Is it my age?? or is there a GOD? | at least i have a brain

Happy Easter ?

God is risen?

what God?

is this a stage of life?

I am 48.

is that old?

I seem to be surrounded by tragedy?.illness?injustice?why?

Cancer ?- everywhere?family, friends, children of friends. babies!

Lifelimiting conditions ? friends, family, friends? parents.

Death - not-logical deaths ? daughter?s friend, a young mum, c colleagues sister, a recent pupil, a ?suicide of a child who was friends with my younger kids.

Mental illness ? everywhere ? indiscriminate ? me, family, friends, children of friends, children of family.

Hardships- ?a young mam taken from young family ?her husband died last year.

Illness?the amount of illhealth in my family alone. NOBODY could believe it. my children, my husband, myself, my parents?.i could go on.

what next -the ?what are the odds? ?- the what the feck else can be flung at us? or at my friend and her family? another friend and his life?

unpredictables -?what is next with hubbies ADR to drugs? So many tests to be done?both for him and for me? Which of us gets news first?

Injustice -WHY do good people seem to attract life?s challenges? why do we call them challenges? They are fecking nightmares!

Why do life?s?bad people?seem ?to go through life dumping on people, harming people, mentally damaging all they come into contact with, lying, mentally abusing?.and yet unscathed?? how the hell is that fair?

Is this a coming of age?

Is it the fact that we do more Wakes than Weddings?

We are the generation who are burying their parents? but it can?t be ? these friends are dying YOUNG, ?far too young!

this weekend on one evening was texting 2 friends ? about child seriously ill, a husband seriously ill. a mam seiously ill?.where do you stop?

WHAT IF WE HAVE IT ALL WRONG?

is this it?

HOW can there be a God?who cares?

How can so much tragedy affect a few?

Life is too short?

but WHY would a God do this ?

i AM a Christian, but you know what, it gets harder to have much conviction with so many challenges and so few reasons.

Is this the loving God we learned about in school?

yet if i didn?t believe?could i cope?

hx

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Categories: The new me | Tags: baby, bad people, cancer, children, christian, death, faith, family, God, good friends, illness, injustice, is there a God, life-threatening, mental-health, pain, painful, parents, serious illness, suffereing, tragedy, wakes, what next? | Permalink.

Source: http://atleastihaveabrain.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/is-it-my-age-or-is-there-a-god/

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University of Washington to Offer Its First Ever Online-Only Degree ...

I'm all for exploring innovative ways to extend affordable access to quality higher education, especially for students who find their vocation in low-paying (if much needed) professions. But I'm really not confident that online-only degrees are they way to go.

The University of Washington will offer a new low-cost online bachelor?s degree completion program in early childhood and family studies. Pending final approval, the program will start in the fall.

[...] The Early Childhood and Family Studies degree, which is the first online-only bachelor?s completion program to be offered by the UW, will prepare individuals to work in child care, preschools, social and mental health services, parent and family support, and arts organizations.

So, um, the UW's first ever online-only bachelor's degree will be granted in program training people in a profession that consists mostly of face-to-face interpersonal interaction? I mean, if distance learning is so magical, why train preschool teachers at all? Wouldn't it be cheaper and more effective to just hand all the toddlers iPads and let them teach themselves?

The UW online degree costs $160 per credit ? which is about equivalent to $7,000 for a year of full-time study ? regardless of where students live.

No doubt that's cheaper, sure. But in every sense of the word. And it's not just the students (and their students) who might not get the value out of this that they expect. If the UW is selling a degree for $7,000 a year (and with relaxed admission requirements), won't that devalue the degrees of students paying almost twice the price? Top schools like the UW stand to cheapen their brand if they're not careful.

The program will be administered by UW Educational Outreach, which received a Next Generation Learning Challenges grant partially funded by the Gates Foundation, to help offset costs of developing the degree. The grant includes offering several core classes in early childhood education free to the public, as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on the Coursera platform.

What a great humanitarian Bill Gates is, promoting education reforms that in no way generate profits for the industry on which he built his fortune. (But then, all those libraries Andrew Carnegie built sure did use a lot of steel, so I guess I shouldn't be too cynical.)

I don't mean to come off as a Luddite. There's a place in higher education for online learning. But let's be clear: The main advantage of MOOCs is that they're cheaper. Not better, or for the most part, not even just as good. Just cheaper.

And if our public policy solution to the crisis in higher education funding is focused on making college cheaper, well, in the end, chances are we'll get what we pay for.

Source: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/29/university-of-washington-to-offer-its-first-online-only-degree

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When cash is no longer legal tender

Workers at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing surrounded by piles of money (Discovery)Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the damaged dollar bills floating around the economy? How long does paper money actually last before it disintegrates into torn shreds or a pulpy mass that is indistinguishable from regular old paper? And at what point is paper money just too damaged to be used as legal tender?

On March 30 9 p.m. ET/PT, the Discovery Channel will give viewers an inside look at ?The Secret Life of Money,? which seeks to answer these questions along with offering many other insights into the world of money, including the history of how gold became a standard form of currency around the world.

David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein from NPR?s "Planet Money" contributed to the special and chatted with Yahoo News about some of the stranger things they?ve learned about cash.

?To me, what?s most interesting is that there is a bigger idea at work here: Money is this thing that we take for granted,? Goldstein said. ?When you stop and think about money, it gets really weird, really fast.?

For example, if your money is damaged, you can legally exchange it with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. But only to a point. The bureau says it receives upwards of 300 envelopes per day, containing ?torn, blackened, blood-soaked, shrunken or otherwise maimed money.? However, so long as 51 percent of that blood-soaked bill remains intact, you can get a freshly issued replacement bill.

?It?s not paper the way we normally think of paper. It?s 75 percent cotton and 25 percent linen. It?s like a T-shirt,? Kestenbaum says, explaining why money is actually more physically durable than some might think.

Still, that hasn?t stopped thousands of people each year from testing its limits in strange ways.

For example, one Florida man attempted to dry his money after it became wet by putting it in the microwave. But instead of returning to its crisp, clean form, the money was crisped and burst into flames.

These sort of incidents resulted in the bureau exchanging $28 million worth of paper money in 2011 alone.

