The Benefits of Weight Training for Children
(from NYtimes) November 24, 2010, by GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Back in the 1970s, researchers in Japan studied child laborers and discovered that, among their many misfortunes, the juvenile workers tended to be abnormally short. Physical labor, the researchers concluded, with its hours of lifting and moving heavy weights, had stunted the children's growth. Somewhat improbably, from that scientific finding and other similar reports, as well as from anecdotes and accreting myth, many people came to believe "that children and adolescents should not" practice weight training, said Avery Faigenbaum, a professor of exercise science at the College of New Jersey. That idea retains a sturdy hold in the popular imagination.
As a recent position paper on the topic of children and resistance training points out, many parents, coaches and pediatricians remain convinced that weight training by children will "result in short stature, epiphyseal plate" — or growth plate — "damage, lack of strength increases due to a lack of testosterone and a variety of safety issues.
"Kids, in other words, many of us believe, won't get stronger by lifting weights and will probably hurt themselves. But a major new review just published in Pediatrics, together with a growing body of other scientific reports, suggest that, in fact, weight training can be not only safe for young people, it can also be beneficial, even essential.
In the Pediatrics review, researchers with the Institute of Training Science and Sports Informatics in Cologne, Germany, analyzed 60 years' worth of studies of children and weightlifting. The studies covered boys and girls from age 6 to 18.
The researchers found that, almost without exception, children and adolescents benefited from weight training. They grew stronger. Older children, particularly teenagers, tended to add more strength than younger ones, as would be expected, but the difference was not enormous.
Over all, strength gains were "linear," the researchers found. They didn't spike wildly after puberty for boys or girls, even though boys at that age are awash in testosterone, the sex hormone known to increase muscle mass in adults. That was something of a surprise. On the other hand, a reliable if predictable factor was consistency. Young people of any age who participated in resistance training at least twice a week for a month or more showed greater strength gains than those who worked out only once a week or for shorter periods.
Over all, the researchers concluded, "regardless of maturational age, children generally seem to be capable of increasing muscular strength.
"That finding, which busts one of the most pervasive myths about resistance training for young people — that they won't actually get stronger — is in accord with the results and opinions of most researchers who have studied the subject.
"We've worked with kindergartners, having them just use balloons and dowels" as strength training tools, "and found that they developed strength increases," said Dr. Faigenbaum, a widely acknowledged expert on the topic of youth strength training. (His most recent book is in fact titled "Youth Strength Training.")
But interestingly, young people do not generally add muscular power in quite the same way as adults. They rarely pack on bulk. Adults, particularly men but also women, typically add muscle mass when they start weight training, a process known as muscular hypertrophy (or, less technically, getting buff). Youths do not add as much or sometimes any obvious muscle mass as a result of strength training, which is one of the reasons many people thought they did not grow stronger. Their strength gains seem generally to involve "neurological" changes, Dr. Faigenbaum said. Their nervous systems and muscles start interacting more efficiently.
A few small studies have shown that children develop a significant increase in motor-unit activation within their muscles after weight training. A motor unit consists of a single neuron and all of the muscle cells that it controls. When more motor units fire, a muscle contracts more efficiently. So, in essence, strength training in children seems to liberate the innate strength of the muscle, to activate the power that has been in abeyance, unused.
And that fact, from both a physiological and philosophical standpoint, is perhaps why strength training for children is so important, a growing chorus of experts says. "We are urban dwellers stuck in hunter-gatherer bodies," said Lyle Micheli, M.D., the director of sports medicine at Children's Hospital Boston and professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard University, as well as a co-author, with Dr. Faigenbaum, of the National Strength and Conditioning Association's 2009 position paper about children and resistance training. "That's true for children as well as adults.
There was a time when children `weight trained' by carrying milk pails and helping around the farm. Now few children, even young athletes, get sufficient activity" to fully strengthen their muscles, tendons and other tissues. "If a kid sits in class or in front of a screen for hours and then you throw them out onto the soccer field or basketball court, they don't have the tissue strength to withstand the forces involved in their sports. That can contribute to injury.
"Consequently, many experts say, by strength training, young athletes can reduce their risk of injury, not the reverse.
"The scientific literature is quite clear that strength training is safe for young people, if it's properly supervised," Dr. Faigenbaum says. "It will not stunt growth or lead to growth-plate injuries. That doesn't mean young people should be allowed to go down into the basement and lift Dad's weights by themselves. That's when you see accidents." The most common, he added, involve injuries to the hands and feet. "Unsupervised kids drop weights on their toes or pinch their fingers in the machines," he said.
In fact, the ideal weight-training program for many children need not involve weights at all. "The body doesn't know the difference between a weight machine, a medicine ball, an elastic band and your own body weight," Dr. Faigenbaum said. In his own work with local schools, he often leads physical-education class warm-ups that involve passing a medicine ball (usually a "1 kilogram ball for elementary-school- age children" and heavier ones for teenagers) or holding a broomstick to teach lunges safely. He has the kids hop, skip and leap on one leg. They do some push-ups, perhaps one-handed on a medicine ball for older kids.
(For specifics about creating strength-training programs for young athletes of various ages, including teenagers, and avoiding injury, visit strongkid.com, a Web site set up by Dr. Faigenbaum, or the Children's Hospital Boston sports medicine site.)
As for the ideal age to start weight training, Dr. Faigenbaum said: "Any age is a good age. But there does seem to be something special about the time from about age 7 to 12. The nervous system is very plastic. The kids are very eager. It seems to be an ideal time to hard-wire strength gains and movement patterns." And if you structure a program right, he added, "it can be so much fun that it never occurs to the kids that they're getting quote-unquote `strength training' at all."
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Achievement gap on pace to disappear in 40 years
Achievement gap on pace to disappear in 40 years
The latest report by A+ Schools revealed that the achievement gap between White and Black students continues to decrease. However, at the rate it is narrowing, it would take 40 years to be eliminated.Zoom!
