Also, WTF SYRACUSE?!?!

Published March 16, 2012 | NewsCore

A person with a gun was reported on campus at the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday, and students were ordered to stay indoors, the university said.

"Shelter in place and stay indoors. Person allegedly with rifle spotted outside Kate Gleason residence hall," the university said on its website.

The university advised people in the area of the residence hall to stay indoors until further notice.

There were no reports of shots fired or injuries, FOX News Channel reported. Police were investigating.

This is how it is described.. 

General Admission will include a surprise parade entrance by the Extraordinary Rendition Marching band, with a performer carried in on a litter. As soon as the band stops playing, several variety performances ballet en pointe, a mummy fan dance, belly dance, and more will happen. For the remainder of the night, DJ Mr Morris will keep us moving on the dance floor. At some point, there will also be another set of variety performances. " 

My friend wants us all to dress up and thinks we should be wearing 20s flapperish costumes.

What would you wear? 

eta: it's not at my school or even my district.

I've tried googling and I'm getting crap results.

Defendant in Rutgers Spying Case Guilty of Hate Crimes

But this is kind of funny - http://paddynotpatty.com/

In general...

Paddy = boy

Patty = girl

Here's the Jezebel post (because I love their writing):  http://jezebel.com/5893803/idaho-bill-requires-women-to-go-to-awful-crisis-pregnancy-centers-before-getting-abortions

And here's an actual article with less of a slant (bolding mine):  http://www.thenorthwestern.com/usatoday/article/38797617?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

Idaho Senate panel OKs abortion ultrasound mandate

BOISE, Idaho (WTW) ? Idaho stepped closer to requiring women to undergo a fetal ultrasound before terminating a pregnancy, joining states including Virginia and Texas where abortion opponents are hoping the measures will cause women to reconsider abortion.

Boise Sen. Chuck Winder's legislation cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee Wednesday on a 7-2 vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposing.

About 240 people packed an emotional two-hour hearing, and rhetoric was hyperbolic on each side. Critics compared the bill to laws favored by extremists such as the Taliban. And advocates said their opponents were as bad as Holocaust deniers.

Under Idaho's measure, a doctor performing an abortion would have to conduct an ultrasound examination. Women would be given the option of viewing the fetal ultrasound image and listening to a fetal heartbeat. But they could decline by initialing a release form.

The measure would provide up-to-date information that would help pregnant women recognize the consequences of abortion, said Susan Young, director of Life Choices Pregnancy Center, an anti-abortion clinic in Sandpoint.

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words," Young told lawmakers. "This bill would require a woman to have a real picture with sound of the fetus she's about to have removed from her body."

The bill now heads to the Senate floor for what's likely to be a heated debate.

In Virginia, police in riot gear recently had a standoff with women's-rights demonstrators on the Capitol steps.

Meanwhile, Texas has been enforcing a similar law enacted last year that makes vaginal ultrasound a precondition for many abortions. Its law also requires women hear their doctors describe the fetus' development during the ultrasound, and then wait 24 hours before undergoing the abortion.

Alabama is considering similar legislation.

Eleven states including Idaho now require verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing ultrasound services, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

At least seven states mandate that an abortion provider perform an ultrasound on each woman seeking an abortion and require the provider to offer the woman the opportunity to view the image.

Winder altered his original proposal, which could have required a vaginal ultrasound in which a device is inserted into a woman's vagina rather than a less-invasive abdominal ultrasound.

Instead, his bill leaves such decisions up to medical providers in consultation with the patient.

Still, that change appeared to do little or nothing to assuage the concerns of foes who call this measure an example of government leaders inserting themselves into medical decisions best left to women and their doctors in the privacy of an office.

"I'm not aware of any precedent to this ? the government mandating a medical procedure, and unfunded, no less," said Heather Hammerstedt, a Boise doctor.

Opponents also complained that requiring an ultrasound could add significantly to costs of an abortion and raised additional concerns that the measure provides no exceptions for medical emergencies or in instances when a woman is victim of rape or incest.

Yvette Sedlewicz called such a procedure akin to "mechanical rape" and even "torture."

"This is a violation of medical privacy between a woman and her physician," Sedlewicz said. "Keep your noses out of women's business."

Brandi Swindell, an anti-abortion activist who helped start a medical clinic in Boise, Stanton Healthcare, to counsel women against abortion, told lawmakers she would soon be reserving a room at the Capitol to demonstrate an ultrasound procedure.