Of course, Goldstein and Kestenbaum note that similar incidents are on the decline as money moves toward becoming a predominantly electronic transaction between buyer and seller.

?There is no truck full of dollar bills going from my employer?s bank to my bank,? Goldstein says, noting that the very basic idea of money is really more about trust than physical value. ?The U.S. dollar is already basically an electronic currency.?

And with the advent of independent currency providers such as Bitcoin, some people are trying to establish that trust without relying on a government.

Still, Kestenbaum says that for all its shortcomings, paper money is likely to stay with us for years to come. ?I am more bearish on the future of physical money,? he said. ?At some point, we won?t be using cash at all. Not in the next year, but in 50 years? Probably.?

Ironically, one of the reasons Goldstein and Kestenbaum say the U.S. dollar has a future in its physical form is its popularity outside of America. They note that there are currently more $100 bills outside the U.S. than within the borders of the country that printed them.

If you add up all of the cash, "there?s a lot missing because of how much is used overseas,? Kestenbaum said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/secret-life-money-revealed-172617707.html

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Keep police business off Facebook, NYPD tells cops

Tom Hays , The Associated Press ? ? ? 3 hrs.

The New York Police Department has begun policing how its officers use Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

An internal order made public on Thursday advises members of the nation's largest police department to be careful with what they reveal online ? even urging them not to disclose that they're on the force.

Officers "are to exercise good judgment and demonstrate professionalism expected of them while performing their official duties," the memo says. It also warns that "personal social media sites may be used against them to undermine the credibility of the department, interfere with official police business, compromise ongoing investigations and affect their employment status."

The guidelines bar officers from posting photos of themselves in uniform ? with the exception of those taken at promotion or awards ceremonies ? unless they have permission from the department. Officers could face discipline if they don't comply.

Police officials said the policy has been in the works for about two years, and arose out of concern that police officers' online postings could embarrass the NYPD or be misinterpreted as official police policy. The department punished more than a dozen officers after they made degrading remarks about revelers at the West Indian Day Parade in 2011.

"We believe these guidelines are reasonable and make sense," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday.

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, which represents 23,000 police officers, declined comment. In the past, the union has cautioned its members about what they post and who they interact with on the Internet.

The NYPD edict prohibits the posting on personal websites of crime scene photos or witness statements. It also bars officers from using social media to contact witnesses, crime victims or lawyers involved in pending cases, or to contact minors who aren't part of their families.

"Such communications may be deemed inappropriate or unethical and may jeopardize an ongoing investigation," it says.

The adoption of guidelines was first reported in the Daily News.

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a241b59/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Ckeep0Epolice0Ebusiness0Efacebook0Enypd0Etells0Ecops0E1C9143650A/story01.htm

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Chavez's legacy gains religious glow in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Holding a Bible in her arms at the start of Holy Week, seamstress Maria Munoz waited patiently to visit the tomb of the man she considers another savior of humanity.

The 64-year-old said she had already turned her humble one-bedroom house into a shrine devoted to the late President Hugo Chavez, complete with busts, photos and coffee mugs bearing his image. Now, she said, her brother-in-law was looking for a larger house to display six boxes' worth of Chavez relics that her family has collected throughout his political career.

"He saved us from so many politicians who came before him," Munoz said as tears welled in her eyes. "He saved us from everything."

Chavez's die-hard followers considered him a living legend on a par with independence-era hero Simon Bolivar well before his March 5 death from cancer. In the mere three weeks since, however, Chavez has ascended to divine status in this deeply Catholic country as the government and Chavistas build a religious mythology around him ahead of April 14 elections to pick a new leader.

Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has led the way, repeatedly calling the late president "the redeemer Christ of the Americas" and describing Chavistas, including himself, as "apostles."

Maduro went even further after Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis earlier this month. Maduro said Chavez had advised Jesus Christ in heaven that it was time for a South American pope.

That comes as Maduro's government loops ads on state TV comparing Chavez to sainted heroes such as Bolivar and puts up countless banners around the capital emblazoned with Chavez's image and the message "From his hands sprouts the rain of life."

"President Chavez is in heaven," Maduro told a March 16 rally in the poor Caracas neighborhood of Catia. "I don't have any doubt that if any man who walked this earth did what was needed so that Christ the redeemer would give him a seat at his side, it was our redeemer liberator of the 21st century, the comandante Hugo Chavez."

Chavistas such as Munoz have filled Venezuela with murals, posters and other artwork showing Chavez in holy poses surrounded by crosses, rosary beads and other religious symbolism.

One poster on sale in downtown Caracas depicts Chavez holding a shining gold cross in his hands beside a quote from the Book of Joshua: "Comrade, be not afraid. Neither be dismayed, for I Will be with you each instant." The original scripture says "Lord thy God," and not "I," will accompany humanity each instant.

The late leader had encouraged such treatment as he built an elaborate cult of personality and mythologized his own rise to power, said Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, a University of Georgia media studies scholar who hails from Venezuela.

She said Chavez's successors are clearly hoping that pumping up that mythology can boost Maduro's presidential campaign, which has been based almost entirely on promises to continue Chavez's legacy. The opposition candidate, Gov. Henrique Capriles, counters that Maduro isn't Chavez, and highlights the problems that Chavez left behind such as soaring crime and inflation.

"They're fast-tracking the mythification," Acosta-Alzuru said of the government. "Sometimes I feel that Venezuelan politics has become a big church. Sometimes I feel it has become a big mausoleum."

Teacher Geraldine Escalona said she believed Chavez had served a divine purpose during his 58 years on earth, including launching free housing and education programs and pushing the cause of Latin American unity.

"God used him for this, for unifying our country and Latin America," the 22-year-old said. "I saw him as a kind of God."

Such rhetoric has upset some religious leaders and drawn the reproach of Venezuela's top Roman Catholic official, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, on the eve of the Easter holidays.

"One can't equate any hero or human leader or authority with Jesus Christ," Urosa warned. "We can't equate the supernatural and religious sphere with the natural, earthly and sociopolitical."

Chavez, in his days, crossed paths frequently with Venezuela's church, which sometimes accused the socialist leader of becoming increasingly authoritarian. Chavez described Christ as a socialist, and he strongly criticized Cardinal Urosa, saying he misled the Vatican with warnings that Venezuela was drifting toward dictatorship.