Fw: holiday humor and memories from Larry Evans, certificate holder and that
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: leifevans@comcast.net
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:06:06 +0000 (UTC)
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Subject: holiday humor
Friends,
See below my original draft of a "Next Page" article which will appear in this sunday's Pittsburgh Post Gazette (no doubt edited unmercifully). I got an award for starting the Northside chronicle last nite and after those folks read this on sunday they may storm my Mt. Lebanon home with pitchforks and torches but who can blame them?....happy TG.
Recollections from Larry Evans, founder and managing editor of the NORTHSIDE CHRONICLE (a monthly community newspaper celebrating its 25th anniversary at a banquet last week)
My adventure in journalism actually began in my hometown Baltimore where I "worked" as a cub reporter briefly under PJ O'Rourke, then the esteemed Editor of the underground newspaper "Harry", about which I'm sure Chronicle readers know pretty much next to nothing. I thought PJ was the funniest dude alive and he thought I was an expendable idiot so I was dispatched far and wide to duly cover endangered early 70s rock festivals in the jungles of Louisiana and — bingo! — the outskirts of Pittsburgh, where I met so many people just as hyper-activist as me.
I was out in the far flung fringe getting so radicalized that I went and got me a job with US Steel and started the magical Mill Hunk Herald Quarterly Magazine in my basement office at 916 Middle Street in 1979. O'Rourke promptly blessed the trouble-making Hunk, saying I could use whatever I wanted from the National Lampoon Magazine (where he got his next job), only that when I started making tons of money, he'd bleed me white with lawsuits.
In Pittsburgh's mill shutdowns era - why this was a prime time opportunity for shiftless radicals such as I - folks like Studs Terkel, Pete Seeger and Kurt Vonnegut began applauding the sizzling spunk of the Herald and Middle Street began reelin and a rockin out many a fun fundraiser like the Mill Hunk Ball at the Allegheny Starlight Ballroom just across that hiway there where all those houses used to be, a Mill Hunk Funk Disco at the long gone Islam Grotto, A Mill Hunk Junk flea market, Mill Hunk Munch dinner (to the appropriate accordion music), A Run of the Mill 10K, a Mill Hunk Dunk swim party (with or without…), Mill Hunk Bunk Pajama party (with or without… strange poetry) and the Mill Hunk Haunt Halloween Party at the Mattress Factory and so on …That's right, we beat it to death.
As the Mill Hunk poster boy, I also wrote some pithy, pro-labor op-eds for the Post Gazette and occasional features for In Pittsburgh newsweekly, Z, the Progressive and Pittsburgh Magazines. I appeared in two Tony Buba movies in Braddock back when they actually had a functioning hospital.
After getting laid off from doing anything truly useful on this planet (making steel is actually a very good feeling), my Steel Valley High School teaching wife Leslie and I steered our productivity inwards and made us a son, the "Duck," named after Ducky Joe Medwick, the last National League triple crown winner (and you thought I might not have my priorities straight…).
So to keep our darlin' deep in Pampers and Crispix, I began working 2 or 3 part time jobs just to come somewhere close to my steelworker wages. I drove a morning delivery truck, was a nite counselor for emotionally disturbed kids (actually they were disturbing – I was the one disturbed) and on sunny afternoons edited the Bloomfield Garfield Bulletin, a bi-monthly community newspaper edited by a nun – Sister Sally Witt – a tough act to follow for any lay do-gooder. To prove myself worthy, I hand delivered my first issue to every home in Bloomfield and Garfield and lived to tell about it. After working with such outstanding BGC community organizers like Aggie Brose (part Mother Theresa/Mother Jones) and the irrepressible Ricks Flannigan and Swartz for a few years, and upon reading my wife's battered copy of The Martian Chronicles and noting the striking similarities with our Northside life, I began publishing the Northside Chronicle just as the Mill Hunk mag was running out of steam.
The Northside Chronicle experience got me much more deeply familiar with East Allegheny all-stars like eventual school board head/city councilwoman Barbara Burns, devoted VISTA Volunteers like Sheila Weirth and Val Washington and economic development rising stars Mark Schneider and Tom Cox. And never to forget yodelin' alkie A-Ooo Elmer who reminded us that miller time was all the time. Then there was passionate War Street veterans like Randy Zotter and Mz. Northside Conferencer Nancy Schaefer and majestic Manchesterites Will and Susan Thompkins and Stan "Forever Feisty" Lowe; Troy Hillers like the brilliant Horgan brothers and the simply historic Mary Wohleber; and of course Perry North Avenuers/City Councilmen "Don't Bum Rap Da Nor'side" Baldy Regan and Sir Tom Murphy (who somehow never got around to hiring me as his publicist). BTW, the Northside must eventually erect a statue to former mayor Tom Terrific maybe near the Priory to form an artful triangle of swamp thing resemblages in the Mayor Caliguiri/Mister Rogers milieu.
The Chronicle instantly inspired neighborhood poets, scribes and go-getters like Don Walko, Nick Kyriazi, Bill Conway, Sue Stein, Wilana Carter, Jesse Cavileer, Carol Montgomery, John Freed and would have never gotten off the ground except for timely seed funding from the Community Technical Assistance Center.
Our early editorial meetings attracted much of the same riff raff that the Mill Hunk managed to wash ashore but the issues debated were a bit more grounded, sometimes even subterranean. They had a lot to do with community survival and self determination in the Grand "Old Allegheny City" and preserving its unique heritage and kind of grass root beerish flavor. You see Northsiders have a deep foreboding and rather accurate sense of being perpetually screwed by Burgh bigwigs and thus they carry a chip the size of Honus Wagner's bat on their shoulders. They got wowed then wounded by the 60's Urban Renewal demolition derby which gutted their town center, threw up a nifty urban mall that thrived then dived and later slapped a massive highway through the heart of the community which provided a quick escape outta town to bigger and better malls, leaving Allegheny Center and surrounds quite emptyish. Hometown historian John Canning chronicled the ups and downs of this "new village within a city" seeing in his 2010 eyes the ghosts of promises past – Sears, A & P, Woolworths, IBM et al – and wondered if there will be yet another resurrection anytime soon via plans for a newer and shinyier town center. And this…just as the disgusting Garden Theatre and Apache Lounge are finally getting some decades-overdue rehab up on North Avenue, in coming is a friggin' Hustler strip joint to overlook the Chateau!
