High school incidents not dropping with a 15 per cent reporting one to three bullying incidents in the last month and 3.4 per cent 10 times or more.

23 per cent of elementary students reported being bullied one to three times in the last month bullying statistics say.

In a recent study, 77% of the students said they had been bullied. And 14% of those who were bullied said they experienced severe (bad) reactions to the abuse. according to that same website

according to Bullying Statistics, thirty-two percent of parents fear for their child’s physical safety when the child is at school. Thirty-nine percent of parents with a child in grade six or higher are more likely to say they fear for their child’s safety. Twenty-two percent of parents whose children are in grade five or lower fear for their child’s safety. (Parents Not Overly Concerned About School Environments for Their Children, Gallup News Service, 2001)

A poll of teens ages 12-17 proved that they think violence increased at their schools

282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.

parents are getting more scared as reports are surfacing of suicide and children fearing for thier safety at school to know if your child is getting bullied here are some signs

• Comes home with torn, damaged, or missing pieces of clothing, books, or other belongings
• Has unexplained cuts, bruises, and scratches
• Has few, if any friends, with whom he or she spends time
• Seems afraid of going to school, walking to and from school, riding the school bus, or taking part in organized activities with peers (such as clubs)
• Takes a long, “illogical” route when walking to or from school
• Has lost interest in school work or suddenly begins to do poorly in school
• Appears sad, moody, teary, or depressed when he or she comes home
• Complains frequently of headaches, stomachaches, or other physical ailments
• Has trouble sleeping or has frequent bad dreams
• Experiences a loss of appetite
• Appears anxious and suffers from low self-esteem

acording to http://www.education.com

to stop bullying everybody will have to raise awarness to this terbille trend or  to get involved you can join many awarness groups and start fundraisers dedicated to bullying.

Robertson, Smith and Wilson counties were approved Friday, bringing the total number to 30 counties in which homeowners and business owners affected by the floods and severe weather last weekend can apply for federal aid.

The federal government authorized a major disaster declaration for 17 additional counties Thursday including Carroll, Crockett, Decatur, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Haywood, Henderson, Houston, Madison, Benton, Dickson, Humphreys, Maury, Rutherford, Sumner and Obion counties.

Cheatham, Davidson, Hickman, Williamson, Montgomery, Dyer, McNairy, Perry, Shelby and Tipton counties were declared disaster areas earlier this week.

That same day, Nashville mayor Karl Dean announced that his latest damage assessment for Nashville alone has increased to $1.5 billion, but the mayor expects the estimates to increase still.

It does not yet include damage to roads, bridges, or items inside the buildings.

Officials know more than 9,000 properties have been damaged, and 2,000 of those are residences.

Metro is still inspecting properties, as only 83% of Davidson County is completed.

Tennessee suffered 21 confirmed fatalities during the extreme weather.

Numerous evacuations and water rescues were performed as flood waters rose.

Many residents lost all of their possessions as homes were destroyed or sustained major damages.

The disaster declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties authorized to date, including both individual and public assistance.

Mark Duren told News 2 the incident happened around 4:30 p.m. while he was driving on Blair Boulevard, not far from Belmont University.

He said Harry Weisiger gave him the bird and rammed into his vehicle, after noticing an Obama-Biden sticker on his car bumper.

Duren had just picked up his daughter from school and had her in the car with him.

“He pointed at the back of my car, the bumper,” Duren said, “flipped me off, one finger salute.”

It didn’t end there.

Duren told News 2 that Weisiger honked his horn at him for awhile, as Duren stopped at a stop sign.

Once he started driving again, down Blair Boulevard towards his home, he said, “I looked in the rear view mirror again, and this same SUV was speeding, flying up behind me, bumped me.”

Duren said he applied his brake and the SUV smashed into the back of his car.

He then put his car in park to take care of the accident, but Weisiger started pushing the car using his SUV.

Duren said, “He pushed my car up towards the sidewalk, almost onto the sidewalk.”

Police charged Weisiger with felony reckless endangerment for the incident.

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=12208009

• $940 billion over ten years.

Deficit:

• Would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years. That is an updated CBO estimate. Their first preliminary estimate said it would reduce the deficit by $130 billion over ten years. Would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion dollars in the second ten years.

  Coverage:

  • Would expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured.

  Health Insurance Exchanges:

  • The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level.
  • Separate exchanges would be created for small businesses to purchase coverage — effective 2014.
  • Funding available to states to establish exchanges within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015.

  Subsidies:

  • Individuals and families who make between 100 percent – 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and want to purchase their own health insurance on an exchange are eligible for subsidies. They cannot be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid and cannot be covered by an employer. Eligible buyers receive premium credits and there is a cap for how much they have to contribute to their premiums on a sliding scale.