Emerging this week from a church on the outskirts of Caracas, Lizbeth Colmenares slammed politicians from both sides for using derogatory language in the campaign, particularly during Holy Week.

"They are not following the words of Christ," said Colmenares, a 67-year old retiree who was holding palm fronds woven into the shape of the Holy Cross. "They should be more humble and they shouldn't be attacking each other that way."

Of course, politics and religion have long mixed in Latin America, starting with the Spanish conquest of the New World, which Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes famously said was carried out "between sword and cross."

In the 20th century, Argentine first lady Eva Peron helped start a leftist Latin American pantheon after her untimely death in 1952. She's since become a veritable saint for millions in her homeland, with pictures of her angelic face still commonly displayed in homes and government offices. Like Chavez, Peron was worshipped as a protector of the poor as well as a political fighter.

Chavez tied his own legacy to Bolivar, incessantly invoking his name and delivering hundreds of speeches with Bolivar's stern portrait looming over his shoulder. Chavez renamed the whole country "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" and ordered a giant mausoleum built to house Bolivar's bones.

A short animated spot shown repeatedly on state TV this month makes clear that Chavez has already become a political saint for millions. It shows Chavez, after death, walking the western Venezuelan plains of his childhood before coming across Peron, Bolivar, the martyred Chilean President Salvador Allende and Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, among others.

"We know that in Argentina we have a Peronism that is very much alive," said Acosta-Alzuru. "And there are other examples in Latin America where a leader, a caudillo, tries to be everything for the country. What Maduro and Chavez's followers are doing is trying to keep Chavez alive."

Some Chavez supporters waiting to visit his tomb on a hill overlooking Caracas said their comandante is with them in spirit ? and for that reason they planned to vote for Maduro, confident that Chavez was guiding his hand.

Reaching the marble tomb means first walking through an exhibit celebrating Chavez's life and military career, with photos and text exalting a seemingly inevitable rise to immortality.

"He's still alive," said 52-year-old nurse Gisela Averdano. "He hasn't died. For me, he will always continue."

___

AP writers James Anderson and Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavezs-legacy-gains-religious-glow-venezuela-154631980.html

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Greek dog that hounded debt monitors is free again

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Ruby the anti-austerity dog is back on the streets of Athens ? just in time for next week's visit by representatives of international creditors monitoring Greece's troubled finances.

The male stray gained fame this month after barking menacingly as part of a pack of dogs at European and International Monetary Fund austerity inspectors driving up to the Finance Ministry for talks.

Ruby was later captured by municipal officials and freed Friday after being observed for two weeks and showing no signs of aggressiveness.

A city statement said Ruby's detention followed a complaint that he bit a man, and wasn't linked with the ministry incident. Dogs often follow anti-austerity protesters in Athens.

Recession-crippled Greece is being kept afloat by international bailouts, released following regular assessments of demanded cutbacks and reforms.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greek-dog-hounded-debt-monitors-free-again-204841633--finance.html

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Lindsay Lohan Claims She Didn't Steal

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/lindsay-lohan-claims-she-didnt-steal/

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Nicki Minaj's 'High School' To Premiere On Tuesday: Watch A Sneak Peek Now!

Video will debut at 10:53 a.m. ET during 'MTV First,' Nicki will sit down for an interview right after on MTV.com.
By MTV News Staff

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704607/nicki-minaj-high-school-music-video-teaser.jhtml

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BracketRacket: A quiz, a thought and Peeps

Wichita State's Carl Hall, left, and La Salle's Jerrell Wright battle under the basket during the first half of a West Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Wichita State's Carl Hall, left, and La Salle's Jerrell Wright battle under the basket during the first half of a West Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

FILE - Oregon head coach Dana Altman calls out a play during the second half against Saint Louis in a third-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in this March 23, 2013 file photo taken in San Jose, Calif. March 23, 2013 file photo. Oregon is the third school Altman's taken to the NCAA tournament, and the Ducks have had 20-win seasons in each of his three years as head coach. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File)

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga reacts in the closing minutes of an East Regional semifinal in the NCAA college basketball tournament against Marquette, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - Louisville head coach Rick Pitino reacts during the first half a second-round NCAA college basketball tournament game against North Carolina A&T, in this March 21, 2013 file photo taken in Lexington, Ky. Pitino is a surefire Hall of Famer, with two NCAA titles, 660 wins _ and counting _ and a 49-18 record in March alone. (AP Photo/James Crisp, File)

Welcome to BracketRacket, your one-stop shopping place for all things NCAA.

For our first Sweet 16 edition, we've got a geography quiz by Shockers and Explorers, a coach in rarified air, a former Ohio attorney general rooting for Michigan State and Jim Larranaga's thought for the day. All that and some Bracket Bits that include all of Dunk City's postseason dunks and, in honor of Easter, Peeps.

___

GEOGRAPHY QUIZ

Who says academics go by the wayside during the NCAA tournament?

La Salle and Wichita State took a geography quiz at the West Regional in Los Angeles, and the Shockers passed. Belying their name, the Explorers need to brush up a little.

Here's an excerpt of how it went from AP Sports Writer Beth Harris:

Question: Where is La Salle located?

Answer: "Philly, right? I believe it's Philly," Shockers guard Malcolm Armstead said.

Correct.

Question: Where is Wichita State located?

Answer: "What state is it in?" asked La Salle guard Ramon Galloway.

And it went downhill from there.

"I saw a store down here called Which Wich," Explorers guard Tyrone Garland offered, not-so-helpfully naming a national sandwich chain.

Guard Tyreek Duren pitched in: "Steve Zack said we passed the Wichita exit when we were going to the airport. He pointed it out and said, 'That's who we play.'"

Informed of their opponent's confusion, Shockers forward Cleanthony Early, of Middletown, N.Y., admitted he was initially stumped, too.

"I didn't know where Wichita was either before I went there," he said. "I had to do my research. When I first heard of it, I couldn't even pronounce it correctly."

After losing to the Shockers in the Sweet 16, the Explorers probably know a little bit more about Wichita as well.

___

ONE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS

Forgive Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks if they have a bit of an inferiority complex this weekend.