Lordy - is the Northside some sort of covert sociological experiment or what?
Hey - I do know that the Northside is not kind to motor vehicles, especially to my mill car – an almost classic 65 Dodge Dart slant 6. The doors did not lock well due to the rust factor and it got unmercifully joy ridden right out from under my doorstep – not once, nor twice - thrice. I remember that last time being awakened in the middle of the night by a PD #9 paddy wagon and the dreary-eyed officers telling me that my Dart was involved in a chase up Pig Hill only to be found wrapped around a tree. Two dudes split out each side door and disappeared into the Troy Hill thicket leaving behind a luded-out teenie bop gal with no shoes on still trying to find a decent station on my car radio. My Dart was totaled and all that gal would utter was that everything is "F—kin' Louie's fault." Okay – flash forward a few months and my wife and I are walking back home in our fineries after ushering at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre – something she insisted I do to smooth out some of my "rough edges". We suddenly observed a car full of kids in hot pursuit of a shaggy-haired, black-jacketed, chain-rattlin' creature in full gallop. A girl occupant of the car tossed a beer bottle at the refugee screaming something to the effect "you glue-sniffin' mother f--kin' LOUIE!"
The driver jumped out of the car and winged a baseball bat – it looked like a 35", thick handle Willie Stargell to me – at my man Louie as he scampered into Thropp Way, an alley any Nor'sider with half a frontal lobe would look every which way before entering. In a surprise move unanticipated by the lumber-chucker, Louie swaggered out of the darkness with a smirk on his face and bat in hand. "Now who's got the F—kin' bat", quoth Mr. L. Wife Leslie and I frose in our non-combatant pose as the chase reversed itself back to the car. The driver got in safely but Louie was able to encircle the unlucky vehicle and brutally shatter every window to the horror of the occupants. Louie got carried away in his spiteful revelry and went a second time around the car to administer some body work and broke the bat clean off the handle. The car doors then sprang open and the occupants with renewed resolve chased Louie back down Thropp and – rumor has it – into a quick dip in the Allegheny River out from which he was flushed and later checked in to Huntington prison (his alma mater).
Sorry but I had to get that off my chest…This would have been my Dart's 45th anniversary (sniff).
Anyway, for the Chronicle and the Northside, t'was a good thing a steady guy like the late John Lyon stepped up to take over the newspaper because, being a defrocked crock of a steelworker, I was to be soon high stepping it over to Rutgers on a gravy graduate fellowship that would take me headlong into my life's traveling stage where I eagerly exploited exotic new sister city playgrounds like Donetsk (Ukraine), Novokuznetsk (Siberia), San Isidro (Nicaragua), Plzen (Czech Republic), and union advocacy gigs in Washington, D.C. and Baton Rouge, La. Let's just say I didn't sell many band uniforms and it is a wonder that I am still alive. But a life's lesson imprinted on my dented cranium is that community publications contribute tons to our fragile democracy. They are the Paul Reveres for our struggling neighborhoods. This is especially true at a time when corporate naming rights for the 2012 Fall Election Classic apparently are being peddled by some guy named Murduch. It is a blessing that in my old digs something as homegrown and pure as the Chronicle is still kickin'. Though the Mill Hunk Herald blasting away at plant shutdowns and right wing shannigans lasted only one exhausting decade late last century, I have since had to apologize repeatedly for folding that mighty mag to countless languishing poets and scribes who have confronted my writer's block in various eateries around town. For some reason, I get the most poignant finger wags from rust belt rebels hangin' out at the Waterfront Eat n Park in Homestead. Alright already, so maybe 24/7 shopping is not the answer…go figure.
So there you have it. Today, while former soccer star son Ducky (27) bounces between Manhattan and LA making really bad reality TV, my new wife Karen and I (going on 64 and Kar keeps humming that Beatles song about needing and feeding me) reside in Mount Lebanon with our Duck-add-water current soccer daughter "Sunny" Jen (14), nicknamed after "Sunny Jim" Bottomley, a teammate of Ducky Medwick's doncha know. My ex Leslie is a tri-athlete who took up mountain climbing with new hubbie Greg in order to get as far away from me as possible. From the mid 90s to present, I managed a few suburban indoor soccer centers and sold synthetic grass (the kind you play on, not turn on to, damn it) doing my part to fulfill "The Graduate's" profound prosperity prophecy... "Plastics!"
And yeah, I and my whole liberally extended family got involved in the Obama campaign by organizing Citizen Athlete SoccerFests at Robert Morris and Chatham Universities in election year Ought 8 and a Pittsburgh v Persia coed Soccer match at CMU during the G20 to stick it to all things Talibanish. Currently, as a Mount Lebanon Democratic Party Committeeman, I am of course very busy lickin' my wounds from the recent midterm election backlashing.
Now I am semi-retired - and a veteran enumerator for the 2010 census. I enjoyed my G-man work immensely by the way – wore an Elliot Ness overcoat covering my always at the ready imaginary tommy gun, parked anywhere I damn pleased and made census avoiders scurry like rats into their basements and defiant libertarians spew their bizarre conspiracy theories all over their front porches while peering ever so nervously up to the sky at my hovering black helicopter friends…but I digress.
Here is one last thingy that just might say it all.
At one of our dark and stormy late nite editorial gatherings at 916 Middle (of the Northside Universe) Street our blatherings were interrupted by desperate pounding at my front door. There stood a teenage lad in a somewhat catatonic state. His quivering voice asked "are you the community newspaper guys?" We all nodded affirmative and then noticed he was pretty much bleeding to death from gunshot wounds. Got him to Al Gen just in time - he had only minutes according to the doc. He survived and his dad cried as he delivered a thank you basket of booze which of course made me cry. Memories like this of the Northside make me smile in that maybe we goofballs laying out a funky newspaper could help some dude get 25 years older and wiser and hopefully - living a good life just as we all strive quite ardently to do.
God bless, publish on and pass the mighty pens!
Larry Evans
417 Kurt Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15243
c412-445-2951
h412-341-1486
f412-571-1647
leifevans@comcast.net
Fw: 4 events. Municipal savings, governance, and business bottom line
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: "Sustainable Pittsburgh" <info@sustainablepittsburgh.org>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:00:38 -0500
To: <undisclosed-recipients>
Subject: 4 events not to miss! Municipal savings, governance, and business bottom line
Upcoming Events (Please scroll down to view each one.)
