February 14, 2013

February 14, 1778

1778 – The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

February 14, 2013

Stop blaming video games for America's gun violence

Studies show that a child playing a violent video game does not necessarily increase the likelihood that he or she will engage in real violence. Americans need to stop blaming something other than our own behaviors and ideologies for societal violence, especially gun violence.

Recently, America’s attention has been understandably focused on the potential causes of increased violence – especially gun violence – particularly among children and youth, and how to stop it. Alongside gun-control proposals, some of which President Obama is likely to highlight in his State of the Union address tonight, much of that attention has looked at the potential of violent video games to cause or exacerbate the tendencies of youth to engage in real, harmful violence.

While I applaud increased vigilance on the part of parents in supervising their children’s behaviors and pastimes, a child playing a violent video game does not necessarily increase the likelihood that he or she will engage in real violence at that age or later in life.

Various reports and commentaries have documented the fact that Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza’s video game playing included violent shooter games like Call of Duty, Counterstrike, and Starcraft. Some have cited that activity as a possible cause for his shooting massacre.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0212/Stop-blaming-video-games-for-America-s-gun-violence?nav=90-csm_category-topStories

February 14, 2013

In US, big strides in reducing domestic violence

The rate of partner-to-partner violence dropped 64 percent between 1994 and 2010, a Justice Department report has found. The trend, almost unnoticed, stems from a broad shift in attitude toward domestic violence.

A bruised cheek. A broken bone. Verbal battering. A window shattered in an effort to intimidate. The rate of such violence or abuse between husband and wife – or any two intimate partners – has been on the wane in America, falling by a stunning 64 percent between 1994 and 2010.

That finding, from a recent report by the US Department of Justice on intimate partner violence (IPV), parallels the overall drop in violent crime during that period. Many in the field cite a broad shift in attitudes that began in the 1980s and '90s, crediting public awareness campaigns, national legislation protecting victims, and subsequent training of police and prosecutors to recognize intimate partner violence as a crime, rather than as a private matter.

“There has been an enormous shift in public awareness about domestic violence – the message [to victims] being you are not alone and you can report what is happening to you to law enforcement,” says law professor Suzanne Goldberg, director of Columbia University's Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. The message to perpetrators, meanwhile, is that violence against an intimate partner “is not a badge of manhood,” she adds.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0213/In-US-big-strides-in-reducing-domestic-violence?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem

February 13, 2013

20 Great Public Library Websites

It IS possible to create a great website for a public library! Here are twenty examples…check them out!

http://www.mattanderson.org/blog/2013/02/11/20-great-public-library-websites/

February 13, 2013

Missouri Botanical Garden Orchid Show

<img src="" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_1741"></a>

<img src="" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_1724"></a>

February 13, 2013

Weis to Open Two Stores in Baltimore Suburbs

Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets will open two new stores in Baltimore County, Md., on Sunday, March 3.

The 55,476-square-foot Towson store is located at 1238 Putty Hill Avenue, and the 58,027-square-foot Woodlawn location resides at 7005 Security Boulevard.

Weis will mark its expansion in the Baltimore region with a grand opening community celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, March 3 at 9:00 a.m. at the Towson store. A second ceremony will be held at the Woodlawn store beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Weis invested $14 million in the two stores, which will employ 400 associates from the Towson and Woodlawn communities. Both locations will feature large fresh departments, including a 600-item produce department with a greater selection of organic produce, a full-service pharmacy, service meat and seafood departments and a large deli/food service department.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/industry-intelligence/id37331/weis-to-open-two-stores-in-baltimore-suburbs/

February 13, 2013

Coors Brewing Co. Launches Recycling Initiative

Coors Brewing Company, inventor of the first 100 percent recyclable aluminum can, has kicked off its latest sustainability initiative by partnering with Recyclebank. The program, Coors Recycles, will support the Recyclebank mission to promote environmentally conscious waste disposal through a monetary contribution and special packaging.

A portion of select Coors Light and Coors Banquet packages sold now through March 31, 2013, helps fund a contribution of up to $250,000 from Coors Recycles to Recyclebank. Recyclebank is using these funds, in part, to build a national online campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of aluminum recycling and reward them for their engagement. Purchasers can look for the Coors Recycles logo and messaging on specially-marked packages to participate.

“We’re proud that Coors Brewing Company invented the first 100 percent recyclable all-aluminum can in 1959,” said Pete Coors, Chicago-based MillerCoors’ chairman of the board. “The Coors Recycles program aims to remind legal-drinking-age consumers of the importance of recycling their beer cans, and through Recyclebank, offers them a refreshing way to get involved in a greener lifestyle at varying levels.”

Today, 152 million aluminum cans are recycled each day, making them the most recycled item in the United States.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/corporate-responsibility/id37321/coors-brewing-co-launches-recycling-initiative/

February 13, 2013

Retail Sales Forecasted to Grow 3.4% in 2013

The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2013 economic forecast projects retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) to increase 3.4 percent, slightly less than the preliminary 4.2 percent growth seen in 2012.

The subdued forecast comes on the heels of a holiday season that went head-to-head with Washington’s political wrangling over fiscal concerns, shifting consumers’ spending plans downward. In the end, holiday sales in 2012 grew 3 percent.

Shop.org, NRF’s digital division, expects online sales in 2013 to grow between 9 and 12 percent; online sales in 2012 during the months of November and December last year grew 11.1 percent.

“What we witnessed during the holiday season is an indication of what we are likely to see in 2013. Consumers read troubling economic headlines every day and look at their bottom lines at the end of the month, and they don’t like what they see,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO. “Pushing fiscal policy decisions down the road will lead to even greater uncertainty, and will continue to impact consumers’ desire and ability to spend on discretionary items.”

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/consumer-insights/id37322/retail-sales-forecasted-to-grow-3-4-in-2013/

February 13, 2013

Republicans choose state Rep. Jason Smith as 8th congressional district nominee

Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem Jason Smith, R-Salem, has beat out a dozen rivals to become the Republican nominee for the 8th District congressional seat recently vacated by Jo Ann Emerson.

He now will compete in the June 4 special election against an as-yet-unchosen Democratic rival.

The Associated Press reported that Smith declared after the vote, “We’re going to win this seat."

He then pledged to follow through with his call to cut federal spending: “The fiscal irresponsibility in Washington, D.C., is what’s destroying our country, and we’ve got to take control of it and get it back.”

Smith, 32, was chosen Saturday on the sixth round of balloting by the Republican committeepeople representing the various counties within the 8th, including part of Jefferson County.

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/29336/eighthdistrict_gop_forum_020813

February 13, 2013

Nate Silver: Avoids errors by paying close attention to a poll's 'margin of error'

As Nate Silver reflects on the 2012 polling analysis that has made him a superstar among fellow statistical junkies, he offers one piece of advice above all else:

Pay attention to the “margin of error.”

Silver – author of the New York Times’ uber-popular blog, "FiveThirtyEight" -- addressed an overflow crowd Monday night at Washington University’s Graham Chapel (and a spillover room elsewhere on campus).

Silver is promoting his latest book, “The Signal and the Noise: Why so many predictions fail, but some don’t.

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/29360/silver_washu_021113?coverpage=2706