And no, this isn't a gripe about the selection committee's seeding.

The Ducks, being covered at the Sweet 16 by AP National Writer Nancy Armour, are in the Midwest Regional semifinals with a veritable Who's Who of college hoops.

Their opponent, Louisville, is a two-time national champion and was in the Final Four last year. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino is a surefire Hall of Famer, with two NCAA titles, 660 wins ? and counting ? and a 49-18 record in March alone.

There's also Duke, which won its fourth national title two years ago and whose coach, Mike Krzyzewski, has more wins than anyone else in Division I. (Coach K has a side gig, too, leading the U.S. men to gold medals at the last two Olympics.)

And don't forget Michigan State, which may as well include the Final Four on its schedule for as many times as Tom Izzo and the Spartans wind up there.

"Fortunately, it's our team going out there," Altman said.

Altman is no slouch, either. Oregon is the third school he's taken to the NCAA tournament, and the Ducks have had 20-win seasons in each of his three years as head coach. But Oregon is not exactly a tournament mainstay; this is the Ducks' first appearance since 2008, and their first trip to the regional semifinals since 2007.

"All three of those programs, because of their coaches, have great records, great traditions," Altman said. "We're trying to build a tradition. We're trying to build something that consistently competes year in and year out. That's a big challenge for us."

___

FORCED TO CHOOSE

Richard Codray is the former Ohio attorney general and lives in Columbus, so he roots for Ohio State football.

He also went to Michigan State at the same time as Magic Johnson, so he pulls for Spartans basketball.

That left the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a dilemma while filling out his NCAA tournament bracket. But it came down to picking a team ? he has the Buckeyes and Spartans reaching the Final Four ? Codray went with Michigan State.

"I always go with my heart," Codray told AP Business Writer Christina Rexrode.

Codray's roommate at Michigan State had a few classes with Magic and he saw firsthand the impact the oversized and gregarious point guard had on the school.

"It was really exciting and fun to watch," Codray said. "Of course he left after two years and went on to fame and fortune. The rest of us toiled for four years finding ourselves. He's a great personality, he just glows and picks everybody up around him."

___

HOLD THAT THOUGHT

During his Final Four run with George Mason, Miami coach Jim Larranaga became known for giving a "thought for the day" to his players.

He's carried on the practice with the Hurricanes, although it's hard to tell what effect it has, as AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Washington D.C. found out.

"Every day he gives us a thought, and something that sticks with us, and it's not something that's complicated," forward Julian Gamble said, "just something that's very simple and just to let you know that we have to enjoy these moments."

If that's the case, Gamble was asked, can he name a favorite "thought for the day?"

"Can't think of one. Know one?" he said, turning to teammate Shane Larkin.

"I can't think of one," Larkin said.

But Gamble made a nice recovery, saying: "The one for this game is keep 'em out of the paint and block out on rebounds, so that will be my favorite one for now."

Larranaga will have to come up with a new thought, one that will last the entire offseason, after the Hurricanes lost to Marquette in the Sweet 16.

Hopefully, it'll be one that sticks.

___

BRACKET BITS

That speck in the middle isn't a postage stamp. It's the court inside Cowboys Stadium for the Sweet 16: http://bit.ly/YGOWYA

Apparently the cordial feelings between Ohio State and Arizona aren't just between the coaches: http://bit.ly/10VBWPv

In honor of Easter, a bracket made out of Peeps: http://bit.ly/YGPJZm

Dunk City's dunks during the postseason, all of them: http://deadsp.in/XColZj

A couple of celeb sightings at Sweet 16 games: Drew Carey at Ohio State-Arizona in LA, San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh at Syracuse-Indiana in DC.

___

STAT OF THE DAY

Dunk City is rattling the search engines along with rims.

According to Yahoo! Search, Florida Gulf Coast University is dominating as the most-searched team after becoming the first No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16.

Searches for the Eagles spiked 3,367 percent this week and FGCU has gotten more searches than North Korea, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Bieber.

FGCU has been searched more than any of the remaining teams in the tournament, ahead of better-known schools such as Syracuse, Duke, Michigan and Kansas.

___

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We're so used to people not giving us credit. ... That fuels our fire," Marquette's Vander Blue said after the Golden Eagles beat Miami to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2003.

___

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

East Region

Marquette 71, Miami 61

Syracuse 61, Indiana 50

West Region

Ohio State 73, Arizona 70

Wichita State 72, La Salle 58

___

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE

South Region

At Arlington, Texas

Kansas (31-5) vs. Michigan (28-7), 7:37 p.m.

Florida Gulf Coast (26-10) vs. Florida (28-7), 30 minutes following

Midwest Region

At Indianapolis

Louisville (31-5) vs. Oregon (28-8), 7:15 p.m.

Duke (29-5) vs. Michigan State (27-8), 30 minutes following

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-29-BracketRacket-032913/id-7209e09087b445f3bae0916700412d48

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$5 million donation to TXU Energy Aid program to help needy ...

Zachary Thompson, the county's director of health and human services, says the program does more than pay bills. (Mia Castillo/Staff)

Staff writer Mia Castillo reports:

North Texans who can?t pay their electricity bills will continue to get the help they need thanks to a $5 million contribution to the TXU Energy Aid program.

?In the last 10 years there has been nearly $19 million of bill payment assistance that has helped 94,000 Dallas County residents,? said Kim Campbell, senior manager for customer advocacy for TXU. ?The program truly is a lifeline for our customers that are in need.?

TXU Energy announced the donation during a press conference Thursday morning celebrating the 30th anniversary of the nationally recognized program, billed as the biggest of it kind in the nation. The company matches each dollar in donations by employees, customers and others with a $5 donation of its own.

The program has helped more than 435,000 Texans pay more than $78 million in electricity bills, according to the company.

Representatives from about 20 social service agencies that help distribute the funds were present at the conference, including Zachary Thompson, Dallas County?s director of health and human services.

Thompson said the program goes beyond paying bills for needy customers.

?It brings them into social service centers like Dallas County Health and Human Services and other agencies and gives us the opportunity to provide them additional assistance,? he said.

Those needing help with their bills can call 211 to see if they qualify, and anyone seeking to donate can find information here.

