, businesses, and the federal government in extending broadband technology to residents in assisted housing.

Google Fiber and several private and public partners joined the Housing Authority in the local cause.

The Housing Authority first installed computers with broadband access in centralized rooms at three of its properties. Itlater enabled WiFi in individual unitsand computer rooms at two other Housing Authority properties.

The organizationhas also provided more than 350 devices to residents across these communities, and more installations are in the works. Local ConnectHome partners hope to expand their efforts beyond federally funded public housing.

The Housing Authority also offersdigital literacy classes at its properties where broadband access and devices are provided. Officials said its important to instill a sense of confidence while providing proper digital literacy training to residents.

Some of the residents at Housing Authority properties go on to become so-called ambassadors to help train fellow residents.

Confidence is one of the most important things [residents] need to continue, said Catarina Velasquez, educational consultant with the San Antonio Housing Authority

One of the summits speakers, Bill Callahan, is the director of Cleveland-based Connect Your Community 2.0, a nonprofit that helps increase digital inclusion and literacy in low-income communities across Cleveland and Detroit.

He said less than two decades ago, at the dawn of the mainstream internet, many people were comfortable with filling out job applications in person.

Now that most job applications are offered online, fewer residents are confident they can access a computer to seek out job openings, much less fill out applications online.

This isnt just a mobility or access problem for the individual, but a huge problem for the community, Callahan said.

Public discussions about digital inclusionlack focus on exclusion, Callahan explained not deliberate exclusion, but rather inclusion effortsthat are not comprehensive.

As a result, many people specifically in low-income and rural communities still get left behind.

When cities engage as smart cities, you put your digital eggs in one basket, but you tell other communities youre less vital, Callahan said. He pointed to a Bexar County map where most residents still lack digital access and mobility.

Organizations such as Bexar Bibliotech and Communities in Schoolswork to achieve greater access, mobility, and literacy. Bibliotech now boaststwo full-servicebranches, one of which isthe first digital library in the nation located in public housing. The libraries allow locals to access the same books available at traditional libraries through digital e-readers which can be checked out for two weeks at a time. In addition, Bibliotech has collaborated with VIA Metropolitan Transit on the Ride and Read initiative, added six digital kiosks at transit centers throughout the city, and committed to furthering anti-cyberbullying programming.

Callahan andHousing Authority representatives agreed that people who have recently become digitally literate shouldshare their newfound knowledge with their peers and, thus, help close the digital divide.

Were not making sure everyone who has access or a computer can use the system, Callahansaid. You cant expect someone who cant pay their $60-a-month electric bill to just figure out their internet.

Jen Vanek, director of the IDEAL Consortium, shared similar sentiment: Access to poor training is worse than no training.

Vanek said digital literacy should be well-rounded, relevant, and specified. She added that it should be embedded inEnglish as a second language, general education development, and workforce development.

Deb Socia, executive director of the nonprofit Next Century Cities, said widening digital access and literacy helps unleash peoples potential.

With access, anyone can create a web-based enterprise, she said. In turn, communities build wealth internally.

This is about investing in people, Socia said.

Investing in people means collaboration, said Catherine Crago of Austin Pathways. She described how the Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) built a coalition of private and public partners to further digital mobility for local low-income residents.

The Austin Community College Districtdonated hundreds of computers to Austin Housing Authorityresidents, allowing HACA to divert more resources totraining. In turn, more residents have access and share their knowledge.

These people are willing to learn, relearn, and co-learn, Cragoadded.

Angelique de Oliveira of Goodwill Industries said Goodwill helps serve low-income residents with needs and workforce development by collecting, refurbishing, and recycling used computers.

One of the things in using a computer is you can achieve employment as an outcome, she added.

Towards the summits end, Cox stressed the importance of outcomes regarding digital inclusion.

I want to know what happens with those people when they turn on those computers, once they have access, then go out into the community and apply their new skills, shesaid.

Edmond Ortiz, a lifelong San Antonian, is a freelance reporter/editor who has worked with the San Antonio Express-News and Prime Time Newspapers.

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Digital Inclusion Summit: Training, Partnerships Are Key - Rivard Report

The Jamaican Women of Florida, Inc. (JWOF) elected a new Board of Directors on February 25, 2015 at their fourth annual general meeting. The new president is Ms. Camille Edwards an administrator with the Broward County School Board. Ms. Edwards has previously served as the Presidents of the Immaculate Conception High School Alumnae Association and Broward Alliance Of Caribbean Educators (founder). She hails from Montego Bay, Jamaica and holds Masters of Science and Bachelors of Arts degrees from St. Thomas University, Miami, FL and York University, Toronto, Canada.

The newly Elected Vice President is Mrs. June Minto Marketing Consultant and Managing Partners with Jamaican Jerk Festival & Jamaque Paridis Magazines. Rounding out the new Board are Secretary Tamara Wadley; Treasurer Dale Telfer, CPA who is returning for her second term in the position; Director-At-Large Ann Marie Clarke, Esq. and Legal Director Hilary Creary, Esq.- who previously served as the associations Secretary.

JWOF was launched in April, 2013 with twenty founding members and saw their membership triple since. Currently they have 46 paid members and continue to seek members to strengthen the group. The non-profit was founded as an organization to provide an outlet for Jamaican women in Florida to empower themselves through charitable and educational endeavors, personal development and mentoring. The goal of JWOF is to engage Jamaican women in Florida and to give back to the next generation of young women by assisting in the development of leadership and personal skills to operate in a global environment.

Membership is opened to everyone, and since launching they initiated several measures to accomplish their goals. These include the annual Womens Empowerment Conference & Scholarship Luncheon; the Powerful WomenNext Generation scholarship, the annual Health & Wellness Conversation, and the adoption of Melody House Girls Home in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Members of JWOF have made several trips to Jamaica to visit Melody House and have supported the girls home financially over the years. The organization has also helped several Jamaican women and families in Florida in need and continue to live up to their mission of helping the community.

We the new board embrace JWOFs mission and vision and are dedicated to the organizations continued growth over the next two years says JWOF President, Camille Edwards. We have some big shoes to fill but with the guidance of the outgoing board we will strive to provide avenues to empower the now gen and the next gen , said Edwards.

To celebrate their fourth anniversary, JWOF is again hosting the popular Jamaican Women of Florida Empowerment Conference & Scholarship Luncheon, on Saturday, April 8th, 8:00AM 4:30PM at Jungle Island in Miami, Florida. The days events will include three panel presentations focusing on their mission Empowerment; personal growth and development; and mentorship; the annual scholarship awards luncheon to benefit a female high school senior and a rising second, third and fourth year college students. Sponsorship and vendor opportunities are available.

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The Jamaican Women of Florida, Inc. (JWOF) elected a new Board of Directors - Jamaicans.com

A match at the Israeli catchball tournament in Kfar Saba, Feb. 21, 2017. (Courtesy of the Israel Catchball Association)

TEL AVIV (JTA) Every week, thousands of women across Israel gather to play a sport almost no one outside the country has heard of.

For that matter, few Israelis knew about catchball or cadur-reshet in Hebrew a decade ago. But in recent years it has become the most popular sport amongadult women in the country,with nearly all the players over 30 years old.

Its like a disease among middle-aged women here, said Naor Galili, the director-general of the Maccabi sports association in Israel. We like it. We love it. We fully support it.

Now the Israel Catchball Association is trying to spread the feminist fever to women around the world. A major step will be catchballs appearance for the first time at the Maccabiah Games in Israel this summer. The hope is that the thousands of Jews who attend the multi-sport gamesfrom around the worldwill be inspired to ask: What is catchball?

Catchball is likevolleyball, but easier because catching and throwing replacesbumping, setting and spiking. Israelis adapted the sport from Newcomb ball, which was named for theLouisiana womens college where it was invented over a century ago. Today, Americans rarely play Newcomb ball outside of gym class.

Meanwhile, catchball leagues in Israel boastmore than 12,000 female members. That is twice as many adult women as belong to basketball, soccer, volleyball and tennis leagues combined, according to data from Israels Culture and Sport Ministry.

Hila Yeshayahu, 41, plays for the Herzliya-based squad Good Heart and handles marketing and business development for the Catchball Association, to which the team belongs. She said women start playing catchball because it is fun and easy and stick with it for the sense of community and personal empowerment.

Catchball is a present women give themselves. Its a chance to do something healthy with other women and come back home with more strength and more passion, she said. When I step out the door in my uniform, my kids arent on my shoulder; my husband isnt on my shoulder. Im 18 years old again. Im Hila, and I can do anything.

Yeshayahus twin sister also competes for a team in the association, and their 11-year-old daughters play together in a new girls league.

On a Tuesday evening, Yeshayahu and her team faced off against A.S. Moment at a high school gym in Ramat Hasharon, not far from Herzliya in central Israel. The crowd consisted of a few husbands and sons on the sideline. But the atmosphere was competitive, with a referee, scorekeepers and players wearing numbered uniforms. When A.S. Moment won two sets to none, Good Heart players slumped onto the court, and several tearfully threw their knee pads toward the bench. (The first two sets are scored up to 25 points, while a third set in the best-of-3 match would go to 15. The victor must win a set by at least two points.)

Good Heart coach Liron Shachnai, 34, a marketing and sales manager by day, said most of her playershave little experience losing. Competitive sports in Israel are male-dominated, she said, so women do not have the opportunity to learn sportsmanship growing up.

