Education

Education about the political process is crucial towards an understanding on how policy becomes law. Most of us know that at the National level of the United States, we have a President, a Vice President and staff that are supposed to work towards protecting the public interest. There are three governing branches in our democratic system; Executive (the President and staff), Judicial (Supreme Court) and the Legislative (Congress-the decision-makers on legislation/law). It is the legislative branch that will be the focus of this article. Education on the political processes of government will bring about the second most important thing you can do to make your voice heard on the potential passage of laws that will affect you.

Awareness

How did that law get passed and why didnt you know about it? It would be negligent not to mention that some proposed bills are worded and designed to confuse or hide the actual intent of the bill. Often, bills are routed through the House of Representatives and the Senate with the intention of sneaking the bill through towards being passed in an effort to keep it from gaining significant attention. Your education and awareness of policy will train you to read bills from a critical perspective. Every bill or proposed piece of legislation is available for reading by the public (both on the National and Local levels). Becoming aware of what a bill really intends to change and what its purposes are is up to you to critically analyze. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves and become aware. It is only then that we can take action.

Take Action

Lets talk about one example of a bill being proposed at the National level. Senate Bill, SA1379 has been introduced to require “certain dietary supplement manufacturers to report certain serious adverse events”. What does this REALLY say? What does this bill actually intend to do? What is its purpose? Education and awareness will take you into the text of this bill with knowledge and a critical eye. Then you can make an informed and responsible decision.

Becoming an advocate on any policy issue requires determination and passion. After education and analysis of any particular piece of legislation we can decide to accept the bill or reject it. If you accept or agree that a proposed bill should be enacted and made law you can sit back and let it run its due course. If, however, you reject a policy and find it unfair, objectionable or unjust, its time to take action.

Policy advocates take action in several ways. They can be individuals or groups. They either attempt to improve existing policy, establish new policy or make attempts to defeat existing policy. They act. No matter the effort, if you want to change laws, you will need some tips on how to create the change you wish to see implemented.

To become effective change advocates we must first understand that changing policy can often be extremely challenging and difficult work. You may encounter opposition at every turn. You may find very few others that support your position or values. On the other hand, there may be many people that want to join in your effort to change a policy or law. If you are truly passionate about an issue and believe it needs to be changed, the rewards of your efforts could be many. The most important thing to remember is that it takes only one person to start the process for change but you will need support. Lets talk about how you can begin.

After educating yourself on the actual bill you wish to challenge, having some general knowledge of how a bill becomes law will become just as important. The best place to begin is in understanding your own state/local legislative process.

* Find out who your senator and representatives are in your voting district

* Visit your state capitol.

* Spend a day at the capitol and watch the senate as they vote on proposed bills.

* Make an appointment to meet with your legislators, senator or representative to discuss your opposition or concern around a bill

* Never doubt your power as a voter

* Many states set up specific days for roundtables, discussions. Presentations around specific bills or issues. Find your passion, a bill that interests you and join in on the open forums.

Taking a day to familiarize yourself with the legislative process will guide you on how to effectively advocate for the bill or policy you want changed. Simply put, it will show you how things are done. It will arm you with the information you need to challenge what you believe to be right. There are other ways to safeguard your rights when it comes to policy.

* Keep your legislators addresses, emails, and phone numbers handy and communicate with them on a regular basis. Just a note: Some are saying that e-mail is becoming less effective. Legislators and public servants receive many e-mails on a daily basis; yours could get lost, ignored or easily overlooked in the avalanche.

* Look up your states legislative web page. A wealth of information is available there and most are user friendly. This resource is an educational tool loaded with what bills are currently being introduced in that legislative session, how to contact your representatives, the status on all bills currently being considered as well as some older ones from past sessions to name just a few.