Following the meeting, Swindell said she's still organizing a lawmaker to sponsor such an exhibition.

She gave no date, but predicted, "This will be the first time in the nation that babies themselves will be testifying. That's never happened."

The CBO also raises the estimates for those losing their employer sponsored insurance to 20 Million or more. (IMO _think higher )

Work is still the suck and I see no end for the foreseeable future.  Things are coming to a head today but won't level out for several months.  It is funny how something you come to depend on can change in a heartbeat.  My job is very safe but it will never be the same again.  My best friend/boss is resigning today (please no facebook give away) and will leave on the 23rd.  In one fell swoop I have lost my best friend, and haven't been given so much as a hint as to why he is leaving and how it came to impact what I thought was an unbreakable bond between us.  I am crushed.

I leaked coffee on my Nook, my brand new nook and now it doesn't work.

Babycopz took all the joy out of prom dress shopping by falling in love with THE VERY FIRST DRESS SHE TRIED ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I mean WTF, it usually takes twenty trips and countless hours of trying things on.  She just sucked the life out of me last night .  Mark my words people kids will eventually steal your soul

Cheer me up. 

 What can you tell me? Thanks.

This seems like a cool initiative and I don't know any HS students, so I thought I'd pass it on.

She ended her last email to me with, "Just a heads up, we have a very relaxed dress code."

Does this mean I'm not expected to wear the traditional business suit to the interview? If so, what do I wear?? I hate this.  

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/southern-miss-band-chants-where-green-card-puerto-205326741.html

Members of the University of Southern Mississippi band chanted racist taunts at a hispanic Kansas State player during the schools' NCAA tournament game on Thursday.

After point guard Angel Rodriguez was fouled late in the first half of the second-round game, a few band members showered the freshman with cries of "where's your green card?"

The chant and those who participated don't warrant any civilized dialogue. Both are an embarrassment to the university.

Southern Miss president Martha Saunders quickly apologized for the incident.

"We deeply regret the remarks made by a few students at today's game," she wrote in a statementissued two hours after the game. "The words of these individuals do not represent the sentiments of our pep band, athletic department or university. We apologize to Mr. Rodriquez (sic) and will take quick and appropriate disciplinary action against the students involved in this isolated incident."

Rodriguez was spelled incorrectly in the original draft.

As if things could get any more ignorant, the basis for the band's racism was itself misguided. Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States. Even if he hadn't grown up in Miami and starred for a high school basketball team in that city, he'd still be an American citizen and have no need for a green card. Ignorant ignorance; it's the best kind.

Rodriguez and K-State had the last laugh. The Wildcats defeated Southern Miss, 70-64. 

bekah22587@hotmail.com:

i know im the the minority but i find it funny. ill also point out i'm a republican and live in alabama. flame me if you must.

I like how she proudly explains her racism away by geography and being a Republican.

http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/64327199.aspx

http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/142927885.html

Madison - State Sen. Pam Galloway, who faces a recall election this summer, plans to resign from the Senate shortly, leaving an even split between Republicans and Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) confirmed her plans Friday and said he believed Galloway would make an announcement later in the day.

Fitzgerald said Galloway was resigning because of health issues in her family. He said he was confident she could have defeated Rep. Donna Seidel (D-Wausau), who was running against her in the recall election.

Apparently Rep. Danou has been quoted as saying "I can't imagine you're not going to stack this board full of hacks and cronies."  HA! 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/22-hours-in-and-no-end-in-sight-for-assembly-4c4jjkf-142923335.html

Madison - Democrats dragged out debate through the night and into the morning in the state Assembly seeking to block action on a bill overhauling the board of the Milwaukee Area Technical College.

"We're here at six in the morning because you made a decision to stick it to Milwaukee," Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said to Republicans.

Democrats called the changes a power grab, but Republicans had the votes and were holding fast, saying the bill would tighten the connection between the MATC board and business. If passed by the Assembly, the bill would go to Gov. Scott Walker.

The Assembly's last day of the regular session began more than 22 hours ago and has no end in sight. Republicans have dozens of bills they want to get through, but Democrats frustrated their efforts from about 3 a.m. until after 8 a.m. by forcing debate on Democratic proposals.

Now, the Assembly has taken up the MATC bill. Democrats have 70 amendments to it, meaning more hours of debate are likely.

