Have her start writing at http://lang-8.com

The position that it's wrong to sneak food in because it hurts their business is a pretty silly one. If the rule is in place because the theater survives mainly on concession sales, and it's wrong to sneak food it because it hurts their bottom line, then it's just as wrong to abstain from buying any snacks as it is to sneak in your own. I think not sneaking food in because you agreed not to when you bought the ticket is a better reason.

Some simple definitions to give you an idea of what each one does. Homeopathy : a system of medical practice that treats a disease especially by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in larger amounts produce in healthy persons symptoms similar to those of the disease. Herbalist : a person who practices healing by the use of herbs. Holistic : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body>.

Beginning with kana and kanji right off the bat sounds great. That's a definite thumbs-up. However, in my opinion, a total of 50 hours per semester at once per week does not really seem like enough time to learn Japanese(or any other language). I would try to find ways throughout the week to create as much additional exposure to Japanese as I could. To give you an idea of the tools adults use when they want to learn an additional language, you can read the articles at http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/all-japanese-all-the-time-ajatt-how-to-learn-japanese-on-your-own-having-fun-and-to-fluency. It basically revolves around getting as much language input from as many sources as you can, including books, music, movies, TV, and websites, and using that material in conjunction with a daily SRS session to remember what you've learned. Since your son became interested in Japanese through karate, maybe his new teacher can recommend some martial arts manga or anime appropriate for kids. A couple of the resources that I'm using while learning Japanese are: A list of audio books in Japanese, with transcripts and translations. Having the audio available to help decode the characters is great. There are many classic western fairy tales on this list that your son may already be familiar with. http://www.renshuu.org/ -- A study site with graded lists of vocabulary, kanji, grammar, and example sentences.

A few years ago I watched the UK version of this campaign -- Jamie's School Dinners. To briefly sum it up, Jamie was successful in producing healthy menus that met the budget, and he was successful in getting the kids to eat it. However the real food required more time for the dinner ladies to prepare, more equipment to prepare it, and the extra money needed for all this was not available. At the conclusion of the series, Jamie was filmed getting a "pledge" from Tony Blair for more money, but it is unclear to me whether this was actually put into effect. I would expect the show in the US to follow the same general course. Of course it's better to serve healthy vegetables, but it will cost more, and will the political will to pay for it be there?

Books I finished reading last week: Swords Against Death and Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber: Two more collections of Fafhrd/Gray Mouser short stories. Leiber wrote many stories about these two rogues over the course of his career, and I'm sorry to report that there is a disappointing lack of quality in his earlier works, the majority of which can be found in these two collections. A great many of the stories are no better than a mediocre Conan adventure, with simple swashbuckling and little distinctiveness between Leiber's two heroes. Rising above the rest of the collection in my opinion are The Price of Pain-ease where the heroes are conjured to steal the mask of Death in return for relief from their melancholy, Bazaar of the Bizarre where the Mouser is lured into enchantment by a curio shop, and the comic tale Lean Times in Lankhmar, where Fafhrd and the Mouser hang up their swords for a while and turn to other occupations. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: It's always fascinating to get a glimpse into the life of a great man. It's too bad that the work is cut short: Franklin died before he had a chance to chronicle his life during the course of the Revolutionary War. Nevertheless, we are able to read a great deal about his early life and his steadily increasing political influence in the affairs of the colony. Some might call Franklin egotistical(listing his faults as mere errata to be easily corrected), but the work gives me an impression of his self-assuredness. Franklin imparts on us the idea that one who applies himself to his industry with diligence and strives to be of good character cannot fail to become as successful as he. Figures of Earth by James Branch Cabell: Those seeking lessons in egotism, instead of looking to Ben Franklin, might be better served by reading about Dom Manuel. Figures of Earth is a witty fantasy novel about the life of Manuel and his affairs in the fictional kingdom of Poictesme. Under an obligation laid down by his mother to make a fine figure of himself(taken literally by Manuel: he shapes figurines of himself out of mud), Dom Manuel sets out into the world, effortlessly finding riches, love and success, only to abandon them in a neverending search for something more to his liking. The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian: A recurring theme in this series of novels is the friendship of Captain Aubrey and Doctor Maturin. Despite the fact that he spends much of his time aboard ship, Maturin finds the province of Aubrey, the naval world, completely incomprehensible. Aubrey, for his part, is equally a stranger to the doctor's skills in medicine, science, and espionage. I believe that the friendship is so engaging to the reader because, being equally unfamiliar with either of these worlds, he is lost in the complexity of the highly technical jargon that each character uses, and is therefore readily able to sympathize with both of them. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin: A good fantasy tale about the adventures of the young wizard Ged in the land of Earthsea. In my opinion, this novel is aimed at a more juvenile reader, and it does not rise to the level of excellence in found in Le Guin's Tales from Earthsea; neither the themes nor the characters are as strongly developed. Still recommended if you like fantasy. Books read in 2010 (9): Week 1: The Nutmeg of Consolation, Swords and Deviltry, Tales from Earthsea Week 2: Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Figures of Earth, The Wine-Dark Sea, A Wizard of Earthsea.