While this is not an exhaustive and complete list of things you can do, it is a beginning. Becoming educated on the ways of law and rule making, staying aware of those bills that could affect you or your loved ones and taking action will insure you that you tried to do something. Sometimes all of the advocacy and action in the universe wont change policy but wouldnt it be fulfilling to know that you took some part in trying to effect a change? You took part in something you believe. You could, without knowing how huge the impact was going to be, have helped millions of your fellow Americans or state citizens. Take the time to know whats going on in the political process. It is your right to protect yourself from policy that could harm. Its our obligation to help others not to be harmed as well.

Becoming A Policy Advocate: How To Make Your Voice Heard On Laws That Effect You is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

* Co-Workers – Friends – Family

If you are fortunate enough to have people around you who speak the language, spend as much time as you can with them. Be forewarned, though. Daily conversation with friends and relatives will probably be filled with idioms and grammar that would make your foreign language teacher nauseous.

* Internet Broadcasting

There are many free internet radio stations. They broadcast day and night, 7 days a week. All you have to do is find them. Try internet searches like the following in your favorite search engine:

- free internet radio German

- free internet radio Norwegian

- free internet radio French

- internet radio stations Spanish

- internet radio stations Portuguese

Disc jockeys and talk show hosts may not use perfect grammar. However, news broadcasts are usually correct.

* Books on Tape or CD

You can purchase audio books online at sites like Amazon.

Unfortunately, not all audio books are created equal. Sometimes the narration is cluttered with distracting loud sound effects and music. The volume may vary from horrendously loud to whisper-soft. If you can listen to a sample before purchase, do so. Never purchase more than one audio book from the same publisher or narrator until you are sure that they produce acceptable recordings. Sometimes the narrator’s volume will vary so much during a reading that it makes the book almost useless.

Be on the lookout for audio bundles that include a printed copy of the book – excellent for learning purposes!

* TV Channels

Check your cable or satellite TV lineup. You may find one or more channels in the language you are trying to learn.

* Movies and Television Series on DVD

Most larger centers and internet sites like Amazon have foreign language productions with English sound tracks and subtitles. Try to watch everything at least once without subtitles. Pay attention to the lips of the speakers as they pronounce words. Lipreading is part of the language learning process.

If you prefer to buy English productions that have been remastered for foreign language markets, you will lose the lipreading advantage – and you may have to purchase or hack a DVD player so that it will play DVDs from other regions. There is a link at the bottom of this article that goes to a page with more specific information.

North American TV series like M*A*S*H and Golden Girls have 1/2-hour episodes. Omit the intro and closing credits and you are left with about 20 minutes of material. Try to learn a few new words of vocabulary each time you watch an episode.

* What are You Waiting For?

Take advantage of all the opportunities that technology has to offer!

How Can You Do It? is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

The first step is the fun part and that’s designing your swimming pool! A qualified team of contractors and designers will sit down with you to decide what type of pool you would like. They will take into consideration what your needs are and what will be most suitable to your yard. You will choose things such as the pool’s shape, the colour, and the different materials that will be used.

Before any excavation is begun, a representative of the company you have chosen will come to layout the new pool in your backyard. This layout will show where your pool area will be, where the deck area will be, and where the location of the pool equipment will be. This will all be based on the custom design you have chosen. After you approve the layout, building will begin!

The next step is the grading and excavation. The excavating equipment will be brought in and the digging will begin. It usually takes about one full day to dig out the pool area and remove the soil from your yard. If there are soil or rock issues to contend with, it may take longer than one day.

To protect the pool from ground forces, steel is brought in next. Steel-reinforcing rods, or rebar, are placed inside the pool area. These will travel along the bottom, up the sides, and around the perimeter. After this is done, the plumbing and electrical can be completed. Plumbing crews will install the proper piping to clean and purify your swimming pool. The electricians will also hook up to your main electricity service and connect the pool equipment and lighting. A concrete mixture called gunite is then applied. This is applied with a lot of pressure so it can bond tightly around the steel reinforcing rods. This reinforces the steel and gives it much more strength.

