School District Bans Halloween Celebrations, Opts For 'Fall Festival' Instead... -

School District Bans Halloween Celebrations, Opts For 'Fall Festival' Instead... - 



Halloween is a little more than one week away, but students at Schuylkill Elementary School aren’t planning their classroom costumes.

That’s because there won’t be a Halloween celebration here, or at the other two elementary schools in the Phoenixville School District.

District officials sent a letter home to parents on Monday, reminding them of the decision they said was sent out in the “Welcome Back” letter in August.

Superintendent Alan Fegley said there were a number of factors considered when making the decision, including that the elementary schools were all doing different celebrations and the school wanted to keep them consistent, that costume safety was becoming a real concern, and that students who couldn’t afford costumes were feeling left out.

District officials told Eyewitness News that the absentee rate more than doubled — from 4% to 9% — on Halloween.

The kids may not be celebrating Halloween, but that doesn’t mean they’re having just a normal day at school. Fegley says they will have a fall festival, complete with parties for the kids.

Alison Cirone is helping plan her daughter’s second grade fall party. “I know we were told no scarecrows, no witches, no ghosts,” said Cirone.

Cirone is in charge of snacks and paper products.

“There were quite a few parents that were upset, and others were neutral,” said Cirone. “But I think some of us just wonder, there’s no more birthday celebrations, so if there’s not Halloween, what could there possibly be next that we won’t be celebrating in school?”

Donna Sisti’s children used to go to one of the public elementary schools. “It’s a fun activity for the kids that they look forward to every year. I don’t see why it should change.”

Eyewitness News talked to several parents off-camera who said they didn’t mind the decision.

In Monday’s letter, the superintendent also said, “We understand that not everyone will agree with this decision. We hope you will realize it was made with the best interests of ALL our students in mind.”



Read more - 
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/10/22/school-officials-no-halloween-celebrations-in-phoenixville-district-this-year/

US Mint says that sales of Silver in year-to-date exceed those of Gold more than fifty-fold in terms of weight -

US Mint says that sales of Silver in year-to-date exceed those of Gold more than fifty-fold in terms of weight - 



Figures released by the US Mint on Friday indicate that sales of silver in year-to-date exceed those of gold more than fifty-fold in terms of weight.

According to the latest data released on Monday the US Mint sold 2,449,000 ounces of silver in the month of October, bringing the total sales volume this year to 28,244,000 ounces. Total gold sales by the US Mint this year are 525,000 ounces, for a silver-to-gold sales ratio in terms of weight of 53.8/1.

Silver Doctors says that the feverish sales pace for silver is unsustainable, as the current mine ratio for silver-to-gold is 9 to 1, and that if the price of silver per ounce rises above $50 the US Mint will be unable to keep pace with investment demand. 

Read more - 
http://www.mining.com/sales-by-us-mint-of-silver-outpace-gold-over-50-fold-37478/

5 Reasons to End Our War on Germs Before it Kills Us All -

5 Reasons to End Our War on Germs Before it Kills Us All - 



Western civilization guards its health as if constantly menaced by a giant public toilet handle. That's because we know how to read statistics, like we carry between two to 10 million bacteria from fingertip to elbow, or that germs can stay alive for up to three hours. As the Food and Drink Federation of Great Britain cheerfully points out , there can be as many germs under your ring as there are people in Europe.
We are a culture of germaphobes, spending as much as $930 million on antibacterial chemicals and $2.4 billion on soap at the end of the last decade. But is it possible that our war against germs is doing more harm than good?

Antibacterial or antimicrobial products do have a place in our society: in hospitals, on the surgeon’s table, in your nurse’s hands. But stationed in our handbags, waiting to be daily lathered up at the first touch of a subway pole? Not so much. Studies show that some antimicrobial products not only contain potential hormonal disruptors, but they are enabling superbugs to breed beyond our ability to smite them. Here are five reasons you should trade in some of your antibacterial sprays, gels and liquid soaps for just plain old soap and water.

1. Triclosan . For more than 30 years, triclosan has been used in hand soaps, cosmetics, deodorants, toothpastes, clothes, detergents, and more. The Centers for Disease Control reports that triclosan is found in the urine of nearly 75 percent of people tested. Other studies have shown it to be in the breast milk and blood samples of the general population. It is marketed under other names such as Microban, Irgasan DP-300, Lexol 300, Biofresh, Ster-Zac, Cloxifenolum, and more.