1. December 1 - On the Road: Sustainable Roads Maintenance, Operations & Technologies
2. December 2 - Issues in Local Government: Community and Legislative Perspectives
3. December 7 - Business Leadership in Managing Energy Usage
4. December 8 - Energy Saving Opportunities in Municipal Buildings & Facilities
****************************************************
EVENT 1
On the Road: Sustainable Roads Maintenance, Operations & Technologies
A program of the
In partnership with the Local Government Academy and Sustainable Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Washington County Commissioners and the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington
Wednesday, December 1
9:00 am - Noon
Alpine Room at Alpine Club Lanes,
Cost: $10. Representatives from
More information
Sustainability is an important quality of today’s public works departments. Everything your public works’ directors, foremen and building maintenance personnel do should be done with practices that conserve resources, comply with state and federal regulations, and protect the quality of life in your community. Implementing and enforcing sustainable practices will save your local government money on materials and equipment. You can’t afford to not be sustainable.
Instructors for this program will provide participants with the most up-to-date information on sustainable practices that can be easily implemented in your public works department. Consideration will also be given to state and federal mandates that currently or will soon affect fleet management, street maintenance and other public works functions.
Other topics that will be covered include:
• Fleet Management Practices, including fuel efficiency, emissions regulations and more ways to green your fleet
• Street & Road Operations, such as alternatives for street lights and coordination of traffic signals as a way to save energy
Speakers Include:
• Next Generation Oil
• Fossil Free Fuels
• G.A. Wozniak & Associates
• City of
More speakers to be added.
Both the private and public sectors have a responsibility to the communities they serve to ensure that public works departments are implementing sustainable practices that, over time, will save money and protect valuable resources.
****************************************************
EVENT 2
Issues in Local Government: Community and Legislative Perspectives
Thursday, December 2
7:30 am - Noon (continental breakfast included)
Free and open to the public; advance registration required
Register here
Invitation letter, signed by Dan Frankel, Grant Oliphant, and Fred Thieman
Draft Agenda
Questions? Contact the
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Monday, November 29
Federal, state and local governments are in the midst of an extraordinary financial crisis. Local governments in the Commonwealth will undoubtedly be forced to make difficult decisions on topics such as government reform, consolidated services, expenditure cuts, unfunded mandates, and the constant struggle to maintain revenues. This second forum in a series is designed to facilitate thoughtful and comprehensive discussion of local government challenges and possible methods of confronting them. The program will begin with an overview of findings produced by the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics' Fiscal Policy and Governance Committee's report, "Key Challenges for Local Government," as well as a presentation of the civic engagement work being done through The Pittsburgh Foundation's Allegheny Forum website. State and local elected officials will have the opportunity to comment on the observations and suggestions of both reports.
The following State officials have confirmed that they will be participating: State Senator Dominic Pileggi, State Senator Jay Costa, State Representative Frank Dermody, and State Representative Mike Turzai. Local officials who have confirmed are Beaver County Commissioner Charlie Camp, Perry Township Supervisor A.J. Boni, and Mr. Lebanon Commissioner D. Raja.
****************************************************
EVENT 3
Business Leadership in Managing Energy Usage
Presented by: Champions for Sustainability (C4S), a program of Sustainable Pittsburgh, the Business Climate Coalition, and the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative
Tuesday, December 7
8:30 am – 11:30 am
Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens,
Cost: $25 for C4S/Sustainable
Breakfast provided
Registration and agenda
For questions and student registration information, please contact: Jake Baechle, BCC Coordinator at (412) 258-6652 or jbaechle@sustainablepittsburgh.org
This event, designed to inspire businesses in
Attend this event and learn how to gain a competitive edge through energy efficiency. Everyone is invited to intend. Those who stand to particularly benefit include sustainability professionals; facilities and operations managers/directors; corporate management; partners of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative, and members of the region’s business and nonprofit leadership.
Panelists include:
Renee Cowell
Regional Environmental Manager
Del Monte Foods
Coca Cola
Tom Dingo
Director
Bayer Business and Technology Services
Bayer Corporation
George Hoguet
Native Energy
Daniel Kreeger
Executive Director
Association of Climate Change Officers
Evolve Architecture
Apple White
Environmental Sustainability
BNY Mellon
Businesses that track and report their energy usage:
· Demonstrate their commitment to sustainability
· Save money by saving energy
· Improve transparency
· Qualify for incentive programs
· Are enabled to set well defined goals
· Reduce legal risk due to a changing regulatory environment
· Build market share
· Take action that illustrate their commitment to best management practice
****************************************************
EVENT 4
Energy Saving Opportunities in Municipal Buildings & Facilities
A program of the
In partnership with the Local Government Academy and Sustainable Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Washington County Commissioners and the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington
Wednesday, December 8
9:00 am - Noon
Alpine Room at Alpine Club Lanes,
Cost: $10. Representatives from
More information
An energy audit is the first step in the process of improving the energy efficiency of your municipal buildings. This program will provide you with information on conducting an audit, including developing specifications and a Request for Proposals. Additionally, speakers will also discuss what to expect from the auditing process and how findings can be incorporated.
The program will also demonstrate opportunities to save money through the way power agreements can be constructed as well as funding opportunities available through the power grid supplier and utilities.
A portion of the program will also focus on funding incentives, including those provided for in Act 129, low-interest loans that are available for small businesses to help purchase energy efficient equipment.
Speakers include:
• Bridgeway Capital
• G.A. Wozniak & Associates
• Clear Choice Energy
• Premiere
Please feel free to share this program information with others in your municipality, including public works and building maintenance personnel and finance officers. Additionally, please invite your community’s library staff, as they often face the concept of how to incorporate energy savings practices in older buildings.
Sustainable
(412) 258-6646
fax (412) 258-6645
info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
Does your municipality have a handle on these and other essentials?
Safe Streets – Clean Air – Diversity – Green Space – Housing Choices – Transit Options – Balanced Budget – Recent Energy Audit
Participate in a Sustainable Community Rapid Assessment to rate your community!