You have women who are over 40 going home crying, saying [the opposing players] think theyre better than us, she said.

Still, by the next practice Thursday evening, the players werelooking toward the future. It helped that this weekend, they will competein the Catchball Games in the southern resort town of Eilat. The tournament is catchballs biggest event and a highlight of the year for many players.

You should see all the photos theyre posting on Facebook. They can barely wait, Yeshayahu said.

In its sixth year, the Catchball Games are expected to draw more than 1,500 women from all of Israels leagues, and even a few teams from abroad. Leavingtheir husbands and children at home, women willdon pink Israel Catchball Association T-shirts for four days of competition and socializing. Local schools will host hundredsof matches, and the top two teams will face off for the championship. Off-court festivities will include a parade, Eilats first night road race and a standup comedy show.

A player celebrating at the Catchball Games in Eilat, Israel, February 2016. (Courtesy of the Israel Catchball Association)

Alexandra Kalev, a sociology professor at Tel Aviv University, says the success of catchball in Israel can be seen as a challenge to the roles women have traditionally played in the countrys sport and culture. Womens sports in Israel are underfunded and little covered in the media, and women are expected to work and handle most household responsibilities.

Catchball can empower women, especially at a stage in life when they are weakened, Kalev said. They are discriminated against in the labor market, overwhelmed by home chores and child rearing and experiencing the changes that age brings on all of us. These leagues really come at the right time of their lives and allow them to be empowered. The message is: We are strong.

The rise of catchball in Israel began in 2005, when OfraAmbramovich started Mamanet, a league for mothers in the central city of Kfar Saba, where she lives. She learned the sport fromHaim Borovski, an Israeli gym teacher from Argentina. Thanks to Ambramovichs entrepreneurship, dozens of municipalities have since started their own Mamanet leagues.In her mind, catchball is primarily a mom-powered social movement.

Catchball gives motherssomething for themselves, a reason to be healthy and part of the community, Ambramovich said. And the mother is the agent of the family, so shes the perfect role model. When the motherdoes well, everyone benefits.

In 2009, the Israel Catchball Association branched off from Mamanet in an effort to make the sport more competitive. The associationwelcomed non-mothers and allowed women to form their own teams rather than requiring them toparticipate through their childrens schools though they maintained Mamanets age minimum of 30. Today,the association offers leagues at four skill levels.

The Israel Catchball Association claims 5,000 players, and Mamanetclaims 12,500. Both groups claim superiority and dispute each others numbers, but everyone agrees the totalnumber of women playing is more than 12,000.

It is also clear the sport is growing rapidly, and even reaching into Israels most traditional communities. Many Orthodox Jewish women play catchball in headscarves and skirts. And there is a mostly Druze team in Daliyan al-Carmel in northern Israel. When Anaia Halabi, a 35-year-old school counselor, started the team seven years ago,it was a radical idea.

For women to leave their husbands and their children toplay was a big change for the village, she said. It is not considered suitable for women to be outside the home at night. Not all the husbands approve.

But over time, Halabi said, the husbands have grown more accepting, and the local municipality began paying for a van to transport the team to games outside the village. At the same time, theteam has arranged not to play late night games, anda three-club local league has been formed to allow women to compete without leaving the village.

With the sport firmly established in Israel, the Israel Catchball Association has started looking overseas. Part of the motivation is that to qualify as an official sport and receive funding from the Israeli government, catchball must be played competitively in at least 52 countries. So far, the only leagues the association knows of outside Israel are in Mexico and the United States. But they are encouraging the sportin more than half a dozen other countries, mostly through Israeli expats.

Gal Reshef, a 35-year-old Israeli lawyer, founded acatchball group in Boston in 2015 and last year expanded it into the U.S.A. Catchball Association in partnership with theIsrael Catchball Association. She said the vast majority of thenearly 100 womenin the BostonetCatchball Association, as well as in the handful of other teams across the country, are Israelis. But Reshef is confident catchball will, um, catch on with American women, too.

I think in the States, the situation is the same as in Israel. If youre a middle-aged woman who didnt have the chance to play sports growing up, there are very few options, she said. The great thing is anyone can play catchball, and it creates an amazing uplifting community.

At least one Bostonet team is slated to participate in the catchball exhibition tournament at the Maccabiah Games in July. Thirty-six Israeli teams will be there, along with a couplefrom London and Berlin. Reshef predicted that by the time the next games roll around in four years, teams from around the world will be playing catchball in the real tournament and after that, maybe the Olympics.

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This women's sport you've never heard of is taking Israel by storm ... - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Rescue workers on the scene of a Manhattan crane collapse in 2008. Photojournalist J.B. Nicholas needs an NYPD-issued press card, which allows him to cross police and fire lines, to capture images like these. After the NYPD revoked Nicholas' press card seemingly without warning, he filed a federal lawsuit.

courtesy J.B. Nicholas

A journalists lawsuit alleging that the NYPDs regulation of the press violates the constitutional rights of a free press can go forward, a federal judge ruled on Monday. In rejecting the government's motion to dismiss the suit, Judge J. Paul Oetken affirmed that the government cannot arbitrarily restrict journalists, and that the NYPD and the City of New York's policies for revoking and suspending journalists' press credentials may be be unconstitutional.

Arbitrary restrictions on news-gatherers may run afoul of the First Amendment,Judge Oetkenwrote in rejecting the city's motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiff, he said, "has carried his burden to allege a protected interest in his press credential."

The lawsuit, brought by freelance photojournalist J.B. Nicholas, stems from an incident in October of 2015, when Nicholas was on assignment for the New York Daily News. A building under construction on 38th Street had partially collapsed, trapping two construction workers towards the rear of the building.

Nicholas (who full disclosure has written for the Voice) arrived on the scene with his press credentials. The dead body of one of the construction workers had already been retrieved. While Nicholas waited in a nearby store for the second worker to be retrieved, police rounded up other journalists and corralled them into a press pen down the block and out of sight of the action.

But while most of the official press was kept from covering the story, photographers from numerous government agencies and even ConEdison were operating freely inside the police cordon, Nicholas said. When the second construction worker was freed, the complaint states, Nicholas approached, and, without interfering with the emergency workers, photographed him being placed in the ambulance.

Nicholas says getting the shot, which he couldnt have done from the police press-pen, was important, and not just because its his job. Those photos tell an important story that New Yorkers need to see, he told the Voice. Theres a story about the deunionization of construction in New York. Most of these guys are immigrants, legal and not, working for probably $100 a day in cash, all to build multi-billion-dollar condos. And theres a cost for that exploitation there have been 31 construction workers killed on the job in the last two years. So if you lose that photo, the impact of that story, the cost thats paid for all this, it gets lost. The picture might trigger some inquiry. Think of the picture of the Syrian kid on the beach.

But the press officers for the NYPD werent happy with Nicholas getting the shot, which ultimately led the story in the Daily News. As a video Nicholas took during the episode shows, they immediately approached him, confiscated his press pass, and ejected him from the scene.

Nicholas said he wrote to the NYPD repeatedly to discuss the return of his press pass, but was rebuffed. Meanwhile, his career suffered. To be a photojournalist in New York, you need to have a press pass, he said. Without it, you cant cross police lines, which is the only way to get the shot, you cant photograph in court. Unable to perform the basic tasks of spot-news reporting, Nicholas saw his assignments dry up. In December of 2015 he filed his lawsuit against then-NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton. The suit alleges that police violated Nicholass constitutional rights to freedom of the press, speech, assembly, and intra-state movement, as well as his rights to equal protection under the law and substantive due process.

As Nicholass amended complaintexplores in depth, the history of NYPD interference with journalists efforts to do their job is considerable, ranging from freezing out disliked reporters to the violent arrests of credentialed press at protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention to numerous arrests and obstructions of journalists during Occupy Wall Street in 2011 and 2012 to the assault and false arrest of a New York Times photographer documenting stop-and-frisks in the Bronx.

Nicholas has his own stories. He was arrested in 2014 as he was attempting to photograph NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Only after multiple witnesses told prosecutors that in fact it was Goodells bodyguard, a former police detective, who had run into Nicholas with his truck, choked him, punched him, and thrown him to the ground were the assault charges against Nicholas dropped. The year before, Nicholas was acquitted in case based on his taking photographs of paramedics in the subway.

FROM LEFT: Craig Ruttle, J.B. Nicholas, and Joe Marino testify at a City Council hearing on the freedom of the press last year.

William Alatriste / City Council

Nicholas is acting as his own lawyer in the suit. At a hearing before Judge Oetken last May, he got the court to dig into just how the NYPD decides who can and cant report in the city. Regulations state that if the NYPD tries to revoke a journalists credentials, theyre entitled to a hearing to challenge the revocation. What do the hearings look like? the Judge asked the citys lawyer, Mark Zuckerman. Are the hearings ever done?

I dont have the answer to your question, Zuckerman conceded. I cant tell your Honor conclusively whether it was done or not.

What about how the police department decides when its going to suspend or revoke a journalists credentials, the judge asked. Is there a written standard?

Im not aware of any written standard, Zuckerman answered. Theres nothing in the rules about a written standard for whats necessary to take a summary suspension.

