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Here's a picture of a barn next to a corn field taken late last fall in northwestern Illinois, where some farmer paid tribute to his country and his god.
Four years ago in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of Donald Trump, I wrote one of my long essays prognosticating specific things I thought would happen during a Trump administration. Looking back at the results, I see it's a mixed bag. My prediction that Trump would get us into a large-scale global war didn't pan out despite Trump giving it a few good tries. I was right about Trump's wall (I said that other than a few small sections built for show, it mostly wouldn't happen), but I strongly underestimated the white nationalist motivation behind Trumpism and the effort they'd put into deportations. And I never imagined the concentration camps or the kids kept in cages.
I was unsure about whether Obamacare would be repealed, though I knew there'd be no replacement, and there wasn't. I said that either way, a lot of people would lose their health insurance. That number of people turned out to be somewhere around 10 million.
I correctly predicted Trump's trade wars, but overestimated the impact those trade wars -- and Trump in general -- would have on the economy. Mostly, the trends President Obama had set in motion after the recovery from the last Republican recession continued on despite Trump's best efforts, though Trump tried to take credit for establishing a trend he only inherited. The economy was really just fine right up until it hit the wall of Trump's failed response to the global pandemic.
I did not predict the global pandemic.
I predicted mass deregulation (which has happened) and large-scale sell-offs of government land (which tried to happen but wound up contained) and the elimination of at least a few protected areas. I thought Trump would bring about a thousand environmental catastrophes, and he has. I thought Trump and his Republican Congress would go after the Antiquities Act of 1906, but they only side-swiped it and otherwise mostly left it alone. I thought the nationwide push of state laws toward marijuana legalization would be reversed, but it was mostly unaffected.
I was most accurate with my predictions concerning the federal judiciary. Trump filled the three Supreme Court seats I said he'd fill and the hundreds of open Federal Court seats Mitch McConnell had worked so hard to leave empty for him. This leaves potential for probable attacks from the right on abortion and marriage equality that are just now beginning to build, and it will make any kind of progressive agenda that would please the leftists who voted against Clinton next to impossible. I said when we inaugurated Trump that we had lost the judiciary to the far right for at least the next two generations, and that's what's playing out.
So all in all, I'd give myself a 60%. I thought some things would be issues that weren't, and a lot of what were issues were things I didn't see coming. In the end, I think it's a question of precision versus accuracy. I wasn't very precise, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this would be the worst presidential administration of my lifetime. And I was 100% accurate in that. If anything, I undersold how bad it would be. James Buchanan fans should be happy. Trump will absolutely be remembered as the worst man ever to hold the office of President.
Just look at where we are now after four years of reality show leadership. We've made fools of ourselves on the world stage. We've sold out our allies and bowed down to our enemies and abandoned our standing as a leading world power. We helped an arrogant strongman transform Russia from a largely impotent failed state into one of the world's most significant threats. We faked toughness toward China that did nothing but give them increased control of the global marketplace. Similar fake toughness pushed Iran and North Korea to work even harder on the development of nuclear weapons. We cheered on threats to NATO, applauded the sundering of the European Union, and stood side by side with dictators and autocrats. We gave up any standing we might ever have had to promote democracy or human rights, because we stopped believing in even the veneer of those things at home.
At home, we became more cruel and more divisive as half the nation joined the MAGA cult. The endemic racism that has always lurked beneath the surface of this nation was given voice and tiki torches as Trump reassured all the racists that they were very good people. We eliminated anything we could find in the Federal infrastructure that might help people. We abandoned regulations that protected our air and our water and our landscape, though we still didn't get any jobs out of it; the coal mines and steel mills are still closed. We deepened our hatred of science and logic and reason and embraced insane conspiracy theories instead. We pretended that the most significant threat to human health to have appeared in a century was nothing more than a hoax, and we turned our reaction to it into a bunch of political stunts that resulted (at last count) in 400,000 American deaths. We pushed for the dismantling of the entire democratic process. We stormed the Capitol and tried to end the Republic.