I know it's inexcusable, but please pardon my pedantry: You probably mean to say "home remedy" or "alternative medicine" instead of "homeopathy." Homeopathy refers to a specific method of remedy preparation where a substance that causes the symptoms observed in the patient is successively diluted with water to such a degree such that no molecules of that substance remain in the admixture. The patient is then administered this solution to treat his illness. Homeopathy could be considered a particular category of home remedy, but the use of oil of oregano you propose can not be called homeopathy. =)

Books I read this week: The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian No 14 in the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels. I love this series for its enthralling, captivating, and authoritative depiction of life in the early 19th century Royal Navy. The highlight of the book for me was when Aubrey arrives at Botany Bay, and we are treated to a horrifying and haunting description of the abuse suffered by the prisoners of the penal colony and the corruption of its governors. This part was no doubt augmented by the research O'Brian did for his later published biography of Sir Joseph Banks, who played an instrumental role in Britain's colonization of Australia. Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber First book of seven in the collection of comic fantasy short stories and novellas chronicling the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, a pair of adventurous rogues each serving as a foil for the other: Fafhrd being tall, strong, and somewhat clumsy and the Mouser small, agile and intelligent. After their separate, lengthy, and satisfying introductions, the books concludes with the story of their meeting, Ill Met in Lankhmar, where the pair's humiliating fleecing of the city's Thief's Guild brings severe repercussions... Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin A collection of short stories set in LeGuin's fantasy world of Earthsea. I have not read any of the other Earthsea novels, but I certainly will after reading this. A common theme of the stories is self-discovery - young children who are born with the power of wizardry, but who need to undergo trials and adventures before finding their place in the world. The stories also tell of romance, adventure, sacrifice and redemption, and is some of the best fantasy writing I have ever read.