Source: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/5-million-donation-to-txu-energy-aid-program-to-help-needy-customers-pay-electricity-bills.html/

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Banks seek U.S. appeals court intervention in FHFA lawsuits

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fifteen major banks sued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over risky housing debt urged a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to intervene, citing "gravely prejudicial" rulings by the trial judge coordinating the litigation.

In a joint petition filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, the banks said U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, had "systematically deprived" them of evidence to defend themselves, and issued rulings aimed at coercing settlements.

The banks, which include UBS AG , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp , want to reverse several of Cote's rulings, and get more access to information about what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac knew about mortgage debt they bought prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation's two biggest mortgage finance companies, are regulated by the FHFA.

The unusual filing Wednesday was a sign of how serious the litigation had become. Analysts have said the banks face tens of billions of dollars in possible damages.

The lawsuits, filed in 2011, accuse the banks of violating securities laws by misleading the Fannie and Freddie about the quality of home loans packaged into $200 billion in securities.

A spokeswoman for the FHFA had no immediate comment.

Of the 18 lawsuits the FHFA filed, 16 were transferred to Cote in December 2011. Since then, Cote, 66, has exerted a strong hand over how the cases have developed.

She has denied motions to dismiss those cases and has said she thinks the cases should settle. She has also limited depositions and document discovery and set a speedy trial schedule.

The first trial is scheduled for January 2014 against UBS AG, with others to follow. The banks are awaiting a 2nd Circuit ruling on whether to reverse Cote's decision to not dismiss the UBS case.

The banks, which must continue to face Cote, said filing Wednesday's petition was not something they did lightly. But they said they "are being forced to proceed under a series of gravely prejudicial rulings, some aimed at pressuring petitioners to settle."

Already, one defendant, General Electric Co , has agreed to settle. Terms were confidential.

In the petition, the banks say Cote has prohibited discovery into the business side of Fannie and Freddie that put together mortgage-backed securities rather than purchasing them.

The banks also complain that Cote has limited them to 20 depositions of people at Fannie, Freddie and the FHFA for all 15 lawsuits, while allowing the FHFA to take more than 400 on its end.

The banks, which also include Citigroup Inc , Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays PLC , called Cote's approach "one-sided" and said it is designed to force settlement rather than "foster fair and reasonable determination of the issues."

"The rulings prejudge facts a jury should decide based on a full evidentiary record," the banks said.

Cote did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Stefanie Johnson, a spokeswoman for the FHFA, declined comment.

Other banks that joined the request include First Horizon National Corp , Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Nomura Holdings Inc , Societe Generale , Morgan Stanley , Ally Financial Inc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Credit Suisse Group AG .

The case is In re FHFA Coordinated Securities Litigation, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 13-1122.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Alison Frankel; Editing by Bernard Orr and Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/banks-seek-u-appeals-court-intervention-fhfa-lawsuits-211650931--sector.html

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Pope names his successor as archbishop of Buenos Aires

Last week, during his Ryan Seacrest-hosted special on The CW, Justin Timberlake said that music is the "most special" hat of the many hats he wears as an entertainer. Now, we can't psychoanalyze JT?as much as everyone may have wanted to during his year-long courtship of the world's attention. But, to be sure, music has given this man a lot: Timberlake's pop-star status has allowed him to pursue the very side projects that have transformed into his main career focus, as modern mega-celebrities are want to do with their "brand maintenance" these days. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-names-successor-archbishop-buenos-aires-112444196.html

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Sharing Experiences: Why I Don't Cover Baseball Any More ...

Carter Gaddis had?his (and every baseball fan?s) dream job as the beat reporter for the Tampa Bay Rays. He gave it up to be a more present father. Here?s his story.

Guest Blogger and former Rays beat reporter, Carter Gaddis, with his boys at the Trop

?Sharing Experiences? is a series of posts in which a variety of dads, all in different work-family situations, share their experiences. I hope this series can forward the important conversations we have here, and spark ideas we can apply to our own lives.

Opening Day of Baseball Season (which should be a national holiday) is just four days away, so here?s a guest post that fits the happiest day of the year! Enjoy- SB

Why I Don?t Cover Baseball Any More

A guest post by Carter Gaddis. This article originally appeared on Feb 6th, 2013?at his great blog DadScribe

Pitchers and catchers report next week for spring training. On that day, I?ll pick up my sons at daycare, take them home, make their supper, beg them to eat their green beans, help them with their homework, maybe play with them for a while, help them get ready for bed, read them a book, yell at them to get back into bed, ask them don?t they know how late it is, chase them up the stairs and back into their bedrooms, threaten to withhold tomorrow?s dessert if they don?t go to sleep, and check on them on my way to bed, amazed, as always, at how achingly beautiful they are in repose.

It wasn?t so long ago I would not have been able to do any of those things. And not merely because I didn?t have kids back then. I wouldn?t have been able to do those things on the day pitchers and catchers report for spring training because I would have reported, too.

I might have mentioned once or twice that I used to cover baseball for a newspaper. I wrote about the Tampa Bay Rays for a newspaper here in Tampa. That job went away for good in July 2008. The layoff ended a 16-year run for me at the paper. The last decade of that was spent writing about baseball.

And so, on the day pitchers and catchers report, I?ll pick up my kids after work. I?ll do the things they need me to do. I?ll do them gladly, skillfully, and gratefully.

I asked off the Rays beat after the 2005 season. Why? Why would I leave what many people (myself included) would consider the career of a lifetime, the dream job? It couldn?t be more simple: My wife and I were expecting our first child in December of that year. There was no way I wanted to put my family through the rigors of a baseball season year after year after year.

As a baseball beat writer for a newspaper, you are on the road for more than 100 days a year. Even when you?re home, the job?s hours keep you away from the house from early afternoon until the wee, small hours of the morning. Essentially, except for mornings before school and rare days off, a baseball beat writer with kids is an absentee parent. Days off are few and sporadic. And even those days off generally include at least one or two phone calls, either with an editor or a source. The job never stops, not even during the off-season. That all-too-brief respite, while not punctuated by 162 regular-season games and 30-plus spring training games, is when the news happens. The cell phone is always on. There are road trips to the general managers? meetings and the winter meetings. Sometimes, an enterprise assignment calls for a few more days on the road, either to visit a ballplayer or chase down something else interesting about the club.