Statements like "worse than the Civil War" always seemed so hyperbolic to me in the past. Then Trump came along and made it real. Now there are Q conspiracists in Congress, and states are talking about secession. And I'm at the point where I'd almost let them go.
But now it's all about to end. In less than a day -- only 20 hours and 51 minutes from the moment I uploaded this -- Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. will be inaugurated the 46th President of the United States, and a new era will begin. A lot of that new era will look like the old era -- the blue flag you see here will still fly over this northwestern Illinois farm -- but at least Trump won't be around to feed the beast and facilitate the failures. I'm not going to make any prediction about how President Biden will do, as Trump has left him with immense challenges to overcome, and he leads a party that has a hard time holding itself together and working as a unit. I already see grumblings from the Far Left that make me want to kick people. I can't say precisely what's going to happen, but I think I can accurately say that it will be nowhere near as bad as what we've just endured. Whether it will be "not bad" enough to pull us back from the edge and keep some more horrifying version of this from happening in 2024 ... well, I can't say.
And Donald Trump? Sometime tomorrow, he's going go to an Air Force base and force a military band to play him a song and shower him in all the glory he thinks he deserves, and then he'll board a plane to Florida. There, he'll find some gold-plated room where he'll hide as his trophy wide divorces him and his business associates abandon him and prosecutors from a dozen states and the Federal government come to hunt him down, and he'll wallow in the knowledge that despite all his rage, all his arrogant, delusional, self-pitying sense of entitlement, he lost. I hope he withers there. My guess is he'll be dead well before the next time I write an inaugural reflection.
Either way, he can fuck all the way off.
Bigger. Stronger. Faster. Thanks to RehabWorks for coming out and assessing some of our athletes here at Auburn Mixed Martial Arts. For more information please call (334) 887-0818
After reading chapter 3, I was able to make a connection to a tree. A full grown tree is the perfect match of the reader and the text. The educators have to try different assessment to find the right match. As the author talks different approaches, I am relating it to the branches, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits as assessments that the educator can try out on students. For some students the approach 1 may be easy by comparing standardized testing and Raygor's readability estimates independently. For some, lexile analyzer might work and for few others, cloze test and reading guide may work. With the strong trunk called Content Literacy, assessments are essential including self assessments.
.... A number of dedicated assessment centres have been established across the City of Toronto to facilitate assessment and testing.
Due to evidence of community spread of COVID-19 in Toronto, the assessment centers in Toronto will be shifting their focus to people who are at risk of transmitting COVID-19 to large groups of people. Everyone else, even those with mild symptoms who have returned from travel, do not need testing, unless they get sick enough to go to an emergency department
Hours:
Open seven days a week - hours 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. .... Who Should Visit an Assessment Centre :
.... People with mild symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection (cough, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, runny nose, and joint aches, and may also include nausea, diarrhea and stomach pains) OR fever, AND
Are at high risk of transmission to larger groups of people including:
Those who work within at-risk settings including any healthcare setting (e.g., acute care, complex continuing care and rehabilitation hospitals; primary care; paramedics; long-term care homes; retirement homes; reactivation centres; dialysis centres), congregate settings (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, respite centres, correctional facilities); school or childcare centre
Those who reside in vulnerable settings including acute care, complex continuing care and rehabilitation hospitals; long-term care homes; retirement homes; reactivation centres; congregate settings (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, respite centres, correctional facilities) and those who are patients at dialysis centres
Symptomatic patients should self-isolate while waiting to reach Telehealth Ontario (1-866-797-0000) or seeking medical attention.
Our sea lamprey detection teams are on the front-line, keeping our Great Lakes healthy!
Video: Sea lamprey larval assessment by Mara Koenig/USFWS.
I rather like the interior which is both well put together (no rattles) and pretty good quality. It is however filthy and could do with a freshen up. This will be addressed shortly.
The initial assessment went quite well. The underside is in very good condition and the previous advisories of a damp steering rack and corroded front brake lines don't look to have worsened. Both sides will probably clean up fine.