Sustainable
Become a Sustainable
Stay abreast of sustainable development news and events by subscribing to 3E Links, Sustainable
Looking for something to do outside? Visit www.wallsarebad.com for a resource on outdoor recreation in southwestern PA.
Fw: Lawyers are the problem..not the solution
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: "Bob Logue" <ucblogue@verizon.net>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:29:57 -0500
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient>
Subject: Lawyers are the problem..not the solution
You know, Bob, I've been thinking. We, as a country, need to stop electing attorneys to govern us. Think about it, every bill proposed is 2000 pages or more. Why? Because they are written by attorneys. Lawyers only know legal speak, so just like the religious hierarchy 1000 years ago told every one that only they could interpret the Holy Scriptures, politicians today tell us only they can understand the law, so we must have them or we would be lost. The convoluted property tax laws play totally into the hands of our politician attorneys in that, every facet of these laws involves an attorney of one type or another. Attorneys are like doctors: they support one another, they protect one another, and they get as many of their own involved in a case so that as many of them as possible make money or increase power.
We can never hope to break this strangle hold on the public until we stop putting lawyers in charge. We need to start electing plumbers, truck drivers, bank tellers, firemen, Wal-Mart associates, farmers, janitors; in short, normal everyday people who have had to live day to day, keep on a strict budget, maybe get to go on a vacation once every ten years, you know, Common People. Successful business people who have met a payroll, kept up with technology, kept good employees happy, and produced a product or service people want, could guide the country in the direction it needs to go.
If we are to solve this issue of property taxes, we must first have politicians who are sympathetic to the everyday problems of the common people. Obviously, the current ruling class does not care that the poor and elderly are being dispossessed, as long as they can hold onto their power and they hold the purse strings. Attorneys live in their own little bubble, making more than enough income to cover their needs. They have no feel for the rest of the world. Until "we, the people" realize how this affects us, we cannot win our point about the unfairness of property taxes. I hope you will share this viewpoint, if not this message, with all who read about STOP. Bob, I must applaud your personal efforts against this heinous tax. You are our leader and mentor, God bless you and yours. Hope to see you soon somewhere, Ray Fallon, Punxsutawney, PA
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Erik presented his LTP (long term project) from last year at Duquesne Univ today for other PPS students in CAS
Here are the slides from Erik's presentation:
Had a great day with the students. I got to see five presentations. Erik gave his in the first period.
LTP of Erik Rauterkus, then in 9th grade:
View more presentations from Mark Rauterkus.
Had a great day with the students. I got to see five presentations. Erik gave his in the first period.
Fw: The Benefits of Weight Training for Kids
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: Fred Gohh <fgohh@gbsware.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:14:51 -0500
To: <undisclosed-recipients>
ReplyTo: fgohh@gbsware.com
Subject: The Benefits of Weight Training for Kids
Back in the 1970s, researchers in Japan studied child laborers and discovered that, among their many misfortunes, the juvenile workers tended to be abnormally short. Physical labor, the researchers concluded, with its hours of lifting and moving heavy weights, had stunted the children’s growth. Somewhat improbably, from that scientific finding and other similar reports, as well as from anecdotes and accreting myth, many people came to believe “that children and adolescents should not” practice weight training, said Avery Faigenbaum, a professor of exercise science at the College of New Jersey. That idea retains a sturdy hold in the popular imagination. As a recent position paper on the topic of children and resistance training points out, many parents, coaches and pediatricians remain convinced that weight training by children will “result in short stature, epiphyseal plate” — or growth plate — “damage, lack of strength increases due to a lack of testosterone and a variety of safety issues.”
Kids, in other words, many of us believe, won’t get stronger by lifting weights and will probably hurt themselves. But a major new review just published in Pediatrics, together with a growing body of other scientific reports, suggest that, in fact, weight training can be not only safe for young people, it can also be beneficial, even essential.
In the Pediatrics review, researchers with the Institute of Training Science and Sports Informatics in Cologne, Germany, analyzed 60 years’ worth of studies of kids and weightlifting. The studies covered boys and girls from age 6 to 18. The researchers found that, almost without exception, children and adolescents benefited from weight training. They grew stronger. Older kids, particularly teenagers, tended to add more strength than younger ones, as would be expected, but the difference was not enormous. Overall, strength gains were “linear,” the researchers found. They didn’t spike wildly after puberty for boys or girls, even though boys at that age are awash in testosterone, the sex hormone known to increase muscle mass in adults. That was something of a surprise. On the other hand, a reliable if predictable factor was consistency. Young people of any age who participated in resistance training at least twice a week for a month or more showed greater strength gains than those who worked out only once a week or for shorter periods.
Overall, the researchers concluded, “regardless of maturational age, children generally seem to be capable of increasing muscular strength.”
That finding, which busts one of the most pervasive myths about resistance training for young people — that they won’t actually get stronger — is in accord with the results and opinions of most researchers who have studied the subject. “We’ve worked with kindergartners, having them just use balloons and dowels” as strength training tools, “and found that they developed strength increases,” said Dr. Faigenbaum, a widely acknowledged expert on the topic of youth strength training. (His most recent book is in fact titled “Youth Strength Training.”)
But interestingly, young people do not generally add muscular power in quite the same way as adults. They rarely pack on bulk. Adults, particularly men but also women, typically add muscle mass when they start weight training, a process known as muscular hypertrophy (or, less technically, getting buff). Youths do not add as much or sometimes any obvious muscle mass as a result of strength training, which is one of the reasons many people thought they did not grow stronger. Their strength gains seem generally to involve “neurological” changes, Dr. Faigenbaum said. Their nervous systems and muscles start interacting more efficiently. A few small studies have shown that children develop a significant increase in motor-unit activation within their muscles after weight training. A motor unit consists of a single neuron and all of the muscle cells that it controls. When more motor units fire, a muscle contracts more efficiently. So, in essence, strength training in children seems to liberate the innate strength of the muscle, to activate the power that has been in abeyance, unused.
