NEW YORK (AP) ? The price of oil climbed above $97 a barrel Tuesday for the first time in four months, and analysts said it could go higher if upcoming reports on jobs and U.S. economic growth are positive.
Benchmark oil for March delivery rose $1.13, or 1.2 percent, to close at $97.57 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil hadn't closed above $97 in New York since Sept. 14. It is now up more than $5 a barrel this year and U.S. drivers are finding higher prices at the gas pump.
This is a big week for U.S. economic indicators. So far investors, both in commodities and stocks, have embraced the positive reports while discounting the negative ones.
A report Tuesday showed U.S. home prices in November had the biggest year-over-year increase in six years, as evidence grows that the U.S. housing market is recovering. That outweighed a separate report that indicated higher taxes and an uncertain economic picture are sapping consumer confidence.
The government will also this week release the latest numbers on fourth-quarter growth, weekly jobless claims and January unemployment. If those reports suggest that the economy is strengthening and hiring is picking up, oil would likely add to its recent gains.
Oil has posted seven straight weekly gains, something not seen since 2009, noted Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. He said the market "seems to want to move above $100" as investors buy on the recent momentum, a trend he refers to as "money chasing money."
It all adds up to higher prices at the pump. The average price for a gallon of gas rose for a 12th straight day Tuesday to $3.36 a gallon, a seven-week high. And Kloza says wholesale prices have risen over the past week, so more increases are likely at the local gas station. Still, he doesn't expect gas to spike as it did last year when the average price rose 55 cents a gallon between Jan. 25 and the end of March.
Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 88 cents to end at $114.36 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
? Wholesale gasoline rose 4 cents to finish at $2.97 per gallon.
? Natural gas lost 6 cents to end at $3.23 per 1,000 cubic feet.
? Heating oil gained 5 cents to finish at $3.11 a gallon.
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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok and Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report.
I am ashamed to admit it, but I ate so much food over the holidays that I can no longer fit comfortably in my pants. I promised myself that I would start eating better and exercising to burn off some of the extra weight I?d gained. I have improved my eating habits, but the cold weather keeps me from wanting to do anything but snuggle under a blanket with my iPad and a cup of hot cocoa.
One way to get me off my duff is to stick an iPad in front of my face with a workout routine on it. Gorilla Workout offers an easy and instructive way to begin a fitness and strength training regimen without having to join a gym.
Users start by selecting their level of fitness ability. If you can perform 75 or more push-ups, you can start on level four. If, like me, you can?t get past 10 push-ups, then you are a beginner and get to start off at level one.
Each day has a list of exercises to complete. For example, on day one of the first level fitness program, users must complete eight squats, four lunges and 10 ?modified? push-ups. A modified push-up means you keep your knees on the ground while doing the exercise. When I was a kid, we called them ?girl push-ups.?
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Each exercise includes a detailed description of how to do it, plus information on which part of the body is being worked. For example, The Quadriceps are being worked when you are performing Broad Jumps. The starting position for the exercise is to stand, shoulder width apart. The movement is ?jumping with a strong forward motion propelling yourself as far as possible.?
If the exercise?s description is not enough for you to understand, you can also watch a short video demonstration.
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This app is intended to increase your core strength by using your body?s own weight. The exercises are all built around jumps, squats, sit-ups, push-ups, and other exercises that require you to work against your body. It is simple to use and the exercises, while difficult, are not complex or space consuming. Depending on what type of office you work in, you could literally complete these workout routines at your desk.
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What I Liked: The first level exercises are hard, but not overwhelming. I didn?t feel intimidated getting started. I also didn?t have to suit up or go outside to complete them.
What I Didn?t Like: The video demonstrations are pretty grainy. I assume the developers chose to use low-resolution videos in order to keep the file size down, so it isn?t a big deal.
To Buy or Not to Buy: You can turn your flabby winter mass into a fit temple for only $0.99. That is about a third of the cost of a cup of coffee from Starbucks. Which would you rather have ? a hard body or a grande Caff? Latte?
Founder of N4BB.COM! Doing my best to bring you the latest in BlackBerry news, leaks, reviews, videos, and so much more. I will always make sure our content is unbiased and on point. I enjoy a glass of delish pinot with a La Aroma de Cuba, and best of all hanging out with my wife.
Time Inc. is reducing its work force by six percent -- ?about 500 jobs, an internal memo to the publishing company's staff said on Wednesday.
"Today we are beginning the painful process of reducing our global staff of 8,000 by approximately six percent," began the memo, from CEO Laura Lang, a copy of which was emailed to NBC News. Earlier Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal's "All Things D" blog published a copy of the memo.
The number of layoffs was not as much as had been rumored in press reports recently, which were predicting as many as 700 workers would be let go from the company that publishes the venerable news weekly Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated and People magazine.
The cuts come as the industry struggles to find a business model that will stop the loss of revenues through declining subscriptions and advertising.?
By Paul Roetzer | Posted | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Content Marketing, The Business of Marketing
As publishers see continued erosion of ad revenue and readership, advertisers are shifting their dollars to digital, hiring writers,?outsourcing content production?to marketing agencies, and building their own audiences. In short, brands are becoming publishers, and investing resources in content marketing that were once earmarked for traditional media.?
Consider the case of?HubSpot, a B2B inbound marketing software company that is redefining what's possible when content is ingrained into every phase of a brand's sales funnel. The company has amassed a powerful reach, including?449,000+ Facebook Likes and 266,000+ Twitter Followers,?in large part bypassing old media channels and paid advertising.?
According to a recent?Forbes article, HubSpot, generates more than 60,000 leads per month, from more than 1,000,000 website visitors.
So, Brands are Publishers, But . . .
It's easy to see the potential for businesses in content marketing, but the reality is that becoming a successful brand publisher is hard. Consider these challenges facing corporate marketers:
There is a growing?talent gap.
Many brands (or their existing marketing departments, to be more specific), lack the ability to?tell engaging stories.
Marketing teams are not structured to scale content.
It?s difficult to break through the noise, as the web is?flooded with low-quality content.
Building reach (and influence) is hard.
While brands confront new demands on talent, technology and business process in order to adapt, publishers have a bit of a head start in these critical areas, and can compete directly with marketing agencies for outsourced content dollars. They can leverage their built in audiences, writer networks, and ability to scale content production to create new revenue streams, and even develop highly evolved business models.?
Rather than viewing content marketing as their impending doom, publishers should be focused on the emerging opportunities:
Create and distribute content, in and out of network.
Produce sponsored content (aka?native advertising).
Tap existing advertising partnerships, and even consider cannibalizing their advertising business in favor of a more sustainable future.
Offer?integrated services?(i.e. content + SEO + social + PR + email + analytics). Content alone isn?t enough.
As Andrew Davis (@TPLdrew), author of?Brandscaping, said in a recent?Marketing Agency Insider post, ?Publishers are?masterful content creators, and they are able to charge a premium for the services they offer by leveraging their market research, existing distribution platforms, and even the talent from their editorial teams.?
And Paul Rossi (@economistrossi), managing editor of The Economist,?states on Digiday, "The opportunity for media companies is to create content that?s compelling for users on behalf of advertisers. That doesn?t mean it has to be native, but the skills in telling stories are quite valuable to marketers as they build audience themselves. "
So, Publishers Can Be Agencies, But . . .
Despite the challenges presented to old media, specifically newspapers and magazines, opportunities are arising for publishers to evolve, and to become key players in the?modern marketing agency ecosystem.?
It seems like an obvious play, but not so fast. There are obstacles ahead for the publishers that choose to venture into the agency world. Specifically:
Competition for talent will be intense.
Integration of services isn?t easy, but it's necessary.
Change velocity requires nimble business models, which is not necessarily synonymous with publishers.
Maintaining editorial integrity and content quality, as the lines continue to blur.
Brands are building their own reach, and if they succeed at a mass scale, publishing as we know it today will become extinct.
What Next?
We're left with more questions than answers, but for publishers willing to take chances, and?venture into the unknown, they just may discover untapped markets and revenue as an integral part of the modern marketing ecosystem.?
Publishers as Agencies: The Content Marketing Effect
For more on this topic, check out the slide deck from my Jan. 26, 2013 presentation for the?Alliance of Area Business Publications.?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Banning some assault weapons and requiring background checks for all firearms purchases aren't a serious attempt to reduce gun violence, a top National Rifle Association official warned Tuesday as Congress geared up for the year's first hearing on the subject.
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said the country must instead focus on boosting security at schools, enforcing existing gun laws and taking more steps to deny guns to people with mental illnesses.
"Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families," LaPierre said in testimony he planned to deliver Wednesday at a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
LaPierre's statement, released Tuesday by the NRA, came nearly seven weeks after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults. The horrific slayings have revived the national debate over gun control, with President Barack Obama proposing a range of restrictions last week and members of Congress introducing legislation on the subject.
LaPierre's testimony was similar in substance but somewhat milder in tone than some statements the organization has made recently.
Less than two weeks after the mass shooting, LaPierre attacked the "media machine" for blaming the gun industry for attacks like Newtown and said what was needed to prevent the next massacre were armed guards and police in every school. Earlier this month, the NRA ran a television ad calling Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for voicing doubts about having armed school guards while his own children are protected that way at their school. While Obama's children have Secret Service protection, officials at their school say its own guards don't carry guns.
"We need to be honest about what works and what does not work. Proposals that would only serve to burden the law-abiding have failed in the past and will fail in the future," LaPierre said in his prepared remarks.
A ban on some semi-automatics considered to be assault weapons was tried from 1994 to 2004 and failed to reduce crime, he said. He also said background checks will never be universal because criminals won't submit to them. Both are among measures that Obama is seeking.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has already introduced legislation taking similar steps to Obama's proposals, including banning assault weapons and magazines that house more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
She said Tuesday that she will hold her own hearing on gun control because she was unhappy that three of the five witnesses testifying to the Judiciary panel on Wednesday are "skewed against us." Feinstein is a member of the committee.
Despite the momentum gun-control advocates have gained since the Newtown shootings, it will be difficult for them to prevail in Congress this year because of the popularity of guns in many states ? including several represented by Democratic senators ? and the formidable muscle of the NRA on Capitol Hill, lawmakers and other say. Among other obstacles, the Republican-run House has shown little immediate interest in making dramatic changes in the laws.
"It's hard," Feinstein said of gun legislation prospects. "I know it's hard. It doesn't mean I shouldn't try."
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AP reporter David Espo contributed to this report.
U.S. stocks meandered between small gains and losses Monday, cooling off after a rally that had pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index above 1,500 for the first time since December 2007. Encouraging news about manufacturing provided an early boost, but stocks fell later after a report on the pace of home sales fell short of expectations.
The government said before trading began that orders for long-lasting goods rose in December by 4.6 percent, helped by a 10 percent gain in orders for new aircraft. The report was a sign of strength for the manufacturing sector, a crucial driver of economic growth.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar said separately that its fourth-quarter net income exceeded analysts' expectations, after adjusting for the cost of a soured deal to buy a Chinese maker of roofing supports for mines. Caterpillar said it took a big charge in the quarter because the Chinese company had misrepresented its finances.
Caterpillar Inc. said it expects growth in China to improve without regaining the levels seen in 2010 or 2011. The stock was the biggest gainer in the Dow Jones industrial average, rising $1.82 to $97.40 in afternoon trading.
A half-hour after trading began, the National Association of Realtors said that its index of pending home sales fell in December, suggesting that sales of previously occupied homes may slow in the coming months. The report, which was weaker than many economists had expected, helped push stocks lower for much of the morning. By midday, they were roughly flat.
The Dow rose 70 points to 13,895. The S&P 500 fell a fraction to 1,502. The Nasdaq composite index rose 9 to 3,159.
Economic data may have less impact on the indexes because traders have become harder to impress as the data have strengthened in recent weeks, said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist with PNC Asset Management Group.
"Before, even if you came in just at expectations, that was like a victory," he said. Because of the market's recent upturn, he said, "you get less of a pop for just making the numbers."
Among companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings Monday, Biogen Idec Inc. said its fourth-quarter net income slipped nearly 3 percent because of a tax charge and higher expenses. Still, the biotech drug maker was one of the top gainers in the S&P 500, rising $4.29, or 2.9 percent, to $150.49.
Roper Industries Inc., which makes medical and industrial equipment, said its fourth-quarter net income rose 18 percent. But the company issued mixed guidance for the current quarter and full year 2013. It rose 36 cents to $119.19.
Hess Inc. rose after the company said it plans to sell its U.S. terminal network, shutter is New Jersey refinery and focus on its shift to exploration and production. Hess also said Elliott Associates plans to seek regulatory approval to buy a major stake in the company. The stock added 6 percent to $62.48.
Several big tech companies are set to report after the market closes, among them web portal Yahoo Inc., hard disk maker Seagate Technology PLC and cloud computing provider VMWare Inc.
Strong corporate earnings helped push the S&P 500 through the 1,500 milestone Friday after several calm, relatively news-free weeks. In addition to companies' performance, traders have been encouraged by signals that housing market is improving steadily and hiring is picking up, albeit slowly.
There will plenty of fresh data to drive trading this week, including retail sales, economic growth and the government's report on hiring and employment in January, which is due out Friday. More than one-fifth of the companies in the S&P 500 will report fourth-quarter earnings this week.
Stone said stocks are trading sideways in part because many investors are awaiting economic reports later this week, especially the employment report. There is agreement among economists and analysts that the economy slowed in the fourth quarter, he said, and this week's numbers will help answer the question of "how slow, and how much did it impact employment."
The yield in the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.99 percent from 1.95 percent late Friday, reflecting lower demand for ultra-safe investments. After Monday's factory orders report, the yield rose briefly above 2 percent for the first time since April. A bond's yield rises as demand for it decreases.
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Daniel Wagner can be reached at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports .
Good news for those trying to snuff out their smoking habit: in a new study, smokers who quit before turning 40 regained all of the years they would have presumably lost if they continued smoking.
Smoking cuts at least 10 years off a person?s lifespan, at least according to research. But a comprehensive analysis of health and death records in the US suggests that the damage isn?t permanent, as long as you quit.
?Quitting smoking before age 40, and preferably well before 40, gives back almost all of the decades of lost life from continued smoking,? says Dr. Prabhat Jha, head of the Centre for Global Health Research at St. Michael?s Hospital and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
?That?s not to say, however, that it is safe to smoke until you are 40 and then stop,? Jha adds. ?Former smokers still have a greater risk of dying sooner than people who never smoked. But the risk is small compared to the huge risk for those who continue to smoke.?
Here are photos showing the aftermath of a fatal nightclub fire in Santa Maria, Brazil. The club was hosting a party for university students, which turned fatal as hundreds of partygoers stampeded toward the exit. Firefighters and police say more than 200 are dead, and at least 200 are injured.
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The following is a guest post. Enjoy!
No one likes to be in debt, but?taking out personal loans from time to time?is often necessary, especially if the loan is for an investment ? e.g. to buy a first house, finance your education, or get a start-up business off the ground.???There are well-documented problems that borrowers can encounter with high-interest loans, whether that is caused by poor financial management, or taking out a reasonable loan but not understanding the terms. Even if we are unable to pay a loan back as quickly as we had initially agreed, there is help available for borrowers to consolidate their debt and get out from underneath it. In certain states and counties, debtors who get behind on their payments can actually wind up in private prisons run by contractors, even though debtors? prisons have been mostly illegal in the USA since the Civil War.However, if you find yourself blessed with friends or family who have disposable cash to hand (and like you), there is a great temptation to take a loan from a personal acquaintance instead of a bank or lending institution. And, it makes sense: it's often quicker and easier, with less red tape and better terms (perhaps your friend or family member has even offered to let you pay back the loan interest-fee), and on a whole, it somehow feels less scary; no paper-work or intimidating payment reminders from the bank. But as they say, buyer beware.The danger with borrowing money from someone you know is that money can become a divisive issue; indeed, it is an issue that has been known to destroy relationships and ruin friendships. In fact, an overwhelming number of marital problems and divorces are down to money-related conflicts, which should serve as a strong caution to even the most amiable friend or relative who might offer you financial help.One major stumbling block with family loans is that people may not be honest with you ? i.e., the money may be more important to them than they initially indicate. The importance of recouping that money, and the lender?s expectations as to how quickly you'll pay them back, often goes unstated.Furthermore, you may take their generosity for granted and assume they'll 'let it slide' or that they'll understand if you can't make your repayments every month. It is easy to allow one month of non-payment turn into two months or four; sometimes, it turns into a year, with the hope or assumption that the loan has been forgiven. It is easy to imagine how this might fracture the relationship.An interesting?study was conducted by Carnegie Mellon University?? we have a tendency, especially in situations where we are borrowing money from a friend or family member, to confuse fairness with self-interest. So at the end of the day, which is more important to you: money or your relationships?How about you all? Would you be willing to give a loan to a family member or have you ever taken out one of these? If so, how did it work? Did it create any family stress? Did you have a written agreement? Share your experiences by commenting below! ***Photo courtesy of?http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronnie44052/1486794482/sizes/l/in/photostream/
NEW YORK (AP) ? The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul appear to be moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court.