It is not a father-friendly or mother-friendly profession.

So, I asked off the beat.

I needed to be off the beat in order to be the parent, the father, that I want to be. That my sons need me to be.

I suppose I?ll never really know whether I would?ve kept my job in 2008 if I had not asked off the Rays beat in 2005. I do know that general assignment sportswriting positions, the kind I moved into in 2006, were deemed a luxury at most major newspapers when the bust came in 2007. It doesn?t matter, though.

I needed to be off the beat in order to be the parent, the father, that I want to be. That my sons need me to be.

I knew two fathers who shared the Rays beat with me for many years. There were long stretches of my life when I saw them more often than I saw my family.

Yet, I was able to witness examples of loving fatherhood first-hand because they took place in front of me, more often than not, in major-league press boxes all over the country. By phone.

I don?t have to imagine how difficult it was for them to be away from their kids and their wives. I saw it. I heard it from my seat right next to them in ballparks like Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and the Ballpark at Arlington. In airports in Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim, Seattle.

I bring it up now only to emphasize the lessons I learned from two amazing, loving dads who taught me so much about fatherhood. They helped me become the dad I am, and to both I am forever grateful. Witnessing their occasional anguish as they fought through the pain of separation helped convince me to ask off the beat when fatherhood became imminent. There was no way I had the strength to put myself through that.

Some parents can do it. They are to be applauded whole-heartedly. People like Tyler Kepner, a former compatriot who is now the national baseball writer for the New York Times and once covered the Mets and the Yankees for that esteemed paper. Tyler is the father of four kids, aged 5-11. He began his baseball writing career in earnest as the paper?s Mets beat writer in 2000, the year before his first child was born. He used to bring his family down for vacation in Florida during spring training, but because he was gone most of the day, he rarely saw them even then.

Part of Tyler?s success has been an extraordinarily understanding and supportive partner.

It?s addictive, that experience of being there, in the clubhouse, on the field, in the press box. That?s why I still miss the life sometimes?

?I will say it continually amazes me how my wife is able to juggle everything while I?m gone,? he wrote in a Facebook direct message. ?But I try to use the down time on the road to do things I don?t have time to do at home ? pay bills, file expenses, etc. Compartmentalizing is very important; if there?s something that can wait ?til a road trip, I?ll put it off ?til then so I can focus on the family while I?m home.?

Tyler added that he never considered asking off the beat.

?It wouldn?t have worked without a very understanding wife,? he wrote, ?but from my standpoint, I enjoyed the job and the ability to get really, really close to the game by going through the daily grind of a 162-game season plus spring training.?

Oh, yes. I get that completely. It?s addictive, that experience of being there, in the clubhouse, on the field, in the press box. That?s why I still miss the life sometimes. Not enough to want to go back to it, but still.

Another baseball writer buddy, Marlins beat writer Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, got divorced from his daughter?s mother two years before he started to cover baseball. His daughter is in her late teens now, and she spent her entire childhood living three hours away from her father in a different town. Joe would take long weekends during the season to visit her when she was little. Now, though, she?s at an age when she would rather spend time with her friends than with dear, old dad.

?I was the same way when I was a teenager,? Joe wrote to me on Facebook. ?But I often think back about missing her grow up. I?ve been able to live my dream by getting paid to write about something I love, baseball. But it has come with a cost ? not seeing enough of my daughter as I would like. At the same time, I certainly am NOT a stranger to her. We text and call every week, every other day texting. But weeks go by when I don?t see her. In the off-season I try to spend as many weekends with her as I can.?

I could not, would not, have risked missing all the firsts: smile, step, word, etc. It makes my heart sink just to think of that.

It?s tough for them. It?s always been tough. Joe admitted he has considered changing beats over the years, but ?

?I never did,? he said, ?because I don?t think it would change the logistical difficulties of her being so far from me.?

Don?t feel bad for baseball writers. They (we) chose that life for a reason. I can?t speak for the whole tribe of scribes, but I suspect the reasons were simple: We love baseball, and we love to write.

I still love those things. I love my family more, and so do the writers who choose to soldier on game after game, year after year. I still don?t really know how they do it.

I could not, would not, have risked missing all the firsts: smile, step, word, etc. It makes my heart sink just to think of that.

It?s almost time for spring training again. Time to renew the clubhouse acquaintances. Time to gear up for the long, hard season ahead.

It makes me a little sad to think of all the kids of all those baseball writers all over the country who dread those four words: Pitchers and catchers report. What those words mean to those kids is, Mom or Dad are about to be gone again. The writers will do it, though, and the families will support them, and the fans of all the teams these writers cover will be indulged. It is important. It?s baseball.

I could not have done it. I would not have done it.

And as important as the firsts are, they are fleeting. What means even more to me is to understand that there would have been no way for me to build the relationships, to teach, to love, to discipline, to engage the way I want to, the way I have to, with my young sons. For me, the modern technology, the miracles of Skype and Facetime, would not suffice. That works for some. It wouldn?t for me. Not over the long haul of month after month of absenteeism.

And so, on the day pitchers and catchers report, I?ll pick up my kids after work. I?ll do the things they need me to do. I?ll do them gladly, skillfully, and gratefully.

And after I put them to bed, I?ll flip on SportsCenter and watch the spring training roundup and think about those baseball writers who are missing their kids like crazy, and I?ll be so glad that I?m no longer among them.

Thank you so much Carter, what a great story!

What do you think about sacrificing career for fatherhood? Do you travel for work- if so, how do you manage? let?s discuss in the comments section.

Like the article? Think it would make for a good facebook or twitter conversation? Then please share it using the buttons below. You can also follow the blog via email, facebook or twitter. Thanks!

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Source: http://fathersworkandfamily.com/2013/03/28/sharing-experiences-why-i-dont-cover-baseball-any-more/

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Hands-on with MiiPC, the $99 kid-safe Android PC (video)

It was only two days ago that ZeroDesktop launched MiiPC, a $99 kid-safe Android PC, and the Kickstarter campaign's already surpassed its $50,000 goal. To jog your memory, MiiPC is an attractive 4.7 x 4.7 x 3.1-inch desktop computer running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It's powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Marvell New Armada SoC with 1GB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. The system features an SD card slot in front, a power button on top and a full array of ports in the back, including two USB 2.0, HDMI, analog audio I/O, Ethernet and power.