Their hope is to wear Republicans out, so they will give up on the MATC bill, thus killing it.

"I will talk and I will talk and I will talk," said Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber (D-Appleton).

Responded Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha): "We're going to be here till Monday. I get that."

In interviews, Democrats and Republicans showed they were entrenched.

"It doesn't take a genius to see the minority party does not approve of the MATC changes," said Rep. Louis Molepske Jr. (D-Stevens Point). "Neither does MATC or the other technical schools. If the Republicans want to end session, they could easily do it by removing this objectionable bill from the calendar."

That didn't appear likely.

"I've never seen our side give up on something," said Jeff Stone (R-Greendale).

"If we back down, it would be silly," said Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette). "It would give them their victory."

The entire membership of the MATC Board would turn over almost immediately under the proposal, a move that would jeopardize MATC's license for its public television station, according to the college's attorney.

MATC holds the Federal Communications Commission license for Channels 10 and 36, and MATC's governing body is the college's board. At issue is whether replacing all nine board members at the same time would constitute a transfer of control. Federal statute requires FCC approval for transfer of control.

MATC's legal counsel said Thursday that if the bill were to become law, the board turnover would result in a transfer of control. A Legislative Council attorney disagrees, arguing the board would continue to exist and control MATC to the same extent that it does now; it would just have nine new members.

The Journal Sentinel contacted an independent attorney in Washington, D.C., whose practice focuses on regulatory and business issues facing companies in the broadcast industry. She agreed with MATC's attorney.

Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said he had a statement signed by the chairmen of the Ozaukee and Washington County boards of supervisors, promising they would keep six of the current nine members for the first year if the bill passed and they received appointment authority. Three of the six board members would then be replaced in 2013, and the other three, in 2014, Grothman said.

Under the legislation, the Milwaukee County executive and the county board chairs in Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties would appoint the new MATC board. The bill calls for current members to be replaced within two months. Current MATC board members would not be allowed to serve out their terms, but instead would be removed as soon as their replacement was named, according to a memo from the Legislative Council, a non-partisan agency that provides legal analysis for lawmakers. The term of each newly appointed board member would expire in 2014, 2015 or 2016.

Critics argued at the eleventh hour that it wasn't good public policy to replace an entire board with new members who don't understand the workings of the college.

The measure is a response, in part, to the Milwaukee area business community seeking a stronger partnership between manufacturers and MATC, especially because of the region's high concentration of manufacturing jobs.

The Assembly vote was scheduled after the Senate passed it 17-16 on a party-line vote Tuesday.

FCC rules

An independent attorney contacted by the Journal Sentinel agreed that MATC's public television license could be in jeopardy if the board were overhauled.

Board member names are filed with the FCC when the initial license is obtained and then every other year, as part of a required ownership report, said Sally A. Buckman of Lerman Senter PLLC in Washington. "For a licensee that is governed by a board, when less than a majority of the board members change there is no transfer of control; however a wholesale change, there is a transfer of control," Buckman said.

MATC's FCC legal counsel in Washington D.C., "opined that the removal and replacement of all nine current MATC Board members at one time would constitute a transfer of control of the institution; thus, requiring prior FCC approval of the new board members before they could assume their positions," said Janice Falkenberg, vice president and general counsel for MATC.

"The FCC approval process could take several months depending upon whether any objections were filed," Falkenberg told the Journal Sentinel.

A cursory review of the federal statute by the Legislative Council drew a different conclusion.

"It appears that enactment of (the bill) would not constitute a violation and therefore would not put MATC in jeopardy of losing its television station license," said a Legislative Council memo released Thursday.

While current board members would be removed and replaced, "the MATC Board would continue to exist and would continue to control MATC to the same extent that is does currently," the memo says. "The change effected by (the bill) appears to be analogous to changing the membership of a corporate board of directors, which is a routine practice and does not appear to require FCC approval."

Legislative Council staff contacted the FCC to discuss this issue, but was waiting for a call back.

The bill would not affect the state's other technical college boards.

It would reshape the MATC board to consist of one school administrator, one elected official, two at-large members and five people appointed to represent for-profit businesses or nonprofit medical facilities. At least two of the five would come from manufacturing businesses.

The board now is required to have one school district administrator, one elected official, three at-large members, two employers and two employees.