Having driven it another 20 miles or so we discovered the thermostat is probably stuck open, which accounts for the temperature gauge I thought was non-functional. It does actually start to read when stationary, but cools straight off again when on the move. Annoyingly thermostat replacement is a cambelt-off job on these, however I have a work-around for this, which involves installing a thermostat in one of the top-hoses. Apparently this is a common fix on Rover 75s too.
The cool running, very short runs and long periods standing all appear to have contributed to condensation and thus mayonnaise in the underside of the oil cap. I was a bit concerned this could be a symptom of head gasket failure, however the coolant is fine and it's exhibiting no other symptoms of HGF. I'll keep an eye on it.
Initially it ran very well this morning, but after 15 miles or so it started to hesitate and misfire. We hooked up the diagnostic gear and a few codes came up. They relate to the EGR valve, crankshaft position sensor and camshaft position sensor. We managed to clear them and remove the EML, but the crankshaft sensor fault kept returning.
On the cosmetics front we tried and failed to remove the dent in the rear bumper (a job for a warmer day) and my neighbour tested some wax treatment on the rear 3/4 panel. We concluded something stronger is required!
So what's the plan? With the sensors being relatively inexpensive I'm going to get one of each and see what difference they make. I'm aware the actual problems could lie elsewhere, but this seems a reasonably inexpensive place to start. I'll also look at some options for the thermostat work-around. I'll not get a lot of time on this over the next few weeks, so it'll be a bit of a slow burn. I'll collect some parts, start to tackle the interior as and when I can and then do some fitting up in a few weeks time. Watch this space...
After reading Chapter 3, I connected the standardize testing assessment and the cloze testing to assessments I use in my reading groups to assess my students text level and their comprehension of the text.
In the chapter is spoke of The Raygor Readability Estimate which I felt was similar to the Running Records I complete to see if the text is too easy, right on track or too hard for the students. Also in the chapter, the cloze testing reminded me of the MAZE assessment that we complete to assess comprehension. In the cloze reading the students need to write in the correct word to complete the sentence. In the MAZE the students need to circle the correct word out of the three options to complete the sentence so it makes sense.
I created my picture based on my newest addiction in my life. All of the tools and materials that I need to ride a bike are considered the essential pieces that are then used to write the bike which would be considered the content area assessment. In order to complete riding the bike you need all of the materials to left. Just as you need all of those materials in a classroom to complete assessments in the content areas.
One of the finalists in the Grades 1-3 category: a harpist performing Hadyn's Andante (from the Surprise Symphony) and Charlotte in spring by Fiona Clifton-Wells.
This year's Avison Ensemble Young Musicians' Awards 2016 Finals were held on Sunday 14 February 2016 at the Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle and in the presence of the Mayor of Gateshead Councillor Alex Geddes.
The Awards assessors heard twenty-two finalists for the three categories of Grades 1-3, 4 - 6 and 7 and above. This year's honorary assessor was Bill Lloyd, Creative Programmer and Director of Cedars Hall at Wells Cathedral School.
The Awards were set up in 2006 to encourage young musical talent across the North East Region. The entrants to the Awards receive tuition and guidance, as well as important encouragement to continue their musical education. Everyone taking part in this event is given the same expert advice and assessments. The finalists are also assessed on their talents for live performance.
We're grateful to the Gillian Dickinson Trust . www.gilliandickinsontrust.org.uk and The Sir James Knott Trust www.knott-trust.co.uk for supporting this year's Awards.
And we're also grateful to the Literary and Philosophical Society for hosting this year's Finals and for generously presenting each of the winners with a year's membership. www.litandphil.org.uk
The Avison Ensemble is the outstanding period instrument orchestra based in Newcastle upon Tyne, which plays and popularises the music of Charles Avison (1709-1770) and other English classical composers of the Baroque period, such as Garth, Arne and Herschel. The Ensemble also performs Purcell, Handel, Vivaldi, Corelli, Geminiani, Pergolesi, Teleman, Rameau, Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
So a cookie is made up of multiple parts: eggs, flour, sugar, chocolate chips just like a student's literacy assessment should be. Using a multitude of different testing strategies with a student, teachers are able to grab different "ingredients" for a good reader, mix them together and churn out a well-rounded student who is able to learn in a variety of subjects.