What makes this device so unique is the software, which is optimized for use with a large screen (up to 1080p), keyboard and mouse. It provides a desktop-class web browsing experience with Flash and runs standard Android apps. MiiPC supports multiple user accounts which can be controlled and monitored remotely in real-time using a companion app for iOS and Android. The idea is for parents to create a safe online environment for their kids by managing their access to the web and to apps. We got the chance to play with a prototype MiiPC yesterday -- read our impressions and watch out hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: ZeroDesktop MiiPC hands-on

Gallery: ZeroDesktop MiiPC screenshots

Gallery: ZeroDesktop MiiPC companion app

Filed under: Desktops

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/27/miipc-hands-on/

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Bugatti Hired A Security Guard Just To Keep - Business Insider

The New York International Auto Show is in full swing at the Jacob Javits Center on Manhattan's West Side, and journalists have been treated to the debuts of more than a few remarkable vehicles.

But while most of the automakers have hired female models ? AKA booth babes ? to stand alongside their products, Bugatti took a different approach this year.?

Accompanying the Veyron, the world's fastest production car, is a security guard, whose job consists of keeping interested members of the press a few yards away from the multi-million dollar ride.

According to the guard, someone checking out the Veyron at last year's show accidentally damaged it, costing the company quite a bit of cash. So for 2013 they're not taking any chances ? although rumor has it journalists at the show can get closer if they talk to the Bugatti media representative, and set up a time beforehand.

Alex Davies/Business Insider

?

Alex Davies/Business Insider

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bugatti-veyron-at-new-york-auto-show-2013-3

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Democrats Have a Dinosaur Problem Too

Democrats Have a Dinosaur Problem Too

Biden, Clinton, Cuomo are considered the leading candidates to seek the Democratic nomination for president in the coming open election. Are we talking about 2016 or 1988?

Yes, this headline could apply to 2016. But the funny thing is, this could have also been written more than 25 years ago in advance of the 1988 presidential elections. While we are talking about a different Clinton (this time Hillary and not Bill) and Cuomo (and the son Andrew and not the father Mario), it is amazing how the bench of the Democratic Party seems trapped in years gone by.

A few days ago on "This Week" on ABC I referred to a meeting of CPAC as something that could take place in the Mesozoic era. The interesting thing is both parties in different ways seem trapped in the past.

For many, Republicans seem to be annunciating policies and programs and a vision that seems outdated and out of step with modern America. Their stands on many social issues (though there does seem to be some evolving going on related to gay marriage) and tax policies and view of government do not seem to fit society in the 21 st century. As I've said, a conservative message could be very successful; it just needs to be one that fits today's economic, social and political environment.

But Democrats shouldn't bask in the idea that they don't have a dinosaur problem too. Look at that list of names at the top of this column; it is a list from a time gone by. Where are the new names? Where is the bench that isn't named Clinton, Biden or Cuomo? I understand two of these folks are relatives of the names from the 1980s, but come on, isn't there a future for Democrats that isn't a dinosaur name from the past?

And while Republicans have a message that could be described as drawn up in a time of dinosaurs, Democrats must solve a personnel problem to move successfully into the future. Right now the personality and persuasion of President Obama ties the Democrats together in a loose coalition of a diverse variety of demographic groups. He is the leader that looks much more like the 21 st century, but after President Obama leaves office in 2016, whom do they have that isn't a name drawn from 25 years ago?

Republicans actually have a new group of leaders emerging. Sure, a Bush seems to be circling the field, but the names that have gotten more buzz today among conservatives are Rubio, Christie and Walker. None of these names were on the political scene 10 years ago, let alone 25 years ago.

And if one of these candidates (or another new Republican out there) catches fire, and has the courage to create a conservative policy model for the next generation, the Democrats are in serious trouble in 2016.

Both parties are an imperfect fit for this next presidential election, as well as to appeal to the new generation of voters emerging in America, but for totally different reasons. One has a policy problem; the other has a personnel problem. But in many ways, the Republicans' situation is an easier fix.

You can't create a brand new candidate that is ready for prime time out of thin air. But a new candidate can create a new set of messages and policies if they are willing to lead and have the strength and capacity to put together a viable electoral coalition. In politics, you nearly always need a candidate first, and then messages usually flow from that person's leadership ability.

In 1992, it wasn't some think tanks or party regulars or the Democratic Leadership Council that created Bill Clinton. It was his emergence and ability as a politician that gave all of them credibility and brought them into the limelight. His message and persona fit the time exceedingly well. And this is what some new Republican is going to need to do if they are going to win.

For the Republicans to emerge from their antiquated messages, they should look not to some Super Pac, or discussions among think tanks or conservagentzia, but to one of the new leaders who is ready to drag the party along. Whether those leaders have the courage to embrace a new generation is an open question.

And Democrats should just be careful about jumping up and down on the basketball court before the buzzer sounds and celebrating too much about the Republican disarray. They are about to see their premiere point guard retire, and as President Obama prepares to walk off the court, do they really want to go to a player whose last name seems to be written on a faded jersey from long ago?

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democrats-dinosaur-problem-too-073200239--abc-news-politics.html

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North Korea turns up volume by silencing final military hotline

What happens now?

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / March 27, 2013

South Korean army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday. North Korea said Wednesday that it had cut off a key military hotline with South Korea that allows cross border travel to a jointly run industrial complex in the North.

Ahn Young-joon/AP

Enlarge

North Korea's edgy game of war talk continued?at ever higher volumes today with the announcement that it will cut off the last military hotline with South Korea.

Skip to next paragraph Robert Marquand

Staff writer

Over the past three decades, Robert Marquand has reported on a wide variety of subjects for?The Christian Science Monitor, including American education reform,?the wars in the Balkans, the Supreme Court, South Asian politics, and the oft-cited "rise of China." In the past 15 years he has served as the Monitor's bureau chief in Paris, Beijing, and New Delhi.?