A committee of 20-plus school board presidents currently appoints MATC board members. If the bill becomes law, board members would be appointed by the committee of four county officials.

Michael Rosen, an economics instructor at MATC and the president of the union representing teachers at the college, dismissed the bill Thursday as unneeded and deceptive.

"It's clear that this was done with some political vendetta in mind," Rosen said. "It's simply about power."

PA GOP Governor Defends Ultrasounds Bill: Tells Concerned Women ?You Just Have To Close Your Eyes?

More than 10 state legislatures are considering or have passed bills forcing women to receive an ultrasound before having an abortion. And Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering one of the most far-reaching ultrasound bills in the nation.

Gov. Tom Corbett (R) reaffirmed this week that he supports the anti-abortion measure so long as it?s not obtrusive because women could simply close their eyes during the procedure:

QUESTION: Making them watch?does that go too far in your mind?

CORBETT: I?m not making anybody watch, OK. Because you just have to close your eyes. As long as it?s on the exterior and not the interior.

(Video at link) 

Critics say Corbett?s comments show he doesn?t understand how the bill would even work. While the Pennsylvania legislation has been amended to remove references to invasive transvaginal ultrasounds, the language suggests a transvaginal ultrasound could still be required if the embryo is too small. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat running for attorney general, called for Corbett to apologize for his statement. ?It?s unthinkable that he would so casually dismiss this by advising women to just close their eyes,? Murphy said.

The state House canceled a vote on the bill this week because medical associations have voiced concerns about the measure. And 48 percent of Pennsylvania voters oppose the ultrasound bill, with 42 percent supporting the measure, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. And 64 percent of voters oppose requiring transvaginal ultrasounds.

Meanwhile, Corbett?s approval rating among Pennsylvanians is dropping. 

 link

At least half the elephants in Cameroon's Bouba N'Djida reserve were slaughtered because the west African nation sent too few security forces to tackle poachers, the World Wide Fund for Nature said on Thursday.

In what was described as one of the worst poaching massacres in decades, as many as 200 elephants have been killed for their tusks since January by poachers on horseback from Chad and Sudan, the fund said.

"WWF is disturbed by reports that the poaching continues unabated," Natasha Kofoworola Quist, WWF's representative in the region, said in a statement.

It was the second major elephant-poaching report out of Africa this month. On March 5, the warden at Virunga National Park, a U.N. World Heritage Site in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said poaching had become so severe that rangers began using bloodhounds to track down poachers. The Virunga elephant population has fallen to fewer than 400 from an estimated 3,000 in the 1980s.

In Cameroon, about 20 fresh elephant carcasses were discovered last week, a WWF spokesperson said.

The government of the Central African state has sent special forces to track the poachers and end the killing spree in the north of the country, but the WWF said this may be too little, too late.

"The forces arrived too late to save most of the park's elephants and were too few to deter the poachers," Quist said. She said the organization regretted that a soldier was killed during a clash with the poachers.

Biologically diverse and protected only by unarmed rangers, Bouba N?djida is located near Cameroon?s porous northern border, where it presents a tempting target for poachers from Sudan and Chad, the magazine Nature reported. They typically cross into the park on horseback at the beginning of each dry season and return north before rains begin in April, using ivory profits to procure more weaponry.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW, said the scale of this year?s killings was unprecedented.

IFAW said it was not clear how many elephants remained in Cameroon but a 2007 estimate put the figure at between 1,000 and 5,000.

Conservation groups have said the spike in poaching and illegal ivory trade in Africa was a direct consequence of China's investment drive into the continent and as the demand for ivory, used in jewelry and ornaments, grows in Asia.

In South Africa, rhinos are under assault by poachers, who killed more than 400 last year, NBC?s Rock Center reported.

http://nattyfashion.tumblr.com/post/19386252687/alexander-mcqueen-red-velvet-amq-blazer-i-smell

PALATINE, Ill.?While many say it's all but over for Newt Gingrich, he is still pounding the campaign trail, comparing himself to figures like Ronald Reagan and laying out a role for himself at a contested GOP convention.

"Other than Ronald Reagan, I know of no Republican in my lifetime who's been able to talk like this," Mr. Gingrich told a banquet crowd here, referring to his own policy ideas on energy, brain science and other matters. "That's why I'm still running, because the gap is so huge."

If Mr. Gingrich has failed to capture the party's imagination in his bid for its presidential nomination, he says, it isn't his fault. He offers big ideas, but "the news media can't cover it, and my opponents can't comprehend it,'' he says.