I had never before considered getting an electronic book reader. I had heard somewhat about them, but after taking thought on the matter I marshaled the arguments in my mind against buying one: they were too expensive, the screen was too small, the necessity of recharging the battery was likely too cumbersome, the device itself was likely to be fragile and break as many small electronic devices are wont to do, the electronic books cost nearly as much as the physical copies and therefore represented a poor value, and the e-books could not be shared, loaned, sold, or in any way separated from the device. In other words, I concluded that they were frivolous gadgets - in no way a proper substitute for actual books. Receiving a Kindle for Christmas revised my opinion somewhat. After having had a chance to use it for a couple of weeks, I now think that in some ways it is more convenient than a real book. I was able to download and read many works in the public domain that I had wanted to read in the past, but had foregone because of the difficulty and inconvenience of reading on the computer screen and the prohibitive cost and labor of printing a physical copy. As mentioned earlier, a Kindle takes far less space in your home than a shelf of books does, which makes it easier to read your collection no matter where you happen to be; you do not have to rise from your bed or chair if you decide you want to begin reading another book. The screen is just as easy to read as a regular book. The battery will power your Kindle for a week of reading if you turn off the wireless transmitter, and the device itself seems sturdily built and likely to last for several years of regular use if not abused. However, Kindle does not completely triumph over real books. I was not at all satisfied with the quality of many of free books that I downloaded. Many were improperly or irregularly formatted and needed consistent paragraph spacing or justification and the inclusion of navigational aids to better read on the small screen. The OCR software used to digitize the texts also introduced several spelling and punctuation errors. When you buy a physical book, the editor usually clears up these problems, but if you do not choose to tolerate these types of shortcomings you have to act as your own editor, and it can sometimes be a tedious job. Disappointingly, from what I have read on other forums, these problems are not limited to the free works and can sometimes be found in books that you purchase from Amazon. There is no way to correct these errors in the copyrighted works unless you first break the encryption(which is possible), but most people will not choose to employ such methods. Even with the additional burden of editing everything I read - which I do of my own choosing and is in no way required for everyone - I am glad I received a Kindle, for by it I have read more books in the past two weeks than I have in the six months prior. --Oh yes, one more thing, the built-in dictionary is a WONDERFUL feature, and is useful beyond belief.

The activity you seek to regulate (cell phone use) is basically communication. If your state were to pass a law prohibiting it, why should they not then pass a law prohibiting: 1. Talking to passengers? 2. Use of CB radios? 3. Use of police/EMS/fire radios and computers? All of the above activities are just as distracting as using a cell phone. Shouldn't they also be prohibited in the interest of public safety? I don't think there's a need for an additional law. The activity in question would have to be reckless bordering on assault for a new law to have my support. I think the additional risk one undertakes while talking and driving is amply addressed by the extant law in your state requiring drivers to demonstrate financial responsibility to recompense others for injury to persons or property.

This is a math problem where you solve systems of simultaneous equations with seven variables. Every student bought at least one book, and there are three genres. This gives us seven possible combinations of genres. Each student will fall into one, and only one of these: (F) Fantasy only (nF) Non-fiction only (hF) Historical fiction only (FnF) Fantasy & non-fiction (FhF) Fantasy & historical fiction (nFhF) Non-fiction & historical fiction (FnFhF) Fantasy, non-fiction & historical fiction Now to set up the equations: *14 people bought only one book (F) + (nF) + (hF) = 14 *Only 3 people bought all three genres (FnFhF) = 3 *7 people bought fantasy books but not non-fiction or historical fiction (F) = 7 *4 people bought fantasy and non-fiction but not historical fiction (FnF) = 4 *14 people did not buy historical fiction (F) + (nF) + (FnF) = 14 But we already know the values for (F) and (FnF), so we can substitute (7) + (nF) + (4) = 14 (nF) = 3 Additionally, now that we know the value for (nF), we can solve for (hF) using the first equation. (F) + (nF) + (hF) = 14 (7) + (3) + (hF) = 14 (hF) = 4 *13 people did not buy non-fiction (F) + (hF) + (FhF) = 13 (7) + (4) + (FhF) = 13 (FhF) = 2 *8 people did not buy fantasy books (nF) + (hF) + (nFhF) = 8 (3) + (4) + (nFhF) = 8 (nFhF) = 1 Now that all the variables are solved, summing the categories will give us the number of students: (F) = 7 (nF) = 3 (hF) = 4 (FnF) = 4 (FhF) = 2 (nFhF) = 1 (FnFhF) = 3 (F) + (nF) + (hF) + (FnF) + (FhF) + (nFhF) + (FnFhF) = 24 There are 24 students in the class. 16 students bought at least one work of fantasy. 11 students bought at least one work of non-fiction. 10 students bought at least one work of historical fiction. Fantasy is the most popular genre.