Source: NBC News

By Mark Schone, NBC News:


The nation’s second largest educational testing service apologized Wednesday for computer issues that disrupted federally-mandated online tests for thousands of students in Indiana and Oklahoma this week – exams that are already controversial for their outsize role in determining school funding, student evaluations and teacher salaries.

“We sincerely regret the problems we have caused,” said a spokesperson for California-based CTB/McGraw-Hill, which holds contracts or testing in all 50 states and controls nearly 40 percent of the market. “We regret the impact … (of) system interruptions” and “have made changes to correct the situation.”


State officials, meanwhile, said they would hold CTB/McGraw-Hill accountable, and raised the possibility of financial penalties.

Three-thousand students in Oklahoma and 30,000 in Indiana lost their computer connections during testing on Monday and Tuesday mornings, according to state officials. CTB McGraw Hill said that the outage in Indiana occurred because “our simulations did not fully anticipate the patterns of live student testing” – the third straight year that Indiana students have experienced service interruptions during online testing administered by the company. Both states resumed the federally-mandated testing of third through eighth-graders Wednesday and reported no further incidents, but only after Indiana complied with a request from CTB/McGraw-Hill to cut the number of students taking the state’s ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) test in half – a precaution that the Department of Education said it will also take on Thursday.

At a morning meeting, members of the Indiana Board of Education called the situation “disastrous,” saying the test results were “tainted” and that the interruptions added to the anxiety of students already stressed by the high-stakes examinations.



Read more: http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/18006327-testing-service-apologizes-for-disastrous-disruptions-of-students-online-exams?lite

I was absolutely sure, positive beyond any possible small chance..that this fellow who was Afro American from Illinois could never possibly become President of the United States. Not while I was alive...as a kid, I remember......we as humans will never walk on the moon....
Also, I recall vaguely, looking at the huge computer that I saw in a magazine, taking up a whole room of space..and being sure I would never own one of those.. I now own one of those, that has more memory and power than that thing in the huge room..

It is unlikely that Bush will ever be charged in the USA..but who knows??maybe...


Tell me....is it really true you can hold one of these things..a computer... in your hand???? ....
......................... maybe some day......but.....????????

A blonde lady motorist was about two hours from San Diego when she was
flagged down by a man whose truck had broken down. The man walked up to
the car and asked, "Are you going to San Diego ?"
"Sure," answered the blonde, "do you need a lift?"
"Not for me. I'll be spending the next three hours fixing my truck. My
problem is I've got two chimpanzees in the back which have to be taken
to the San Diego Zoo. They're a bit stressed already so I don't want to
keep them on the road all day.
Could you possibly take them to the zoo for me? I'll give you $100 for your trouble.

"I'd be happy to," said the blonde. So the two chimpanzees were ushered
into the back seat of the blonde's car and carefully strapped into their
seat belts, and off they went.
Five hours later, the truck driver was driving through the heart of San
Diego when suddenly he was horrified!

There was the blonde walking down the street, holding hands with the two
chimps, much to the amusement of a big crowd. With a screech of brakes
he pulled off the road and ran over to the blonde. "What the world are
you doing here?" he demanded, "I gave you $100 to take these chimpanzees to the zoo..

"Yes, I know you did," said the blonde,"but we had money left over so
now we're going to Sea World."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/30/brazil-priest-excommunicated_n_3187812.html

By Paulo Prada

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 30 (Reuters) - The Catholic Church has excommunicated a Brazilian priest after he defended homosexuality, open marriage and other practices counter to Church teaching in online videos.

In a statement released late on Monday, the priest's diocese said Father Roberto Francisco Daniel, known to local parishioners as Padre Beto, had "in the name of 'freedom of expression' betrayed the promise of fealty to the Church."

The priest "injured the Church with grave statements counter to the dogma of Catholic faith and morality." The actions amount to "heresy and schism," the statement said, the penalty for which is excommunication, or expulsion from the Church.
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In case anyone was wondering if the Catholic Church has changed, here is proof it hasn't.

I suspect that this is too much for some, but I really liked this film. In a sea of sadness, this film brought a smile to me. That says a lot..I saw it a few hours ago..

contains spoilers...that is some plot twists....if you don't want to know..don't read..

This is a great family movie. It is wonderful to watch and enjoy for that reason alone. A family deals with powerful problems within the family and outside of it. As it does so, it warms the heart in a very special way that hard to describe. While the story is somewhat predictable, the feeling of warmth that you have for the characters is not. I was surprised by how much I cared for all of the people in this film. I wanted this family to come together and overcome their difficulties. I was not let down and honestly, I cried out of happiness at the end. The first time that has happened in a very long time..

