Linear students learn leadership skills | Shreveporttimes | shreveporttimes.com

Linear students learn leadership skills | Shreveporttimes | shreveporttimes.com

Linear students learn leadership skills

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Chaelyn Newton, an eight-grader, speaks with other students from Linear Leadership Academy during the Leaders for the Future student service learning leadership development program conducted by Bonsting/Leadership Development, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. / Jim Hudelson/The Times

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Mary Nash-Wood

Leadership is more than just a part of Linear Leadership Academy's name.

Principal Sheryl Nix said that's one of the many reasons she was so excited her school is the first in Louisiana chosen to participate in the nationally recognized Bonstingl Leaders for the Future program, a service-learning program designed to create tomorrow's leaders in communities around the country.

Through a grant from State Farm Insurance, John Jay Bonstingl, creator of the program, spent Monday and Tuesday at the middle school training about 80 students on what it takes to be a true leader and arming them with the tools and skills to create their own projects designed to make their schools and communities better.

"This gives kids the opportunity to experience something they may have never done before and to play a proactive part in the bettering of their school and the community in which they live," Bonstingl said. "Amid all of the concerns about testing and standards, that's really the missing piece in much of American education."

During the activity, students divided into teams and made plans for projects ranging from early morning tutoring on campus to beautification ventures.

"As adults, so often we assume kids will be looking for ways to increase recreational time or are thinking of how to better their time outside of school, but so many of the kids I've seen over the last two days have wanted to do things to better their education and improve their school," Rep. Patrick Williams said. "This proves our students are actively thinking about their future and how to make their community and their school a better place if given the chance."

Justice Mitchell, an eighth-grader at Linear, said she enjoyed getting to work in her group and think of ways to improve student achievement in her school.

"We want to make our school better, so our project is to create a study hall for each grade during the day to give the kids with better grades a chance to tutor students that aren't doing so well," she said.

Bonstingl will be back at the school in four weeks to check on the progress the students have made on their projects and offer any additional advice students may need to make their projects a reality.


Rich Notes: This is the third time I have seen working results of what Jay helps children find in themselves. He is amazing, but the kids, are the real winners here. If any of you can find some folks that would like to see Jay work at a school in your area, please let me know. By the way, some of you will recognize the bald head showing at the bottom of the picture.

Rich

The Great Courses

The Great Courses

If you are looking for a great way to advance yourself, this is it. Collage based lectures on many subjects, in audio format, for your MP-3, DVD format, or even down loadable video format. I think at last count I had taken 87 courses from these folks. I listen while I walk, drive to work, even sitting on airplanes, or riding on buses. You can bone up on areas you are already familiar with, or broaden your horizons with new areas. I have taken courses on speaking, writing, history, physics, even jazz and classical music. I think you can safely say I have taken every course they have on philosophy, and psychiatry.

If you are in between jobs, or just want to be ready for the next big opportunity, this is a great way to prepare.

Solyndra – Illuminating Energy Funding Flaws? | Plugged In, Scientific American Blog Network

Solyndra – Illuminating Energy Funding Flaws? | Plugged In, Scientific American Blog Network

Government funding of new energy innovation, is often a good idea, but funding an energy business is not. Japan tried this to get out of there financial crisis, much like ours. It really started with a housing price bubble, but then Japan tried to buy their way out. Part of buying there way out was to first invest in High Definition TV innovation. Then like our Solyndra problem, they financed the promotion and factories for High Definition TV. They spend billions, just to find that the free market chose another version of High Definition TV. Virtually all the Government money went down the tube (as they say).

The key is financing new innovation is great, in fact most of what NASA actually did was test and try new technology, but when it was time to go to market, NASA have a technology transfer program, as does DOD, and other Government programs. This is where the idea is often given or licensed to private industry for them to go out and get financing , based mainly on the business plan of the company. If it looks like a profit center, then venture capitalists put up their money for manufacture, and go to market. Some times it works sometimes it does not, but it is not government money. The risk is all on the companies involved, which means they keep a critical eye on the business, and cut losses if it does not look like it will work. There was very little risk in the Solyndra deal, in fact virtually none, if it had worked those same people taking the 5th would be multi millionaires, if fact it is still to be seen if they are millionaires anyhow since they used the Government money to pay their salaries for the time the company was running.

Risk, makes people pay a lot more attention to what the company is doing, venture capitalists do a lot of study on how much risk they are taking for the investment. They still make mistakes, but that is part of the risk, which is part of why the tax rate in lower on them, since they are taking risks. In fact if you want to add jobs reduce the tax rate these folks pay, and let them invest more.

It is coming out that a lot of people knew this company had problems, even before the money was given to them, just the fact they could not get non government funding tells you it was flawed. If it was a good business plan, investors would have been all over it, trying to get a part of the company to make money. Parts of the problem, had nothing to do with the development of the factory, even thou it looks like even this was not done with risk of profit in mind, it was the market. Someone else could make it cheaper, and so much cheaper that even if this process was better, it could not compete in the market.

But this is not the first time, we are spending a fortune on some bio fuel process, that never will be profitable, in some cases it takes more energy to make the fuel than it will provide.

I think we will go green, and it will happen faster and faster, but not because the government funded in, it will be because it is where the market will take it. I think any reasonable engineer will tell you combustion engines have almost reached the end of there capabilities. Any device that uses one type of movement like the up and down of a piston then coverts it to another movement like rotation driving gears and wheels in inefficient. Electric motors develop only one type of movement, rotation, and can even use rotation to conserve energy as well. It has to win in the end, how it get the electricity is the only question. The market knows this and will take care of it in its own way.