So now that we know we’re likely hosting triclosan like Times Square hosts tourists, let’s look at its safety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently does not list triclosan as a hazardous ingredient; however, in light of several recent studies showing adverse effects in animal testing, the FDA is currently reviewing this position. Triclosan is shown to alter hormone regulation in frogs, resulting in altered behavior and possible infertility. A recent study in 2012 revealed that triclosan is “linked with muscle function impairments in humans and mice, as well as slowing the swimming of fish.”

Liquid soap manufacturers, which as the New York Times points out , represent half of the $750 million market for liquid hand soaps in the United States, continue to claim triclosan has no harmful effects on humans. But while companies such as Dial keep using the questionable antimicrobial, others, such as Colgate-Palmolive, have started to replace tricolsan with different ingredients.

2. Natural selection . So imagine you’re slathering your hands with antibacterial soap. While most of the bacteria on your skin reacts like it's Armageddon, a few remain. These hardy bacteria—now resistant to your soap—adapt and mutate to successfully ward off your next sudsy assault on their existence. Microbiologists refer to this process as “selection,” and several studies show that it’s causing some bacteria to resist antibiotics.  

Then you get a bacterial infection, and your doctor prescribes antibiotics. As Discovery Health points out, “some antibacterial agents go after the same physiology of bacteria that prescription antibiotics do.” This means that if the bacteria making you sick already has a resistance to antibacterial agents because of previous exposure, it’s not going to work as well or at all. Think of it this way—do you really want superbugs playing out War of the Worlds in your body?

3. They are harming our ecosystem . The Natural Resources Defense Council shares that triclosan and its close cousin triclocarban “are found in high concentrations in sediments and sewage sludge where they can persist for decades.” Further, triclosan is one of the most frequently detected chemicals found in U.S. streams. The hormonal disruptions it enables are thought to be damaging the reproductive health of certain fish. Meanwhile, some experts are concerned about the additional exposure to humans eating contaminated fish. 

Read more - 
http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/5-reasons-end-our-war-germs-it-kills-us-all

US Army Suicides This Year Exceed Combat Deaths in Afghanistan... -

US Army Suicides This Year Exceed Combat Deaths in Afghanistan... - 


The number of suicides among U.S. Army active duty and reserve personnel in 2012 is higher than the total combined military fatalities from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan over the same timeframe.
Even without Army data for October, the number of deaths believed to be suicides among U.S. Army personnel from January through September still surpass the combined military combat deaths in Afghanistan from January up to October 22.

In 2012, there have been a total of 247 suspected suicides among Army active and reserve duty personnel. Of those, 158 have been confirmed as suicides and 89 remain under investigation.

According to the Afghanistan Index database maintained by the Brookings Institution, there have been 222 combined military deaths in 2012 among active and reserve components from “hostile causes,” as of Sept. 28. (p. 11 Figure 1.17)

An additional 40 military fatalities were the result of “non-hostile causes,” which means they were fatalities not caused by the Taliban, insurgency forces or Afghan forces – so-called “green-on-blue” attacks.

Read more - 
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/army-suicides-year-exceed-2012-combat-deaths-afghanistan

Fastest road in America opens to motorists in Texas today - the speed limit will be 85 mph -

Fastest road in America opens to motorists in Texas today - the speed limit will be 85 mph - 



Motorists, start your engines. It's opening day for the last leg of a Texas toll road with the nation's fastest speed limit.
The final 41-mile stretch of Texas Highway 130 will open Wednesday after three years of construction. The speed limit will be 85 mph.
The toll road is intended to help alleviate the increasingly crowded Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio, which are two of the state's largest metropolitan areas.
The new stretch will be from Mustang Ridge, about 10 miles south of Austin's international airport, to Interstate 10 just east of Seguin. A 50-mile stretch bypassing Austin is already open.
Tolls for personal vehicles displaying an electronic toll tag will be about 15 cents per mile. But no tolls will be collected until Nov. 11.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/10/24/fastest-road-in-america-opens-to-motorists-in-texas/?test=latestnews

Live Shark Drops Onto Golf Course... -

Live Shark Drops Onto Golf Course... - 



Imagine this: You're having a pleasant afternoon with your buddies, playing the links at San Juan Hills Golf Club.