Zuckerman conceded that Nicholas was still entitled to a hearing, and a week later, Nicholas got one, presided over by DCPIs commanding officer, Edward Mullen, and Lt. Eugene Whyte. Nicholass card had been revoked at the direct order of Steven Davis, the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information, who was on the scene that day, so Mullen and Whyte were effectively being asked to rule on an action of their boss. According to Nicholas, he wasnt allowed to see any evidence against him and Whyte bullied the witnesses he called in his defense. Nonetheless, at a status hearing for his lawsuit a month later, Nicholas learned that hed be getting his press credentials back.

Even so, Nicholas is determined to forge ahead with his lawsuit. I did this for my colleagues. I did this for my city, he told the Voice. Theres an ongoing pattern of the NYPD keeping journalists away from breaking news scenes for no good reason.

Efforts to control the press aren't unique to New York, Nicholas says. They happen everywhere, including the White House.

Norman Siegel, a lawyer who has worked on numerous First Amendment cases and helped shape the current NYPD press credential policies, says the case goes to the heart of questions of press freedom. The standard by which the NYPD pulls someones press pass or denies them renewal cannot be subjective, it has to be objective, Siegel said. If its subjective it invites discrimination based on the viewpoint or even personality of the journalist. We saw last Friday how freedom of the press can be abused, when [White House Press Secretary Sean] Spicer decided not to let certain media outlets in. Freedom of press is a cornerstone of our system. It's being undermined not only by the Trump administration, and sometimes by the NYPD.

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.

The case now moves into the discovery phase. Nicholas is still acting as his own lawyer Its an exercise in personal empowerment, I hope to inspire others, he says which means that soon he will be personally deposing witnesses, including the the DCPI officers who revoked his credentials and former Commissioner Bratton.

Ive got a lot of questions, he said. Are there any records of how they handle press credentials, suspensions, revocations? Who keeps notes on this. Where are those notes? Lets see the logs. How many journalists have been arrested?

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Federal Judge Says NYC's Regulation Of The Press Will Go On Trial - Village Voice

MANHATTAN (CN) Days after the White House banned major media from briefings, the New York City Police Department failed to avoid a lawsuit over a similar deprivation of access, as a federal judge issued a ruling that could have profound ripples for press freedom in the Big Apple.

Members of the NYPD have prevented news photographers from taking pictures, photographer Jason B. Nicholaswrote in an email. They have prevented reporters from witnessing events by confining them to press pens far-removed from newsworthy scenes; and they have summarily revoked the press credentials of journalists who had the integrity and the nerve to speak up, and assert their right to simply do their jobs.

For many New York journalists, obtaining an NYPD press credential is an unavoidable hassle, and photographer Jason B. Nicholas has long had a more rocky journey than most. The department has yanked his pass three times over the past three years, most recently when the New York Daily News sent him to cover a building collapse in Midtown Manhattan on Oct. 30, 2015.

One construction worker had been dead and another trapped when Detective Michael DeBonis and Deputy Commissioner Stephen Davis corralled credentialed journalists into a press pen that was out of sight from the ongoing rescue efforts.

Nicholas slipped away about 150 feet into the street to take photographs. Police accused him of interfering with the operations because he was near an ambulance, but Nicholas insists that he was not close to any emergency workers.

The photographer claims DeBonis physically seized him, before Davis told Nicholas: This is the last time youll do that.

Nicholas sued DeBonis, Davis, then-Commissioner Bill Bratton, the NYPD and the city on Dec. 8, 2015, a little more than a month after the incident.The NYPD has been adamant about its sole discretion to grant or withdraw press credentials, a must-have for reporters seeking to cross police lines to cover crime scenes and emergency zones.

Launching a two-pronged attack on the policy, Nicholas argued that it was a viewpoint-based and arbitrary enforcement, and he decried frozen zones and press pens as too broad to pass constitutional muster.

U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken found that Nicholas stated a First Amendment claim, pushing the case to discovery on Monday.

That press access implicates First Amendment rights and interests held not only by the journalists, but also by the public at large provides additional support for finding a protected interest in NYPD-issued press credentials, Oetken wrote in his 19-page opinion.

For far too long, the NYPD has bullied and interfered with journalists simply for doing their jobs, Nicholas said in a statement.

He added that the decision puts the NYPD on notice that actions like these will no longer be tolerated.

After today, journalists in New York need not fear doing their jobs vigorously, as their jobs are supposed to be done, the photographer said. If, after today, NYPD members interfere with press freedoms, federal judges in New York will hold them accountable.

He likely will keep facing stiff opposition from the New York City Law Department.

We will continue to defend the case, a department spokesman said.

Nicholas acknowledged that he still has a tough row to hoe.

While todays ruling is not the last word in the case, it puts me, and all journalists, on a clear path to victory, he said.

The New York ruling falls on the heels of a national controversy surrounding press access in Washington.

On Friday, President Donald Trump banned the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and other news outlets from a White House press briefing in an action denounced by the American Civil Liberties Union as illegal.

Oetkens ruling today lends support to the ACLUs contention.

It has been held impermissible to exclude a single television news network from live coverage of mayoral candidates headquarters and to withhold White House press passes in a content-based or arbitrary fashion, Oetken wrote today.

Equal press access is critical because [e]xclusion of an individual reporter carries with it the danger that granting favorable treatment to certain members of the media allows the government to influence the type of substantive media coverage that public events will receive, which effectively harms the public, he added.

On top of his career as a seasoned journalist and photographer, Nicholas is quietly racking up a string of pro se legal victories.

At the age of 19, Nicholas started to serve a lengthy prison sentence for manslaughter after he fired a sawed-off shotgun at a young man he thought had been trying to shoot him.

Behind bars, Nicholas organized a union to advocate for the rights of state prisoners in Orange County. He stumbled in getting the case off the ground in federal court before obtaining legal counsel for his appeal.

In 1999, the Second Circuit granted prisoners rights to unionize in Nicholas v. Miller, a decision that paved the way for Nicholas to establish a government education organization two years later.

After serving 13 years in prison, Nicholas earned his bachelors degree and worked as a researcher for legendary defense attorney Ron Kuby.

Nicholas said in an interview that he would continue his current case as an exercise in personal empowerment.

The photographer added another litigation success to his growing list late last year.

On Sept. 17, 2014, Nicholas tried to photograph National Football Leagues commissioner Roger Goodell, who was protected by retired police detective Thomas Crowe. Nicholas says that Crowe slammed into him with his truck, threw him to the ground, punched him, and then had him arrested for assault.

Four months later, the Manhattan district attorneys office dropped the charges after three eyewitnesses backed up Nicolass account. Crowe and the city settled a lawsuit Nicholas filed over the incident for $20,000 last October.

Nicholas said that police tried to shunt him to a press pen again at an NYPD officers funeral on Jan. 4, 2015, even though the ceremony had been open to the public. He says that police briefly confiscated his credentials for filming himself asking for the same access granted to pedestrians.

In addition to his individual due-process claims, Judge Oetken allowed Nicholas to pursue claims that the NYPD has a pattern and practice of interfering with journalists constitutional rights.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Judge Holds NYPD's Feet to Fire on Press Credentials - Courthouse ... - Courthouse News Service

Captain (Padre) Imam Ryan Carter is a chaplain with the Royal Canadian Military College, based in Kingston, Ontario. Here he reflects on the significane of Black History Month to him as a Black Muslim Canadian.

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Black History Month is always a month to reflect on my place in this history of Black peoples in Canada and our larger historical legacy. Being Muslim adds a new layer to this annual commemoration.

The Black experience of Islam provides a tremendous vehicle of personal emancipation from this perception that there is only one voice in history. Islam provides a system and worldview wherein diverse voices are able to articulate with legitimacy and authenticity a vision of their faith congruent with the universal and particular. Humans are fallible however, and while Islam provides this system, Muslims often times fall short.

You see, for the Black peoples of the Americas, namely those descendants of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, their Muslim-narrative often times needs recovery. Once recovered, it seems to be constantly denied in the eyes of those who privilege their culture as normative. In mainstream society, those with a demographic privilege are white males, whereas in Muslim subculture it's being Arab, or Pakistani, or Turkish. Other cultures or expressions are seen with a diminutive status.

Ultimately, racism is still an issue in the Muslim community and it comes out in the most pernicious ways that can leave a horrid feeling in your heart. I have been called a Gorilla, impure blood, Abd (slave), and that was just the half of it. Why does racism exist amongst Muslims? How could it ever persist when the Quran and Prophetic example are so explicit in its condemnation? I lamented for years about these painful experiences. My narrative was lost in a sea of people telling me that who I was, was not authentic.

I had a revelatory experience while studying Black theology at Hartford Seminary in the United States. Unlike Canada, America actually has an indigenous demographic of Black American Muslims. This is where I found my new home at the Muhammad Islamic Centre of Greater Hartford. It was there where I found the capacity to be at home with my Black identity in a setting that provided me with the opportunity to explore different narratives of being Muslim and Black. I learned that there can exist in the universe of interpretation, multiple visions of how the Quran speaks to each people. We are not talking about what is authoritative, what is law, what is Halal and Haram. We are talking about the capacity of a community to make sense of this universal revelation in their own space and time. My narrative was recovered.