The swimming pool tile is installed next. This will be installed up to what will be the waterline in the pool. The coping, or the ‘lip’, of the pool may also be installed around the perimeter of the pool at this time. Tile and coping are available in a wide variety of colours, designs, and textures. You will have chosen these when you were designing your pool. The decking will be installed after the tile. This is an important part of the design as it frames and accents the pool. The materials can be concrete, brick, or stone.

The pool equipment set will then be placed on a concrete pad and be made operational. The pool will then be covered with a strong, waterproof finish that will seal the pool and provide the finishing touches. There will be different colours available that will affect the colour of the pool when reflecting the sun.

After that, your pool is finished! All it needs is some landscaping, some patio furniture, and voila! Your vision has finally arrived!

Building a Custom Swimming Pool is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

The key to free home schooling for your kid is to take advantage of resources already available to you, but you may not realize or think of it.

So read on and I’ll give you some ideas on where to start.

The biggest problem for most parents when deciding on home schooling is the need to create a home schooling curriculum catered to the needs of the child. Most parents would opt to purchase books or hire a professional to assist them in creating a home school curriculum. They typically cost anywhere from a hundred bucks all the way to a few thousand.

But do you know, the internet has free homeschooling information available? One example of such a site is homeschoolmum.com. There are many others as well. Home schooling forums also provides a platform for parents to interact and share knowledge on just about everything home schooling.

For buying books, you can head to ebay to pick up bargains. Another place is your local book dealer who may have books that they may give away. If even they do not have any books to give away, they usually have various discounts for book sets.

The benefits of getting your own book sets include the convenience of having these books in the comfort of your home. The costs of purchasing the books will be well worth it because your succeeding children can make use of these same books when they reach the same educational level.

Otherwise, you can visit your local library near your city. Your library will likely carry a huge wealth of books (some may no longer be sold in your regular bookstores!) that you can borrow when you need them.

Your regular school field trip can easily be replaced with the fraction of the cost. You can opt to see sites within the proximity of your home. Your city and your state may offer you a rich array of cultural and historical sites to visit. You can also opt to tie in education with whatever family trips and vacations you?d be making. Build a lesson around the family trip so that you can use this time and the money you spend in homeschooling your child as well.

With some planning and thought, you can make home schooling free in terms of financial cost and effort.

Free Home Schooling, A Short Guide On How to Save Money is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

Turtles are cold-blooded reptiles. They have a shell making them unique from other reptiles. Their upper shell is called the carapace, and a lower shell that protects the belly called the plastron. The carapace and plastron shape and color varies from species to species. One might think it would at least always be a hard shell, which also is untrue. There are softshell turtle species, along with many others.

Some turtle species include Clemmys insculpta which is the wood turtle; Geochelone sulcata which is the African Spurred tortoise; Chelonia mydas which is the green turtle; Emydoidea blandingii which is the Blandings turtle; Clemmys guttata which is the spotted turtle; Malaclemys terrapin which is the diamondback terrapin; and Trachemys s. elegans which is the red-eared slider.

The species name for the wood turtle is Clemmys insculpta. This turtle is the largest in its genus. The carapace has raised projections on the back that resemble a small pyramid, making it different from others in the Clemmys genus.

The wood turtle is omnivorous and eats things like algae, moss, blueberries, mollusks, insects, earthworms, and mice. Typically adult males are larger than adult females, but not by a whole lot.

The species name for the African Spurred tortoise is Geochelone sulcata. The African Spurred Tortoise is the only tortoise in the world that has adapted fully for terrestrial life. The turtle is famous for digging burrows to protect itself from predators and the temperature. This turtle can go weeks without food or water. When the turtle does get a chance to drink water though, it can drink up to 15% of its body weight.