Faith-affiliated charities, hospitals and universities have filed dozens of lawsuits against the mandate, which requires employers to provide insurance that covers contraception for free. However, many for-profit business owners are also suing, claiming a violation of their religious beliefs.
The religious lawsuits have largely stalled, as the Department of Health and Human Services tries to develop an accommodation for faith groups. However, no such offer will be made to individual business owners. And their lawsuits are yielding conflicting rulings in appeals courts around the country.
"The circuits have split. You're getting different, conflicting interpretations of law, so the line of cases will have to go to the Supreme Court, " said Carl Esbeck, a professor at the University of Missouri Law School who specializes in religious liberty issues.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Obama's fiercely contested health care overhaul, known as the Affordable Care Act, was constitutional. But differences over the birth control provision in the law have yet to be resolved.
Under the requirement, most employers, including faith-affiliated hospitals and nonprofits, have to provide health insurance that includes artificial contraception, including sterilization, as a free preventive service. The goal, in part, is to help women space pregnancies as a way to promote health.
Religious groups who employ and serve people of their own faith ? such as churches ? are exempt. But other religiously affiliated groups, such as Catholic Charities, must comply.
Roman Catholic bishops, evangelicals and some religious leaders who have generally been supportive of Obama's policies have lobbied fiercely for a broader exemption. The Catholic Church prohibits the use of artificial contraception. Evangelicals generally permit the use of birth control, but they object to specific methods such as the morning-after contraceptive pill, which they argue is tantamount to abortion.
Obama promised to change the birth control requirement so insurance companies and not faith-affiliated employers would pay for the coverage, but religious leaders said more changes were needed to make the plan work.
The Health and Human Services Department said it could not comment on litigation. A spokeswoman also did not respond to a question about when the latest revisions in the birth control rule would be made public.
However, government attorneys responding to a lawsuit said an announcement was expected by the end of March. In the suit filed by the evangelical Wheaton College in Illinois and Catholic Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, the court ordered government attorneys to provide a progress report on the new rule every 60 days. Whatever its final form, the mandate will take effect for religious groups in August.
At the center of the cases is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the 1993 law that bars the government from imposing a substantial burden on the exercise of religion for anything other than a compelling government interest pursued in the least restrictive way. The question of how or whether these criteria apply when owners of for-profit businesses have a religious objection to a government policy hasn't been fully tested.
"It's more natural for people to say Notre Dame exercises religion, but when you say this power tool company exercises religion, you have to explain it little more, I think the claims are really the same," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents many of the plaintiffs.
Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, argued the business owners are trying to use a religious liberty claim to deny benefits to someone else.
"We don't think that religious liberty claims can be used as a way to discriminate against women employees ? using those claims to take away someone else's benefits and services," Amiri said.
In the lawsuits from faith-affiliated groups, such as the University of Notre Dame, judges around the country have generally said it would be premature to decide the legal issues until the federal rule for religiously affiliated organizations is finalized.
In the cases involving business owners, judges have granted temporary injunctions to businesses in nine of 14 cases they've heard, while questions about for-profit employers and religious rights are decided, according to a tally by the Becket Fund.
In a case brought by Cyril and Jane Korte, Catholic owners of Korte & Luitjohan Contractors in Illinois, a three-judge panel granted a temporary injunction, ruling 2-1 that providing employees insurance coverage that includes birth control would violate the Kortes' faith.
"It is a family-run business, and they manage the company in accordance with their religious beliefs," the judges wrote.
The dissenting judge argued that the company will not be paying directly for contraception but instead will purchase insurance that covers a wide range of health care that could include birth control, if the woman decides with her physician that she needs it.
"What the Kortes wish to do is to preemptively declare that their company need not pay for insurance which covers particular types of medical care to which they object," the dissenting judge wrote.
Similar reasoning was used by courts denying an injunction requested by the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby and religious book-seller Mardel Inc., which are owned by the same evangelical family. Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby calls itself a "biblically founded business" and is closed on Sundays.
The U.S. district judge who first considered the request said, "Hobby Lobby and Mardel are not religious organizations."
"Plaintiffs have not cited, and the court has not found, any case concluding that secular, for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby and Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion," the ruling said.
Cells in the immune system called macrophages normally engulf and kill intruding bacteria, holding them inside a membrane-bound bag called a vacuole, where they kill and digest them.
Some bacteria thwart this effort by ripping the bag open and then escaping into the macrophage's nutrient-rich cytosol compartment, where they divide and could eventually go on to invade other cells.
But research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine shows that macrophages have a suicide alarm system, a signaling pathway to detect this escape into the cytosol. The pathway activates an enzyme, called caspase-11, that triggers a program in the macrophage to destroy itself.
"It's almost like a thief sneaking into the house not knowing an alarm will go off to knock down the walls and expose him to capture by the police," says study senior and corresponding author Edward Miao, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at UNC. "In the macrophage, this cell death, called pyroptosis, expels the bacterium from the cell, exposing it to other immune defense mechanisms."
A report of the research appears online in the journalScience on Thursday January 24, 2013.
Miao, also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, says the new findings show that having this detection pathway protects mice from lethal infection with the type of vacuole-escaping Burkholderia species: B. thailandensis and B. pseudomallei.
Both are close relatives. But they differ in lethality. B. pseudomallei is potentially a biological weapon. Used in a spray, it could potentially infect people via aerosol route, causing sickness and death. Moreover, it also could fall into a latent phase, "essentially turning into a 'sleeper' inside the lungs and hiding there for decades," Miao explains. In contrast, B. thailandensis, which shares many properties with its species counterpart, is not normally able to cause any disease or infection
These environmental bacteria are ubiquitous throughout S.E. Asia, and were it not for the caspase-11 pathway defense system, that part of the world could be uninhabitable, Miao points out.
This grim possibility clearly emerged in the study. Mice that lack the caspase-11 detection pathway succumb to infection not only by B. pseudomallei, but also to the normally benign B. thailandensis. "Thus caspase-11 is critical for surviving exposure to ubiquitous environmental pathogens," the authors conclude.
Miao points to research elsewhere showing that the pathway's abnormal activation in people with septic shock, overwhelming bacterial infection of the blood, is associated with death. "We discovered what the pathway is supposed to do, which may help find ways to tone it down in people with that critical condition.
As to bioterrorism, the researcher says it may be possible to use certain drugs already on the market that safely induce the caspase-11 pathway. "Since this pathway requires pre-stimulation with interferon cytokines, it is conceivable that pre-treating people with interferon drugs could ameliorate a bioterror incident. This could be quite important in the case of Burkholderia, since these bacteria are naturally resistant to numerous antibiotics.
"But first we have to find out if they would work in animal models, and consider the logistics of interferon stockpiling, which are currently cost prohibitive."
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University of North Carolina Health Care: http://www.med.unc.edu
Thanks to University of North Carolina Health Care for this article.
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DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? What's the hot gossip on the party circuit at Davos this year? No big Google bash.
For the past few years, the hottest invitation at the World Economic Forum was the Google party, where hundreds of the world's VIPs, especially the successful young technology entrepreneurs, would be out on the dance floor in droves, or trying to chat on the sidelines while shouting to be heard over the loud music.
The Davos veterans, often standing by the bar and looking at the scene, would agree they were probably looking at the men and women who will be running the world in the next 20 years or so.
Not this year.
Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick confirmed the giant California-based Internet and technology company isn't throwing a Davos party this year, but she wouldn't say why.
The forum's founder, Klaus Schwab, said it is a sign of the times.
"I think the world is in a very serious situation and the annual meeting is a very serious event. We are not a fun event. We want to improve the state of the world. The world is not in a good shape at the moment," he told The Associated Press. "So I think it's really logical that we concentrate much more on substance."
The forum also changed its format this year, canceling the Sunday session and eliminating its splashy Saturday evening soiree featuring several bands, open bars and lots of food. It was thrown in past years by a host of countries, including India, Brazil and South Africa.
Instead, the forum will wrap up with a mountain-top reception early Saturday evening for the 2,500 top leaders from government, business and those who come to Davos to make connections and lobby the movers and shakers.
There have been a few private receptions and dinners featuring monarchs, presidents, prime ministers and celebrities, but nothing wild and glitzy to put on the dancing shoes for ? unless you fancy a Russian party Friday night featuring one of the country's top punk bands called Leningrad.