If there is anything I can impart, is to emphasize that the road to respect and empowerment is to acknowledge our diverse and ancient narrative which has always been in our history but drowned out by generations of systematic oppression. In our current climate where society seems to be regressing in a direction where hate and intolerance is becoming fashionable, Black History Month must be a time where we capitalize our efforts in understanding the reasons why racism is still an issue in our broader Canadian society. To appreciate that Black-Canadians are an integral part of our history, not some exception. In our own Muslim communities, we must allow diverse voices in the Mosques permeated by mono-cultural attitudes and say more than Yes, Bilal was Black, racism is bad in Islam. We as Muslims must also look into our history both contemporary and old and recognize our contributions to some of the racial maladies that exist in our world.

So who am I?

I am the son of John and Yasmin Carter. A Muslim, a son of Canada with a heart which exists on the Islands of the Caribbean. Deep within my conscious I never forget that I am a descendant of Africa, my history is rich and my narrative developing.

This is who I am, and to Allah I give all my praise.

This article was produced exclusively for Muslim Link and should not be copied without prior permission from the site. For permission,please write to info@muslimlink.ca.

Original post:

Black History Month: Recovering Our Personal Narrative - Muslim Link

Terry Grosetti, a trainer and owner of Grosetti Performance in New Castle, believes that regardless of a persons age, a physical training program must be tailored to the individual. A personalized program, he says, helps a person achieve his or her goals and manage their overall training capacity.

Throughout the past three years, Grosetti has worked with the New Castle High School basketball team, as well as other students, administration staff, teachers and parents.

Before developing a training regimen, Grosetti wants his clients to be realistic.

Its important to know the truth, he says. You may need a lot more work than you think. You need to understand where you are and what it takes to get to where you want to be.

This is where accountability begins for the client and the trainer.

Its the difference, especially for students, between I want to succeed and I kinda want to succeed, Grosetti says. As a trainer, Im there to help them.

The training program he develops depends on the client, he says. For athletes, this can involve strength and conditioning to build the speed and power needed to play a particular sport. Reducing the risk of injury while helping the team succeed is most important.

For non-athletes, the approach is similar, but a plan is necessary to meet their specific needs. The person must know, or be taught, how to use ones body weight in positioning the hands, shoulders and feet; and how to perform jumps, push-ups or squat-thrusts the correct way.

A 6-year-old may not know how to run properly, Grosetti says. Or, may not know the proper form to use with exercise. Teach them correctly at a young age as their bodies develop and they will be in a safer position when it comes to injury risk. It also creates confidence.

A client's injury history also factors into developing any training program. Grosetti advises alerting a trainer to any prior injuries so the program excludes exercises that could aggravating the condition.

On the other hand, if the trainee had a hamstring injury, certain exercises can aid in recovery. The program can help build muscle strength and minimize the possibility of re-injury.

In terms of academic acuity, fitness can make a difference.

It definitely helps, he says. It takes the mind off stress so that a student can learn how to better deal with challenges.

Grosetti compares learning a new workout drill to solving a math problem.

It requires a correlation between the body and the mind, he says. A student learns new ways to do things, and can transfer that approach to the real world.

No matter what shape a training program takes, a common denominator is nutrition. Grosetti says exercise and diet are equally important, and breakfast is essential.

You have to get your metabolism going early in the day, Grosetti says. Thats an important way to prepare for a day of success.

Although everyone has a different reason for motivation, Grosetti believes there is no age limit to fitness training. He considers it an investment in self, and compares it to a 401(k) plan.

You invest dollars for whenever you are older, he says. But if you dont take care of your body today, you wont be able to enjoy what youve been saving for. So invest some time and dollars in yourself. Invest in healthier food choices and a daily half-hour workout.

Read the original here:

Personal trainer focuses on client empowerment - Clearfield Progress

Students at Sippican School will soon learn the ABCs of self-defense through a training curriculum aimed at providing a holistic approach to self-safety and responding to violence defensively.

The radKIDS program trains children to think about the unthinkable in situations of relational violence, bullying, and resisting aggression in all environments.

The program was brought to Sippican School as an inter-district response to a youth risk survey given to students in grades 7 to 12. Data analyzed by the school districts and the new healthy Tri-Town Coalition prompted concerns about students experiences with relational violence in and outside school, as well as with interpersonal relationships, substance abuse, and depression.

The radKIDS program, says Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos, will help combat the first aspect: relational violence.

Its a great social emotional program, said Frangos. The key is really empowering kids with what can happen to children off campus or even on campus. This includes, she said, bullying, being met with unkindness, or any physical violence. The program provides children with the tools to know what to do when those situations happen, Frangos said.

Frangos herself is a trained radKIDS instructor, and several Sippican School teachers recently attended the five-day training to become certified radKIDS facilitators as well.

The radKIDS curriculum is a developmental evidence-based curriculum that facilitates self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills.

[It] fosters resiliency, said Frangos. Instead of freezing with fright, students are conditioned to override their fight or flight response a bouncing-back, as Frangos called it. Sometimes when something tough happens to that kid its really hard to get your adrenalin to work for you instead of against you.

Aspects of the curriculum help kids to discover personal empowerment, set boundaries, and critically think about which defensive tools to use in any given situation.

Through radKIDS and its multi-sensory approach, Frangos suggested, The brain helps us think rationally as opposed to just being frozen and what moves to take instead of fight or flight.

Topics of the eight-hour curriculum that will be introduced to students during physical education class include school safety, home safety, bullying prevention, medicine safety, stranger safety, and even addresses topics such as how to approach dogs.

Some statistics on the nationwide outcome of implementing the radKIDS program show an 80% decrease in conflict and bullying in participating schools. Over 300,000 students have been trained so far, and 5,000 radKIDS facilitators are currently certified in the country.

According to statistic provided, radKIDS has helped over 125 trained students to escape attempted abduction, and thousands have escaped abusive situations.

School attendance in participating schools also increased as a result of the training.

Mattapoisett Police Chief Mary Lyons and Rochester Police Chief Paul Magee, both trained in the curriculum, have endorsed introducing the program to area schools.

The three principles of the program are: 1. No one has the right to hurt you; 2. One does not have the right to hurt someone else (unless it is in self-defense); and 3. It is not their fault if someone tries to hurt them.

The program will be unfolded in stages, with grade 6 parents first receiving an invitation from the school to attend an informational session about radKIDS.

The program will be implemented this year and information in the form of a safety manual will also be distributed to families.

Next year, grades 5 and 6 will experience the program.

I think this is awesome, said Marion School Committee Chairman Christine Marcolini. This is the stuff that keeps me up at night. I think this is wonderful and it really shows the more advanced thinking that were trying to do with our kids.

Marcolini said she found the statistics presented disturbing.

Our hope is that by the time children leave our school districts theyre really empowered to combat any difficult situation, said Frangos.

The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for March 15 at 6:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

More:

Sippican to Implement 'radKIDS' Defense Program - Wanderer

Home > News

MILCK's flashmob performance of her song "Quiet" at the Women's March on Washington, January, 2017

See MILCK perform at the opening of the Portland Oregon Womens Film Festival (POWFest) this Thursday at 6:30 pm at the Hollywood Theatre.

Vocalist and songwriter, MILCK, credited with uniting women in song after penning and performing what has been called the unofficial anthem of the Womens March on Washington, will be making a special appearance in Portland this week, opening the Portland, Oregon Womens Film Festival (POWFest) as it celebrates its 10th anniversary, this Thursday, March 2nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre.

Watch: MILCK perform Quiet with Choir! Choir! Choir! of 1300+

Its fitting that MILCK would choose a womens film festival as one of her first public performances since the March, as it was an award winning film director, bystander Alma Harel, who happened upon MILCKs flash mob of singers and recorded their a capella performance of Quiet as she was trying to leave the March. The video Har'el shared that day amassed over 14 million views on Facebook alone.

The song of empowerment spawned a grassroots movement #ICANTKEEPQUIET that soon spread across the globe. Requests for the sheet music came pouring in, so MILCK shared the arrangements and women began forming choirs and performing Quiet in communities across the U.S. and as far away as Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Italy and France. Individuals have been sharing their personal truths using the hashtag #icantkeepquiet and the artist turned activist is looking to continue the momentum of personal engagement that she started. Look for word on a new campaign to launch later this year, and in the meantime, download the lyrics here so you can sing along.

In addition to MILCKs performance opening night, POWFest will screen THIS IS EVERYTHING, GIGI GORGEOUS by Academy-Award winning director Barbara Kopple, portraying the intimate journey of Gigi Lazzarato, who began life as Gregory Lazzarato, who posted beauty and fashion videos from his bedroom only to later came out as a transgender female to an audience of millions.

And on Friday, March 3rd, at 9:30 am, MILCK will be participating on an Education Day panel Creating and Maintaining Safe Spaces for Womens Voices, for women in film, publishing, music and theater. Joined by Andi Zeisler, co-founder of Bitch Media; December Carson, co-founder of Siren Nation; and Carolyn Butts, publisher/founder of African Voices; the panel will be moderated by Oregon Music News publisher, Ana Ammann. ($5 or free with festival pass). Location: NW Documentary, 6 NE Tillamook St, Portland, OR 97212

Tickets for MILCK and THIS IS EVERYTHING: GIGI GORGEOUS are $15, admission to the panel is $5 or free with POWFest pass.

Proceeds support the only film festival in Portland exclusively placing a spotlight on women directors with a goal to eliminate the gender disparity that exists for women working in the film industry and educating our next generation of filmmakers.

For more information, visit http://www.powfest.com

See the article here:

MILCK comes to Portland this week to emPOWer - Oregon Music News

Sunday support meetings

The Casper Elks Lodge will host a benefit breakfast, open to the public as always, from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Sunday to benefit the Brian Scott David Street Stage. Lodge members will be serving pancakes, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage links, potatoes, scrambled eggs, French toast and omelets to order. New to the menu is build your own breakfast burrito. Also served is toast, juice, tea and coffee. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, 4 and under are free. For more information, call 234-4839.

Twice-monthly Sunday Eagles Breakfasts are served from 8 to 10:30 a.m., on the first and last Sundays of the month, at 306 N. Durbin. Order off the menu for a served breakfast. 235-5130.

Special Blue Ridge guest Neal Hatfield will preach at both services at Mountain View Baptist Church, 4250 Poison Spider Rd., at 8:15 and 11 a.m., as well as Sunday School at 9:30 p.m. Bring the whole family and friends to these special weekend events full of fun, laughter, and God's inspiring word. For more information, call Pastor Mike Sain at 234-4381.

The Casper Childrens Chorale will sing during the 9 a.m. service at St. Marks Episcopal Church, 701 S. Wolcott, and the 10:30 a.m. service at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 318 E. Sixth St. The Chorale, 80 singers in fourth through eighth grade, presents the tour annually, singing sacred choral literature in the setting for which it was written. Those songs are then added to the Chorales secular selections in preparation for their spring concert season. The public is encouraged to join in these services of worship and praise.

Living from the Heart: The Key to Peace, Freedom & Creative Empowerment, Feb. 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., offered in person at the Agricultural Learning Resources building on Fairgrounds Road and also via live webinar. In the new four-hour class, learn what the field of the heart really is, practice easy, practical ways to go into heart field and learn how to live every day from this place of peace, love, well-being and personal empowerment. The class is taught by Cathy Hazel Adams, practitioner, Intuitive Multidimensional Transformation & Healing, and certified Matrix Energetics practitioner. For a full class description and registration information, visit: http://www.cathyhazeladams.com/pp/classes-webinars-event/.

The Rover, Casper College's spring comedy, will performed at 2 p.m., on the McMurry Main Stage. It contains sexually suggestive scenes and language that some audiences might find offensive.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students 5-18 and are available online at caspercollege.edu/theatre, or one hour before each performance.

Mount Hope Lutheran School welcomes the public to its annual Strings Dinner at 5 p.m., in the MHLS gymnasium. Enjoy a chicken alfredo dinner while listening to a variety of music played by Mount Hope students. Mount Hopes PTO will also auction six theme baskets. All proceeds will go towards instrument repairs and new music for the students.

The Casper community is invited to this month's PFLAG dinner at the United Church of Christ, 15th & Melrose. The agenda is: 5 to 5:25 p.m., business meeting; 5:30 to 6 p.m., potluck dinner; 6 to 7 p.m., program.

The group will watch "The Out List" (58 minutes), a 2013 documentary movie on famous people who have come out as LGBTQ.

The dinner theme is baked potato and salad bar. White and sweet potatoes will be provided. Bring toppings, salads and desserts to share.

For more information, call Ruth Ann Leonard at 265-5449 or Rob Johnston at 259-5026.

Follow community news editor Sally Ann Shurmur on Twitter@WYOSAS

Read the rest here:

Town Crier: Sunday's Highlights - Casper Star-Tribune Online

Transitioning from a credit analyst to a commercial banker with Wells Fargo allowed Hanstad to view the monthly events in a new light.

"I'd moved to Fargo and started this new position and suddenly Women Connect became an opportunity to network with a large group of businesswomen," Hanstad says.

But she wanted an even deeper connection with the women she would meet each month in the large group setting.

That connection came in the form of a program called PUSH, which stands for "Pursue Dreams, Unite Women, Shatter Barriers, Have Heart."

The program is the brainchild of Carrie Carney and Chelsea Monda, two young professionals in the community who met through a mutual friend to discuss women's empowerment programs.

More than a year ago, Carney, marketing director at Eventide, and Monda, a senior client consultant at Sundog, began meeting monthly at a local coffee shop to share expertise and ideas for creating a network of women gathering in a smaller setting.

In January 2016, PUSH officially launched at the Women Connect event and soon after, Carney and Monda began receiving requests from women who wanted to be placed in a group.

Hanstad was one of those requesters. She reached out to Carney for the email addresses of individuals who'd expressed interest in a group, and eventually her group grew to include nine women.

"It was like we were long-lost friends," she says. "We all just got along so well and have connected to one another ... some of my very best friends in Fargo are people I met through this PUSH group."

Hanstad's experience is common, Carney and Monda say. The placement of women in the groups is entirely random, and the ideal size for a group is eight people. The idea of being placed randomly eliminates any preconceived notions so new relationships can be established, Monda says.

Since the program launched last year, 35 groups have been created with more than 200 women participating in them. Additionally, the PUSH Facebook group has nearly 400 members.

Once a group is formed, members are provided with rules of engagement. Monda says the rules are a guideline for helping the group begin developing relationships among the members and not actually rules.

Beyond the initial phrase of providing contact information and guidelines, Monda says PUSH groups are mostly self-managed and become a great outlet for women who want to achieve personal or professional goals.

Carney and Monda have each set and achieved a number of goals since they formed their PUSH group. "I've reached some goals I wouldn't have without this group," Carney says. For example, Monda set a goal to train for and run a 5K, and her PUSH group held her accountable to that goal. Carney changed jobs and used her PUSH group as a sounding board for issues associated with her new role.

Even though PUSH is a sub-committee of Women Connect, you don't have to be a Chamber member to be in a group, Carney says.

Women interested in joining can request to start a new group or be placed in an existing one.

"So many women are going out of their comfort zones and being placed randomly, but they have nothing to lose and everything to gain," Carney says.

Link:

Pushing past barriers: Program aims to foster empowering female relationships - West Central Tribune

Terry Grosetti, a trainer and owner of Grosetti Performance in New Castle, believes that regardless of a persons age, a physical training program must be tailored to the individual. A personalized program, he says, helps a person achieve his or her goals and manage their overall training capacity.

Throughout the past three years, Grosetti has worked with the New Castle High School basketball team, as well as other students, administration staff, teachers and parents.

Before developing a training regimen, Grosetti wants his clients to be realistic.

Its important to know the truth, he says. You may need a lot more work than you think. You need to understand where you are and what it takes to get to where you want to be.

This is where accountability begins for the client and the trainer.

Its the difference, especially for students, between I want to succeed and I kinda want to succeed, Grosetti says. As a trainer, Im there to help them.

The training program he develops depends on the client, he says. For athletes, this can involve strength and conditioning to build the speed and power needed to play a particular sport. Reducing the risk of injury while helping the team succeed is most important.

For non-athletes, the approach is similar, but a plan is necessary to meet their specific needs. The person must know, or be taught, how to use ones body weight in positioning the hands, shoulders and feet; and how to perform jumps, push-ups or squat-thrusts the correct way.

A 6-year-old may not know how to run properly, Grosetti says. Or, may not know the proper form to use with exercise. Teach them correctly at a young age as their bodies develop and they will be in a safer position when it comes to injury risk. It also creates confidence.

A client's injury history also factors into developing any training program. Grosetti advises alerting a trainer to any prior injuries so the program excludes exercises that could aggravating the condition.

On the other hand, if the trainee had a hamstring injury, certain exercises can aid in recovery. The program can help build muscle strength and minimize the possibility of re-injury.

In terms of academic acuity, fitness can make a difference.

+6

It definitely helps, he says. It takes the mind off stress so that a student can learn how to better deal with challenges.

Grosetti compares learning a new workout drill to solving a math problem.

It requires a correlation between the body and the mind, he says. A student learns new ways to do things, and can transfer that approach to the real world.

No matter what shape a training program takes, a common denominator is nutrition. Grosetti says exercise and diet are equally important, and breakfast is essential.

You have to get your metabolism going early in the day, Grosetti says. Thats an important way to prepare for a day of success.

Although everyone has a different reason for motivation, Grosetti believes there is no age limit to fitness training. He considers it an investment in self, and compares it to a 401(k) plan.

You invest dollars for whenever you are older, he says. But if you dont take care of your body today, you wont be able to enjoy what youve been saving for. So invest some time and dollars in yourself. Invest in healthier food choices and a daily half-hour workout.

Read this article:

Personal trainer focuses on client empowerment - Olean Times Herald

Season 1, Episode 4 - "The Farting Sex Tourist" Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson (Netflix)

It might sound strange to say that an episode called The Farting Sex Tourist is touching, but thats fitting for a show that finds its best rhythms when its subverting genre tropes and questioning the role of normalcy. There are still some elements of Santa Clarita Diet that dont blend well, and some aspects that still require explanation, but the show, like its protagonist Sheila (Drew Barrymore), has found its groove and zeroed in on some of the most compelling eccentricities of the premise.