  Federal Poverty Level for family of four is $22,050

  Paying for the Plan:

  • Medicare Payroll tax on investment income — Starting in 2012, the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income. That will be a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for families making more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals).
  • Excise Tax — Beginning in 2018, insurance companies will pay a 40 percent excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” high-end insurance plans worth over $27,500 for families ($10,200 for individuals). Dental and vision plans are exempt and will not be counted in the total cost of a family’s plan.
  • Tanning Tax — 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services.

Medicare:

• Closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.
• Beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.

Medicaid:

• Expands Medicaid to include 133 percent of federal poverty level which is $29,327 for a family of four.
• Requires states to expand Medicaid to include childless adults starting in 2014.
• Federal Government pays 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016.
• Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.

Insurance Reforms:

• Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer denying children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
• Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions.
• Insurance companies must allow children to stay on their parent’s insurance plans until age 26th.

Abortion:

• The bill segregates private insurance premium funds from taxpayer funds. Individuals would have to pay for abortion coverage by making two separate payments, private funds would have to be kept in a separate account from federal and taxpayer funds.
• No health care plan would be required to offer abortion coverage. States could pass legislation choosing to opt out of offering abortion coverage through the exchange.

Individual Mandate:

• In 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are some exceptions for low-income people.

Employer Mandate:

• Technically, there is no employer mandate. Employers with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine of $2000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Fines applied to entire number of employees minus some allowances.

Immigration:

• Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges — even if they pay completely with their own money.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000846-503544.html

Climate change is in the news. It seems like everyone’s “going green.” We’re glad you want to take action, too. Luckily, many of the steps we can take to stop climate change can make our lives better. Our grandchildren-and their children-will thank us for living more sustainably. Let’s start now.

We’ve partnered with the Million Car Carbon Campaign to help you find ways to save energy and reduce your carbon footprint. This campaign is uniting conscious consumers around the world to prevent the emissions-equivalent of 1 million cars from entering the atmosphere each year.

Keep reading for 10 simple things you can do today to help reduce your environmental impact, save money, and live a happier, healthier life.

1.

. You’ll increase your home’s value

There’s a growing buzz among buyers about eco-friendly homes. And what’s not to like: Green homes use sustainable materials that are better for the environment, and have lower utility bills and healthful air.

That means you’ll boost your home’s value with big and small eco-friendly projects. So whether you splurge on solar panels or buy an affordable water-saving shower and toilet, you’ll have that much-needed edge with buyers when you sell your home.

2.

The energy savings will add up

The U.S Department of Energy believes if current buildings were green-improved, the country would use $20 billion less in energy per year. That’s not chump change!

You can get your piece of the discounts with your own energy-efficient updates. You’ll be surprised at the amount of money you’ll save with small updates, like installing tightly sealing insulation.

And while some green updates are more expensive, energy-savers can be cheaper than the power-hogging alternatives. For instance, many homes are built with HVAC systems that are too large. A properly sized system will be cheaper upfront and will save energy later.

3.

3. You’ll save money on your water bill, too

Green updates that reduce the amount of water it takes to run a home will certainly save you money, and they can be especially important in states with water-use restrictions such as California, Arizona and Nevada.

Inside the house, Energy Star appliances and water-saving plumbing systems will drastically cut water usage. For instance, toilets built before 1982 use a whopping 5 to 7 gallons of water per flush. Replace the water-guzzler with a high-efficiency model that uses fewer than 1.3 gallons per flush and you’ll see almost instant savings.

You can also save money in the yard with a low-flow sprinkler or irrigation system. Less agua can actually help grass by preventing over watering and minimizing weed growth. Your wallet will thank you, and you can still have the greenest lawn on the block.

4.
-Saves money
-good for the planet
-environmental problems exist outside of global warming
-good for your health
-good for ecosystems and so good for animals
-can serve as a way to give you more time with friends and family

When I think of going green, I think of clean, sustainable living.
The importance of sustainable living is that we are using more resources than we have available to us on this planet and pretty soon they will run out.
Right now we are having a war over oil, next we will have wars over water and topsoil.
How do we start living sustainably?
Be aware of how much you use of EVERYTHING
Grow plants that are native to your area to use minimal water and benefit the local wildlife
Try growing some of your own fruits and vegetables as many agribusinesses deplete their soils so fast resulting in lower nutritional value.
Compost kitchen scraps and grass clippings and dead leaves to build your own healthy soil.
Catch rain water from the down spouts and save them in drums or other water containers to water your garden for the rest of the year.
Eat less meat or go vegetarian as farm animals grown for food use half of the water in the U.S. and trample over wild areas and fertile soils.
Be energy efficient by changing your lightbulbs to CFLs.
Save water by taking shorter showers, turning the faucet off when brushing your teeth, don’t flush when you pee
I could go on almost forever because there are so many things we can do to loosen our stranglehold on mother earth and live in harmony with the planet, not try to rule it.