Individual judgments or assessments of risk may be affected by psychological, ideological, religious, or otherwise subjective factors, which impact rationality of the process. There is a tendency for individuals to be less rational when risks and exposures concern themselves as opposed to others, and to underestimate risks that are voluntary or where the individual sees themselves as being in control.
The risk involved for foreigners attempting to pronouce letters in the Danish alphabet. You have been warned.
Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but few of Glacier's trails were created with accessibility in mind.
A first step to addressing limits to accessibility is to identify them.
Glacier and the National Park Service are using tools—like the orange, one-wheeled device a ranger is pictured here using—to evaluate trails in the park using the High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP).
HETAP identifies trail variables: grade, cross-slope, trail width, surface material, and more.
This data allows park managers to prioritize future trail improvements, and allow visitors in the future to make more informed decisions.
Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but few of Glacier's trails were created with accessibility in mind.
A first step to addressing limits to accessibility is to identify them.
Glacier and the National Park Service are using tools—like the orange, one-wheeled device pictured here alongside two rangers and a measuring tape—to evaluate trails in the park using the High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP).
HETAP identifies trail variables: grade, cross-slope, trail width, surface material, and more.
This data allows park managers to prioritize future trail improvements, and allow visitors in the future to make more informed decisions.
Researcher Alexis Trotter was at the 2016 Snook Symposium to discuss results from the 2015 snook stock assessment.
After reading chapter 3, I think it is important to understand the concept of readability in regards to both assessments. The term readability refers to when a reader can understand the written text. In both one-on-one literacy assessments and content area assessments, the materials have to be appropriate for the targeted students. In content area assessments, a teacher can assess the readability of classroom materials to figure out if it will be suitable for the students in the classroom. This relates to how teachers in a one-on-one setting assess their students reading levels. Teachers can match a book’s level of complexity with a students understanding of the text, whether it is comprehension or fluency, and then assign the students an appropriate leveled text. These two types of assessments compliment each other because they both examine the connection between the students reading ability and the readability of the text.
Health assessments are much like a check-up with a doctor. Here, biologists measure the total length of the manatee from the tip of its snout to the tip of its tail. The work-up can include: morphometrics (measuring lengths and girths) and weight; ultrasonic measurements of backfat thickness; blood chemistry and hematology; collection of urine and fecal samples; collection of a skin sample and blood for genetic analyses; photo-documentation of scars, wounds, and lesions; assessment of overall body condition; and a descriptive clinical assessment by a veterinarian experienced in assessing and treating manatees. Blood gases and vital signs, including heart rate, respiration rate, and oral temperature, are monitored while the manatee is out of the water.
FWC photo taken Megan Martz in Apollo Beach, Florida. Activities were conducted under the USFWS permit #MA773494.
The Ozark Minutemen, an extremist group based in southern Missouri, has requested training and funding from Cobra. Major Bludd was sent on a fact-finding tour of their compund to see if they would be valuable assets, or are just a bunch of wanna-be's.
An elderly gentleman, had a serious accident in Harraby, Carlisle. It was serious enough that, two North West Ambulance Service ambulances, and a Great North Air Ambulance, attended to the accident.The Great North Air Ambulance, G-NHAB, called Pride of Cumbria, touched down in a field, belonging to the old community centre, as it was the closest with clear access to move the patient. After the initial assessment by the paramedics at the scene, it wasn't deemed necessary to use the Air Ambulance, so it was called down, and was allowed to head back to its base.
This graphic shows the expected and real responsibilities of content area teachers, and how much of an impact their teaching can have on student's literacy. The expectations side illustrates that most content area teachers believe that they are not responsible for literacy instruction, (the "I don't teach that" approach). and the reality side shows that their instruction is just as valuable to students as literacy specific tasks can be.