His audiences are smaller now, and more muted. Before his losses Tuesday in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries, Mr. Gingrich drew several crowds of 500 or more supporters. The audience at a Mobile, Ala., antique-car garage last week couldn't fit into the venue. Here in Illinois, the applause is more polite and the chants of "Newt! Newt!" much rarer. Crowds of about 100 at a Rosemont convention center and about 200 at an airplane hangar in Lake of the Hills didn't reach capacity.

Mr. Gingrich is focusing on one issue in particular, energy, offering a drilling program aimed at producing "$2.50 gas.'' He points to the fact that the White House has attacked the plan as evidence that only he can design a campaign that will defeat President Barack Obama.

But he has won only two of the 31 nominating contests held so far, in his home state of Georgia and in South Carolina. Rick Santorum took home more votes in Alabama and Mississippi, despite heavy campaigning by the former Georgia congressman in his home region.

Connie Carosielli, a 66-year-old real-estate broker who lives in Mount Prospect, Ill., said after Mr. Gingrich's banquet speech that she'd "pay to see him debate the president." But she's voting for Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, citing concerns about Mr. Gingrich's personal history and his electability. "I don't see him winning," she said.

A contested convention would occur if no candidate emerged from the primaries and caucuses with the 1,144 delegates needed to claim the nomination, prompting negotiations to produce a nominee.

"I think Newt's a great guy," said Sig Vaznelis, chairman of the Cook County Republican Party and a Romney supporter. But "if it does go to the convention?everyone's going to wake up and say we're going to go Newt all of a sudden? No."

Mr. Gingrich does win supporters at stump speeches. Nancy Franklin, an 86-year-old retired public-school secretary who heard Mr. Gingrich speak in Elgin, Ill., said she now planned to vote for him. "I think he's honest," she said. "He's trying to do good."

Bill Clark, a 69-year-old marketing consultant in Brandon, Miss., acknowledged before a rally at City Hall this week that Mr. Gingrich was unlikely to win the nomination. But he said Mr. Gingrich should stick around for the convention. "When they throw the fish into the frying pan, I'd like Newt to be there," he said.

In Mr. Obama's home state of Illinois, Mr. Gingrich's stump speeches have included fewer applause-drawing digs at Mr. Obama and more vignettes about health policy and Social Security.

The busy schedule has taken a toll on Mr. Gingrich. He admitted to a supporter before the polls closed Tuesday that he had taken a 3?-hour nap after a morning radio interview. But he shows no signs of quitting.

"In my mind, every day's cool," he told one crowd. "I'm still here."

Mr. Gingrich, whose campaign led national polls late last year, told reporters Thursday he "made a mistake" in not being "aggressively positive" in response to attack ads that began running after he took the lead. "We're having sort of a halftime," he said of his campaign, adding that he planned on "resetting the game clock."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303863404577283883806112646.html

I love hearing people talk about the olden days of activism, and I got all pumped up about volunteering more.  It was like being in a PCE meeting, but like 40 years from now.  I love smart people.

Please Read This Story, Thank You

Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Getty Images

Politeness seems to be falling by the wayside these days, with phrases like "you're welcome" replaced by the more casual "you bet" or "no problem." Good manners were more the norm in 1960, when these kids at a junior theatrical school learned how to curtsy and bow.

 

 

March 14, 2012

Listen to the conversations around you ? colleagues at the office, customers in the coffeehouse line, those who serve you, those you serve, the people you meet each day. "Give me a tall latte." "Hand me that hammer." "Have a good one."

Notice anything missing? The traditional magic words "please" and "thank you" that many people learn as children appear to be disappearing.

Lisa Gache, co-founder of Beverly Hills Manners in Los Angeles, has noticed the gradual vanishing of courteous language. She blames the casualty on the casual. "The slow erosion of the 'magic words' in our everyday vernacular," says Gache, who coaches people to be more civil, "has to do with the predilection toward all things casual in our society today. Casual conversation, casual dress and casual behavior have hijacked practically all areas of life, and I do not think it is doing anyone a service."

Other polite phrases also seem to be falling by the wayside. "You're welcome," for instance. Say "thank you" to someone these days, and instead of hearing "you're welcome," you're more liable to hear: "Sure." "No problem." "You bet." "Enjoy." Or a long list of replies that replace the traditional "you're welcome."