The species name for the green turtle is Chelonia mydas. Adult green turtles have a different diet than juvenile green turtles. Adults are herbivores eating plants and juveniles are carnivores eating meat. Adults usually spend their time in patches of sea grass and algae to get their food, while juveniles spend their time among the coral reef. Adults preferred food is young leaves and roots of sea vegetation. Juveniles eat animals such as jellyfish, sponges, snails, bivalves, and others.

This turtle is a medium to large sea turtle that has a broad, low, heart-shaped carapace.

Most of their lives are spent in the water but females return to the land to lay their eggs. The eggs take about two months to incubate, and then hatch. As most turtles are, green turtles possess environmental sex determination. Temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchling. Warmer temperatures produce females, and cooler temperatures produce males.

Green turtles are found throughout the oceans of the world. Populations are endangered or threatened everywhere.

The Blandings turtle is a northern turtle that has a black carapace with tan to yellow spots on the scutes. Its species name is Emydoidea blandingii. Sometimes this turtle is confused with the box turtle because of similar appearances.

This turtle lives in clean, shallow water habitats. They like abundant aquatic vegetation, and firm aquatic bottoms in ponds, lakes, marshes, and creeks. However, preferences in habitat can change seasonally and by location. In Wisconsin, the Blandings turtle prefers marshes over ponds, which is just a location preference. Turtles elsewhere may choose a pond over a marsh.

This turtle nests once a year usually from late-May to early July during the night. However, not every female nests every year.

The common name for Clemmys guttata is the spotted turtle. This is a small, black turtle that has a pattern on its smooth carapace with small yellow spots. Over time the spots may fade, making older turtles appear spotless.

Male spotted turtles tend to have tan chins with brown eyes differing from the females who tend to have yellow chins and orange eyes.

These turtles live in areas that are shallow wetlands. This can consist of swamps, bogs, fens, and marshes, but not confined to just these areas.

Spotted turtles are active during they day for the most part, meaning they are diurnal. However, females are active at night while they are nesting.

Spotted turtles are preyed upon by bald eagles, skunks, and raccoons.

The species name for the Diamondback Terrapin is Malaclemys terrapin. This turtle is a small to medium size turtle which feeds on sponges, bryozoans, gastropods, crabs, carrion, and plant material.

They have a hingeless plastron which can be yellow to green or black, and an oblong carapace is gray, light brown or black. They can be found in estuaries and salt marshes.

Nesting for these turtles is different from a majority of turtles because it is during the day. Most turtles tend to nest during the night. High tide is the most usual time for this particular turtle to nest.

The red-eared slider is native to the United States. It is commonly found in the Southern regions. The species name for it is Trachemys s. elegans.

When the red-eared slider is young it is carnivorous, but as it ages they become more vegetarian. They are a medium size and have a dark green oval shell. Their legs are green with think yellow stripes. The head is also green, but it has a red stripe behind the eye.

These turtles are found in most permanent slow-moving bodies of water. They prefer areas with mud bottoms.

Common Turtle Species is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

The basics of testing can be learnt quite easily; however the focus of this article is whether spending several thousand dollars for a prep course is ideal. At some private schools, more than half the students dont think twice about spending thousands on a good coaching company.

Do you need a prep course? It depends on how you learn best, and what is your motive for taking up such a course. Most of the techniques in prep courses are already mentioned in prep books that are sold in bookstores for thirty dollars.

Top students seldom gain much from coaching. The effortless insight that marks the best standardized test-takers cannot be taught. On the other hand, a student who lacks motivation may not benefit from a SAT prep course either. For diligent students, the benefits from a prep course will vary. If you are the type who is well-organized and initiative, youd probably do as well with self-coaching software and books.

If you are enthusiastic about a prep course, by all means, take up one. If you believe that a prep course will raise your score, chances are that it will. Other types of students who may benefit from a prep course include students who learn best with adult direction. They often need help in staying focused, so a prep course will be a good idea. It depends on how you learn.