OK, I like sentimental films that work. and this film works. It takes you into a truly make believe world and makes you believe. The father is a warm and truly stubborn fellow who we learn to love as he deals with the rest of the family on its dangerous journey.The mom is strong and loving in her way and, the daughter has her own kind independence as teenage daughters do..So over time, we learn to care about the group in the same way that we cared about the troop of travelers in "Land Before Time." But this is much sharper and the characters have more depth and there is more comedy than the "Land". Also, because it is a journey with humans and a family we really like, our journey becomes more personal. We meet up with a new person who we also learn to care about and wish him success too. And we like the pets, yes pets.... And I will close by saying this: Croods is a very rare warm, entertaining and loving family film. And watching it is outstanding way to spend time with people you love...

For that is what this film is really about.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/beautiful-sunset-photos-around-the-world_n_3175797.html

Source: USA Today Sports

For months there has been speculation as to when the first active player in the four major professional sports would publicly come out of the closet. Today is that day.

Free agent center Jason Collins, an 12-year NBA veteran, who played for the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this past season, declared in a Sports Illustrated cover story that he’s “a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

Here are five quotes from the first-person profile that detail Collins’ experience and why he decided to make the announcement now.


Read more: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/04/nba-center-jason-collins-announces-he-is-gay/

Source: Talking Points Memo, Assoiciated Press,

ASSOCIATED PRESS-April 29, 2013, 10:39 AM1206
CINCINNATI (AP) — Authorities say a high school student pulled out a gun and shot himself in a classroom at a Cincinnati area high school.

The Hamilton County sheriff’s office says the youth was taken to a hospital with a self-inflicted wound. They say there apparently was no threat to other students at La Salle High School, a private school west of Cincinnati.

A shot was reported at the school Monday morning at around 9 a.m. The school was put in lockdown until police confirmed there was no active shooter.

A school official is urging prayers for the student, but says no other information will be released about him.

Another link: Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/authorities-say-student-shoots-self-inside-ohio-high-school-classroom-no-one-else-injured/2013/04/29/7b84160a-b0d7-11e2-9fb1-62de9581c946_story.html

says it is a private shool ..more at link:
At around 8 a.m., “a student produced a gun inside one of the classrooms and shot himself, and we’re dealing with that now,” Green Township Police Chief Bart West told reporters. School officials said the shooting was during the first class period of the day.


Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/high-school-student-shoots-himself-in-cincinnati-classroom.php?ref=fpb

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I taught in a high school for over 27 years. I saw a lot, but never saw this. I can't imagine what the others in that classroom are thinking now. Prayers to all involved.

See the story below..This chain is against sick pay for employees. It helped to draft a bill with Disney World in the Florida Legislature to prevent localities from passing laws which would have mandated sick pay.

original post in Latest News by onehandle

from his post.............
"The Florida Senate voted Friday to prevent local communities their enacting their own wage and benefits laws until a statewide study can be conducted, The Orlando Sentinel reports."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014467902

Here are the brands..

Red Lobster
Olive Garden
Long Horn Steakhouse
Bahama Breeze
Seasons 52
The Capital Grille
Eddie V's
Yard House
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So, local communities cannot have local control....sounds like the big government from Florida wants to control the localities.....
.doesn't sound fair to me...if localities want to control their businesses...say like zoning..they have that right..don't they? or is that also controlled by the state...? Think about the hypocrisy...

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/25/1924201/mark-sanford-phone-numbers/
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Congressional candidates who are down in the polls often pull unexpected stunts to try to shake up the race — but even the most cunning strategist would have to question the wisdom of publicizing an unredacted list of phone numbers from people who have called the campaign.

This past weekend, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), best known for lying about an affair with an Argentinian woman, ran a full-page ad in the Charleston Post & Courier to support his congressional campaign after it was revealed that he had been charged with trespassing at his ex-wife’s house. In the ad, Sanford included his personal cell phone number and told readers to call him “if you have further questions.”

After Sanford published his own cell phone number, House Majority PAC, a Democratic-aligned super PAC, included his number in a fundraising email sent Wednesday.

Sanford responded Thursday by publishing a list of unredacted phone numbers from anybody who had called his cell phone in an attempt to publicly shame them. See a redacted version of the list below: