Argentina is a South American country whose citizens are, in their great majority, descendants of Europeans – Italians and Spaniards, who came here centuries ago. In the Argentine society, family occupies a very important place, and people are trying to maintain a warm relationship with the entire family, even with its extended version. The head of the family is treated with great respect, but this status brings huge responsibilities. The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, and in recent years Argentina has experiences migration of many Muslims.

Argentineans are direct and honest people, but also very diplomatic when they talk to a person. They are friendly and welcoming, so they have a natural openness to foreigners. Do not be surprised if, while a conversation with an Argentine, he touches you: it’s a common custom in this country.

If you’re invited inside a house of an Argentinean family, it’s polite to bring a gift for the host. An appreciated gesture is to offer a foreign beverage bottle, because the excise duty on foreign spirits is very high here. The only gift that you should never offer them is a pair of scissors. Dress well if you intend to make a visit: men should wear an elegant shirt and a tie, while women should wear a dress or a skirt. Argentines are not punctual, so it’s not a problem in case you are late 35-45 minutes to an event or on a date.

“The city that has it all”, that’s how is characterized the city by local authorities. Art, culture, history and shopping lovers may find a heaven in Buenos Aires. The city is called “Paris of Latin America” first of all because of the culture that floats on the street and second of all because of the connections with Europe. But, despite all the leaders of Europe that Argentina has had, the city manages to create its own flavor.

The American Left wants to undermine the present system because they feel it is “unjust” and one of the foundations is law and order. The best way to undermine something is to make it appear to be unjust. Since most people do not spend the time to do anything more than read the headlines and maybe watch a video, it is not difficult to make something that isn’t a problem seem like a problem:

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS), of a national population estimate of roughly 240, 000,000 comprised of people of 16 years of age or older, of those who dealt with the police in some capacity in 2002, 2005, and 2008, 1.5{f3b888cd21f4f097cf256c2abf48fb4da5e46c34da410c05974afd2e97e2de2a}, 1.6{f3b888cd21f4f097cf256c2abf48fb4da5e46c34da410c05974afd2e97e2de2a}, and 1.4{f3b888cd21f4f097cf256c2abf48fb4da5e46c34da410c05974afd2e97e2de2a}, respectively, were either threatened with or subjected to force by the police.

In 2008, 22{f3b888cd21f4f097cf256c2abf48fb4da5e46c34da410c05974afd2e97e2de2a} of those falling into the latter group admitted that they “argued with, cursed at, insulted, or verbally threatened the police.” Twelve percent reported that they were “disobeying” and/or “interfering” with police.

Of the 84{f3b888cd21f4f097cf256c2abf48fb4da5e46c34da410c05974afd2e97e2de2a} of people who felt that the threat or use of police use force was “improper,” only 14{f3b888cd21f4f097cf256c2abf48fb4da5e46c34da410c05974afd2e97e2de2a} filed a complaint.

This is not to say that there are not some cops doing the wrong thing but it is far from an “epidemic.”

Since the riots in Baltimore, police have arrested fewer people. Either because they don’t like how their mayor threw them under the bus or because they don’t want to be unfairly targeted for prosecution to score political points (or both):

Lt. Gene Ryan, the head of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police, spoke with Fox’s Greta Van Susteren tonight about the current climate in the city and how cops feel “under siege” and unsupported.

In fact, Ryan said, “They’re more afraid to go to jail for doing their job properly than they are afraid of being shot and killed right now.”

The consequences will be increased violence in inner cities which will accelerate people moving out of those areas and even more lawlessness which will then be used as an excuse for Liberal to spend even more money to “combat” poverty.

Social Justice Warriors might delight but all they are really accomplishing is making life for the poor and for minorities much more difficult.

In New York City, there is always something to do, plenty of sights to see, wonderful restaurants to visit and an urban culture that’s unparalleled. That’s never more true than at holiday times, when crowds of people take to the streets for public celebrations that capture the essence of the city and all its diversity.