Needs assessment permaculture tool for the Haitian earthquake disaster
If you are interested in using this graphic drop me a flickr email with your contact info
A Ranger Assessment Course student completes the water survival portion of the course at the Municipal Pool in Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 2, 2014. During this portion of the test, students are required to keep their heads and weapons above the surface of the water. The two-week course develops a student’s ability to lead and command under heavy mental, emotional and physical stress. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Thomas Spangler/Released)
In my graphic depiction, I endeavored to capture the connection between one-on-one literacy assessments and content area assessments through the visual of someone’s desktop surface. Because traditional literacy assessments work together with content area assessments to shed light on and further clarity a reader’s comprehension of a text, I decided to depict a lamp with light shining and a pair of glasses. Both items’ structures appear to be constructed of assessments, such as IRI’s and phonemic awareness, which are frequently embraced in the reading classroom. Since much reading in the content areas is traditionally situated within the textbook, I layered content area assessment buzzwords and strategies on the pages of a large book. The binding is reinforced by text, instruction, and level. Finally, I symbolically labeled the highlighter with the word “independent,” the notebook with “instructional,” and the broken pencil with “frustration.” All three of these objects represent the different levels of reading ability students in my classroom might possess, according to text and context.
BALANCED SCALE:
My image has three essential parts: the reader, the text, and the context. I used a balance scale (drawn in red, and admittedly, not exactly balanced), to show the relationship between these parts. On one end of the scale, there is the reader/student. Prior to any content class, it is EXTREMELY likely that a student has already been assessed (multiple times throughout his/her academic career) to determine his/her mastery of specific reading skills and strategies. Assessments typically include a wide range of 1 on 1 assessments, as well as scores from standardized tests. While the data gathered in assessment is certainly helpful to get a sense of a student’s reading ability, it is NOT the only factor that comes into play. A student’s ability to handle content literacy is greatly affected by the student’s interests, motivations, prior experiences, background knowledge, and self-perception. On the other end of the scale, there is a “content area” book. Note that the scale is balanced, which reflects the importance of the text being at the student’s level. Readability scales and formulas can help to get a general sense of how a student might handle a text, but again, it is only one factor of a much larger picture. The relationship between a student and the text is dependent on the context, which is why CONTEXT appears as the fulcrum (the triangle). The context is typically shaped by the teacher. In my image, I highlight some of the decisions a teacher might make that would affect the scale.
A global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks
The main message emerging from this new comprehensive global assessment is that premature death and disease can be prevented through healthier environments – and to a significant degree. Analysing the latest data on the environment-disease nexus and the devastating impact of environmental hazards and risks on global health, backed up by expert opinion, this report covers more than 100 diseases and injuries.
The analysis shows that 23% of global deaths (and 26% of deaths among children under five) are due to modifiable environmental factors. Sixty-eight percent of these attributable deaths and 56% of attributable DALYs could be estimated with evidence-based comparative risk assessment methods, the assessments of other environmental exposures were completed through expert opinion. Stroke, ischaemic heart disease, diarrhoea and cancers head the list. People in low-income countries bear the greatest disease burden, with the exception of noncommunicable diseases.
These assessments should add impetus to coordinating global efforts to promote healthy environments – often through well-established, cost-effective interventions. This analysis will inform those who want to better understand the transformational spirit of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed by Heads of State in September 2015. The results of the analysis underscore the pressing importance of stronger intersectoral action to create healthier environments that will contribute to sustainably improving the lives of millions around the world.
- Quantifying environmental health impacts, WHO news release, 15 MARCH 2016.
- A global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks, pdf, 2.41Mb
A cyber security risk assessment identifies the information assets that could be affected by a cyber attack (such as hardware, systems, laptops, customer data and intellectual property). Learn more at shadowlens.com.au/security-services/
As said in the text, when grade level reading designations are applied to student it is “reading ability” but when they are applied to materials its is “readability”. Meaning that readability is referring to the the difficulty of the books, basically looking to see if the book is to hard for the student to understand. This whole concept is based off the fact that teachers need to assess materials and their students differently. Though they compliment each other by working together to assess students they are not the same. In one-on-one assessments teachers are able to see how the students works with the material, in a way assess the both the readability of the materials and the reading ability of her student in one session. In content area assessment the teacher may have to take more time to check but with the perfect balance the teacher can help their students for success. I drew this picture of a scale because I felt like as a teacher we need make sure there is a good balance of struggle and understanding for a student to learn, which can be made sure of and achieved through the good assessments.
