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[Greyson]

“This is not about accommodating families,” said Ms. Doruk, the owner of Bright Kids NYC. “It is about creating a fair gifted and talented system for all families, giving every family a fair shot at being in a gifted and talented program.”

This article caught my attention today because it has similar parallels to things we talk about here in this community. It looks like many of these parents may be of a group of people that are not familiar with getting turned down, an answer of No.

The perspective changes when any of us are wearing the "other shoe" on our own feet.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/ny...it_ur_20121030

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Greyson

Maybe this should be in the Science thread but I could not find it. If the insurance companies are taking notice, there must be some truth to it.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...rricane-sandy/


Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance firms, issued a study titled “Severe Weather in North America.” According to the press release that accompanied the report, “Nowhere in the world is the rising number of natural catastrophes more evident than in North America.”

This is interesting even tho I dont get all the science.

And, anytime insurance companies are doing "studies" it seems to be to reevaluate the actual and preceived risks so they can either orchestrate a shift of responsibility to the government for coverage i.e. specific hurricane and flood policies, or figure how to rewrite the coverage while upping the premiums to sufficient levels as to mitigate their potential losses while maintaining the expected profit margin.

I swear when it comes to trends that threaten the profit margins of insurance companies, they are 20 steps ahead of the science.

Living on the coast, I can tell you there are only a handful of insurers who will issue policies to coastal homeowners. Their reason? A catastrophic event here is inevitable. Thus, IF you can get a private policy, coverage is structured differently and the cost is astronomical.

And here is where the FAIR plan comes in. To make property insurance more readily available to people who can't obtain it from private insurers, the federal government established the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plans in the late 1960s, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). The plans are operated by the insurance industry and make home insurance available to property owners in the "high risk" category.

FAIR plans often cost more than private insurance and offer less coverage, but for some they offer the only home insurance available. All FAIR plans cover losses due to fire, vandalism, riot and windstorms, according to III.

The FAIR Plan, which typically serves as an insurer of last resort, became a major insurer of Cape properties after insurance companies opted in recent years to stop writing policies in Barnstable County. More than 60,000 homeowners on the Cape and Islands are insured through the FAIR Plan, which is formally known as the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association. That represents 46.6 percent of homeowners in the area. The association is made up of all companies writing basic property insurance.

After hurricanes heavily damaged areas of the Gulf Coast and Florida in the past decade, many private insurers raised rates or did not renew policies for coastal homeowners. Insurers defended their decisions based on hurricane models and geographical history used by reinsurance companies, which basically insure insurance companies.

[Okiebug61]

http://m.dallasvoice.com/dallas-coun...-10130389.html

Yeah!

[DMW]

http://www.npr.org/2012/10/31/164006...vernments-role

Every American should ask who is on my side?
Claire McCaskill and all of the others like her....and Obama...
Who brought the Guard home to protect our own people and our own
country in times of an emergency...seriously...and who fought the asbestos and Femma etc...
can i get a YEAH.
Rock On and do it right this time.

[DMW]

[QUOTE=DMW;688924]http://www.npr.org/2012/10/31/164006...vernments-role

Every American should ask who is on my side?
Claire McCaskill and all of the others like her....and Obama...
Who brought the Guard home to protect our own people and our own
country in times of an emergency...seriously...and who fought the asbestos and Femma etc...
can i get a YEAH.
Rock On and do it right this time.[/QUOTE

God i have been too damn busy...had no idea it was that bad in NJ
NYC....just checkin text on friends and family..


My Point...
Point is....Obama is on our side and he and Gov..Christie...working together
proves that Obama isn't going to put partisanship before the peoples common good and welfare....of course..can't call him out on that.


BUSH had the Guard and didn't use it soon enough pre Katrina for DAYS...Didn't fix the levies when he could have and had known about that risk for years!...etc...Post Katrina ...didn't get in there fast enough...People died. People suffered. Women were raped in the football dome etc..it was ugly....people didn't even have water...wonder why the looted for
water...well, they NEED water ...and then it got really bad..
The guard numbers where so low...the place was dangerous...

But at least there was a FEMA even if Bush didn't use it....

Obama Will Use FEMA and we do have more Troops here to help Now
because of him...
He should bring in more NOW...I hope they do....

Obama did save our car industry also...

Romney...was gonna let Henry Ford the God Father of American manufacturing go....including Jeep

Romney...plans to GET RID OF FEMMA ALL TOGETHER...


BEST news...Obama can declare marshall law to delay the election....

[tonaderspeisung]

[quote=DMW;688984]

Originally Posted by DMW

BEST news...Obama can declare marshall law to delay the election....

i actually find that power and sections of the ndaa (in spite of a heartfelt press release full of promises not to use it) the biggest con for either candidate

[Corkey]

I do not believe the President will use martial law to postpone the election. He's already told FEMA director to do what ever is necessary so folks in the effected area can vote on Nov 6th. He has given his word, I'll take him at it.