New Beginnings, New Year

Your New Year’s resolutions might change every year, but one never does: the big New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City. Spectators should begin arriving at Broadway and 43rd street around 6 p.m. Times Square begins to fill quickly with excited, fun-loving people who are ready to count down the last seconds of the year. Theme restaurants, such as ESPN Zone at 1472 Broadway and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company at 1502 Broadway, are open to the public. However, food and beverage vendors are not permitted to set up in the Times Square area. When the ball drops, cheers erupt and party streamers and confetti burst into the air. Old resolutions are completed–or canceled–as people promise to keep new ones.

Go green

Be Irish for a day! Attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Enjoy the pipers, step dancers and bands as they march by. The parade traditionally starts at 11 a.m. at 44th Street and 5th Avenue, passes St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 50th street, the American Irish Historical Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 83rd Street. The parade ends at 86th street around 4:30 p.m. Many spectators stand at the top of the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to get a great view of the parade finale. While you are out, visit a few high end-shops along the way, such as Versace at 53rd Street and 5th Avenue or Tiffany & Co. at 57th Street and 5th Avenue.

Taste of the Caribbean

Take the 2, 3, 4 or 5 train toward Brooklyn and get off at the Franklin Avenue stop. As an alternative, take the 4 or 5 train to the Utica stop. When you exit the train, you will be on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There you can join one of the largest crowds in New York City, to celebrate the West Indian Day parade. The parade traditionally starts at 11 a.m. on the Monday of Memorial Day holiday and runs along Eastern Parkway. Arrive by 10:30 a.m. to get a good spot, but don’t worry, the floats are visible from both sides of Eastern Parkway. Floats filled with people representing Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua and Trinidad cruise down Eastern Parkway as men and women in colorful costumes dance in the street.

West Indian pride is displayed through colorful, detailed costumes, national flags, large floats and live music. Listen to the rhythm of steel drums, reggae and calypso music while tasting flavorful dishes such as curry chicken with rice and peas, beef patties and coconut cake. Sip a frozen tropical drink and dance at the largest party in Brooklyn.

Gobble Gobble

Give thanks for Thanksgiving at the Macy’s Day Parade. Huge cartoon-character balloons drift through the sky as screaming children wave and grownups take pictures of the spectacle. Celebrity singers, dancers and Broadway performers stop to perform in front of the entrance at Macy’s Herald Square store on Broadway between 34th and 35th streets. The parade starts at 77th street and Central Park West and ends at 7th Avenue and 34th Street. Two great locations to view the parade are both on Broadway: Columbus Circle (at 59th Street) and Times Square.

When planning a vacation to Italy, tourists have an opportunity to have hands-on training along-side professional chefs and experienced family cooks by booking a cooking tour.
Depending on the offer of the tour company, guests can choose from 1-day sessions to a 7-day culinary tour. Tour activities vary from visiting street markets, cooking in restaurants or private kitchens, and wine or cheese tastings.

Bluone Cooking Tours

Bluone Cooking Tours has been organizing culinary vacations since its inception in 1995. Tourists can choose from a variety of guided tours such as exploring a Bologna food market and preparing dinner in a private home to a week-long stay at a seaside hotel, learning to prepare fresh fish.

Among the nine tour packages that are offered, Bluone also offers a customized culinary tour. On a customized tour, the guest decides what to do and where to go on the tour. Prices vary from $255 to $3,800.

Mama Margaret & Friends Cooking Adventures

Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mama Margaret & Friends want their culinary tourists to experience the passion for Italian cooking.

Mama Margaret & Friends Cooking Adventures schedule classes with both restaurant chefs and family cooks. Tourists have a choice of touring Northern Italy, Tuscany, Umbria and Southern Italy. Each tour includes a variety of activities to choose, ranging in lengths of stay and prices.

The International Kitchen

In 1994, American-based company The International Kitchen launched its first cooking vacation. Since then, it has remained the leader in organizing culinary tours in Italy.

Tourists can choose from a variety of vacation packages or 1-day-only cooking classes and tours. In addition to Italy, The International Kitchen also organizes vacations to France and Spain.