I designed a staircase to represent how one-on-one literacy assessment and content area literacy assessment complement each other. First one-on-one literacy assessment done in a literacy classroom provides the basis for assessment. I placed these assessments at the bottom of the staircase because they are the foundation of literacy assessment and literacy classrooms are where students are learning and practicing these skills. Students will use these skills in the different content areas. This is not to say that no assessments should be done by the content area teachers. There are many assessments that content area teachers can administer to target the whole class, rather than the on-on-one assessment. The chapter provided us with a variety of assessments we can use to assess our students in content area classrooms. I listed these at the top of the staircase because they are done later on when the students are in the content area classes. Some of these include text readability, text based on grade level, performance on standardized tests, reading guides, context of instruction, and a content literacy instructional practices survey for the teacher to complete to assess their own instruction. I believe that these would be useful in assessing readers. The chapter also discussed assessing students and materials together or separately. I believe that assessing students and materials together is the best approach because it leads to more accurate predictions. A technique they did not mention in the chapter that I think would be useful would be collaboration with the literacy teachers to find out the levels of reading for each student if there was not enough time to assess this in the content area classroom. A quote from chapter 3 I thought was powerful stated, " Accommodate students' individual needs while ensuring that content instruction takes place." I believe that the content area teachers can work with the literacy teachers while planning to make sure the assigned task falls into the students' independent or instructional levels.
Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but few of Glacier's trails were created with accessibility in mind.
A first step to addressing limits to accessibility is to identify them.
Glacier and the National Park Service are using tools—like the orange, one-wheeled device pictured here alongside two rangers and a measuring tape—to evaluate trails in the park using the High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP).
HETAP identifies trail variables: grade, cross-slope, trail width, surface material, and more.
This data allows park managers to prioritize future trail improvements, and allow visitors in the future to make more informed decisions.
Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but few of Glacier's trails were created with accessibility in mind.
A first step to addressing limits to accessibility is to identify them.
Glacier and the National Park Service are using tools—like the orange, one-wheeled device being pushed uphill by a ranger in this picture—to evaluate trails in the park using the High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP).
HETAP identifies trail variables: grade, cross-slope, trail width, surface material, and more.
This data allows park managers to prioritize future trail improvements, and allow visitors in the future to make more informed decisions.
A sign seen at the grocery store. I think they had some problem the last time they offered this service.
A cartoon about assessment and interview
When using the image please provide photo credit (link) to: www.amtec.us.com per these terms: www.amtec.us.com/creative-commons
In my graphic, I chose to represent content area assessments through one of my favorite hobbies which is reading. Each (tiny) book represents a small part of the large book: Content Area Assessments. I chose the assessments/tests that stood out to me (as important) when reading chapter 3: running records, cloze testing, reading ability, self assessment, leveled texts, lexile scores, & standardized testing. Each smaller book represents a different method or test that could be used to assess a student. The teachers need each smaller book to effectively teach their students as many [of these assessments/tests] help the teachers understand their students ability levels. You will see a line drawn from the small book labeled 3 reading ability because this part of the chapter stood out to me the most as being something important to know about the students to make sure they are reading a "just right" book. You will see I have highlighted from the small book labeled 3 with question marks as we want to understand if they are reading a book that they can read independently without a teachers help, if they can read an instructional book where they can read most on their own but may need some support or instruction from the teacher, or is the book causing frustration for the student/is it too hard? As teachers we want to make sure students are reading a book they can both read and comprehend.
An open day at Crewe Works, Saturday 20th September 1975. Unfortunately the print has not survived, so the Class 20 locomotive cannot be identified. I would have written details on the reverse. I can't imagine such an event taking place now, at least not in the same informal, unregulated way. Would a ladder remain propped up where the fitter left it before knocking off the previous evening? Easily dislodged by the approaching pushchair and an open invitation to riotous youngsters. And think of the possible claims for clothing soiled by contact with those greased buffers. Trip hazards everywhere and open inspection pits to fall into. The HSE would be down on you like a ton of bricks. Spike Milligan approaching alongside pushchair.