Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.

Am I dying? An Honest Answer

Why Yoga Pants are Incredibly Dangerous to today's Youth

http://pinkskyserendipity.com/why-yoga-pants-are-incredibly-dangerous-to-todays-youth/#sthash.iJyfpgsS.oc4gIBir.dpbs

In school, whether others see you as good-looking or not matters

http://thesocietypages.org/families/2014/08/26/in-school-whether-others-see-you-as-good-looking-or-not-matters/

Race, Spanking and Shame: dimensions of corporal punishment

http://thesocietypages.org/specials/race-spanking-and-shame/

Could You Pass the U.S. Citizenship Test?

http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2013/05/03/could-you-pass-a-u-s-citizenship-test/

Visualizing the Inequities of Climate Change

http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2014/09/26/the-inequalities-of-climate-change-visualized-in-one-fascinating-map-and-6-other-great-interactive-resources/

Sorry, Emma Watson, but HeForShe Is Rotten for Men

http://time.com/3432838/emma-watson-feminism-men-women/

Emma Waton's UN Speech

What career path do you hope to pursue after high school / College? Who has been the biggest influence on that direction?

The Motherhood Penalty vs. the Fatherhood Bonus

Click on link below to read then return to post comment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/upshot/a-child-helps-your-career-if-youre-a-man.html?abt=0002&abg=1

Men, women face different standards in work-related parenting requests

Click on link below to read then return to post comment.
http://m.startribune.com/lifestyle/relationship/275176701.html?section=/lifestyle

Panel Urges Overhauling Health Care at End of Life

Click on link below to read then return to post comment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/18/science/end-of-life-care-needs-sweeping-overhaul-panel-says.html

A Mother in Jail for Helping Her Daughter Have an Abortion

Click on link below to read article the return to post comment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/magazine/a-mother-in-jail-for-helping-her-daughter-have-an-abortion.html

Global Warming Concerns Grow

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/science/global-warming-concerns-grow.html?_r=0

U.S. Launches Air-Strike Campaign Against ISIS in Syria

Click on link below to read the article the return to post comment.
http://time.com/3419906/u-s-launches-airstrike-campaign-against-isis-in-syria/

Jim "Halvy" Halvorson

On Wednesday September 10th Mr. Halvorson collapsed in the computer lab of an aortic aneurysms. He was rushed to the hospital where they preform emergency surgery. Halvy passed away Saturday morning at 3:30am.

Some of you knew him as Mr. Halvorson, others as Halvy, and still others as Jim, please share a memory of Jim, Halvy, Mr. Halvorson.  

The Cost of War

Click on link below to read then comeback here to post comment
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/opinion/charles-blow-the-cost-of-war.html

Church Is More Informal, Like Society, Study Finds

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/upshot/church-is-becoming-more-informal-just-like-the-rest-of-society.html?abt=0002&abg=1

NFL Recruits 4 Women to Advise on Domestic Violence and Sex Assault Policy

• Alexandra Sifferlin @acsifferlin

Sept. 15, 2014

The move comes after severe public backlash over the NFL's handling of domestic violence charges against players

In an effort to show the NFL’s commitment to making domestic violence and sexual assault a priority, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced four women who will help shape NFL’s policies and programs relating to domestic violence and sexual assault.

In a letter to NFL staff, Goodell announced that Anna Isaacson, who is currently the NFL’s vice president of community affairs and philanthropy, will undertake a greater role as vice president of social responsibility.

Additionally, three experts in domestic violence will serve as senior advisors on domestic violence and sexual assault: Lisa Friel, the head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, will focus on the evaluation process of alleged violence and assault incidences and will advise Goodell and the NFL staff on law violations. Jane Randel, the co-founder of NO MORE (a national initiative to raise the profile of violence and assault and Rita Smith), and Rita Smith, the former executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, will work on several related initiatives, including: workplace policy, training curricula, education programs, Employee Assistance Programs and distributing information about resources outside of the NFL as related to these issues.