Umbria is a quaint Italian city that is known for its lush landscape and locally produced cuisine. Tourists hoping to sample some of this cuisine can go restaurant-hopping or they can sign up for a cooking holiday and learn how to produce that fare themselves. Most cooking holidays don’t come cheap, but if you calculate out all the costs they cover you’ll see that you do get a lot for your money. Just be sure to pick a program that focuses on the type of cuisine, excursions and tastings you know you’ll want to experience while in Italy.

Cucina della Terra

The Cucina della Terra cooking vacation focuses on the regional cuisine that Umbria has to offer. This means students cook with lots of oils, pastas, wines and fresh vegetables. To complement the cooking skills that students will obtain in the kitchen, Cucina della Terra also takes students on numerous excursions that allow them to sample first-class cuisine and locate first-class ingredients. The class includes cheese, wine and olive oil tastings, as well as a truffle hunt that will test the students’ abilities to locate these delicacies in their native environments. The six-day cooking vacation, which includes excursions, meals, cooking equipment and accommodations, costs $4,100.

Cucina della Terra
Castiglione del Lago, Italy
(646) 761-8037
www.cucinadellaterra.com

Cooking in Umbria

Cooking in Umbria offers a week-long cooking vacation inside the Villa San Donnino hotel in Citta di Castello. Students will learn how to make homemade pasta and bread and cook with Umbrian wild mushrooms. They will also prepare at least a portion of every meal they eat, which may include dishes such as gnocchi, bruschette, and grilled courgette and aubergine. The holiday also includes lessons and talks from professional chefs, as well as excursions to Tuscan, La Panterra, Assisi and Perugia. The program costs $1,960, and includes everything except air travel.

Cooking in Umbria
Monks Valley Oast
Appledore Road
Tenterden, Kent, England TN30 7DB
011 (+44) 1580 767 554
www.cookinginumbria.com

Assisi Cooking

The Assisi Cooking school at Alla Madonna Del Piatto emphasizes fresh, newly harvested ingredients, which is easy to see once you step foot on the Madonna’s lush farmland. Assisi Cooking does focus on local cuisine, as many other Umbria-based cooking holidays do, but it also infuses contemporary fare and even a few Sicilian recipes as well. This program doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the other two do, but it also doesn’t have the high price tags, either. The Assisi Cooking school is $500 for three-days’ accommodations, classes and meals. Because the school utilizes many ingredients on the farm, excursions are limited to one visit to a specialty foods shop and one visit to either a winery or coffee maker.

Assisi Cooking
The International Kitchen
330 N. Wabash, Suite #2613
Chicago, Illlinois 60611
(312) 467-0560
www.theinternationalkitchen.com/assisi.htm

Telephoning Tip

To dial England from the United States or Canada, first dial 011, then the country code (44), and then the area code and the phone number. If dialing from outside the United States or Canada, dial 00 instead of 011.

Do you suspect your child has ADD/ADHD or was misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD?

I hope this guest article will give you the help and the information you need to have your child properly diagnosed.

Misdiagnosed ADD/ADHD

My son was misdiagnosed with ADHD and was taking medication for condition he didn’t have for 5 years. As a mother I still feel guilty about it…..especially since I was questioning his diagnoses, but took his doctor’s word for it……

This article was written by Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET is a Board Certified Educational Therapist and Learning Disabilities Specialist.

Teachers and parents often jump to the wrong conclusion when a child is inattentive. They often think the child has ADD/ADHD. Parents may hear from the school that their child is continually inattentive in the classroom. Schools may actually say that they suspect your child has ADD/ADHD.

Inattention in the classroom or at home may be due to ADD/ADHD, but it may also be due to an auditory processing difficulty or a visual processing difficulty. There are many similarities between ADD/ADHD, auditory processing difficulties and visual processing difficulties. There are a variety of remedies for each of these difficulties.

Comparing the behaviors and symptoms of ADD/ADHD, auditory processing difficulties and visual processing difficulties will help you identify which area(s) best describes your child’s learning challenges. Once you have a better idea of what causes you child’s inattention, you will be more able to help them.