The Farting Sex Tourist explores the benefits and limits of pursuing your deepest impulses with little regard for those around you, as well as wrestling with ideas about changing family dynamics and personal transformation. By slowing down and letting the premise breath, the show shades in its zombie as both personal empowerment and personal destruction metaphor with wit and wisdom, whilst progressing the overall narrative arc and giving Barrymore more to do than ever before.

The episode opens with Sheila happily chipping away at the body in her freezer. She puts some fingers and an ear into a blender and makes herself a bloody smoothie, smiling cherubically as Good Morning by The Puppini Sisters blasts in the background. Its clearly a subversive image, hammering home the violence behind the show as well as the kind of bouncy positivity that makes up most sitcoms; its both funny and appropriately chilly, raising the stakes while emphasizing the shows oddball tone.

The action quickly transitions to Sheila powerwalking through a comfortably upper-middle-class suburban street with her friends Lisa (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) and Alondra (Joy Osmanski), whove both noticed her new-found radiance. Shes beaming; shes a woman renewed and reinvigorated. When her friends ask about her new lease on life, she mentions her high protein diet (thankfully skipping the gory details of her morning shake) and her unbridled willingness to throw herself into the world.

Gone are the days when shed get in her own way or let fear push her off course, and she encourages her friends to follow in her footsteps, to live the full Oprah. Its funny to link the modern self-help movement with the ancient cultural narratives of zombie-ism (both, after all, are about achieving some kind of new state of being); it offers Barrymore plenty of opportunities to funnel her unrelenting sunniness. Shes so good at demonstrating Sheilas blithe, inhuman joy, and has a genuinely funny physicality as she marches around town, both inspiring and intimidating her neighbors. Lisa invites Sheila to her son, Erics (Skyler Gisondo) science fair, and in return, Sheila encourages Lisa to go after a work opportunity and advises Alondra to attend a John Legend concert.

Meanwhile, Joel (Timothy Olyphant) is marching around California for very different reasons; hes on a fact-finding mission, exploring occult stores to gain some information about zombies. The show always does a good job of showing how ridiculous the Hammonds lives have become; part of that is revealing the ignorance of the occult shop workers. For them, and for the occultists in the community, zombies are iconographic or hearsay, a way of turning their cultural anxieties into manageable narratives, rather than a real-world/day-to-day reality. After being offered a look at zombie porn, Joel nearly gives up, but sees two paintings on the wall that mirror Sheilas journey, including an illustration of a man throwing up a small fleshy ball similar to the one that Sheila found in her vomit.

Before Joel can show his wife the potential clues, however, hes interrupted by his neighbor, Rick (Richard T. Jones), who wants to take a look at their new car because hes recently become a father and needs to trade his motorbike in for something more practical. Luckily, Sheila notices a piece of scalp from the person she killed in the previous episode stuck to the truck and eats it before its discovered. Olyphant takes the limelight for a minute with a perfectly strange piece of physical comedy, as he shakes his hips in order to distract Rick. When he says, Look, I couldnt do this before, as he moves from side to side, his childish excitement is both funny and absurd, a combination that Olyphant hits hard throughout the show.

Theyre called to Abbys (Liv Hewson) school to talk about her frequent absences, and the way that shes corrupted their star pupil Eric by encouraging him to ditch too. The principal, Novak, played by the always reliably strange Thomas Lennon, and his not-particularly-subtle suggestions that Abby is a mess are funny, especially when Barrymore matches his energy and frustration. She takes exception to the idea that Abby is both less remarkable than Eric and some kind of delinquent; however, the principle will accept no criticism of Eric, his choices as principal, or the school in general. Both Novak and Abby are both edgy and wired as they face off, whilst Joel tries to calm them both down, painfully aware of the bloody consequences of Sheila losing her temper. Eventually, he gets his wife to leave the office, but not before she vaguely, and bizarrely, threatens her new nemesis.

When they get home, Joel questions a despondent Abby about her behavior, but Sheila encourages her to pursue her dream of being a poet. She even suggests that her daughter leaves school in order to focus on her art full time, a suggestion that horrifies her husband, and prompts him to tell her that he thinks their family wont survive her recently discovered liberalism and dedication to living in the now. She asks if he wants her to stop being who she was always meant to be in a scene thats both touching and sad, and brings up a lot of interesting and complex questions. Chiefly, the episode attempts to work out how much of a person remains after their worldview has completely changed, and if it actually matters if you love them enough.

Frightened that she might lose everything, Sheila runs next door to speak to Eric, the closest thing that she has to a zombie expert. He explains that part of whats made her outlook so sunny now is her lack of impulse control. Every story hes read about zombies says the same thing; they lose control in order to appease their basest desires. Barrymore sells the characters heartache at learning that she may one day hurt her family by proxy of honoring her nature, but lets her performance be warmed by a certain hopefulness that she can tussle with her essential desires. Its a beautifully pitched sequence, with both actors coming to play, as well as grounding the potential sadness in their futures.

In the meantime, Joel convinces Abby to talk about both her feelings and her school absences with the help of a grilled cheese sandwich. As different as their teenage years were, and will presumably continue to be, father and daughter find some common ground; her mother is the undead, and his was capable of making service workers cry. This further strengthens the idea that the writers are using the concept of the zombie to explore family dynamics and personal responsibility.

Remembering that he expunged his teenage angst and, its strongly suggested, his negative feelings towards his mother, by riding a motorbike, he borrows Ricks and takes his daughter to the top of a hill, an area that he used to take Sheila when they were in high school. He looks around and explains that it was once just open space, not occupied by the houses now built into the hills. Abby makes the point that just because its different doesnt mean it isnt beautiful, or that it doesnt still hold the texture and memories of her parents courtship. This obviously has metaphorical value, but also allows Abby and Joel to truly express their confusion and fears as they shout their anxieties at each other. Its a moving and graceful sequence that avoids being heavy-handed.

At Erics science presentation, Sheila encourages Lisa to grasp all the opportunities that her work has to offer before coming up against the principal again, who refuses to apologies for their earlier interaction. She follows him out of the room, and the episode suggests that hes going to be her next meal. Before she gets to him, however, shes interrupted by Joel, who tells her that he wants her to live her best life, and that hell support her. He repeats his daughters observations that when things change they can become more beautiful rather than less, and reaffirms the fact that hes loved Sheila since he was a teenager, and will continue to do so through this new, fraught transition.

Its hardly revelatory to say that Barrymore is good at portraying a romantic lead, but shes both lovely and relatable here. Somehow, she manages to convey the idea shes hearing something for the first as well as hundredth time, being told something that shes known for years and yet is only just discovering. Instead of killing the principal, she threatens him, saying that shell put his house up for sale without his knowledge and rezone his property so its classed as a horse farm.

And just like that, the Hammonds leave hand in hand, their world changed but their family solidified. The next day, they have to make a quick getaway as they realise that Sheilas neighbourly advice has backfired in a variety of ways, including Rick purchasing an expensive car and Alondra booking three weekends worth of John Legend concert tickets. Despite that, everything seems okay, until their nosey neighbour Dan (Ricardo Chavira), sprays ant repellent on their garden and stumbles upon a severed finger. The moment offers both a mini-cliffhanger, and a nice capper to a truly fantastic episode. Its funny and insightful, both deepening the mythology of the show and reconfiguring it to be incredibly personal for these characters. The Farting Sex Tourist is a delicious mix of funny and sincere, and suggests that Santa Clarita Diet has real space and depth to tell a special, spiky story.

Rating:

Jay has a BA in English Literature and Film Studies from Roehampton University and an MA in Film and Screen Cultures from the same institution. His debut novel Until There Was You was released last year and the follow-up, The Restart Project, is forthcoming, both with Less Than Three Press. You can read his television rants on Twitter or his website.

Link:

"The Farting Sex Tourist" Is Both Deep and Deeply Silly - PopMatters

Appleholic, (noun), pl-hlk: An imaginative person who thinks about what Apple is doing, why and where it is going. Delivering popular Apple-related news, advice and entertainment since 1999.

Apple continues to create tools that let creative people be creative, with a new album release recorded on an iPhone, edited on GarageBand and made available through Apple Music proving the value of the end-to-end creative ecosystem the company has built.

Grammy-nominated artist, Steve Lacy (also in a band called The Internet), just released a new album project (Steve Lacy's Demo) through Apple Music. The entire project was recorded on an iPhone, edited using Apples consumer-friendly GarageBand, and made its debut on Apple Music this week.

You can hear it here.

I think the release underlines Apples historical commitment to providing creative tools for the rest of us. The complexity of the music helps demonstrate the potential of these tools for unique self-expression.

Lacy spoke with Beats 1 anchor, Matt Wilkinson, about the project and why he chose to work with an iPhone. While he built some drum riffs in Ableton, Lacy pulled all the recordings together in GarageBand. The artist likes that he can record ideas and build new hooks in his hotel room when hes on tour.

The hook on the first track was recorded in a hotel room in Australia, he said, I will record anywhere I get an idea, he said. So shout out to GarageBand for being so mobile and such a good way to get my ideas out.

While its a neat story in technology terms, Lacy is also passionate about the potential for self-expression locked inside devices hundreds of millions of iPhone users already possess. In the right hands these devices are tools for personal empowerment.

To give the message to kids that like, you dont have to be limited to use this equipment to get these ideas out. Cos you know you have like, I feel like theres a lot of kids, or just people in general who are like, I cant do this because I dont have this. You know what Im saying? Yeah, when you have an iPhone, work with what you have. Cos if you have the ideas, its going to comprehend you know what Im saying?