Microsoft held a reception Thursday night in a large room showcasing the company's latest technological innovations. Bill Gates was there, but it was no replacement for the Google bash. Potential crashers were barred, the crowd was relatively small, and there was background music only.
Davos did live up to its reputation for attracting celebrities.
Actress Charlize Theron, a U.N. messenger of peace and founder of an African outreach foundation, accepted an award for her humanitarian work at the forum's opening session Tuesday, and she starred at an invitation-only reception Wednesday hosted by Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent to support the fight to defeat AIDS.
Not to be outdone, rival PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi hosted an invitation-only nightcap later that night for Derek Jeter, the captain of the New York Yankees, who was surrounded by baseball fans, many seeking autographs.
There also were dozens of private events where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger ? among many others ? were VIP guests. Tina Brown was among the VIP hostesses.
Top government officials from Mongolia, Malaysia, India, Japan and South Korea, combined cocktails and cultural performances.
Pakistani cricket legend-turned-politician Imran Khan headlined a lunch and made headlines when he said he was very confident his party will sweep his country's upcoming elections.
Though champagne corks popped, the age of austerity definitely replaced the hedonism which had given Davos its work-hard, play-hard reputation.
KDDI's funky au Infobar is back! Once again designed by the famed Naoto Fukasawa, this A02 -- co-developed by HTC -- brings the series up to date with Qualcomm's 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 (but with just 1GB of RAM), 4.7-inch 720p display, 16GB of storage, microSD slot, 2,100mAh battery, LTE radio (800/1500) and Android 4.1. Better yet, this phone also supports both CDMA2000 800/2100 and WCDMA 850/1900/2100, making it a great global phone. Judging by one of the demo clips after the break, it seems that this Infobar's 8-megapixel main imager (with F2.0 lens) and 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera take advantage of HTC's ImageSense chip for speedy burst shots. Likewise, you'll find Beats Audio built into the system. As per typical Japanese mobile phone, the usual NFC (with Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet), 1seg TV tuner and infrared are also packed inside the 9.7mm-thick, 147g-heavy waterproof (IPX5 and IPX7) and dustproof (IP5X) body.
We're already fans of the iconic nishikigoi (meaning "brocaded carp") color scheme as pictured above, but it was really the fluid animations and uniqueness of the "iida UI" 2.0 (iida stands for "innovation," "imagination," "design" and "art") that caught our attention. As you'll see in the video clips after the break, the home screen here shares some similarities with Windows Phone 8's counterpart -- in the way items snap to grid and resize, even though the former is enhanced by plenty of bouncy animation and more colors. Expect this A02 -- which is also available in blue or gray -- to hit the Japanese market in mid-February.
This is a guest blog post by Leah Wyatt. Leah Wyatt works in PR, media, and communications analysis at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide. You can connect with Leah via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
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As the communications landscape evolves, and disciplines once considered separate entities collide and overlap, tried and true PR metrics aren?t going to cut it anymore: agencies need to be able to translate PR metrics into business and marketing speak in order to tangibly demonstrate the impact of PR to clients. New digital and social marketing strategies are generating metrics that are easy to track, but the data remains disconnected from business goals and performance. The following provides a framework PR professionals can use to evolve our thinking to address these industry changes and shift our traditional PR metrics to map to the marketing funnel, demonstrating an audience?s movement up the chain from awareness to action.
1. Awareness The definition of awareness, the first stage in the marketing framework, is pretty obvious: when the target audience realizes the product, issue, or whatever exists. Pretty basic, but also an essential step. So how can we quantify awareness using PR metrics, if awareness is a communications/marketing goal? Some examples of traditional PR metrics that can help show that an audience has awareness of a product or issue:
# tweets, # retweets ?Shows that tweeter knows about product or issue
# media placements resulting from PR outreach ?Shows that multiple sources know about product or issue as informed by outreach efforts
Share of voice ?Shows awareness of product or issue in the general space, compared to other products/issues
# video views ?Shows awareness of product or issue as conveyed by client created video
2. Knowledge/Understanding The next stage in the marketing framework entails demonstrated knowledge/understanding. At this stage, the target audience shows that they have moved beyond basic awareness and have internalized some type of concrete information related to the product or issue. The level or degree of knowledge and understanding can vary fairly significantly, but if this is a client business goal, some PR metrics that demonstrate audience understanding could be:
Message pickup ?Degree of pickup shows depth of understanding
# original tweets mentioning key product/issue facts ? Shows knowledge, not just awareness, of product/issue
3. Interest/Consideration/Evaluation This stage in the framework speaks to a customer?s interest in the product or message. The target audience shows here that not only do they understand the product or message, but they also demonstrate that they are considering or evaluating the product or message, aiding their decision to interact, purchase or internalize it. PR metrics that highlight potential customers in this stage are:
Message pickup ?In addition to showing understanding, the depth of key messages also highlights how much interest the author has and what their evaluation of the product is
# of positive mentions or overall tone ? This shows the author?s or social media user?s attitude toward the product or message
# of likes on Facebook posts or favorites on tweets ? This shows an interest in the product or message, as well as a slight affinity for it, but within a smaller capacity than liking or following the brand or product does
4. Intent/Support/Preference/Advocacy The final stage in the marketing funnel describes the point at which a customer purchases, invests in or promotes a product (or message). Some traditional PR and social metrics that highlight customers at the support/advocacy stage are:
Call to action ? When a customer makes a recommendation for a product or brand and encourages others to consider or try it, via social media channels
Liking or following a brand ? Shows a social media user?s preference toward a brand or product
Positive mention with a link directing readers to a brand?s owned media like blog posts, press releases or press kits ? This directs others to the brand or product?s content which can help to persuade others to consider the brand or product
As communications experts, we need to broaden our measurement efforts by actively thinking about client goals, the metrics we are using to show progress, and how to extend these beyond traditional measures to effectively showcase how PR and communications efforts are helping reach client business goals. What?s a social media ?like? really worth if it isn?t generating new qualified leads?
CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Five people were shot dead in the Egyptian city of Suez during nationwide protests against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday, the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
One of the dead was a member of the security forces, medics said. Another 280 civilians and 55 security personnel were injured, officials said, in demonstrations fuelled by anger at the president and his Islamist allies in the Muslim Brotherhood.
Thousands of opponents of Mursi massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the cradle of the revolt against Mubarak - to rekindle the demands of a revolution they say has been hijacked by Islamists who have betrayed its goals.
Street battles erupted in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said. Arsonists attacked at least two state-owned buildings as symbols of government were targeted. An office used by the Muslim Brotherhood's political party was also torched.
The January 25 anniversary laid bare the divide between the Islamists and their secular rivals.
This schism is hindering the efforts of Mursi, elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a plunge in Egypt's currency by enticing back investors and tourists.
Inspired by the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt's revolution spurred further revolts across the Arab world. But the sense of common purpose that united Egyptians two years ago has given way to internal strife that had already triggered bloody street battles last month.
"Our revolution is continuing. We reject the domination of any party over this state. We say no to the Brotherhood state," Hamdeen Sabahy, a popular leftist leader, told Reuters.
The Brotherhood decided against mobilizing for the anniversary, wary of the scope for more conflict after December's violence, stoked by Mursi's decision to fast-track an Islamist-tinged constitution rejected by his opponents.
The Brotherhood denies accusations that it is seeking to dominate Egypt, labeling them a smear campaign by its rivals.
DEATH IN SUEZ
There were conflicting accounts of the lethal shooting in Suez. Some witnesses said security forces had opened fire in response to gunfire from masked men.
News of the deaths capped a day of violence which started in the early hours. Before dawn in Cairo, police battled protesters who threw petrol bombs and firecrackers as they approached a wall blocking access to government buildings near Tahrir Square.
Clouds of tear gas filled the air. At one point, riot police used one of the incendiaries thrown at them to set ablaze at least two tents erected by youths, a Reuters witness said.
Skirmishes between stone-throwing youths and the police continued in streets around the square into the day. Ambulances ferried away a steady stream of casualties.
Protesters echoed the chants of 2011's historic 18-day uprising. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted. "Leave! Leave! Leave!" chanted others as they marched towards the square.
"We are not here to celebrate but to force those in power to submit to the will of the people. Egypt now must never be like Egypt during Mubarak's rule," said Mohamed Fahmy, an activist.
There were similar scenes in Suez and Alexandria, where protesters and riot police clashed near local government offices. Black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by youths.
In Cairo, police fired tear gas to disperse a few dozen protesters trying to remove barbed-wire barriers protecting the presidential palace, witnesses said. A few masked men got as far as the gates before they were beaten back.
Tear gas was also fired at protesters who tried to remove metal barriers outside the state television building.