Behaviors/Symptoms of ADD/ADHD (Inattentive Type) include:

1. Has trouble with giving close attention to details or frequently makes careless mistakes.
2. Has trouble staying with a task or a ‘play’ activity
3. Doesn’t seem to be listening when spoken to directly.
4. Has a habit of not following instructions (written or auditory) and has poor ‘follow-through’ with both schoolwork and chores.
5. Has difficulty organizing homework, projects, desk, bedroom, as well as activities.
6. Appears unmotivated, avoids, dislikes, or doesn’t want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long periods of time such as chores, schoolwork or homework.
7. Due to disorganization, often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
8. Is often easily distracted both at home and at school (This distraction is not specific to just at school).
9. Frequently forgetful in daily activities.

Behaviors/Symptoms of Auditory Processing Difficulties include:

1. Has trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally (Audio tapes or stories read aloud, lectures)
2. Has problems carrying out multi-step directions (In school: put your math book away, get your history book out and turn to page 35; at home: when you ask your child to do a list of chores – brush your teeth, make your bed, get your backpack ready for school).
3. Has poor listening skills.
4. Needs more time to process information. (Takes to take a long time to respond to your questions.)
5. Has low academic performance.
6. Has behavior problems.
7. Has language difficulty (They confuse syllable sequences and have problems developing vocabulary and understanding language).
8. Has difficulty with reading, comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary.

Behaviors/Symptoms of Visual Processing Difficulties include:

1.Makes careless mistakes.
2.Looks away from visual targets, seems to be daydreaming.
3.Has sloppy handwriting.
4.Avoids reading, has reading fatigue, doesn’t read pleasure books without being prodded to do so.
5.Skips lines or words while reading.
6.Has poor eye contact, doesn’t seem to be paying attention because they are not giving you eye contact.
7.Has visual distractibility / ‘Inattention’.
8.Missed social cues, frequently interrupts conversations.
9.Forgets what’s been shown or has read.
10.’Spacey’, has a tendency to become lost or not know what’s going on.
11.Is often forgetful in daily activities both at school and at home.
12.Has repeated spelling errors, different spellings for the same word.

What Should a Parent Do?

With the similarities of ADD/ADHD, auditory processing, and visual processing behaviors and symptoms you can see why no one should jump to any one diagnosis. What needs to be done instead is to look at the whole picture. Thankfully, there are materials available to help a parent know what type of problem they are actually dealing with.

You want to look for an assessment tool that you can use to get an indication of what the actual problem is before you jump to the conclusion that your child has ADD/ADHD. Once you’ve done your homework as a parent, you will have a clearer picture of whether your child has an auditory or visual processing problem that may be considered a learning disability [depending on the severity of the problems] or ADD/ADHD.

Your homework is to go through a variety of learning disability checklists that identify auditory and visual processing problems. By going through them, you will know whether to proceed with more formal testing and who you need to do the formal testing: an audiologist, a developmental optometrist, school psychologist, or a physician, etc.

What Happens Often In the Classroom

When your child has either an auditory processing or a visual processing problem, what happens is that those processing systems aren’t working as efficiently as they should be. Because of this inefficiency the processing systems are working harder than they should and they can get overloaded. When this happens, the system temporarily shuts down. In the classroom this can look like the student is not paying attention.

Unfortunately, these children are often called out by their teachers for not paying attention. That happened with my son over and over. Everyone in the class would hear his name called out and they knew he wasn’t paying attention. My son didn’t understand that his visual processing system had shut down and that it really only needed about a 30 second break to regroup and it would be good to go again.

Children don’t realize what is happening. They may be staring out the window, playing in their desk, just drifting off. They don’t automatically bring themselves back to the activity at hand. They are children. They don’t even know when their system has shut down. They are usually unaware that they aren’t paying attention any longer.

What Else Can Be Easily Done Within the Classroom?

1. Gently bring them back to the activity. This can be done by tapping them on the shoulder or tapping their desk. Both of these are gentle ways of bringing them back to attention without drawing attention to the whole class that they weren’t paying attention just then.

2. Simply break up the routine. This can be accomplished, every 20 minutes or so by having the whole class stand up, touch their toes, and sit back down or do any other type of stretching or walk around their desk. The change from sitting to movement will improve the whole classroom’s attention and give a break to everyone’s visual and auditory processing systems.