Lacy is one of a new breed of completely digitally savvy artists. He was eight-years old when the iPhone first appeared and five when Apple shipped the first version of GarageBand.

I started making beats on my iPhone because I wasnt about the excuse of oh I dont have this, so Im just not gonna do it, he says.

So I went to this Guitar Center convention and bought this piece called the iRigwhich was $20. Initially I got it just to plug my guitar in my phone and see what apps have cool guitar effects. Then I got this app called Akai MPCand thats where I started chopping all my drums up and doing all my samples, strictly off the iPhone, he said.

Then I made a little more money, got a laptop, and made beats and songs off my laptop, but I still went back to this method. It was just raw and its home, you know?"

Lacy isnt the first artist to record an album completely on an iPhone other artists to have done so include One Like Son and Dan Tedesco. Damon Albarn famously recorded Gorrilaz fourth studio album, The FaIl, on an iPad.

It is all the same worth noting that Lacys album makes its debut during the same month veteran music industry title, Billboard, used a picture taken using an iPhone as the image on its front cover.

Events like these testify to the raw creative power available to every iPhone user.

Ten years since the introduction of the iPhone, these 'computers for the rest of us' reflect Steve Jobs' life's work, from his summer job at HP to the potential for powerful creative expression you hold in your pocket, today.

I cant help but reflect that the fact millions worldwide now have access to these creative tools can be seen as a fitting tribute to Apples Steve Jobs, who would have been 62-years old today.

Google+?If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not joinAppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner communityand join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?

Got a story?Drop me a line via Twitter. I'd like it if you chose to follow me there so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld.

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Apple Music just released an album made on an iPhone ... - Computerworld

Jonathan Butcher, AZ I See It 5:46 p.m. MT Feb. 24, 2017

The Arizona Legislature is training its sights on the plan to broaden eligibility for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, a school-choice program created six years ago for disabled children. Wochit

Lanae Enriquez and her daughter, Addison.(Photo: Courtesy of Lanae Enriquez)

Two children, born a decade apart, can teach their parents the same lesson. For Lanae Enriquez, her stepsons young life and her daughters bright potential emphasize the value of a quality education starting from day one.

Arizona lawmakers are considering legislation that would give every Arizona child the chance to have this opportunity, regardless of their ZIP code or parents paychecks.

Lanae traces her stepsons current struggles in high school back to his being passed along from year to year in elementary school. He is doing all he can to keep up with his classes now, she says.

We have kept on top of him more (in recent months), so its brought his grades up, Lanae says. Its really concerning because now, I have to think, Do I want that for my daughter? Lanae says, whose daughter, Addison, turns 5 in March.

Lawmakers are considering giving all families access to a flexible learning option that has only been available to certain students since 2011: Education Savings Accounts. With these accounts, the state deposits a portion of a childs funding from the state formula into a private bank account that parents use to buy educational products and services for their children.

The accounts are distinct from other educational options because parents can choose multiple learning services simultaneously for their child. Some parents may choose to hire a personal tutor for their student to help them in math, while others may combine online classes, private schoolingand public school extracurricular activities.

GABRIEL: ESAs are Arizona's best innovation

Arizona pioneered the accounts in 2011 for children with special needs, expanding access to the accounts over time to help children with challenges like those assigned to failing schools, children adopted from the state foster care system, and students on Native American reservations.

Research from EdChoice finds that one-third of participants are making multiple educational choices with the accounts sometimes, but not always, including a new school. A survey of participating families in 2013 found that 71 percent of participants reported being very satisfied with their childs account. No parent reported any level of dissatisfaction.

Parents and students can't wait for the state to straighten out its complex school funding formula. They need options now.(Photo: Michael Schennum/The Republic)

Lanae is one of thousands of Arizonans who are well-acquainted with choosing how and where their child learns when an assigned school is not the right fit. She moved her stepson to a new district school as he wrestled with his studies. Some 200,000 Arizona parents choose charter schools. Scholarship organizations awarded 60,000 scholarships to eligible students this year to attend K-12 private schools. Thousands more move across district lines to choose a different traditional public school.

Lanae considered a charter school for Addison, but the charter schools in their area fill seats using a lottery. These lotteries conjure images of gymnasiums full of nervous parents holding a ticket that may determine their childs academic success or failure. Lanae wants more than just to hope that my child gets in, she says.

DIAZ: Why school choice is an illusion

All parents want their child to succeed from her first day of kindergarten to when she is handed a high-school diploma. If their child is struggling in a local school, some Arizonans can find public schools across town or charter schools with seats available.

But others may not have these options. And for all of us, life happens: Lanae is expecting a baby and had to leave work now that she is well into her pregnancy. Addison was attending a private Montessori school, but times are tight for her family.

Its heartbreaking for us as parents that she is not eligible for an education savings account now, Lanae says, because the account would allow Addison to remain at the Montessori school.

The accounts can help families cross the income divide. Average accounts for mainstream students are worth $5,600, according to legislative analysts. A survey of Arizona private schools finds that about half of private schools have tuition at or below this level, making this option a possibility for more families. Approximately 85 percent of private schools in the state provide tuition assistance to help cover the rest.

Families that want more than just a new school can use the account to buy an online class or even pay for a college class before the child graduates high school. A child with a visual impairment could use their account to buy braille materials to help with schoolwork.

ROBB:Universal vouchers make school choice pretty cheap

All Arizonans care about education. Last year, voters chose to add $3.5 billion to public schools over the next decade. Fiscal analysts report that the education savings accounts awarded to children with special needs save the state $1,400 per student. Arizonas dizzying funding formula also creates a cost savings for students transferring from certain other public schools and creates a cost savings for districts in expenses like transportation and food service.

Lawmakers have worked for more than 15 years at simplifying the states funding formula to make sure resources are used to improve student learning. But a $10 billion education budget has proved hard to steer.

Parents and children like Lanae and Addison cannot wait for a better funding system when Addison can have a chance to succeed now with an education savings account. The same is true for traditional and charter public schools. Ideas to give these schools more flexibility and to help teachers challenge students should not be in a holding pattern while we adjust how tax dollars flow to schools.

For Lanae, and for thousands of parents who want their children to dream big, its not about the money. I would love to have her in the best school that I possibly could. Someplace that could nurture her talents and talents that we dont even know that she has, Lanae says.

Jonathan Butcher is education director at the Goldwater Institute and senior fellow at the Beacon Center of Tennessee.

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Viewpoints: The case for expanding Empowerment Scholarship Accounts - AZCentral.com

Patch.com

Bloomfield Company Uses Disney Princesses To Promote Female Empowerment Patch.com Martha Peralta, the owner of Bloomfield entertainment company Bella Princess, said that she recently revamped her company's programs to use princess-related imagery to advocate for female empowerment and channel girls' potential for personal growth..

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Bloomfield Company Uses Disney Princesses To Promote Female Empowerment - Patch.com

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 22: Founder of The Art of Living Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conducted Dynamism in Self and Nation (DSN) Programme earlier known as Divya Samaj Nirman online, which was attended by 8000 plus people across 100 locations pan India and Russia. From AOL centres in Punjab to remotest corners in Tripura and Assam, from Latur in Maharashtra to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and from Jammu to Kanyakumari, the people connected virtually to learn powerful combination of Yoga, group processes and deep spiritual knowledge to break through personal barriers and create personal empowerment spanned over 4 days with Sri Sri with the message Be all that you can be! Be the Movers and Shakers of the World. Change the world with your smile. Dont let the world change your smile, do commitment to contribute to the society to build a better country. Approximately 100 centres across India and Russia had organized The Art of Livings signature DSN Programme with Sr Sri Ravi Shanker. This is the first time Sri Sri Ravi Shanker is conducting this type of programme online since the inception of The Art of Living connecting India virtually online through webcast. In Jammu Region, people from all walks of life and background and religion including AOL faculty members connecting humanity through the power of breath, yoga and spirituality joined at Gian Mandir, Trikuta Nagar. The said programme was locally assisted by Swami Gunatit ji from Art of Living International Centre, Bangalore and organised by other senior faculty members of AOL Chapter along with dedicated team of volunteers, said Ajay Kapoor, State Media Coordinator of Art of Living. The Art of Living DSN course is a rigorous and transformational course, designed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Through a powerful combination of Padma Sadhana, special meditations, breathing techniques, group processes, and deep spiritual knowledge, the DSN course empowers participants to break through personal inhibitions and barriers of all kinds, Kapoor added. Ajay Kapoor also briefed about various benefits of DSN course.

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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conducts DSN Prog online - Daily Excelsior

Jamie Jackson, Your Newsweekly contributor Published 11:36 a.m. ET Feb. 21, 2017 | Updated 12 hours ago

United Against Poverty Executive Director Annabel Robertson (center) accepts a plaque from Carolyn Antenem and Suzanne Bertman (at left) of Impact 100. Joining Robertson are Success Training for Employment Program (STEP) staff Ron Browning (right of Robertson), April McCoy and Canieria Gardner.(Photo: CONTRIBUTED BY DAN LAMSON)

VERO BEACH United Against Poverty of Indian River County recently hosted an open house for Impact 100 members on Feb. 8, at the nonprofit organizations UP Center, located at 2746 U.S. 1 in Vero Beach.