[DMW]

Originally Posted by Corkey

I do not believe the President will use martial law to postpone the election. He's already told FEMA director to do what ever is necessary so folks in the effected area can vote on Nov 6th. He has given his word, I'll take him at it.

I take him at his word also. thanks for the info..I just read some of the press release after i posted. But your info was concise. appreciate it. I am more concerned about ...
Electricity and voting. and the heavily populated democratic districts and the electoral college count etc....
Ohio...cuyahoga county
Philly....have no power
Just for starters...To big ones.

Putting my mind at ease if he has to call it ...he should...Too bad he said that
he wouldn't..Probably trying to keep people calm. However, again, if there is no power there...he has the option. Thank God

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by DMW

I take him at his word also. thanks for the info..I just read some of the press release after i posted. But your info was concise. appreciate it. I am more concerned about ...
Electricity and voting. and the heavily populated democratic districts and the electoral college count etc....
Ohio...cuyahoga county
Philly....have no power
Just for starters...To big ones.

Putting my mind at ease if he has to call it ...he should...Too bad he said that
he wouldn't..Probably trying to keep people calm. However, again, if there is no power there...he has the option. Thank God

I think that the FEMA director will get paper ballots out to precincts that have no power. Show up and see is the only way to know for sure.

[Corkey]

Nj will be voting from military trucks.

[Greyson]

I have posted links and studies from here before. I think it is a great resource. They have just posted another study about Teens, Young Adults who have been parented by Lesbians.

Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives

If interested in law and policy regarding LGBTQ stuff, I highly recommend you subscribe to their news letter.



http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/

[DMW]

Ironically, the paper ballots may be more precise and true than the electronic.

Always blows my mind when i think back to iraq and the hegemony of
the US spouting democracy and free elections...at the same time...
our election was not really democratic...because of the inaccurate
vote counts...blah etc..etc...blows me away. and Gore 2000 ...blows
me away.


Thanks for the info Corkey

Originally Posted by Corkey

I think that the FEMA director will get paper ballots out to precincts that have no power. Show up and see is the only way to know for sure.

[LeftWriteFemme]

I don't know what to do or what to say about this, but I thought I would post it anyhow...

Newspaper Uncovers Nightmare Scenario for Gay Teen in Foster Care

http://www.advocate.com/youth/2012/1...en-foster-care

[*Anya*]

Please, if you can, donate to the Red Cross to help the victims of the devastation of Hurricaine Sandy.

It is so simple: either Tweet #SandyHelp; text Redcross 90999; 800-435-7669 or go to www.RedCross.org.

Any amount, no matter how small, helps.

Your money provides water, hot meals and shelter for those that have lost everything.

My tweet to donate took less than one minute.

[*Anya*]

HURRICANE SANDY FACTS NEW YORK:
*41 storm-related deaths in the city
*176,540 city Con Ed customers without power Saturday
*Nearly 1 million Con Ed customers without power statewide
*57 city schools — home to 30,000+ students — closed due to storm damage until at least Wednesday
*178 city schools with no electricity as of Friday
*More than 80% of subway service restored as of Saturday
*1,541 serious crimes committed in the city from Monday through Friday, down 31% from the same period last year
*1 New York City Marathon canceled
*8 million gallons of gas delivered to the city as of Saturday
*23 million gallons of gas on the way
*More than $18 billion in estimated economic losses statewide
*More than 290,000 meals and 500,000 bottles of water distributed to storm victims
*More than $10 million raised in donations for storm relief
*17,000 tons of trash and debris picked up by city Sanitation crews
*728 pieces of equipment used by Sanitation Department to clear debris, including 270 collection trucks, 234 mechanical brooms and 114 front-end loaders
*$100 million state funds pledged to help reconstruction
*36 state parks closed from storm damage, including 30 on Long Island
*$100 million in damage to Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park
*30 joint state/FEMA response teams to fan out in storm impacted regions Monday

http://m.nydailynews.com

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Hollylane

-------------------

[NJFemmie]

The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization chaired by First Lady Mary Pat Christie to help New Jersey communities rebuild and aide in the relief effort. Thank you for your support. We are strong and resilient. We are proud New Jerseyans.

https://sandynjrelieffund.org/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/sandynjrelief

[Corkey]

http://statenisland.ny1.com/content/...-polling-place

Gov. Cuomo signs executive order letting voters vote at ANY polling place.

[morningstar55]

information!
---------------------
4 Things you might not have known about your Cell Phone
For all the folks with cell phones. (This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.)
There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.
Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival.
Check out the things that you can do with it:
FIRST (Emergency)
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.
SECOND (Hidden Battery Power)
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.
THIRD (How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? )
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone:
*#06# .
A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.
If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.
And Finally....
FOURTH (Free Directory Service for Cells)
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial:
(800) FREE411 or (800) 373-3411
without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.
This is sponsored by McDonald's.
This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving, so pass it on to your family and friends.

[Arwen]

Originally Posted by morningstar55

information!
---------------------
4 Things you might not have known about your Cell Phone

Always check SNOPES.COM before forwarding or sharing this type of thing. Some of this information is true. Some is not.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/cellphones.asp