The announcement comes after the NFL and Goodell received significant public backlash over the handling of Ray Rice, who punched his wife in the face, knocking her unconscious. You can read Goodell’s full letter here.

Adrian Peterson Expected to Play Sunday Despite Child Abuse Indictment

Charlotte Alter Sept. 15, 2014

The Vikings lost 30-7 against the Patriots in the absence of their star player

MORE

Adrian Peterson: ‘I Am, Without a Doubt, Not a Child Abuser’

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Radisson Suspends Minnesota Vikings Sponsorship

Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET

The Minnesota Vikings announced Monday that star running back Adrian Peterson will attend practices and meetings this week and is expected to play Sunday despite being indicted on child injury charges last week. Peterson turned himself into authorities over the weekend and was released on $15,000 bail.

Vikings owners Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf released a statement Monday that announced Peterson will continue to play as the legal system investigates the allegations of abuse. “We believe this is a matter of due process and we should allow the legal system to proceed so we can come to the most effective conclusions and then determine the appropriate course of action,” they said. “Currently we believe we are at a juncture where the most appropriate next step is to allow the judicial process to move forward.”

Peterson, 29, turned himself in Saturday in Montgomery County, Texas after he wasindicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child for “whooping” his 4-year old son with a switch in May. He could face up to two years in state jail.

The six-time Pro Bowler was deactivated from Sunday’s game against the Patriots, which resulted in a 30-7 loss for the Vikings.

In a statement released Monday afternoon on the Vikings website, Peterson expressed remorse for hurting his son but denied that he is a child abuser. “I am not a perfect parent, but I am, without a doubt, not a child abuser. I am someone that disciplined his child and did not intend to cause him any injury,” he said.

“I want everyone to understand how sorry I feel about the hurt I havebrought to my child,” he said. “I never wanted to be a distraction to the Vikings organization, the Minnesota community or to my teammates.”

Ray Rice is Expected Appeal NFL Suspension

Click on link below to read then come back to post comment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/sports/football/ray-rice-is-expected-to-appeal-suspension-by-nfl.html?_r=0

Who Are you within your group?

Click on the link below and take the online survey and discuss what your results were and if you agree and what or why not.

http://survley.com/who-are-you-group.html

Florida Prosecutors Face Long Odds When Police Use Lethal Force

Click on link below and read the article then return to post your comments

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/us/challenges-seen-in-prosecuting-police-for-use-of-deadly-force.html?_r=0

Faith of Slain Journalists Remembered at Home

Both James Foley and Steven Sotloff were men of prayer

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by Taboola

By Elisabeth Diaz

Words often escape when grief strikes deep. In the last two weeks, the militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) beheaded two American journalists and posted the gruesome videos of their deaths online. The first victim, James Foley, was Catholic. The second, Steven Joel Sotloff, was Jewish. Both were truth-tellers, and both were men of prayer. Their communities of faith now face new challenges as their families and their nation mourns: comforting the living and remembering the dead.

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Sotloff’s Jewish identity and dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship were kept under wraps in efforts to protect him during his time in ISIS captivity. Since saving his life is no longer possible, details of his Judaism are beginning to come to light on the national scene.

“[Sotloff] was 31 years old, raised in Miami and a proud member of our Jewish community,” the Greater Miami Jewish Federation said in a statement offering prayers and condolences to the Sotloff family. “He was a son, a brother and a grandson who will be dearly missed.”

Sotloff’s grandparents survived the Holocaust, and his mother taught preschool at Temple Beth Am, a reform synagogue outside Miami. He moved to Israel in 2008 for undergraduate studies at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzilya near Tel Aviv. In Hebrew, his middle names means “Yahweh is God.” Sotloffreportedly prayed in the direction of Jerusalem and even fasted for Yom Kippur during his captivity by telling his captors that he was sick and couldn’t eat.