You arrive at the 12th tee box at the San Juan Capistrano course and there you see it: A shark, very much alive and thrashing around on the grass.

OK, so it was only a 2-foot-long shark, but still.

"Shark falling from the sky, kind of odd," said Melissa McCormack, director of club operations at San Juan Hills.

The fish was actually found about 4 p.m. Monday by a golf course employee, who picked it up, put it into the back of his golf cart and drove it to the clubhouse, she said. A group of golfers had just left the tee before the shark was spotted.

The shark had two puncture wounds, which made McCormack think a predatory bird had scooped the fish up out of the water, dropping the shark down onto the course. She first relayed the story to the Capistrano Dispatch.

"It was just wriggling around. He needed to get to the ocean right away," McCormack said, adding that it appeared to be a leopard shark.

After a quick dip in fresh water – since McCormack and the employee weren't sure if the small shark could survive if placed in a tank of fresh water – the animal was quickly driven out to the nearby ocean.

Still alive, the shark was dropped back into the sea near Dana Point, where it undoubtedly went on to finish its round with an eagle or two. Or maybe just a birdie.

Read more - 
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Shark-Found-San-Juan-Capistrano-Golf-Course-175479481.html

37 Facts About How Cruel This Economy Has Been To Millions Of Desperate American Families -

37 Facts About How Cruel This Economy Has Been To Millions Of Desperate American Families - 



Have you ever laid in bed awake at night with a knot in your stomach because you didn’t know how your family was possibly going to make it through the next month financially?  Have you ever felt the desperation of not being able to provide the basic necessities for your family even though you tried as hard as you could?  All over America tonight, there are millions of desperate families that are being ripped apart by this economy.  There aren’t nearly enough jobs, and millions of Americans that actually do have jobs aren’t making enough to even provide the basics for their families.  When you have tried everything that you can think of and nothing works, it can be absolutely soul crushing.  Today, one of my regular readers explained that he was not going to be online for a while because his power had been turned off.  He has been out of work for quite a while, and eventually the money runs out.  Have you ever been there?  If you have ever experienced that moment, you know that it stays with you for the rest of your life.  If you are single that is bad enough, but when you have to look into the eyes of your children and explain to them why there won’t be any dinner tonight or why they have to move into a homeless shelter it can feel like someone has driven a stake into your heart.  In this article you will find a lot of very shocking economic statistics.  But please remember that behind each statistic are the tragic stories of millions of desperately hurting American families.
Over the past decade, things have steadily gotten worse for American families no matter what our politicians have tried.  Poverty and government dependence continue to rise.  The cost of living continues to go up and incomes continue to go down.  It is truly frightening to think about what this country is going to look like if current trends continue.
The following are 37 facts that show how cruel this economy has been to millions of desperate American families…
1. One recent survey discovered that 40 percent of all Americans have $500 or less in savings.
2. A different recent survey found that 28 percent of all Americans do not have a single penny saved for emergencies.
3. In the United States today, there are close to 10 million households that do not have a single bank account.  That number has increased by about a million since 2009.
4. Family homelessness in the Washington D.C. region (one of the wealthiest regions in the entire country) has risen 23 percent since the last recession began.
5. The number of Americans living in poverty has increased by about 6 million over the past four years.
6. Median household income has fallen for four years in a row.  Overall, it has declined by more than $4000 over the past four years.
7. 62 percent of middle class Americans say that they have had to reduce household spending over the past year.
8. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of middle class Americans say that it is more difficult to maintain a middle class standard of living today than it was 10 years ago.
9. In the United States today, 77 percent of all Americans are living to paycheck to paycheck at least some of the time.
10. In the United States today, more than 41 percent of all working age Americans are not working.
11. Since January 2009, the “labor force” in the United States has increased by 827,000, but “those not in the labor force” has increased by 8,208,000.  This is how they have gotten the unemployment numbers to “come down”.
12. Sadly, 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession were mid-wage jobs, but 58 percent of the jobs created since then have been low wage jobs.
13. Today, about one out of every four workers in the United States brings home wages that are at or below the federal poverty level.
14. Right now, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major industrialized nation does.
15. At this point, less than 25 percent of all jobs in the United States are “good jobs”, and that number continues to shrink.
16. There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing.  That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.