And that fact, from both a physiological and philosophical standpoint, is perhaps why strength training for children is so important, a growing chorus of experts says. “We are urban dwellers stuck in hunter-gatherer bodies,” said Lyle Micheli, M.D., the director of sports medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston and professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard University, as well as a co-author, with Dr. Faigenbaum, of the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s 2009 position paper about children and resistance training. “That’s true for children as well as adults. There was a time when children ‘weight trained’ by carrying milk pails and helping around the farm. Now few children, even young athletes, get sufficient activity” to fully strengthen their muscles, tendons and other tissues. “If a kid sits in class or in front of a screen for hours and then you throw them out onto the soccer field or basketball court, they don’t have the tissue strength to withstand the forces involved in their sports. That can contribute to injury.”
Consequently, many experts say, by strength training, young athletes can reduce their risk of injury, not the reverse. “The scientific literature is quite clear that strength training is safe for young people, if it’s properly supervised,” Dr. Faigenbaum says. “It will not stunt growth or lead to growth-plate injuries. That doesn’t mean young people should be allowed to go down into the basement and lift Dad’s weights by themselves. That’s when you see accidents.” The most common, he added, involve injuries to the hands and feet. “Unsupervised kids drop weights on their toes or pinch their fingers in the machines,” he said.
In fact, the ideal weight-training program for many children need not involve weights at all. “The body doesn’t know the difference between a weight machine, a medicine ball, an elastic band and your own body weight,” Dr. Faigenbaum said. In his own work with local schools, he often leads physical-education class warm-ups that involve passing a medicine ball (usually a “1 kilogram ball for elementary-school-age children” and heavier ones for teenagers) or holding a broomstick to teach lunges safely. He has the kids hop, skip and leap on one leg. They do some push-ups, perhaps one-handed on a medicine ball for older kids. (For specifics about creating strength-training programs for young athletes of various ages, including teenagers, and avoiding injury, visit strongkid.com, a Web site set up by Dr. Faigenbaum, or the Children’s Hospital Boston sports medicine site.)
As for the ideal age to start weight training, Dr. Faigenbaum said: “Any age is a good age. But there does seem to be something special about the time from about age 7 to 12. The nervous system is very plastic. The kids are very eager. It seems to be an ideal time to hard-wire strength gains and movement patterns.” And if you structure a program right, he added, “it can be so much fun that it never occurs to the kids that they’re getting quote-unquote ‘strength training’ at all.”
-- Fred Gohh President Gray Bridge Software fgohh@gbsware.com 412-401-1045
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Parents want to keep preschool program at McCleary
Got some ink today in the P-G as I spoke at last night's school board meeting. Parents want to keep preschool program at McCleary
South Side resident Mark Rauterkus spoke against another proposed revision to move Pittsburgh Obama 6-12 from Shadyside to the Pittsburgh Peabody building in East Liberty in 2011, instead of 2012, as planned.
"The promise was made," Mr. Rauterkaus said. "There's big trust issues if you move it earlier."
The board may vote on the proposed revisions today.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10327/1105458-298.stm#ixzz167oE16y2
Monday, November 22, 2010
David Nolan past away last night...
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Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:07:50 -0500
To: <libertarian-304-announce@meetup.com>
Subject: [libertarian-304] Fwd: David Nolan past away last night...
| http://beforeitsnews.com/story/275/018/David_Nolan_LP_Founder_Passes_Away.html David Nolan – LP Founder – Passes Away Sources close to David Nolan tell IPR he passed away last night. Mister Nolan is survived by his Wife Elizabeth. IPR does not have information about other family members. No cause of death is known at this time, confirmed by the same sources. Mister Nolan was one of the original founders of the Libertarian Party. He famously founded it in his living room in Boulder Colorado along with a generous handful of other founders. Some credit him with 'inventing' the diamond political chart with two axis', used often as a tool to debunk the left-right politica paradigm. Mister Nolan was a sitting Board Member of the National Libertarian Party |
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Sunday, November 21, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
For Cullen Jones, golden chance to teach swimming - WSJ.com
For Cullen Jones, golden chance to teach swimming - WSJ.com
Cullen Jones was about to race in his biggest meet of the year when he heard that six teenagers had drowned in Shreveport, La.
Just over three months later, the Olympic gold medalist went to the city last week to give swim lessons.
"It was so big for me being in Shreveport after something like that had happened," Jones said Thursday.
This is why he spends months traveling the country even as he trains to get back on that podium at the 2012 Olympics. Jones has visited 12 cities in two years as part of USA Swimming's "Make a Splash" program to prevent drowning by minority children.
Maurice Lucas stands tall in mourners' minds
Maurice Lucas stands tall in mourners' minds
Boyhood friends, however, recalled that he had first been a competitive swimmer. "He wasn't going to lose at nothing," Schenley teammate Ricky Coleman told mourners.Swimming to the other side! Rest in peace.
Shooting and melee disrupt festivities
Shooting and melee disrupt festivities
So, what do you do? I say a plan should be in place to TEACH people how to act. Put people, mostly kids, into high pressure situations and give them great leadership. Give them opportunities to practice how to act. Teach. Instruct. Coach. Then, when they are elsewhere, out of the schools, out on the weekends, out on their own, they'll have the understanding, the grounding, the philosophy and the experiences of acting in a friendly, caring, sporting and strong way.
When you walk through metal detectors at the gates of the schools, as well as the football games -- feel safe for an hour or two. When you are split with one crowd sitting on one side of the stadium and the other side over there, apart, isolated, buffered, patrolled, -- that safe feeling lasts until you get to the bus stop or go to the parking lot.
People are going to act with a mentality of being in a street gang or being in a community. Both are learned. Both have to be tested in real life settings.
"You have a large number of people coming Downtown, trying to have a good time and enjoy the festivities. And then you have some people who just don't know how to act and they cause the trouble."Here is the bottom line: Some people don't know how to act. I agree.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10324/1104889-455.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml#ixzz15q6kgLDI
So, what do you do? I say a plan should be in place to TEACH people how to act. Put people, mostly kids, into high pressure situations and give them great leadership. Give them opportunities to practice how to act. Teach. Instruct. Coach. Then, when they are elsewhere, out of the schools, out on the weekends, out on their own, they'll have the understanding, the grounding, the philosophy and the experiences of acting in a friendly, caring, sporting and strong way.