Prayer similarly helped to sustain Foley during his captivity. The first time Foley was captured — in Libya several years ago — he would pray the rosary on his knuckles. “It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed,” he later wrote in anarticle for Marquette University, his Jesuit alma mater. “I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.”

When Foley was later captured in Syria, his captors confiscated his letters to his family, but he had fellow hostage Daniel Rye Ottosen memorize and dictate a final letter, which Ottosen delivered upon his own release last June. “I feel you all especially when I pray,” Foley told his family through Ottosen. “I pray for you to stay strong and to believe. I really feel I can touch you even in this darkness when I pray.”

Now the nation’s eyes are turning from Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic church, where a special mass for Foley was held last week, to Temple Beth Am, where a memorial service for Sotloff is planned for Friday. The rabbis, like the bishops before them, have the difficult task of trying to help the Sotloff family and the community cope with their grief. In times of death, grieving together in silence is a common Jewish ritual. It is also customary, Rabbi Terry Bookman of Temple Beth Am says, for the community to say, “May God comfort and console you along with all who mourn the loss of a loved one, in Zion, and throughout the world,” to comfort the mourners. “Steven grew up here and I have known him most of his life,” Bookman says. “The world is diminished by his loss.”

The words of the Biblical psalmist also offer comfort, explains Rabbi Rachel Greengrass, Temple Beth Am’s Jewish Life Coordinator. Psalm 23 reminds mourners that even as they “walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” God is with them. “It moves us from a place of pain, vulnerability, and loneliness, to a place of comfort and hope,” she says.

Greengrass adds that mourners also say, “Baruch dayan ha-emet, Blessed is the true judge.” “In that moment of loss we accept that we are not in control, and we turn the pain of our loss into praise for God,” she explains. “In this way, the memory of our loved one becomes a benediction.”

Michael Sam: Joining the Cowboys Is a ‘Dream Come True’

Click on link below and read the "Michael Sam's" article, The return to this blog to post comment.

http://time.com/3265103/michael-sam-cowboys/

READING THE CAMOUFLAGE: “YOU ARE NOW ENEMY COMBATANTS”

by Lisa Wade, PhD, 5 days ago at 09:00 am

Much has been said — and much more should follow — about the militarization of the police inAmerican cities.  The images coming out of Ferguson, MO these past weeks testify to the distribution of military-grade hardware, gear, guns, and vehicles to your everyday police officer.

Here I’d like to focus on just one small part of this distribution of military-grade equipment: the uniform.  It’s not, by a long shot, the most straightforwardly dangerous, but it is a powerful symbol.  It’s a “dead giveaway,” writes a political scientist at Gin & Tacos, that there is something amiss with the “mindset of law enforcement.”  He’s referring to the swapping of blue or tan in favor of camouflage, like in this photo by Whitney Curtis for The New York Times:

From Gin & Tacos:

Of what conceivable practical use could green or desert camouflage be in a suburban environment? Gonna help you blend in with the Taco Bell or the liquor store? Even if they did wear something that helped conceal them, that would be counterproductive to the entire purpose of policing in a situation like that; law enforcement wants to be visible to act as a deterrent to violent or property crimes in a public disturbance.

He concludes that “[t]here is only one reason those cops would wear camo” and, if I can put words in his mouth, it’s to be frightening and intimidating.  And, perhaps, to enjoy being so.

This is clear when we think about the role that camo plays in everyday fashion. For women, it’s a fun appropriation of masculinity.  For men, it’s a way to signal “I’m tough” by reference to hunting or soldiering. What irony, after all, that black men in Ferguson were also photographed wearing camo during the unrest that followed Brown’s death.

On their bodies, of course, the camouflage is much more benign.  In contrast, alongside kevlar, automatic rifles, and riot shields on cops, it’s terrifying. It sends a clear message to the people of Ferguson: you are now enemy combatants.