Before you sign up for a test prep course, be sure you research thoroughly what exactly you will be taught. Meet the instructor firsthand. Dont pay too much attention to guarantees; they are not reliable indicator of how effective a particular course is. Its always a good idea to try to take up a prep course BEFORE the first time you take the SAT. That way youll avoid a sudden spike in your score an event likely to raise suspicions in the admissions offices which is the result of a cram course.

Are SAT prep courses worth it? is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

Track you progress.
Make a chart or find a calendar. Mark you chart every time you finish a session or have studied for a set amount of time. Place your chart in a place you can’t avoid. Make a commitment to look at your chart every day. This seems simple, but it’s incredible how much it helps your motivation.

Don’t overdo it.
Learning a new language isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. If you start out full of fresh energy it is important not to burn it all at once. Limit you study time to one lesson or one hour a day. After you have reached your daily goal – Stop. That way you conserve motivation and energy for the nest day. Portion you energy to last. This allows you look forward to your next lesson and finish the race strong.

Get support.
Online or off-line there are groups who share your goal. Join an online forum or find some similarly minded people in your community. You will find that there are other people who are going through what you are going through. Some will even have been through it. Your support group will keep you going when you want to stop. Not to mention all the good advice, moral support and fun you will have.

Visualize you reason.
Get real clear on why you are learning a new language. Make at picture in your head of what will be different in your life when you reach your goat. What will it get you in the end. Great travel experiences, a promotion, new friend or something else? Find a picture in a magazine or online to represent your goal. Make sure that you look at it every day. Post it on your bathroom mirror, place it on your desk or hang it by your bed. Make sure you look at it every day.

Get a goal buddy.
Keeping you motivation high on your own is though. If you find somebody with the same goal grab the opportunity to ask if they want to partner with you. This can work even if you don’t share goals. Just encourage and push each other to succeed. Having someone to answer to and who answers to you adds a whole other layer to your motivation.

The one minute trick.
You know those days when you can’t find a glimmer of motivation. Do a one minute effort. That’s right. You can find the energy for just one minute, can’t you. Just get started with the intention of working for 60 seconds. Once you start, it you will keep going. This works like magic.

Set mini goals.
There is a trick to doing this right. Think back to a time when you quit something before you reached your goal. How long did you work on it before you quit? Your mini goal is to keep going half as long. When you get there give yourself a reward. Go watch a movie, eat a nice meal and pat yourself on the back. Then decide on your next mini goal. This will ensure that you never reach your quitting point.

Plan your rewards.
Split your large goals into smaller goals. If your language program is 30 lessons long you can plan a reward after every 5th lesson you finish. Write out a plan and decide what the reward will be after every smaller goal is reached. Rewards can be anything you like, big or small. Make your reward a small celebration!

Get a coach.
Learning a language by your self can be a lonely adventure. Even if it’s just once a month a session with a language trainer or tutor will boost your motivation big time. This is will also show you that your skills are growing and that your progress is real. Check your local newspaper or college for adds. Nothing is better than finding a native speaker of your language who is willing to coach you.

7 Ways To Motivate Yourself When Studying A Foreign Language. is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

Chocolate The Answer To Hydrogen Fuel Supplies?

Mention hydrogen as a fuel source and politicians, scientists and techies get that glassed over look in their eyes. Simply put, hydrogen is a perfect fuel. It can be combined with oxygen to produce electricity. Hydrogen is the most comment element on our planet. When used as an energy source, it produces no greenhouse gases or other pollutants. Sounds great, right?

There is just one problem with the idea of using hydrogen as the solution to all of our energy problems. While hydrogen is the most common element on our planet, it is rarely found in a usable form. Instead, hydrogen tends to cling to other elements such as oxygen, which gives us H2O water. The power required to separate hydrogen from these other elements is shockingly large.