When you walk through metal detectors at the gates of the schools, as well as the football games -- feel safe for an hour or two. When you are split with one crowd sitting on one side of the stadium and the other side over there, apart, isolated, buffered, patrolled, -- that safe feeling lasts until you get to the bus stop or go to the parking lot.
People are going to act with a mentality of being in a street gang or being in a community. Both are learned. Both have to be tested in real life settings.
Portland's push and Pittsburgh's reality
Introducing The MARC from marcpdx on Vimeo.
Or, we can cancel varsity swim practice for Light Up Night, go downtown, rumble, dodge bullets, see 30 to 50 in handcuffs and watch fireworks.
Fw: [libertarian-304] Sat Nov 20: End The Fed event sponsored by PittCollege Libertarians and We Are Change PGH
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From: DaveP <depst8@gmail.com>
Sender: libertarian-304-announce@meetup.com
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:13:06 -0500
To: <libertarian-304-announce@meetup.com>
Subject: [libertarian-304] Sat Nov 20: End The Fed event sponsored by Pitt College Libertarians and We Are Change PGH
Jake Towne is a good speaker - check out his website (linked at bottom of even details) I'm looking forward to seeing him speak.
Let's get together and network with the students and other activists!
-DaveP
Link with details and RSVP:
http://www.meetup.com/wearechangepgh/calendar/15222347/
ETF EVENT DETAILS:
12pm-3pm End The Fed Educational Outreach
Schenley Park, across from Phipps Conservatory
We will be passing out FREE educational pamphlets as well as DVD's throughout the day at various manned table locations which will start at 12pm, everyone is to meet at the entrance to Schenley Park across from the Phipps Conservatory. These educational materials will explain in detail about the Federal Reserve Banking System and why it is directly responsible for our current economic crisis and what we should be doing to protect ourselves.
6:30pm-11pm Speaker and Movie Presentation
William Pitt Union, Dining room A, Pitt Campus, Oakland
At 6:30pm, we will join members of The Publius Foundation as well as members of the Pitt College Libertarians Organization and other liberty groups/individuals on the PITT Campus in the William Pitt Union, Dining Room A, for speakers as well as a movie screening of, Aaron Russo's, America: Freedom to Fascism. This event will be free to the public and all ages are welcomed to attend, event will be open to the public from 6:30pm-11pm.
UPDATE:
Joe Kennedy, Activist and Independent Political Candidate who ran against Scott Brown and Martha Coakley for the Special Elections Senate Seat in Massachusetts in 2010, has confirmed that he will be one of the ETF speakers to present at Pitt Campus! For more information on Mr. Kennedy, please feel free to visit his site: http://www.joekennedyforsenate.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1
Jake Towne, Independent Political Candidate who ran for Congress in Pennsylvania's 15th District in 2010 against John Callahan and Charlie Dent just confirmed that he will also be speaking as well as giving a presentation about fractional-reserve banking as well as how we can return to sound money after ending the Fed! For more information on Mr. Towne, please visit his site: http://towneforcongress.com/
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
China's Sun Yang sets record in Asian Games pool - More Sports - SI.com
China's Sun Yang sets record in Asian Games pool - More Sports - SI.com
un Yang of China swam the second-fastest 1,500 freestyle race of all time on the last night of an Asian Games pool program, which finished with the country being disqualified in a relay event.
Sun set the Asian Games record in the 1,500 in 14 minutes, 35.43 seconds on Thursday, finishing within a second of the world record set by two-time Olympic and four-time world champion Grant Hackett in 2001.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/more/11/18/sun.asian.games.ap/index.html#ixzz15fBHdQMa
Moving into Pgh Peabody High School seems to be back to fall 2012
Hi All,
The school move into Peabody for the IB school (also known as Pgh Obama) was talked about again at the PPS Board of Education meeting last night (WED, Nov 17, 2010). Their "agenda review" meeting had a conversation about this topic. We've been organizing a bit on this issue. I was there for a while and did have a couple of conversations with administrators and board members.
Watch the meeting:
Go to MINUTE 52:20 on the slider on the bottom of the frame.
http://ppstube.pps.k12.pa.us/play.php?vid=618
Recap: Ms. Sherry Hazuda put forth some questions to Mr. Lopez. It goes for about 8 minutes.
The push to MOVE the Pgh Obama Academic program from Pgh Reizenstein to Pgh Peabody in the fall of 2011 was pulled. This acclerated move was put in the newspapers last week and caught some by surprise. So, the move is back on for 2012, as the original promise states, and as the past board votes confirmed. However, in the month of December and January 2011, there may be a SURVEY of the parents and students asking them if they would WANT to rush to the new site sooner, in fall 2011. If there is overwhelming support for the rushed move, then the matter could go before the PPS Board again in January 2011 for an amended vote.
Whew.
The last time a survey was taken by PPS Administrators, the name "OBAMA" was chosen among the students. Let the record show, the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies was not the top vote getter in the prior survey. The top vote getter was Schenley. That poll also had strong votes in 2nd and 3rd for Hogwarts and Frick. But Obama was picked (4th choice) and it is what it is. I love democracy. But, I worry a bit about polls. Who is counting the votes? How are questions asked?
In my not so humble opinion, the best solution: I want trust to be earned by PPS. I want PROMISES to be kept. I hate the trend and feeling of being yanked around by Pittsburgh Public Schools.
The class of 2012, the first to graduate from Pgh Obama, (i.e,, NOT Schenley), has had a rocky road. They should NOT move again at the start their senior year, Give time for the facility at Peabody to be made ready for the new school. Give time for the school to focus on academics, not moving and boxing materials and so on. That was a promise made to them and it should be honored.
In the 2011-2012 school year, it would be GREAT if the facilities of BOTH Peabody AND Reizenstein were made available in AFTER SCHOOL TIMES to the students of the city and the 6-12 school. The middle school setting and the high school needs are hard pressed to fit within one school. The schools were built for either middle school or high school. Not both. The crunch is GREATEST after school as multiple teams with multiple sports try to fit in one pool, one gym, one field. It doesn't work well -- especially if the goal is to develop kids, teams and programs to compete with the WPIAL soon.