Outside Cairo, protesters broke into the offices of provincial governors in Ismailia and Kafr el-Sheikh in the Nile Delta. A local government building was torched in the Nile Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra.
BADIE CALLS FOR "PRACTICAL, SERIOUS COMPETITION"
With an eye on parliamentary elections likely to begin in April, the Brotherhood marked the anniversary with a charity drive across the nation. It plans to deliver medical aid to one million people and distribute affordable basic foodstuffs.
Writing in Al-Ahram, Egypt's flagship state-run daily, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie said the country was in need of "practical, serious competition" to reform the corrupt state left by the Mubarak era.
"The differences of opinion and vision that Egypt is passing through is a characteristic at the core of transitions from dictatorship to democracy, and clearly expresses the variety of Egyptian culture," he wrote.
Mursi's opponents say he and his group are seeking to dominate the post-Mubarak order. They accuse him of showing some of the autocratic impulses of the deposed leader by, for example, driving through the new constitution last month.
"I am taking part in today's marches to reject the warped constitution, the 'Brotherhoodisation' of the state, the attack on the rule of law, and the disregard of the president and his government for the demands for social justice," Amr Hamzawy, a prominent liberal politician, wrote on his Twitter feed.
The Brotherhood says its rivals are failing to respect the rules of the new democracy that put the Islamists in the driving seat via free elections.
Six months into office, Mursi is also being held responsible for an economic crisis caused by two years of turmoil. The Egyptian pound has sunk to record lows against the dollar.
The parties that called for Friday's protests list demands including a complete overhaul of the constitution.
Critics say the constitution, which was approved in a referendum, offers inadequate protection for human rights, grants the president too many privileges and fails to curb the power of a military establishment supreme in the Mubarak era.
Mursi's supporters say enacting the constitution quickly was crucial to restoring stability needed for economic recovery.
(Additional reporting by Ahmed el-Shemi, Ashraf Fahim, Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Robert Woodward)
JAIPUR, India (AP) ? American author Marilynne Robinson, Israel's Aharon Appelfeld and China's Yan Lianke are among 10 finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
The award, an offshoot of Britain's better-known Man Booker novel-of-the-year prize, is awarded for a lifetime's work. It is open to authors of all nationalities whose work is available in English.
Prize organizers said both China's Yan and Russian finalist Vladimir Sorokin have had books banned in their homelands.
Yan fell foul of the authorities with "Dream of Ding Village," about the AIDS crisis caused by HIV-contaminated blood, and "To Serve the People," which features a character who can be aroused only when his lover smashes images of Chairman Mao.
Sorokin, best known for "The Ice Trilogy," had his early books banned in Soviet times.
Other finalists announced Thursday at the Jaipur Literary Festival in India include Lydia Davis of the United States, Pakistan's Intizar Husain, France's Marie NDiaye and Indian writer U.R. Ananthamurthy.
Josip Novakovich ? a Croatia-born Canadian writer ? and Switzerland's Peter Stamm round out the list.
Academic Christopher Ricks, who chairs the judging panel, said the 10 were "astonishingly different" writers who range in age from their 40s to their 80s.
Previous winners of the 60,000-pound ($95,000) award include Canada's Alice Munro, Nigeria's Chinua Achebe and Philip Roth of the United States.
The prize, awarded every two years, causes fierce debate and occasional controversy. In 2011, British spy writer John le Carre asked for his name to be removed from the shortlist ? he said he eschewed awards ? and one of the jurors resigned at the choice of Roth as winner.
This year's winner will be announced in London on May 22.
Question 1: Why and when did your parents originally decide to homeschool? Did their reasons for homeschooling change over time?
Joe:
My family knew nothing about homeschooling until we met the esteemed, Bill Gothard.? Then, when Mama fell in love with every word that dripped off his tongue, she viewed his homeschooling program as the only program worth belonging to.? Little did I know this would be a huge blessing in my life.? I considered it a curse at the time, as you will soon see.
In 1992, Bill Gothard required the board of the Advanced Training Institute to approve families that desired to enter into his homeschooling program.? This made sense because, according to his program?s strict standards, their could be no bad apples.? Thus, my family received scrutiny from the board due to our horrible evil condition of being seven children with a single mother.? Gasp!? We were eternally marred by divorce.? The board required a bunch of signatures to vouch for us as being good people and worth their time.? Then, they required us to get our father?s approval.? My dad would have nothing of it.? He knew how abusive and horrid Mama was to us and didn?t want her to have complete control of our lives 24/7.? The board rejected our application.
I wept.? I was twelve.
My mother never attempted again and, instead, wore the badge of a martyr for the cause ? whatever cause that was.? From that day forward, all the Mama approved ?testimonies? we had to recite in front of church people made some mention of how our father stopped us from homeschooling.
Latebloomer:
I heard the stories so many times as I was growing up, the reasons for my parents? decision to pull me out of public school halfway through first grade and start to homeschool me. ?I heard how I cried every day when my mom dropped me off at school. ?I heard how I was bored in class because I had learned to read at age three, long before going to kindergarten. ?I heard how my teacher was wasting classroom time on political issues by having the class write a letter about saving some whales. ?I heard how the teacher hurt my feelings badly by insulting my quiet speaking voice during a presentation. ?I heard how I had the problem boy as my seatmate because I was the best behaved student. ?I never thought to question my mom?s narrative; school was certainly a terrible place for me, based on her stories.
As a former elementary school teacher, my mom knew that she could give me a more personalized education than I would get in a classroom of 30 other students. ?While helping me get ahead academically, she would also be able to protect me from worldly and liberal influences.
Unfortunately, after many years of countering criticism and being surrounded by other like-minded Christian homeschoolers, my mom lost the ability to objectively evaluate whether homeschooling was still working for our family. ??By then, our identity as homeschoolers was inseparable from our spiritual, political, and family identity; failure was not an option.
Libby Anne:
My parents originally decided to homeschool for purely practical reasons, and they only planned on doing it for a year. But that first year went so well they did another, and another. Meanwhile, they began reading Christian homeschool literature, attending Christian homeschool conferences, etc. By the time I was ten my parents were homeschooling us because they believed that the public schools brainwashed children into ?secular humanism? and turned children into unthinking robots, and because they believed, based on Deuteronomy 6, that it was the responsibility of the parents, and not the state or anyone else, to educate their children. Homeschooling had moved from being a practical and temporary option to being a lifestyle.
Lisa:
My parents said that they always wanted to homeschool us kids. I as the oldest have never seen a public school from inside. My Dad was convinced that public schools were filled with sin (sex and drugs) and that they enforced certain ?agendas? on the students. It got worse over time, my Dad thinking that all the bad things in America are rooted in the pro-gay pro-choice pro-everything ungodly schools.
Mattie:
As I mentioned before, my parents always planned to homeschool. They felt that they, and no one else, were responsible for their children?s education (referencing Deuteronomy 6:7). Education is inseparable from faith, in their minds, and this was something they believed was a responsibility and a calling from God.
Melissa:
Originally, I remember my Dad talking about choosing homeschooling because he had hated being in school. He had always felt as if he had been held back and had never fit in well with the other kids. My parents saw an article about homeschooling in the newspaper and decided to try it. As time went on there were more reasons, such as protecting us from the disbelief and propaganda in the schools, and keeping us girls safe from unsupervised interactions with men/boys. I remember them talking about how we would waste so much time in school, learning stuff that we would never need for life, whereas if we were at home we could learn about caring for children and cooking and cleaning, all things my mom had felt inexperienced in when she started her family.
Sarah:
My dad had serious problems in school as a kid. He was very intelligent and found the structure of school to be oppressive and a hindrance. When my parents first heard about homeschooling they were very excited to have found an alternative. My dad wanted us to have academic freedom, and my mom wanted us to be safe from the world. Their goals converged over time.
Sierra:
My mother decided to homeschool me because I was terrified of school. I was in kindergarten for three months in a room with an aging, unsympathetic teacher and a bunch of rowdy boys who bullied me. I was a sensitive child, and couldn?t handle it. I had insomnia, horrible nightmares, anxiety attacks, random fits of crying, and was generally miserable. I was also a gifted child who had known how to read for three years and was bored to death by the lessons we were doing. My mother (prudently, I think) decided to take me out of school for a year and let me mature a little bit before being put back in that environment. Then my mother met a fundamentalist and hit it off with her (as I hit it off with her son, Sven) and we were sucked into that family?s church. Once we were part of the Christian Patriarchy movement, my mother?s reasons for homeschooling me changed from getting me a head start academically and letting my social skills catch up to protecting me from worldly influences.