The earth is harmed by most everything we do as a matter of normal every day life. Garbage makes the earth ugly, it kills animals, it makes humans sick, and it hurts the air and atmosphere.

The VOCs that come off carpeting, paint and other household items cause asthma, allergies and cancer, as well as hurt the atomsphere and air quality. As you choose “green” options for your home, you help the earth and the health of you and those around you.

There is cost savings to be had by being green. As you reduce your consumption of electricity and gas, you will lower your utility bills and save the earth by reducing the demand for fossil fuels which are used to generate electricty and heating oil.

The Ethics of Earth Care, Fair Shares and People Care:
It is morally the right thing to do. Overconsumption is exploitation of the environment and other people. Overpopulation will place demands on the environment and other people that can not be met. Resources are finite. Land space is finite. The environment is adversely affected when we pollute, deforest, make and use substances that do not return to the soil without trace, overpopulate and overconsume.

Without so much greed in the Western Countries other Countries could work on enriching their own environments, making communities, local trades and jobs which promote their own economies not a throw away culture of the Western World. The earnings gap between the richest and the poorest is an excellent reason to go green. Who can really justify the atrocious salaries that some ‘celebrities’ attain? Who can justify this when other people are struggling to feed themselves, receive medical care, provide for their families, get fresh water, adequate heat etc. Being Green is a moral decision for the Earth and For People.

People Care: We have no rights to the majority of all the resources. We have no rights to overpopulate. We in the Western World act as if we do. We are exploiting other people due to our own greed.

Other Reasons to be green. You. Your Kids and Grandkids, Me and my Kids and Grandkids. A green lifestyle is a lot more rewarding and saves you money.

Americans have a tendacy to waste. Many products have exsesive packaging, and are bulked up to make the consumer feel they are getting more for their money. However green products cut back on a lot of waste in a lot of ways. Most green companies work hard to use the most enviromental choices with their products. For example concentrated laundry soap, over 400 million gallons of water are used to water down laundry detergent every year? Do we really need all that when farmers cannot even water their crops?
You can buy a green cleaning agent, concentrated all purpose cleaner, you mix with wayer in your spray bottle and the concentrate in the size of a AA battery, or you can buy a whole new bottle of prewatered down cleaner every time, all in another plastic bottle.
By choosing to do so you are wasting the plastic for each new bottle, and the gas to ship all those bottles to the store.

Another example is stonyfield farm yogurts, they do not use recyclable materials but their plastic is made very thin, much more so then other yogurt companies. This makes shipping cheaper and more effiecent saving feul and money because they are lighter. It also makes them take up less space in landfills. You can also buy garbage bags made of recycled plastic. Recycled plastic bottles cannot be returned to bottle form, it downgrades. Plastic is made out of the same crude oil they use to make gasoline, the same oil that prices are sky high on, if it is going to the garbage anyways why not use plastic bags made out of recycled materials?

2. It produces less chemicals. This is good for the enviroment and workers. For example in many 3rd world countries children are farmers, very few farmers have the correct training and equipment to apply them safely. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that most pesticicde poisioning cases are farmers. By buying organic products not only are these chimicals not being placed on the earth they are not hurting anyone elses health.
Another example is paper, paper products are bleached. The bleaching in the paper creating process is one of the worst, releasing serious chemicals in the enviroment and exposing workers to it. Products such as napkins, cupcake cups, and coffee filters can be bought natural brown instead of bleached. There is no real need for these products to be bleached, it again is just waste, an unessecary step.

The accident happened just after 8 p.m. on Highway 100 near the Old Hickory Boulevard intersection in Bellevue.

Emmie Webb, a student at Glendale Elementary School, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Metro police said Emmie was seated in the backseat of her family’s BMW sedan, which was traveling westbound towards Ensworth School.

Officers on the scene said the impact sent the deer through the windshield and into the car where it struck Emmie in the head.

Her father and driver of the car, David Webb, 47, was seriously injured and transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Three other children were also in the car, ages 10, 11 and 13, and transported to Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt with minor injuries.

They have since been treated and released.

Police called the accident tragic, saying there is nothing David Webb could have done to prevent the collision.