Instead of saying "thank you," people say "got it." Or "have a good one." Or, more often, nothing at all. And in lieu of saying "no, thank you," reactions such as "I'm good" are increasingly common.

"The responses 'have a good one,' 'I'm good' or 'you bet,' do not carry the same sentiment or convey the same conviction as when we are sincerely expressing our gratitude or thanks," Gache says. "They feel less invested, almost as if they are painful to utter under our breath."

Please excuse us for asking the questions: Are we just finding new ways to say old, polite phrases? Are good manners merely morphing? Or are they fading away altogether?

Becoming More Rude

"Simple things that we took for granted as children no longer seem to count," says Gregory E. Smith, a psychiatrist and blogger in Augusta, Ga. Smith says he has noticed a tectonic shift during his 25 years of practicing medicine. "Saying please and thank you, asking permission, offering unsolicited help, and following up on solutions to problems are no longer as important."

He also has observed a drastic change in everyday transactions. "Go through any drive-through at a fast-food restaurant in America. Go through any checkout line in a grocery store. Stand in line at a convenience store. If you are very lucky, the person waiting on you will make eye contact. Maybe they will speak. More likely, they will hand you your drink and bag while looking back over their shoulder, never even acknowledging your personhood much less your status as a customer."

Simple things that we took for granted as children no longer seem to count.

- Gregory E. Smith, psychiatrist

The checkout person "will check you out," Smith says, "all the while being 'checked out' emotionally from the situation. Worst of all, as I experienced in an airport in the last couple of years, a kiosk worker will blandly bag your item, swipe your debit card, hand you your receipt, all while having a conversation on her cellphone. Amazing. Outrageous."

Research backs up Smith's anecdotal observations. In 2011, some 76 percent of people surveyed by Rasmussen Reports said Americans are becoming more rude and less civil.

Margaret Lacey, on the other hand, finds that many people are quite well-mannered in her everyday life. A sophomore at the College of Charleston ? in the South Carolina city that is often cited as one of the most courteous in the country ? Lacey notes that people can be polite without trotting out the traditional niceties.

She describes a typically routine encounter: "At the grocery store cafe down the street, I go get a coffee every morning," Lacey says. "This morning I walked in and they said, 'Good morning, will you have the usual?' I smiled and said, 'Yes, please.' They asked me how my morning had been while making my coffee. On the way out the door they said, 'Enjoy. See you tomorrow.' "

She doesn't expect people to utter the same old same olds.

Timeless Principles, Changing Manners

Neither does etiquette maven Cindy Post Senning, a director of the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt. The institute, dedicated to promoting etiquette and civility, was established more than 60 years ago by Emily Post, who wrote a landmark book on manners, Etiquette, in 1922.

To Senning ? who is Emily Post's great-granddaughter ? etiquette and courtesy encompass two interrelated and essential components: principles and manners. "The principles of respect, consideration and honesty are universal and timeless," she says. But "manners change over time and from culture to culture."

 

To strengthen relationships, she says, "we need to articulate these principles in all our interactions. It is respectful to make requests rather than demands, to show gratitude and appreciation, to greet others, to give our complete attention, to acknowledge appreciation shown, to acknowledge and show respect for age, standing, importance."

However, when it comes to the actual articulation, she says, "the words we use do change."

For example, Senning says, it is important to show respect for other people by greeting them when you first see them ? in the hallway, at a meeting, on the street. The form of greeting, though, has morphed over time.

"How do you do?" became "Hello, how are you?" which eventually changed into "Hello, how are things?" Or "How's it going?"

As a result of the metamorphosis, Senning says, "today it would sound a little stilted and perhaps even disrespectful if a sarcastic tone is used to say 'How do you do?' "

And what about other popular substitutions, such as "no problem" for "you're welcome"?

Senning says she prefers the latter, "but if the appreciation is expressed in a genuine manner, I do not see its use as a loss of courtesy."

She agrees with Smith, the psychiatrist, and many others that the phrase "you're welcome" has long been the commonly accepted courteous response. But she also acknowledges that the norms ? and the manners and the mores ? may change.

"What won't change," she adds, "is the importance of acknowledging appreciation expressed."

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/09/148295675/please-read-this-story-thank-you

 

 

I'm a big please and thank you fan. I've had people (often in the workplace, sometimes just in social life) tell me that I don't "need" to say please or thank you... but, really, is it a "need" thing, or is it merely a nice way to interact, to grease the wheels?