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Question 2: Briefly describe your experience being homeschooled, including the amount of interaction you had with other homeschoolers or non-homeschoolers (socialization) and what sorts of textbooks or homeschool program your family used (academics).
Joe:
Not being homeschooled, I have no experience with it at all.? But, we churched exclusively with homeschoolers.? We never had friends outside of this church and, if we did, were banned from them immediately.? Homeschooling was God?s plan for everyone and public school was the evil spawn of Satan?s semi-eternal plan.? We socialized with only these homeschoolers and, even though we went to government schools for our whole schooling career, we told everyone we were missionaries there and they believed the lie.
Latebloomer:
Regarding academics, my mom was very careful in planning our curriculum for each year; she never became overly reliant on one source or publisher. ?Almost all the materials that she chose were promoting a conservative Christian worldview, such as our history, literature, and science materials from A Beka and Bob Jones. ?For math, we used Saxon. ??From my observation, she prepared a much more academic and structured education for us than many other homeschooling families seemed capable of.
In terms of socialization, when I was young, we had regular activities with other local homeschoolers such a weekly park days, monthly roller-skating days, and occasional field trips. ??We also participated in some community-based activities such as gymnastics. ?But as I got older, there were fewer homeschooled kids my age, and our participation in outside activities started to decrease.
As I reached my teens, my parents bought into Reb Bradley?s idea that teenage rebellion was a recent American trend due to indulgent parenting and peer pressure. ?So, for most of my teen years, my main opportunity for social interaction came once a week at church. ?However, it wasn?t much of an opportunity because I wasn?t allowed to join a youth group at our churches (and later, our homeschooling church Hope Chapel didn?t even allow a youth group to exist). ?At my high school graduation ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of local homeschooling families, I had only briefly met one of the other 12 graduates before.
Libby Anne:
I was involved in a number of homeschool groups, though which varied by year. We had a circle of other like-minded homeschool families that we associated with regularly, and that, combined with at least one homeschool co-op a year and also a weekly Bible club, is where we got the majority of our socialization. This meant that literally all of my socialization took place with people who shared my parents? beliefs, and I was never exposed to people who believed anything different.
As for academics, my mother used a hybrid approach with us, choosing different textbooks for each subject. We did apologia for science, for instance. Our history and science curricula were religious while our math and grammar curricula were not.
From K-8, mom was pretty good at making sure to work with us one-on-one. Especially early on, there were a lot of hands-on activities, and the education I received during my elementary school years was really pretty top-notch. This hands-on and one-on-one approach began to change during the last couple years of this period as we worked more independently, but even then mom made sure to at least supervise our work. Once we reached high school, we studied on our own full time. Mom would give us the textbooks to complete at the beginning of the year, and then we?d give them back at the end of the year. For a few subjects, like languages, we sometimes (though not always) had tutors.
Lisa:
I hated school more than anything. I mean, when I was really small and the others weren?t old enough for school yet (many of them weren?t born yet!), it was nice that my mom would spend so much time with me and it was fun, I enjoyed learning something. But the older I got and the more kids my Mom had to tutor, the less fun I had. My Mom had little time for each individual kid and at some point, I guess it was when I was 12, 13, I felt like it wasn?t so important what I had to study, it was more important to help the smaller ones do their studies. My Mom had some tougher pregnancies as well, which put her out of the picture for weeks and months. Those were the times where I was the one responsible for teaching the others. I basically didn?t do much myself since I also had the house to manage and the smaller kids to look after. It was horrible, trying to keep the toddlers satisfied while cleaning and cooking and at the same time looking after the boys who were just screaming and not concentrating.
At one point, once I turned 14, scientific studies lost their importance. My Dad felt it would do no good to teach a girl too much science. So the kitchen became my classroom and, even though I could already manage a house better than most 20 year olds, my Mom made me her fellow ?help-meet.? I tried to get in some more math and that, but I didn?t get far. When I was 16 I realized that I wasn?t going to get any sort of degree anyway. My Dad didn?t want me to take SATs ? not that I would?ve passed them anyway ? and so I settled on studying the ?important? things with some other women we knew ? sewing, flower arranging. I also read a lot of the P/QF books that were coming out ? the Ludy books, Harris, Pride, Pearl and so on. My Dad was torn. At some point, he wanted us to be smarter than kids from public schools and I think that somewhere he hoped I would have finished high school earlier than most people do, but then again, he took pride in the fact that his daughters were so ?biblical.? I never quite understood what he wanted us to do.
We didn?t have much contact with other homeschoolers. We went to conventions where we met mostly other Christian homeschoolers, but never many who lived close enough to actually have vivid contact with them. Having friends wasn?t as important anyway, your siblings were supposed to be your best friends.
Since my mother was such a great fan of Mary Pride, Pride?s books on homeschooling were her major resource on how to structure the classes as well as which textbooks to use. We tried out different curricula and different systems, but online-learning wasn?t our major way of studying. I guess we were just too many kids and had too little money to buy the technical necessities for that.
Mattie:
My dad once said with some disdain that homeschoolers who participated in homeschool co-ops and group classes were ?faux-schoolers.? However, we did have some small group classes for extracurriculars and I took French and art from local women who taught classes in their homes. Our family friends were almost always other Christian homeschoolers, and we were fairly well-socialized [albeit primarily within that demographic]. When we took ballet or gymnastics or martial arts, we made friends with the other kids and didn?t seem to have any socialization issues beyond general pop culture ignorance.
Melissa:
Early on we had a consistent schedule each day, I usually did handwriting reading and math, I remember enjoying different school projects we tried. When I was aged 7-9 we periodically attended a homeschool co-op where we participated in an arts and music program, we were also part of a conservative homeschoool girls club called ?Keepers at Home? which I enjoyed. As there were more and more children involved, things got less consistent. The older kids were expected to cover much of their work on there own in independent study. We did not have much interaction outside the home when I was in my teens. I don?t remember having a consistent curriculum. My mom tried many different ones, and sometimes we would start and stop different programs in one year.
Sarah:
My parents used a very eclectic curriculum. They used different systems for different subjects. One year, my mom tried out a series that covered all the main subjects in one massive book. That year we read a lot and made fun science projects. I learned a lot that year. But the more kids my mom had, the less involved she became in our school work. By the time I was 11, I was completely responsible for my own education. I would create my own schedules and do my very best to stick to it. Every week or so I would update my mom on how I was doing. It is very hard to be self-motivated when you are so young. Especially while being required to do so much house work. I never really completed any of my goals, and was constantly lagging behind. During my second year of high school we joined a homeschool co-op at our church that met once a week. I probably accomplished more academically in the two years we were involved with co-op than at any other time.
Sierra:
My mother tried out a lot of different curricula with me. We started out using Bob Jones, Abeka, Rod and Staff, and others I can?t remember. I hated all of them. They were boring and their religious message was painfully overt. Eventually we settled on Sonlight, which both of us liked for academic content and for the creativity of their approach. I generally did my school work in the morning, finished up at noon and went outside to play. I saw other children 3-4 times a week at church, homeschool meetups, visits between stay-at-home moms, field trips and days at the park. I?m an introvert, so I never felt like going a day or two without another child around was a hardship. I read for pleasure, did creative writing of my own, and generally entertained myself. When I got to college, I needed remedial math and never went beyond geometry and algebra II. My verbal skills were always off the charts, however, from all of my writing and reading.
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Question 3: What do you see as the pros and cons of having been homeschooled? Do you feel that your homeschool experience prepared you well socially? Academically?
Joe:
Homeschooling is right for some people and very wrong for others.? Many people see homeschooling as the opportunity for indoctrination of their children.? Others see it as the only path to educating their child, with the child having failed all other alternatives.? I like the latter reason for opting for homeschooling.? But, the fact is, most people that homeschool do it for strictly religious reasons.
My wife, Kristine sat on a homeschool board for a few years and witnessed the split of the homeschool group in that region of the country.? What was the split over?? Academics?? Nope.? Whether or not it was the right thing to require a statement of faith for a family to join the group.? The ?yea?s? won the day and the detractors had to leave.? The detractors were a much smaller group and yet, when anything was to be done academically with tutors or extra classes taught by experts, it was this group that organized it.? The ?statement of faith? group was simply satisfied to have a sermon with a gym day.
That explains my view of academics in some homeschooling to a ?t?.? On a side note, my wife has gone back to school and has seen that her parents were miserable teachers.? Miserable.? Her writing competency was at the 6th grade level, as was her math.
Latebloomer:
For my family, the strength of homeschooling was in having our education tailored to our needs, giving my siblings and me the ability to do some subjects more quickly or slowly as necessary. ?One weakness, however, was that we didn?t have much internal motivation to perform for a parent rather than a teacher, so we did the minimum required and didn?t get challenged. ?For my brother and me, our enjoyment of reading gave us very high reading comprehension, so we ended up very well prepared for college classes despite doing most of our schoolwork independently. ?My sister has a much different personality and learning style, and she struggled much more with the experience of being homeschooled. ?She began to thrive academically when she was put in Christian school for high school.
Socially, all three of us were at a disadvantage from homeschooling, although my brother had the easiest time because he regularly hung out with other guys in his Christian homeschooling Boy Scout troop. ?In my case, I had only one friend from age 10-12, and then no friends again until I was 17. ?In my teens, I was terrified of social interaction to the point of trembling and feeling sick to my stomach, and I often wrote in my journal that I wanted to run away from society and become a hermit. ?I used to cry myself to sleep at night quite often, occasionally trying to get my mom to notice my tears by sniffing juuuust loud enough for her to hear as she walked by my door. ?When she came in to ask why I was crying, I would say something like, ?I don?t have any friends? or ?I don?t know how to talk to people.? ?In the morning, life would proceed as usual, quiet and empty.
The social effects of homeschooling are with me even today. ?First, I can still feel significant social anxiety in even the most non-threatening situations. ?I am particularly at a loss in group settings full of new people. ?What do I say? When do I say it? Whom do I say it to? ?How/when do I end a conversation? ?Even in a circle setting, when it?s my turn to say my name, my blood pressure skyrockets. ?Second, in the whole world, there is no place and no group of people where I feel like I belong. ?It?s like I was raised in a different culture, with the distinct difference that I can never go ?home? to it. ?I?m permanently a foreigner; interacting in this foreign culture takes a lot of attention and effort. ?I?ve tried to catch up on the culture I missed?to watch the movies, to listen to the music, to see pictures of the clothing styles?but it will never mean to me what it means to you. ?People always use cultural references and nostalgia as a way to build community and connections between people; for me, they create distance and remind me how different I am inside.
Libby Anne:
Homeschooling did not prepare me well socially at all. I only had experience socializing with other people just like me, and had no idea how to handle myself around those who were different or in large crowds. Furthermore, when I went to college I found that I had a huge cultural disconnect with my peers to the extent that I almost couldn?t understand them. It took a long time for me to adjust, and in some ways I still feel like a cultural outsider.
As for academics, homeschooling served me pretty well. There were some holes in my education ? while I read voraciously, I never actually had a literature course, for example ? and some miseducation that I had to undo later ? much of what I?d been taught about American history and about evolutionary science was wrong ? but I nevertheless excelled in college. I think this was because my parents gave me a love of learning, taught me to think critically, and educated me well in the basics. That said, homeschooling has not worked as well for some of my younger siblings. I think that I had the benefit of having a fairly independent and motivated learning style, which allowed homeschooling to work well for me academically. Homeschooling has not served as well for those of my siblings who would do well having the challenge of other students or who really need the presence of an actual teacher.
Lisa:
Well, I do think homeschooling can work if done right, but it just didn?t work for us. Not that my parents were intellectually incapable of teaching us, it?s just that they never used much of a curriculum other than my Dad?s personal opinion. So my big con is that I didn?t actually learn things you need to know in order to get higher education. Academically I wasn?t prepared to live in the ?real world? at all. A big part of our girl?s education was ?homemaking,? where Mom taught us stuff like knitting and cleaning and cooking and all that stereotypical stuff. We were discouraged from studying things like math and science simply because my Dad believed it would put the wrong ideas into the girl?s minds ? going out, getting an education, work, do a man?s job. At some point I think he wanted to keep us dumb so that we wouldn?t even have the chance to think about the situation we?re in. Make sure we do what we?re best at ? being homemakers.
I think the social aspect of being home schooled is overrated. I can imagine that you might be just as socially prepared if it?s done right, but then again, coming from the P/QF background, I was in no way socially ?normal?. The only people we ever had contact with were other fundamentalist homeschoolers and every family kept to themselves, so there wasn?t much going on. If I was different than I am the aspect of helping my younger siblings with their school would?ve certainly been positive, but then again I was so clueless about the things we had to learn myself that it was a huge fright to explain things to them. It just cost me a lot of energy to get through the day.
Mattie:
For school, we used Sonlight Curriculum, Rod & Staff, Beautiful Feet, Gileskirk, Apologia Science, and Alpha Omega LifePacs. I think I suffered in math due to lack of good teaching, but I was largely prepared for college because I taught myself how to learn on my own and how to manage my time. The point was not to ace the test?the point was to gain an education. And I thrived in college because of this mindset.
While I don?t necessarily endorse the specific curricula my parents chose for me, I feel that I came out with a real passion for learning and a delight in education. A con of this big-family lifestyle and homeschooling was that we didn?t get a lot of one-on-one tutoring unless we were seriously failing a subject. We were all expected to figure out how to follow the textbook and do the work of using it to teach ourselves. Mom was often too busy or tired to give specific attention to questions we had, and dad wasn?t ever available to help with homework unless it was for an intervention. For example: my sophomore year of high school, I read classics all day and drew and painted instead of doing my assigned schoolwork, and my parents found out after I?d ?lost? three months of school by doing this. My dad stepped in and gave me a talk about using my time wisely and priorities, and then left the details of fixing this issue up to my mom.
Melissa:
I really loved the early years of getting my schoolwork done in the morning hours and then spending hours outdoors. I feel that homeschooling can give the freedom to explore topics that each child finds interesting. I feel that there are gaps in my education academically ? I had very little science and history and no biology or geography. At some point education can be limited by the parent?s limitations. I have also found that many of the things I was taught were inaccurate, such as being told that we never went to the moon, ?I actually did not hear that there were multiple moon landings until recently, and even then I was sure that was a lie until I looked it up for myself.
Socially I feel like I was very limited, I still have a difficult time make friends today, or maybe more accurately I have a hard time believing that anyone actually wants to be my friend. There are many experiences that I haven?t had, so sometimes conversation can be awkward, because my upbringing was so different.
Sarah:
I am sure homeschooling could work very well if there were only a few children, and if the mother was very organized and had good support. This was not the case in my family. We had little to no structure, and until later, zero social interaction with other people. Homeschooling was a struggle for me, and it still plagues me today. I never made it past remedial arithmetic and am struggling to catch up in college. My reading and writing skills are excellent, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that I?ve always loved to read and write, so I never found it hard to learn. I think there are situations in which homeschooling could be good, but in my case it was not.
Sierra:
When I was a teenager, I did have serious social anxiety. It coincided with the depression and poor body image I developed after puberty. Since my church didn?t allow me to do anything about my looks (no makeup, no hiding my zits, no filling in my sparse eyebrows, no trimming my hair, no wearing fitted clothes) I was mostly very self-conscious and ashamed of my appearance. I also was the target of a lot of hostility from boys at Christian camps I went to, and the girls thought I was too weird and ignored me.
Now I consider myself 100% normal and confident. I can start up conversations with strangers. I know how to handle myself in a group of my peers, and I?m frequently the one starting up the loud music and cracking open the beer. I think I?m actually pretty fun to be around. I?m comfortable public speaking. This all came about through an excruciating five years of training myself to get over my social anxieties, however. I actually think going to public school would have made it worse, since I would have been faced every day with people I thought were normal and I would have been a serious loser with my baggy denim skirts and frizzy mane. By the time I got to college, I was already transitioning to listening to normal music, wearing tighter clothes, and trimming my hair. By my sophomore year, I was wearing jeans and makeup.
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Question 4: Do you perceive of your academic or social abilities differently today than you did when you were being homeschooled?
Joe:
I had the best of both worlds.? I went to public school and had many friends who were home taught.? I can relate to both.? Had I been homeschooled, I would have thought that everyone who thought differently than me was to be ostracized.
Latebloomer:
Definitely! As a teen, I put the blame on myself for my lack of social skills, and I felt happy to be safe at home. ?I believed that kids would probably just pick on me for my Christian faith and my awkwardness if I were at public school. ?Now, in hindsight, I believe that more continuous socialization starting in my younger years would have prevented my social anxiety and awkwardness from getting so out of hand. ?Although I likely would have been shy even in public school, at least I would have had a couple friends and learned coping mechanisms for relating to others.
Academically, I realize now that I missed the opportunity to learn critical thinking and respect for different opinions during my youth. ?All our homeschooling materials presented a consistent Christian worldview, and my family?s opinions were never challenged. ?As a result, even into my early twenties, I believed that people who didn?t share my worldview were either deceived or in rebellion against God.