The family attended Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville.  The following statement was posted on the church’s Web site:

The Mears Webb family and the Glendale Baptist Church community of faith are grieving the loss of our beloved Emmie Cecelia Mears Webb, age 8.  Emmie’s short life was filled with love, laughter and grace which she abundantly received from and abundantly gave to her friends and family.  Words cannot come close to capturing the love and sadness that we are experiencing. But we also know and experience the great truth that nothing can separate us from the love of God and ultimately nothing can separate us from those we love.  We know that the thoughts and prayers of many outside of our family and our faith community are with us and we are grateful.

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=12004075

But as 1999 drew to a close, most surveys declared the “Miracle On Ice” America’s greatest sports achievement of the 20th century. A few years later it was immortalized by Hollywood in the movie Miricale.

“It may just be the single most indelible moment in all of U.S. sports history,” said Sports Illustrated of Team USA’s improbable gold medal run at the 1980 Winter Olympics. “One that sent an entire nation into a frenzy.” American hockey came of age on February 22, 1980, when the young Americans took down the mighty Red Machine from the USSR.

The story begins with Herb Brooks, NCAA coach and student of international hockey. Brooks had played for his country at two Olympics, and was the last man cut from the 1960 team, which won America’s first Olympic gold medal in hockey. He spent the 1970s as head coach at the University of Minnesota, leading the team to three NCAA titles and earning notice for his prickly personality and fanatical preparation.

“It may just be the single most indelible moment in all of U.S. sports history,” said Sports Illustrated of Team USA’s improbable gold medal run at the 1980 Winter Olympics. “One that sent an entire nation into a frenzy.” American hockey came of age on February 22, 1980, when the young Americans took down the mighty Red Machine from the USSR.

The story begins with Herb Brooks, NCAA coach and student of international hockey. Brooks had played for his country at two Olympics, and was the last man cut from the 1960 team, which won America’s first Olympic gold medal in hockey. He spent the 1970s as head coach at the University of Minnesota, leading the team to three NCAA titles and earning notice for his prickly personality and fanatical preparation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Icec

earney started skiing at age 2, coming up through the Ford Sayre program and Nick Preston’s Black and Blue Trail Smashers Team at Waterville Valley, N.H. Prior to winning four Junior World Championships in moguls, she was a high school state soccer and track champion. Once Kearney narrowed her focus to moguls full-time, she won two competitions in her first World Cup season at age 17. She missed the 2007 World Championships due to a torn knee ligament, then missed three weeks in 2008 with a concussion.

Kearney is a member of a sports-crazed family. Her mother is a recreation director in Norwich; her brother, Denny, is a star hockey player at Yale; and her dad used to coach Denny in Babe Ruth baseball. Kearney was a straight-A student.

link:www.skiing.teamusa.org/athletes/hannah-kearney

Daniel Kerrigan died Sunday after being taken by emergency personnel from his family home in Stoneham, Massachusetts, to a hospital, authorities said. His son Mark, 45, was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an alleged assault.

According to Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Keeley, police responded to a 911 call at approximately 1:30 a.m. Sunday from Brenda Kerrigan, wife of Daniel and mother to Mark and Nancy Kerrigan.

Keeley told Middlesex District Court Judge Mark Sullivan during the arraignment Monday for Mark Kerrigan that there was a violent argument and struggle between the father and his son, resulting in the elder Kerrigan falling or collapsing on the kitchen floor. Keeley said that Mark Kerrigan told authorities “that he did in fact have an argument with his father, the argument became physical, he grabbed his father around the neck, and at some point the father collapsed to the floor.”

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office said Monday that authorities were still investigating the “entirety of the circumstances of the incident,” along with the cause and manner of death. The county medical examiner is expected to release a report within a couple of weeks.

According to Keeley, police found Mark Kerrigan in the basement of the house, “clearly intoxicated” and “extremely combative.” He refused to comply with police officers, said Keeley, and they had to subdue him with pepper spray before forcibly removing him from the home.

Mark Kerrigan wept softly during Monday’s arraignment. His attorney, Denise Moore, told the judge that Kerrigan was in grief and “quite distraught about his father’s death.” Through his attorney, Mark Kerrigan denied any responsibility in the death.

Moore said in court that Mark Kerrigan was unemployed, was recently released from a correctional facility and was living at home with his parents. He is taking medications and seeking psychological help for post-traumatic stress, apparently from his time in the Army, Moore said.

Despite appeals from his attorney, Sullivan ordered Kerrigan held on $10,000 cash bail. His next court appearance is expected to be February 24.

Nancy Kerrigan first gained prominence by winning a bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. In 1994 she earned an Olympic silver medal in Lillehammer, Norway. But she is perhaps best remembered for surviving an attack before the 1994 Winter Games by skating rival Tanya Harding’s ex-husband and an accomplice.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/25/massachusetts.kerrigan.death/index.html