We encourage (but don't necessarily require) the kids use please and thank you.  I was super gratified, last night, when we were out and someone at a store gave the girl a freebie, and she said "thank you" without prompting.

A Justice Department prosecution team in 2008 withheld exculpatory evidence, in some instances intentionally, in the bungled prosecution of the late Sen. Ted Stevens, according to a court-ordered report released Thursday.

A jury convicted Mr. Stevens in October 2008 of accepting and concealing tens of thousands of dollars in free home renovations and other gifts. Six months later, after evidence of prosecutorial misconduct emerged, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan threw out the charges at the request of Attorney General Eric Holder.

The senator denied all wrongdoing and narrowly lost his re-election bid in 2008. He died in a plane crash in 2010.

Among the report's key findings, Mr. Schuelke found that prosecutor Brenda Morris, brought in to lead the case just two days before the indictment in July 2008, largely left the trial team unsupervised. The report said she failed to oversee officials who were supposed to review materials for information favorable to Mr. Stevens and turn over relevant documents to the defense.

In particular, Mr. Schuelke said, they failed to turn over evidence that would have undermined explosive testimony by the government's star witness, Bill Allen, a onetime fishing buddy of Mr. Stevens whose company did renovation work on the senator's house.

Mr. Allen testified at trial that a mutual friend said Mr. Stevens was "just covering his ass" when he asked for a bill and didn't actually want to pay. That testimony directly conflicted with statements Mr. Allen made to government investigators months earlier. According to the report, four prosecutors and an FBI agent said they "forgot" Mr. Allen's earlier statements. Mr. Schuelke said the "complete, simultaneous and long-term memory failure by the entire prosecution team" was "extraordinary" and "strains credulity."

Ms. Morris, in a letter to Mr. Schuelke, pointed the blame partly at senior Justice Department managers who she said installed her on the case over her objections. "My late assignment to the trial team sparked lingering tension and resentment," she wrote, adding that she "did not commit prosecutorial misconduct."

Mr. Schuelke also singled out two junior members of the team, Joseph Bottini and James Goeke, saying they intentionally withheld evidence from a construction foreman corroborating Mr. Stevens's contention that he thought he paid for the renovations.

The report said the men failed to disclose conflicting accounts about whether Mr. Allen, the star witness, might have induced perjury in an unrelated sex case. That evidence would have "significantly impeached" Mr. Allen's credibility as a witness, Mr. Schuelke said.

Matthew Menchel, a lawyer for Mr. Goeke, said the report's assertions against his client were "against the weight of the evidence." He said Mr. Goeke pushed higher-level prosecutors to turn over information to the defense, but "those superiors made the decision not to make those disclosures."

Bottini lawyer Ken Wainstein said in a statement that his client was "a man of honor and integrity" who "would never commit intentional misconduct."

Mr. Wainstein said prosecution mistakes were "inevitable" in the Stevens case because of dysfunctional Justice Department management and a "dramatically compressed" time for trial preparation.

Williams & Connolly, the law firm that represented Mr. Stevens, said in a statement the report documented "evidence of government corruption that is shocking in its boldness and its breadth."

The defense lawyers said: "Corrupt prosecutors obtained an illegal verdict against Sen. Stevens on October 27, 2008. As a result, a sitting senator lost certain re-election."

Mr. Schuelke said he couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that some of the prosecutors' misconduct was intentional, and he didn't recommend criminal charges against them. It is rare for prosecutors to be charged with misconduct, because they generally enjoy immunity for their actions at a trial unless it can be proven that they acted in bad faith to subvert the justice system.

However, the prosecutors in the Stevens case could face other actions, including dismissal from the Justice Department or disbarment. The department's Office of Professional Responsibility has separately been investigating the lawyers' conduct, and the report could be used as the basis for disciplinary action by state bars.

Mr. Holder said in recent congressional testimony that he found the Schuelke report disturbing. In a statement Thursday, the Justice Department said it had "instituted a sweeping training curriculum for all federal prosecutors" to ensure they uphold their ethics obligations. It said instances of misconduct were "rare."

Sorry, no link - subscriber content only.

But our voices are mostly missing from the debate.