Libby Anne:
Absolutely yes. When I was homeschooled I used to laugh at the socialization question. I thought I was perfectly socialized, no problem whatsoever. It was only later that I realized how wrong I was about that. As for academics, I used to swear by homeschooling as the cause of my academic success until someone pointed out to me that, with my parents? emphasis on education, I would almost certainly have also excelled if I had been sent to public school. That really made me think, because it was so true. Many of my close friends in college had been sent to public school, but because their parents valued education and were involved, they were academically just as prepared, and often more so, as I was. Academically, I now think what matters more is the parents? emphasis on education and involvement in their children?s learning, not whether children are home schooled, private schooled, or public schooled.
Lisa:
I considered myself well-prepared for the longest time. When all you?re looking at for your life is being married, raising kids and being a good wife, you don?t need chemistry, you don?t need real friends. You?re not supposed to share private stuff anyway, that leads to gossiping faster than you believe. And after all men want to be the heroes, they want to be admired. A woman smart enough to go to college would just make any man feel stupid, she might question him and that?s something you want to avoid. If he can explain things to her, he?ll feel strong, admired and respected. Yes, I can say I felt like I was going to be a good housewife and I still believe that this was true ? I would?ve been well-prepared for that.
Now that I depend on my education to live, I feel every day just how much I don?t know and how much harder things are for me. I will do well in school for weeks and suddenly I?m hit with something that I lack basic knowledge of, and I?ll have to start from scratch to get it. Especially in math, I don?t think I could have even helped my husband with finances if I stayed with my family? ?Here?s a confession: I can?t calculate. I mean, I couldn?t do the easiest calculations and I?m having major issues even today. A good example would be the multiplications. I still need to use my fingers, and it takes me very long to answer. (And no, I have been tested, I do not have any calculation disorders. I just can?t do it.)
Mattie:
I think I could be ?a math person? if I had been adequately equipped in primary school to master the concepts. (Also, in ?homeschool circles, the gender divide between maths and sciences, and arts and humanities seems to be more pronounced.)
As for social abilities, I find that I am coming around to be more like the person I was before puberty and before I was paralyzed with fear over modesty teachings and gender role mandates. I am more myself and more comfortable socially, as a result.
Melissa:
At the time I felt that homeschooling was superior academically, but I felt that I was not smart enough to capitalize on that. I struggled to stick with my self-taught subjects in high school and though I had many interests I did not get to explore many of them. I felt like this was my fault for not pushing myself harder somehow. Socially, I felt very lonely growing up, but I protested to anyone who would listen that homeschoolers were perfectly socialized! I went to violin lessons after all, and I could interact with other people just fine!
Sarah:
Back then I thought that I was about 100 times smarter than every other kid on the planet. My parents taught us that kids in public schools were being brainwashed, that they were dumb, and that their parents didn?t love them. I treated all ?public-schoolers? with disdain and pity. It wasn?t until later that I realized how very wrong I was. Not only were other kids more socially comfortable than I was, they were better at math, and knew facts about history, anatomy, and science that I had never heard. It was shocking and I felt like I had been lied to.
Sierra:
I am much more confident in my intelligence and ability to use my creativity to make meaningful contributions to society. Although it was not homeschooling precisely that undermined my confidence, my church damaged my vision of myself severely. Homeschooling simply made me unaware of my potential. Since I was so depressed in high school, I think that going to public school would have made the problem worse because I would have had bad grades. Homeschooling gave me a very flexible timeframe for my lessons and kept me from giving up on myself. When I got to college and found that I performed well, it blew my mind. I was preoccupied with figuring out the limits of my intelligence, so I pushed myself to the max and graduated summa cum laude. It was amazing to finally realize that I wasn?t stupid or awkward or insignificant.
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Question 5: Do you plan to homeschool/are you homeschooling your children? Why or why not? If you do plan to homeschool, in what ways will you/do you do it differently from your parents?
Joe:
We tried for two years and were miserable failures.? Not only did we discover we had no life outside of child rearing and schooling and feeding and changing diapers and blah blah blah, but we discovered that you cannot fit a child into a cookie cutter teaching style.? My wife had a very distinct teaching style and it worked admirably on our first daughter and yet failed completely on the next two.? We put them in public school and they flourished ? all of them.? And they have friends now.? Friends with different perspectives.? And they are living and breathing and?they haven?t sacrificed a baby to the devil yet.
That was a bit of tongue and cheek and yet, not so much.? We have been warned that our children will be ruined.? At least now, I can blame it on the teachers and wash my hands of all responsibility.
Latebloomer:
I believe that there are good reasons to homeschool, as long as parents try to compensate for the inherent weaknesses of homeschooling (lack of socialization, too much monitoring and control by parents, difficulty teaching more advanced subjects, etc.). ??Personally, I will not consider homeschooling unless I feel we have exhausted every other option; if I homeschool, it will be temporary and my children will participate in non-homeschooling activities as much as possible.
Libby Anne:
I do not plan to homeschool my children. It?s not that I don?t think I could do well by them academically ? I know I could ? but rather that I want them to have the socialization experience I never had. I want them to learn how to handle playground politics, to have teachers who aren?t me, and to have the opportunity to be involved in band, or soccer, or chess club. I want her to have the chance to be normal that I never had. I plan to be very involved in their education, of course, and were there to be some huge issue, I could see homeschooling temporarily.
Lisa:
I will never homeschool my children. If I stay in Germany I don?t have a choice anyway since homeschooling isn?t an option here. If I go back to the U.S., I just don?t think I would enjoy doing it.
Mattie:
I reserve the right to change my mind on this, but: I tentatively plan to homeschool. My husband has a vision for the possibilities that open up for a thorough and tailored education when a student has more freedom and one-on-one attention. I benefitted from this myself, and am really glad I had the opportunities I had as a homeschooler to study more thoroughly certain things which caught my attention.
That said, I would like to avoid the pitfalls which my family experienced: homeschooling isn?t an identity or a calling?we?ll do it if it?s the best option available. We?ll re-evaluate the decision to homeschool for each child, each year. I also will be very open to co-op classes and collaborative learning opportunities. And finally, I need to be very careful to avoid letting myself get burned out and becoming depressed (like my mom did a time or two). My husband is heartily in favor of this and wants to be really involved in teaching our kids (unlike my dad), and this excites me.
Melissa:
At this point, no. Our oldest child is going to Kindergarten this fall. Both my spouse and I feel that homeschooling puts a huge amount of control into the parent?s hands, we both want more community and input and interaction for our kids. I want my children to have a variety of experiences and idea they encounter. I am still nervous about putting my kids in school, because I have literally no experience in that area, so I wonder how I will be able to help them with any problems they may encounter. I still toy with the idea of taking them all out for a year of traveling someday when they are older.
Sarah:
I do not plan to homeschool my potential future children for a number of reasons. First, I do not plan to be a stay-at-home mom. I didn?t leave the house for years of my life, and I know I would lose it if I ever went back to that. I have a lot to offer the world, and I do not plan to closet myself away in the home. Secondly, I want to be a mother to my children. I do not want to taint that relationship by also being their teacher, their supervisor, their principal, and their surrogate friend. I want my children to have a broader frame of reference than just my own. I want them to have other role models and examples besides myself. I also just don?t think I?m cut out to be a teacher.
Sierra:
I would never homeschool a child past elementary school, because I would want my child to have experiences that bind generations together. I want my child to listen to popular music, wear shorts, hang out at the beach, swear and play sports. I want my child to go to prom and graduate in a big pompous ceremony. I want my child to have friends of all genders, races and sexualities. I want my child to have expert teachers.
I would consider homeschooling a very sensitive child for the first year or two, and I would thoroughly check out any school (public or private) that was within reach before enrolling. My child would probably have a more balanced homeschool education than I did, since my partner is into math and science and those are my weak points.
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Read everything by Libby Anne!
Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the religious right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving fundamentalist and evangelical religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the problems with the ?purity culture,? the intricacies of conservative and religious right politics, and the importance of feminism. Her blog is Love, Joy, Feminism
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NLQ Recommended Reading ?
?Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment? by Janet Heimlich
?Quivering Daughters? by Hillary McFarland
?Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement? by Kathryn Joyce
I am ashamed to admit it, but I ate so much food over the holidays that I can no longer fit comfortably in my pants. I promised myself that I would start eating better and exercising to burn off some of the extra weight I?d gained. I have improved my eating habits, but the cold weather keeps me from wanting to do anything but snuggle under a blanket with my iPad and a cup of hot cocoa.
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by Libby Anne