Action Plan

To help you identify if your child has ADD/ADHD, auditory processing or visual processing difficulties or a combination of these problems:

1. You need to do your homework, be proactive, use the tools that are available to help you understand what is actually causing your child’s problems at school. There are pre-screening tools available that parents and/or teachers can easily use to determine if their child is experiencing auditory processing or visual processing problems.

2. Schools can only suggest that you look into the possibility that your child may have ADD/ADHD; to get an accurate diagnosis you typically need to see a physician, a psychiatrist, a psychologist (who then needs to refer the child to a physician if medication is suggested), or a neurologist.

3. If after going through a LD pre-screening tool, you suspect your child may have visual and/or auditory processing problems, you can request that more ‘formal’ testing be done by the school system.

4. After further investigation, if your child actually has ADD/ADHD, an auditory processing difficulty, or a visual processing difficulty or a combination of them, and it is impacting their education, they should be able to qualify for accommodations within the classroom via a 504 Plan if they don’t qualify for an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Sometimes auditory processing problems are actually CAPD, Central Auditory Processing Disorder.

The world stands for reinvention and it harbours sharp and constant contrast. Among the skyscraper and the smoky temples, it also harbours the art of weaving. So what does Weaving stand for? Is it among the first ever group in the world for weaving enthusiasts. Is it one of the fastest growing crafts in the world that can be practiced by all irrespective of age and gender? Weaving is the feel of those perfectly handcrafted sweaters for you loved ones. It is the inspiration to design. There’s a lot that Weaving has to offer and if you’re keen on learning the art then you’ll find a number of ways for you to master the art flawlessly.  All you need to do is visit the online website to create white and gray tapestry products.

Weaving was begun amid the renaissance by the French and Italian nuns. They utilized this craftsmanship to enrich curtains. Weaving employs cloth and thread that are brought together to create designs. It is utilized to brighten homes, windows, make clothes and more in view of the craftsman’s creative energy. Over the eras it has spread over the globe as a reasonable and easy approach to make craftsmanship utilizing cloth. This form of art slowly spread across various parts of the word. This is how Weaving started and came into existence.

The world has been attempting to elevate workmanship to make it amazing. As a consequence of this endeavour weaving has brought that in some way or another into the world. People impart their talent through sites made to welcome individuals to learn this craftsmanship. It is one of the quickest developing artworks in the world and can be learnt by all independent of age and sex. Weaving is highly appreciated and accepted by a number of people who are eager to learn new techniques and use them in their weaving designs.

The methodology of weaving is very basic. A cloth strip is the most important part of a weaving design. This design is either curled using a finger or the needle tool. These formed curls are considered as the base to structure that enables you to create various flowers, leaves, and different decorative examples. These designs can be combined to create various new shapes and designs. You can learn more about this by checking out the tutorial.

Weaving is a simple art that has been around for a long time. Thanks to the advancement in technology and the fact that this art has been around for a long time there are several books for you to read and learn from it. You can learn weaving by looking up various websites, books and tutorials. Weaving is a good hobby for children and grown-ups. It is an easy art that you can take up without having to put in too much effort or time. There are a number of online training sessions that the internet has to offer which makes it easy to learn and master the art.

Weaving has advanced in recent times and it is now a lot easier to create weaving designs and patterns using the various tutorials that are available online. There are a number of ideas that can help you come up with some of the most impressive Weaving designs.

Weaving around the world is quite famous and there are a number of people who are looking to give this art a try. There’s no limit to the kind of art you can create using the basic designs that weaving has to offer which is why it’s essential for you to take up the art one step at a time with a view to help you learn the basics and then master the more complex designs.

One of the things that you need to check when you are purchasing a tapestry weaving machine is the broadness of the base. It is very essential for you to choose a weaving machine that has a broad base because a weaving machine with a small base becomes difficult to handle and the tapestry becomes very difficult to turn around. Tapestry are usually heavy and the larger the base the easier it is for you to spin the tapestry without having to carry the weight of the tapestry throughout the stitching process.