Impact 100 members learned about the Success Training for Employment Program (STEP), which received a $100,000 grant in April 2016 for a project entitled Jump Start Job Opportunities. The Impact 100 grant provided funding to remodel the STEP classroom, underwrite an online job-mentoring platform and to publish the STEP curriculum workbooks, which were written by United Against Poverty staff.

The classroom remodeling project included building permanent walls, carpeting, 20 computer stations equipped with new computers, worktables and seating. Since remodeling the classroom in late 2016, STEP has experienced much greater interest in program enrollment.

Our first STEP class since the renovation enrolled 26 students and had a waiting list of 30, explained Annabel Robertson, United Against Poverty executive director for Indian River County. We know that the increased interest in this program is due to the professional training environment that was made possible through the Impact 100 grant and our programs success in 2016.

In 2016, 100 STEP participants were employed at 60 local employers with a $2.4 million annualized wage impact in the community.

With the classroom remodeling behind them, United Against Poverty is currently working with a professional editor and graphic designer to prepare STEP workbooks for publishing in late spring 2017.

United Against Poverty, formerly Harvest Food & Outreach Center, was founded in 2003 by Austin and Ginny Hunt in Vero Beach. The nonprofit, a 501(c)(3) organization, provides programs that inspire and empower people living in poverty to lift themselves and their families to economic self-sufficiency.

Services include crisis care, case management, transformative education, food and household subsidy, employment training and placement, personal empowerment training and active referrals to other collaborative social service providers. For more information, visit upirc.org.

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Impact 100 members tour remodeled STEP Training Center - TCPalm

Jordan Klassen (Mandy-Lyn )

Week of Feb 20: This week, Cuban music both funky and serene, a lament for the Internet-addicted, and a raucous yelp of empowerment.

PREMIERE: Moody Chamber Pop From Jordan Klassen

Singer/songwriter Jordan Klassen is going to be releasing an EP called Curses on March 3. Today we premiere the EPs opening track, called Carol. The title track is already out there and gives us a reason to visit with the Vancouver-based songwriter; Carol, with its unusually accented piano figure and its evocative cello section, gives us a reason to stay. Check it out and youll see what I mean.

A Lament For The Internet Age: Nobody Hangs Out Anymore

Omar Sosas Afro-Cuban Journey Goes To Senegal

Weve heard pianist Omar Sosa, on disc and in our studio, over the years as hes steadily moved from a Latin jazz sound to something more spiritual, and grounded in the deep African roots of his native Cuba. Omar lives in Barcelona, where he met up with Senegalese kora player and singer Seckou Keita. On Friday the 24th, they release their album Transparent Water, a translucent set of sonic meditations in which the piano and the kora, a 21-string, two-row harp from West Africa, are beautifully intertwined. (Keita actually plays an older, 22-string form of the kora, for those keeping score at home.) Theres a live Barcelona performance of standout track Dary available online, but here is the version that opens this remarkable album.

Cubafonia May Inspire Cubaphilia

A Ray Of Sunshine, from PWR BTTM

The queer punk duo known as PWR BTTM had a good year last year their live shows, a mix of punk and glam attitude, supported a strong debut album, Ugly Cherries. In May, theyll release Pageant, their sophomore effort, but theyve released their first single this past week. Its called Big Beautiful Day, and it is essentially a song of personal empowerment you know, a be who you really are kind of thing. But this is PWR BTTM, so it has a cheeky quality to it as well: a line about boys who have no choice is followed by a spoken Jesus Christ, lets help them! All this while the duo traffics in all kinds of punk and garage rock tropes yet somehow manages to make them sound fresh thats the real beauty of Big Beautiful Day. For those with tender sensibilities, or kids, enjoy the FCC-friendly version of the song online. Otherwise, heres the over-the-top video with the songs unexpurgated lyrics:

Kishi Bashis New Video Is A Mini Film Noir Kaoru Ishibashi makes cinematic pop under the name Kishi Bashi. As a classically-trained violinist, he has displayed a real gift for creating almost orchestral layers of sound both in the studio and in a live setting, as hes proven on past visits to Soundcheck. If you missed his last album Sonderlust, released last fall, heres a good place to start: a brand new video for the song Cant Let Go, Juno. The song wears its emotions on its sleeve, its pulsing synth-pop dressed in layers of strings (both real and synthesized, by the sound of it). In the video, however, Kishi Bashi is impassive, playing a car service driver who finds various strands of reality impinging on his little car-sized universe. Most of it leaves him unmoved, until the simple but affecting end.

Here Is Aldous Hardings Song, And Here Is Its Enigmatic VideoNew Zealand singer Aldous Harding writes songs whose stark, gothic imagery is usually accompanied by an equally stark piano or guitar. She is also a riveting live performer, as we discovered when she visited us last year. Those song often dont so much tell stories as they do sketch a character or suggest a situation often at a point where a crossroad has been reached, and a choice must be made. That is the case with her most elemental and chilling song, Horizon. A simple falling piano figure that never changes supports a song about making a choice: it seems to be about choosing to stay with the familiar and the comfortable, or striking out for parts unknown, but I could be wrong. Here is your princess, and here is the horizon, is the repeated refrain.Live versions of the song have been on Youtube for a while, but now Harding has released her album, also called Horizon, in which the title track has acquired some backing vocals and stray instrumental sounds while still maintaining its bleak beauty.

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Weekly Music Roundup: Big Beautiful Day, Cubafonia, & "Carol" - WNYC

My 8-year-old daughter recently became frustrated as she struggled with an assignment that asked her to memorize the location and spelling of all 50 states.

Why do I even need to memorize this? she complained. I can just Google the location and spelling of any state whenever I need it.

I paused for a moment, not entirely sure how to answer the question. She was right. She could Google this information; but there is a greater value to knowing the whereabouts of Americas 50 states. Would she know, instinctively, when it was worth the effort to Google something like the location of a state?

I replied, Anna, what if someone told you that Montana was located next to North Dakota. Would you believe them and simply take what they were saying as truth? Are you going to Google (i.e., doubt) anything anyone ever says to you?

She stared back at me, understanding that relying on Google to determine all facts from fiction quickly goes awry. Google is useful for some things, but isnt practical for all matters.

The question of course goes deeper than something as simple and easily answerable as geography. It becomes much trickier when we are asked to discern real from fake in areas as fuzzy as public sentiment, portrayals of historical events, and conclusions reached by a confluence of research studies.

iStock from Getty Images

How do I help my daughter to ask meaningful questions, seek multiple sources of truth, and acknowledge the real answer, ambiguous as it may be?

I suppose the conundrum is better phrased this way: How will my daughter know when a simple Google search is sufficient? When will she need to seek multiple sources and doubt even her own understanding?

At Yale University, my undergraduate alma mater, there was a popular slogan that read, Yale doesnt teach you what to think; Yale teaches you how to think.

That premise is critical in todays media environment, because rather than accepting what we are told, we need to teach our children to think critically about how to process the information that they hear.

Early Foundations of Knowledge

If we prioritize our childrens ability think critically, then we need to embed the proper building blocks in their earliest education. While they may seem pass and pedestrian, the basics of literacy and memorization are as paramount as ever.

At Istation, the education technology company where I work, we believe that the fundamentals of critical thinking begin with literacy. With the foundations of reading comes logic, memorization, conceptual thinking, and imagination.

UNESCO writes in its Education for All Global Monitoring Report, it is widely reckoned that, in modern societies, literacy skills are fundamental to informed decision-making, personal empowerment, active and passive participation in local and global social community (Stromquist, 2005, p. 12).

Alongside literacy come the basics of memorization. Memorizing the location of all 50 states may not count as true critical thinking, but it forms a building block of knowledge that allows far more challenging questions to be asked. Even the skill of memorization frees up other parts of the brain for more advanced processing.

The Guardian suggests that memorising facts and lists can build the foundations for higher thinking and problem solving. Effectively, we can draw on what we have memorized to create and grapple with more complex topics. For example, my daughter can use her knowledge of the geographical location of the states to begin to estimate if it would take longer to drive from Dallas, Texas, to Denver, Colorado, or to Portland, Maine.

Once one can read and retain knowledge, one begins to gain the skill of writing. Writing allows a person to express her own thoughts on a topic. We become more than just consumers of information; we become organizers of thoughts and ideas. If our writing resonates with others, we gain the important skill of influence.

iStock by Getty Images

For my 8-year-old, most truths remain simple. Eight times eight is 64, and Austin is the state capital of Texas.

As adults, real meaning and authentic truth become much more challenging to discern. What I hope for my daughter and for our nations children is that they learn how to think critically about the information that is given to them; that they understand the limitations of Google; and that they can embrace a narrative that is not one-sided but multi-dimensional.

In our family, we fully embrace the basics of reading and memorization. We read not just from one author, or one publication, or one geography, but try to embrace both our historical narratives and current events through the lens of multiple sources.

For my daughter, I will continue to encourage what may seem like basic skills of reading and memorization. It is not that I want or expect her to consider that a complete education; quite to the contrary: it is through the building blocks of reading and memorization that we begin to be able to question greater truths, recognize inconsistencies, compare disparate ideas and pursue deeper meaning.

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Teaching Our Kids Real from Fake - Huffington Post