On MONDAY, Nov 22, 2010, another PPS Board Meeting happens where the board listens to PUBLIC COMMENT in 3 minute chunks. To speak, or get onto the speaker list, call 412-622-3600 and ask to be included on the agenda. That meeting begins at 7 pm. I am speaker #3. My topic: Moving IB to Peabody in fall of 2012. I will also talk about using all the available facilities for all sorts of after school activities.
Then on Tuesday, the board will vote. But, the question of a rush to Peabody for the fall of 2011 has been removed from the agenda as of now.
Thanks for caring about our kids and their opportunities -- both in and beyond the classrooms.
One of the reason why it is NOT prudent to move into Peabody in the fall of 2011 is the fact that the PPS Summer Dreamers is slated to use Pgh Peabody for five weeks in the summer of 2011. The fix up work, even a fresh coat of paint and removal of the Highlanders markings would take longer than the two open weeks to prep for the new school year for the new school population. It is great to have Summer Dreamers at Peabody. And, it will be great to have the facilities people have a number of months in the next year to spruce up the space.
The school move into Peabody for the IB school (also known as Pgh Obama) was talked about again at the PPS Board of Education meeting last night (WED, Nov 17, 2010). Their "agenda review" meeting had a conversation about this topic. We've been organizing a bit on this issue. I was there for a while and did have a couple of conversations with administrators and board members.
Watch the meeting:
Go to MINUTE 52:20 on the slider on the bottom of the frame.
http://ppstube.pps.k12.pa.us/play.php?vid=618
Recap: Ms. Sherry Hazuda put forth some questions to Mr. Lopez. It goes for about 8 minutes.
The push to MOVE the Pgh Obama Academic program from Pgh Reizenstein to Pgh Peabody in the fall of 2011 was pulled. This acclerated move was put in the newspapers last week and caught some by surprise. So, the move is back on for 2012, as the original promise states, and as the past board votes confirmed. However, in the month of December and January 2011, there may be a SURVEY of the parents and students asking them if they would WANT to rush to the new site sooner, in fall 2011. If there is overwhelming support for the rushed move, then the matter could go before the PPS Board again in January 2011 for an amended vote.
Whew.
The last time a survey was taken by PPS Administrators, the name "OBAMA" was chosen among the students. Let the record show, the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies was not the top vote getter in the prior survey. The top vote getter was Schenley. That poll also had strong votes in 2nd and 3rd for Hogwarts and Frick. But Obama was picked (4th choice) and it is what it is. I love democracy. But, I worry a bit about polls. Who is counting the votes? How are questions asked?
In my not so humble opinion, the best solution: I want trust to be earned by PPS. I want PROMISES to be kept. I hate the trend and feeling of being yanked around by Pittsburgh Public Schools.
The class of 2012, the first to graduate from Pgh Obama, (i.e,, NOT Schenley), has had a rocky road. They should NOT move again at the start their senior year, Give time for the facility at Peabody to be made ready for the new school. Give time for the school to focus on academics, not moving and boxing materials and so on. That was a promise made to them and it should be honored.
In the 2011-2012 school year, it would be GREAT if the facilities of BOTH Peabody AND Reizenstein were made available in AFTER SCHOOL TIMES to the students of the city and the 6-12 school. The middle school setting and the high school needs are hard pressed to fit within one school. The schools were built for either middle school or high school. Not both. The crunch is GREATEST after school as multiple teams with multiple sports try to fit in one pool, one gym, one field. It doesn't work well -- especially if the goal is to develop kids, teams and programs to compete with the WPIAL soon.
On MONDAY, Nov 22, 2010, another PPS Board Meeting happens where the board listens to PUBLIC COMMENT in 3 minute chunks. To speak, or get onto the speaker list, call 412-622-3600 and ask to be included on the agenda. That meeting begins at 7 pm. I am speaker #3. My topic: Moving IB to Peabody in fall of 2012. I will also talk about using all the available facilities for all sorts of after school activities.
Then on Tuesday, the board will vote. But, the question of a rush to Peabody for the fall of 2011 has been removed from the agenda as of now.
Thanks for caring about our kids and their opportunities -- both in and beyond the classrooms.
One of the reason why it is NOT prudent to move into Peabody in the fall of 2011 is the fact that the PPS Summer Dreamers is slated to use Pgh Peabody for five weeks in the summer of 2011. The fix up work, even a fresh coat of paint and removal of the Highlanders markings would take longer than the two open weeks to prep for the new school year for the new school population. It is great to have Summer Dreamers at Peabody. And, it will be great to have the facilities people have a number of months in the next year to spruce up the space.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Cullen Jones gives children gold-certified swim lessons - USATODAY.com
Cullen Jones gives children gold-certified swim lessons - USATODAY.com
Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones was back in the pool Wednesday, sharing his story with a community where six teenagers drowned in the Red River this summer because they couldn't swim.
Jones' appearance was part of Make A Splash, the USA Swimming Foundation's child-focused water safety initiative. Make a Splash partners with cities, schools, swim clubs and non-profit groups across the country to offer swimming lessons.
Cook: Steelers make wrong move with Reed
Cook: Steelers make wrong move with Reed It's never a good thing to take on the paying customers.
As inane as his ramblings were, Reed was much more inflammatory during the summer after he failed to reach a long-term contract with the Steelers. "I was told one thing and another thing happened. I'm not a big fan of lying," he said,
Some Running Mate should go to this, before going to the Harry Potter movie at midnight
dorkbot is an international movement centered around people who like to do strange things with electricity. This time:
Heather Knight, a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute and founder of Marilyn Monrobot, creates socially intelligent robot theater performances.
Kelly Gates does work that has focused on the politics of computerization and surveillance system development in post-war United States.
WHEN: Thursday, Nov 18: 7:30 PM at Brillobox Theater:
http://www.thisishappening.com/VenuePage.php?curVen=60769&show=profile
NEIGHBORHOOD: Bloomfield
IT'LL COST YOU: $Free
AGES: all ages
PRODUCED BY:
+Dorkbot http://www.thisishappening.com/OrgPage.php?curOrg=38051&show=profile
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