It's time we spoke out, boyos. The pill is our contraception, too. Biology and the pharmaceutical industry may have conspired to produce the pill for women but their use of it has made our sex lives a lot simpler, and let's admit it, a hell of a lot more enjoyable. We've got it pretty easy when it comes to consequences, too. Romance can have a profound physical impact on women, which means men share an even greater moral responsibility for women's health and family planning. Let's also acknowledge here that if nature had given men the duty of childbearing and the physical agonies of delivery that the planet would still be a barren lonely place.

The childhood tale of the birds and the bees was more than a clever euphemism; it was a way of teaching our young that sexual reproduction was a relational thing. Both parties have a responsibility for a pregnancy, which seems like a pretty obvious fact that ought to be hard to overlook. But that appears to have happened in the present national discourse over funding women's contraceptives and family planning.

We're from Texas, which, despite the legendary efforts of the late Gov. Ann Richards does not earn honors for its kind treatment of women. We lead the nation in the number of women without health insurance; we have the worst rate of women receiving prenatal care; we're fourth in teen pregnancy; and we're sixth in the number of women in poverty.

Despite this dismal record, ask a Texas man what he'd do if some yahoo called his girlfriend a slut and you'll likely hear chivalrous brags about ball breaking and nose busting.

There is a kind of chivalry missing from this discussion, but not of that sort (as much as we might like to see it acted out on Rush Limbaugh). When it comes to their bodies and their health, women aren't defenseless lasses who need the protection of big, strong men. What they do need, however, is for men to accept their responsibility, biologically, morally, and politically, to play a substantial role in the health of their partners. And even though Texas might be the politically least likely place to start such a movement, we are launching an effort to get men to stand up with women to protect their contraceptive and health care rights. Here is our first TV spot:

We want our fellow males to remember that when the Misogynistic Armies of the Right march against women, they are also carrying pitchforks to use on us. Family planning is a private matter. But the politics of family planning are public, and men, if they are to be men of character, need to stand publicly with women against those who threaten women's health. We must not allow rights to receive care to be harmed by juvenile sexual insecurity, political cynicism, or ugly gender bias.

And if your chivalry is dead and you are a man thinking only of yourself, there is a lot of data to get you to stand up anyway with the good guys. Planned Parenthood screened more than 4 million patients in 2010 for STD, STI, HIV and HPV. Here's another one of those disturbing almost 100 percent statistics, too: Women testing positive for those conditions contracted their problem from a man. So, fellas, how hard is it to understand that when Republicans try to defund Planned Parenthood, it's your health they are jeopardizing, too?

The Politics of Slam-Bam-Thank-You-Ma'am leaves men caricatured as forest creatures that spread their seed and then slip back into the trees to find another mate. We don't get to have our way and then leave women to their own devices, which, arguably the conservative right is promoting. Barefoot and pregnant without support of the father and health care is a pretty good definition of barbarism.

Women-hating or women-fearing men like Limbaugh get all the attention, of course. One of the essential causes for Limbaugh's limelight is that the rest of the male populace, whose political knuckles do not drag on the ground, doesn't speak loudly enough or even open our mouths to express a principled stand. It's a sad old joke that men don't know what happens after sex because they've fallen asleep. Politically, the germ of truth in that joke is turning into an infection of silence.

Wake up, boyos.

You finished too soon. The Right is climbing in your bedroom window. This is not just a question of women's health care; it's about the health of every American drawing a breath. It's past time to speak up. Write letters to elected officials. Make your voices heard on social networks. Don't just attend women's health care rallies. Organize them. Give to Planned Parenthood. Vote the barbarians out of office.

Because of physiological differences (have we mentioned how happy those make us?), men and women need different kinds of health services. And those of us who are of the male gender ought to be embarrassed that women's health care is a political issue. That singular fact in this election year points to a moral and medical failure. The line might be a bit hackneyed but it's probably true that if men got pregnant, reproductive health and the sanctity of individual choice wouldn't be issues.

But we do get pregnant, boyos. Do we really need to explain that pregnancy is a biological and emotional condition shared by men and women? Consequently, we are participating in each other's health. Your woman's private life is your private life and it is being invaded by repressive politics from the right.

There's a reason no one ever talks about "men's health care." Women understand that. A lot of men, however, don't. And it's time we all did. There's really only one kind of health care; it's human health care.

And we all have a stake in it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glenn-w-smith/where-the-boys-arent_b_1338074.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false