Rich

A Little Deception Helps Push Athletes to the Limit - NYTimes.com

A Little Deception Helps Push Athletes to the Limit - NYTimes.com

This is a fact, that if we did not know better, we can do better. Our mind is what limits us in most situations, even solving problems, our mind limits our solutions. Neural Linguistic Programing, is one key to getting past this. Each of us can fool our own minds, by simply stating the ridiculous, that we can do something, our own mind says we can not do. Stupid statement on its face, but once you figure out that your mind is influenced by what you say, do, and listen too, it becomes able to go to the next level.

Try this, talk to your self, say what you want to happen, not what you do not want to happen in every situation. Your mind will correct you, but keep saying it, even record in on you phone and play it back. Your own mind will listen this, sounds stupid I know, but very slowly it will release the objection, perhaps a very little at a time, or sometimes, it gives you that aha moment, as it agrees with you that yes we can do that. Both are valid positive results, sometimes all you can take is a slow small change, but keep doing it.

Best of all it can not hurt, going into every endeavor with a more positive out look, shows in your talk, walk, and the way you project yourself. As you get better at it, it comes easier and faster, but like everything it takes practice.

Rich

MIT Researchers Create Vibration-Driven MEMS Energy Harvester | ECN: Electronic Component News

MIT Researchers Create Vibration-Driven MEMS Energy Harvester | ECN: Electronic Component News

This is a very interesting, technology of gaining energy from vibrations is getting closer to another question of the universe. Perpetual motion, vibrations are everywhere, even a rock has vibrations, of all the atoms spinning and changing inside it. This technology is no where near this of course, but the direction is interesting, sort of going after the energy of the atom, from a non, nuclear direction.

This will make everyone think?

Rich

Meditation Can Reduce Health Care Costs | Psych Central News

Meditation Can Reduce Health Care Costs | Psych Central News

In these times of economic worry, from job loss, to costs getting out of control, meditation can reduce a lot of the stress that comes with it.

I have heard a lot of folks tell me that it is worthless, most will then tell me, they can not do it. I hear everything from I am to smart, or I am this type of personality, A, B what ever. Time is often given as a reason not to meditate, actually you can go in and out of a meditative state in seconds with practice. But the most I hear is I do not know how.

There are lots of free help on the web and in a library or book store, everything from smells, to music, to spinning wheels, more attuned to hypnosis. Actually all can be a help, I would have to say the biggest help is the fact you are trying.

I will not go into all the methods here, but to say, the biggest problem I normally see is trying to hard. I will say that you will get better with practice, but if you sit in a chair, lay down on a bed, sofa, any place you can relax your muscles with out falling down and close your eyes, you are already helping yourself, with the positives of meditation. After that is more breath control, and mental relaxation, than anything else.

Gently, close your eyes and relax, by this I , mean once again to, gently relax. Think, gently, about your breath and breathing, slowly concentrate on taking slow steady breaths, that are deep, but not uncomfortable. Concentrate, gently, on a relaxed slow deep easy breath. think about nothing (as best you can, don't force it) but the relaxed breathing. Now try and do that for 3 minutes or 100 or 200 breaths, maybe only 50 or 20 breaths the first time. Don't worry about how well you did, or that you do not feel better, you did fine, and you are better.

After that I will let the experts take over, but you are meditating, and you are helping yourself. You will hear about clear mind, empty mind, many words that are used to tell you that is a meditative state, they maybe right. But if you have been thinking a million thoughts a second, you actually may have come down to a thousand thoughts a second. That is all meditation is, slowing relaxing break, for a minute to how ever long you want or think you can do. Practice is nothing more that doing over and over, with out worrying about if you are doing it right.

More people have started their meditation practice in bath rooms, with the toilet as the relaxing seat. Not optimal, but if you are embarrassed, or not sure how it is going to look to even your family, great place to start. When I am going into an interview or be interviewed, I often still go to the men's room and relax for a second. I usually start with a short prayer, not needed, but it is my way. Slowing down my mind, relaxing and calming my body, gets me ready to do my best, at what ever the next task is.

With practice, you will be able to meditate better, but remember if you are already stopping for a second and countng and focusing on those breaths for 20 breathes, you are meditating and getting all the benefits of it. You hear about folks that slow down their heart rate, with meditation, happens a lot, ad it will happen to you, probably did, just hard to measure.

I some times teach this as a simple breathing technique, or way to increase your mental awareness for security training. I have taught executives on using it as a way to reduce stress, during violent incidents, like being held hostage, or being threatened. They normally tell me later that it helped them with other stressful situations, like big business deals, or other business actions they have to take. If you walk with me for a day, you will quickly notice me going in and out of a type of meditative state, during elevator rides, waiting in line, anywhere I want to take a break for a second.

I hope this helped, take a look on line there are lots of free help available, but just do it.

Rich

Lawyer says airport hoax suspect never claimed to have bomb | Reuters

Lawyer says airport hoax suspect never claimed to have bomb | Reuters

This story is playing out that the person had a mental, problem, but it really was a valid scare, and TSA was not at fault for their actions. This is the kind of thing we want them to flag. If not for the possible mental problem, I would say some charge against the person is valid, and in any case he should be added to the US Watch List, even if just off medication, it would appear he had the capability to make a device, and having a plane incident, like a bombing is not excused by a medical condition.

rich