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?Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep North-South military communications,? said the regime, according to the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang.

The severed line of communication comes as the North, under young and new President Kim Jong-un, has said it is moving into its highest military alert status and has threatened to target Hawaii and Guam with rockets, after last month conducting its third nuclear test.?

The escalating rhetoric has brought a new agreement between US and South Korean officials that would dictate military action should the North cross the border, shell islands, or harm shipping in the kind of low-level actions Pyongyang has attempted in recent years.?

US military officials called the North Korean statement ?bellicose.??Many have expressed doubt that North Korea?s rockets have the range to reach US bases in Guam and Hawaii, but a few, including the?editor of Jane?s Defense Weekly, estimated they could reach US military bases in Japan, according to USA Today.?

Yesterday the small, poor state that is anchored by devotion to the Kim family dynasty, and is now nearly entirely dependent on China for basic sustenance but has also devoted considerable resources to its military, repeated a longstanding threat to turn Seoul into a ?sea of fire,? among other similarly colorful threats.

Earlier this year, the North said it would no longer answer?a hotline at the Demilitarized Zone. The hotline that the country is now threatening to shut down linked the two Koreas at the?Kaesong industrial park, created in the North during the warming winds of unification in the 2000s. The economic complex has long been a symbol of the potential for North-South cooperation.?

The New York Times today notes the North?s threat on the hotline follows comments from?Park Geun-hye,?the newly elected president of South Korea, that North Korea needed to end its nuclear threats in order to gain better traction with the South:

?If North Korea provokes or does things that harm peace, we must make sure that it gets nothing but will pay the price, while if it keeps its promises, the South should do the same,? she said during a briefing from her government?s top diplomats and North Korea policy-makers. ?Without rushing and in the same way we would lay one brick after another, we must develop South-North relations step by step, based on trust, and create sustainable peace.?

Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, a veteran Korea watcher once based in Seoul, tells The Christian Science Monitor that Pyongyang's main grievance appears to be recent UN sanctions targeted at the North.

Mr. Snyder argues that the meaning of the North?s sudden blustery behavior will only become clearer ?once the question of the consolidation of [Kim Jong-un?s] power becomes clearer.?

Agence France-Presse today said that a significant meeting among party elites and power brokers in the closed world of Pyongyang is about to take place.

"They will discuss how to handle the nuclear issue, inter-Korean relations and North Korea's long-standing demand for a peace treaty with the United States," Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul told AFP.

Comparisons between the new Kim and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the patriarch of North Korea, are flowing freely, since there is a resemblance between the two. But Snyder notes that too little is yet known of the young Kim, who took over from his father Kim Jong-il last year, and that his youth is not necessarily a plus in such a high-stakes game.

?Right now the song is the same, but the volume is a lot louder. We don?t know his risk tolerance yet ? does he understand the game he is playing??

The US-South Korea military agreement follows a recent scrapping by the North of the historic legal armistice that effectively ended the Korean war in the 1950s. It came on the anniversary of the infamous sinking of the Choenan Navy vessel in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of 46 South Korean sailors, something that has had powerful emotional resonance in the South. (The Choenan was raised from the ocean floor, and forensics by the South claim the vessel was torpedoed by the North, something the North denies.)?

USA Today quotes an Asia watcher who feels the key to dealing with Pyongyang runs through Beijing:

US diplomats should talk to their Chinese counterparts and say, "Your ally North Korea is acting in a very belligerent and destabilizing way," said [Richard] Bush, who heads the Brookings Institution Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. "They're acting in ways that are contrary to the principles you [China] have laid out. The situation is somewhat dangerous. You need to restrain your ally."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/_YEoSdvzQGU/North-Korea-turns-up-volume-by-silencing-final-military-hotline

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Teaching Empathy to Young Kids: Standing in Someone Else's Shoes

Why is instilling empathy in children so important? Studies show that children who are taught to feel and show empathy are more likely to possess stronger social skills and be compassionate and helpful to others.

As a stepmother of eight-year-old triplets, I find numerous opportunities to model empathy and talk to them often about ?standing in someone else?s shoes.? (With triplets who?often share clothing, this can sometimes be taken?quite literally!)?One way I teach?empathy is through caring for our pets when they are ill and talking about how sad I feel for them because they don?t feel well. Another way is being especially quiet on the mornings their father needs to sleep in because he worked late the night before. I explain how we are showing we care for Dad when we help him get the rest he needs. Other times, while watching family movies together, I take the time to express happiness for characters when something positive happens to them.

Related: How to Stop Taking Your Childs Behavior Personally

This last?Tuesday night, I was very pleased to see my efforts to model empathy unfold before my eyes. Upon returning home from a busy work day, I walked in to see that our typical not-so-tidy home looked immaculate. All three of my stepchildren ran to give me a warm welcoming hug, while excitedly awaiting my response. I said, ?Wow! The house looks amazing!? to which Haley proudly announced, ?We cleaned it for you!?

Thanking them, I pulled them in closer. It felt so good to come home to a picked up, organized home. I asked their father what had inspired the kids to clean the house. He said, ?Well, on the way home from school, I told them that you were tired from two very busy days at work and would need some relaxation time tonight. Haley came up with the idea to clean the house for you, and they all couldn?t wait to do it when they got home.? He then explained what each of the kids had done to pitch in.?When I?heard about all?their hard work, I was overcome with gratitude.?It was clear that empathy inspired my stepchildren to make my day better.

Do my stepchildren practice empathy all the time? No. After all, it?s a normal part of development for young children to be focused on themselves. It?s not until around the age of 7 that children appear to fully experience empathy for others ? and every child is different.

It is never too early to model, emphasize, and teach children about the importance of empathy. Through repetition of these efforts, empathy will gradually become part of your child?s natural behavior.

Monica has worked with children with emotional disabilities and their families for over 15 years in the home, schools, and mental health settings. She has been with Legacy Publishing Company on the Parental Support Line since 2011. Monica has a Masters in School Counseling. She is an identical twin, a stepmother to triplets, and has two loving dogs.

If you find any comments that are rude or inappropriate, please contact us immediately.

Source: http://www.empoweringparents.com/blog/blended-step-families/teaching-children-how-to-stand-in-someone-elses-shoes/

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