17. According to USA Today, many Americans have actually seen their water bills triple over the past 12 years.
18. Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.
19. In 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance.  Today, only 55.1 percent are covered by employment-based health insurance.
20. Health insurance premiums rose faster than the overall rate of inflation in 2011 and that is happening once againin 2012.  In fact, it has been happening for a very long time.
21. According to one recent survey, approximately 10 percent of all employers in the United States plan to drop health coverage when key provisions of the new health care law kick in less than two years from now.
22. Back in 1983, the bottom 95 percent of all income earners had 62 cents of debt for every dollar that they earned.  By 2007, that figure had soared to $1.48.
23. Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.
24. Total consumer debt in the United States has risen by 1700 percent since 1971.
25. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.
26. According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.
27. Right now, approximately 25 million American adults are living at home with their parents.
28. The percentage of Americans that find that they are able to retire when they reach retirement age continues to decline.  According to one new survey, 70 percent of middle class Americans plan to work during retirement and 30 percent plan to work until they are at least 80 years old.
29. The U.S. economy lost more than 220,000 small businesses during the recent recession.
30. In 2010, the number of jobs created at new businesses in the United States was less than half of what it was back in the year 2000.
31. Back in 2007, 19.2 percent of all American families had a net worth of zero or less than zero.  By 2010, that figure had soared to 32.5 percent.
32. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be either “low income” or impoverished.
33. In the United States today, somewhere around 100 million Americans are considered to be either “poor” or “near poor”.
34. In October 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps.  Today, 46.7 million Americans are on food stamps.
35. Approximately one-fourth of all children in the United States are enrolled in the food stamp program.
36. Right now, more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program run by the federal government.  And that does not even count Social Security or Medicare.
37. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an all-time record 49 percent of all Americans live in a home where at least one person receives financial assistance from the federal government.  Back in 1983, that number was less than 30 percent.
What makes all of this even more frightening is that many homeless shelters and food banks around the nation are so overloaded at this point that they are already over capacity.  Just consider this example…
When Janice Coe, a homeless advocate in Loudoun County, learned through her prayer group that a young woman was sleeping in the New Carrollton Metro station with a toddler and a 2-month-old, she sprang into action.
Coe contacted the young woman and arranged for her to take the train to Virginia, where she put the little family up in a Comfort Suites hotel. Then Coe began calling shelters to see who could take them.
Despite several phone calls, she came up empty. Coe was shocked to learn that many of the local shelters that cater to families were full, including Good Shepherd Alliance, where Coe was once director of social services.
“I don’t know why nobody will take this girl in,” Coe said. “The baby still had a hospital bracelet on her wrist.”
Keep in mind that Loudoun Country is smack dab in the middle of one of the wealthiest areas of Virginia.
So if things are that bad in the wealthy areas, exactly how bad are things getting in many of the poorer areas?
Unfortunately, things continue to get worse for this economy.  DuPont has just announced plans to eliminate 1,500 jobs.  There are more major layoff announcements almost every single day.  So how bad will things get when ourcrumbling economic system finally collapses?  When kind of chaos will be unleashed all over the nation when millions upon millions of Americans finally lose all hope?
In the introduction to this article, I mentioned that one of my regular readers has had his lights turned off.  The following is how he described his situation…
No gas, no water, no electricity at my house. Couldn’t pay the bills. I’m broke. Desperately searching for any means of income, or at least enough cash to get the juice (electricity) restored.
Typing this missive in a dark house using the battery on my laptop. Feels like I’m camping out at home. Hope to get this situation fixed tomorrow… somehow. Needless to say, I *…. hate this.
I was ready for this, but it is still a major league inconvenience. For those of you who DO have power, etc. – and are not ready… oh brother. You need to get ready. Seriously, you do. Because what I’m going through is just an inconvenience. It may someday be a normal occurence. Ugh. (expletives deleted)
Hopefully a way can be found to get his situation turned around, but the truth is that there are tens of millions of other similar stories out there in America today.
What about you?  What are things like in your neck of the woods?  Please feel free to share your thoughts below…

Read more - 
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/37-facts-that-show-how-cruel-this-economy-has-been-to-millions-of-desperate-american-families