In the United States, Honda has a number of hydrogen vehicles it is testing on the road via some families. The cars work well. Powering them, however, is the problem. The families must take the cars to a specific station at a Honda facility. There, they will find a few hundred feet of solar panels and a hydrogen tank. It takes the system roughly two to three weeks to create enough usable hydrogen for one full tank for the car. Given the fact there are millions of cars on the road, you can see the problem. Yes, there are more efficient methods for conversion than solar power, but nothing remotely efficient enough to create enough usable hydrogen.

In a humorous turn, scientists in the UK have discovered that hydrogen can be produced from the wastes of creating confectionaries such as chocolate. The waste is treated with e coli bacteria. Yes, that e coli. The bacteria then process the food material and produces gas. Guess what kind of gas is produced? Yes, hydrogen.

Could it be that chocolate will play a fundamental role in a hydrogen fuel future? Could we really be that lucky?

Chocolate The Answer To Hydrogen Fuel Supplies? is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

How does a hyper paranoid maniac like JK Ellis create a cult like following and still manage to protect himself from over-exposure?

Think about it!

I think I’ve developed a strategy that could be effective. Of course, a strategy is dynamic, not rigid so it will change to the situation.

1) Use this blog.
With a fringe subject like “How Win Friends and Influence People By Controling Their Minds” it’s only going to appeal to a select few. These are the unique individuals I want who can see past the surface of things with a deep sense of curiosity.

2) Give them good information.
Goodness knows I try. Free PDF download, etc. I’d give more if I could.

3) Make them jump through hoops.
That’s just to make sure only the most curious and qualified can be part of the elite.

4) Reward the loyal, ignore the disgruntled.
Paying attention to those who call me paranoid and crazy is a waste of time. I already know that information. Instead I’ll find a way to bring those close to me closer and give them even more.

5) Create a hierarchy that rewards the most loyal.
This is going to take some more thought, but the simplest way is to give bonuses, information, acknowledgement and praise to those people who are nice to me, buy my products and say kind things to me.

Of course these are just my early thoughts on the subject. There is probably more.

Got any ideas I can add to the list?

JK Ellis

How to be an anonymous cult leader. is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center

When darkness turns to day, the sun moves over the horizon and touches everything in sight. This movement across the landscape brightens everything. Such an illumination awakens us all. We rise with energy moving in and through us allowing us to create a new day. A day unique from all the rest and creatively woven into our soul.

This is the landscape of our soul. As you can see, nature has a way of showing us just how powerful we are. The same power that created the moon and the stars and the movement of all space and time lies within the human heart. It is the heart of creation itself, and perhaps, the heart of our Creator.

Human beings are fortunate to be able to be aware of our awareness. This awareness gives us an opportunity to reflect on our soul and find blessing in being alive. Our consciousness of a creative force inside us guiding us into this world, through it, and eventually to our eternal home allows us to fulfill a purpose on this earth.

Such a purpose is beyond our own ability to really know. Yet, we can open our heart enough to allow our purpose to find us. This is done by recognizing that the things in life that really matter ARE the things in life that isn’t matter.

Yes, it is our soul’s longing to fulfill the purpose for which we came to earth for. No one really knows how a baby is conceived totally. Science and human understanding still hasn’t been able to fully comprehend such a force of nature. We can only embrace what is beyond us and find a way to bring into being forces of nature such as a tiny child.

When a child is born, we are in awe. The miracle of birth creates something inside us all. It is the remembrance that life does not come from us. Instead, life comes through us. As such, we are living in a dream come true. All of us are probably living our soul’s purpose more than we know, and even, can know. It is the mystery of all mysteries.

This does not explain why some of us find peace and other’s find pain. But, such a philosophy will enable us all to find grace in knowing our lives create in our world facets of ourselves we all are a part of. An understanding of such grace gives every one of us a chance to find mercy and grace and the same unconditional love we came into the world with when we were born.

Samuel Oliver, author of, “What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living”
For more on this author; http://www.soulandspirit.org

When the Morning Dawns is a post from: Epiph Any Education Center