just4moms.netExciting News Every Mom Should Know…

Under the biggest shake-up of the system for 30 years, ministers will toughen up rules on the diagnosis of behavioural and learning problems.

It follows concerns that schools are abusing the system to disguise poor teaching and climb league tables.

For the first time, rigorous screening measures will be introduced to prevent pupils from being classed as having special needs when they have merely fallen behind or caused disruption in class.

The bureaucratic process used to identify children with the most severe special needs will also be scrapped and replaced with a single assessment covering education, health and care.

Ministers believe that the current system is “outdated and not fit for purpose”. They claim that those most deserving of help often find it difficult to get adequate support while too many are wrongly placed on the register.

Almost 1.7 million schoolchildren in England – more than one in five – have some form of special needs requiring particular attention from teachers.

In some schools, more than half of pupils are registered as suffering from problems that affect their ability to play a full part in lessons or activities.

It has been claimed that many difficulties are exaggerated to explain poor exam results or bad behaviour.

Ofsted has claimed that as many as 450,000 “special needs” children are actually no different from other pupils. Many are simply underachieving because of a culture of low expectations, a report found.

Figures show that pupils from poor homes are far more likely to be diagnosed with special needs than those from middle-class backgrounds. Inspectors suggested that state schools were being encouraged to over-identify pupils to attract more funding from local councils and to boost their position in league tables that give weighting to schools with high numbers of special needs children.

Parents of children with severe special needs can also qualify for extra tax benefits.

Today, the Government will announce a major shake-up of the system to “tackle the practice of over-identifying”. Ministers will legislate for the proposals in the Children and Families Bill announced in last week’s Queen’s Speech.

The two most common categories of special needs – “school action” and “school action plus”, which are usually diagnosed in-house by teachers – will be scrapped and replaced with a single grouping.

There will also be “tighter guidance on which children should be identified as having special educational needs alongside better training”. The new guidelines will be published following a fresh consultation exercise.

Ministers will also announce plans to form an expert panel to look at which children should be classed as having behavioural, emotional and social development difficulties to stop these problems being “overused” by schools.

At present, just one in seven pupils with special needs has a “statement” – a legal document setting out their entitlement to certain teaching and support.

The Department for Education says this system is “complex and adversarial”, with children facing “multiple assessments over months and years to get the basic support they need”.

Under the reforms, parents will be given legal powers to control budgets for sons and daughters who do require support, enabling them to buy specialist help instead of relying on services provided by local authorities. Young people with the most serious problems will get help up to the age of 25 instead of the current “cliff edge” cut-off point at 16.

Children with special needs will be able to gain a priority place at one of the Government’s academies.

Better teaching training will also be introduced to give new and existing staff help to “manage challenging behaviour” and bullying.

A Coalition source said there was “broad agreement” that the current categories used to diagnose some special needs problems were “far too broad”, with children classed as requiring extra help when their needs “could be met with strong teaching and pastoral care”.

“we are going to tighten up the definition of special educational needs in the statutory guidance so children who have genuine special educational needs get the support they need,” the source said.

Sarah Teather, the children’s minister, is expected to say: “The current system is outdated and not fit for purpose.

“Thousands of families have had to battle for months, even years, with different agencies to get the specialist care their children need. it is unacceptable they are forced to go from pillar to post, facing agonising delays and bureaucracy to get support, therapy and equipment.”

The current system of identifying special needs has been blamed for delays that have led to disabled children waiting months for a new wheelchair.

The Council for Disabled Children suggested that some youngsters were left in pain and required operations to correct growth problems because their wheelchairs were too small for them.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Regulators crafting the final language of the Volcker rule will confer on Tuesday and are expected to discuss how JPMorgan’s $2 billion trading loss may impact their work, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The meeting, which is expected to include representatives from the major financial regulators, is a regular occurrence but will take on new meaning as more information emerges about JPMorgan’s losing hedging strategy.

The Volcker rule, which was mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, bans banks from making speculative bets with firm money, but includes an exemption for trades done to hedge risk.

The proposal released in October was vague about the hedging carve-out. U.S. regulators have struggled to write an exemption that allows for bona fide hedges but prevents banks from using the exemption to disguise speculative bets.

The banking industry, including JPMorgan, has pushed for a wide exemption.

In its letter to regulators on February 13, JPMorgan argued that during the financial crisis, it successfully protected the firm against credit losses because it used derivatives to purchase and sell protection on high-yield credit default swap indices.

It said it was concerned that those trades would be prohibited under the Volcker rule because they were “forward-looking” and because they might not closely match the underlying risk.

The trades that recently blew up at JPMorgan also used derivatives to bet on credit default swap indices.

JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has said the losses from that trading strategy could grow by another $1 billion.

The person familiar with the meeting scheduled for Tuesday said regulators are sensitive to public scrutiny and don’t want to be held to account for not learning lessons from JPMorgan’s trading blunder. The source declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

“Nobody wants to be the regulator that is called before Congress after the regulation is finalized to explain why this JPMorgan (hedge) was allowed,” the person said.

Both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve on Monday said it was too soon to say whether the trades in question would have violated the Volcker rule as proposed.

A final rule is expected to be issued as early as this summer.

Republican Senator Bob Corker in an interview, however, said that over the weekend staff at the OCC, including the examiner in charge of JPMorgan, was “adamant” in discussions with his office that the trades would not have violated the proposed version of the Volcker rule.

Corker said that Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry called him on Monday to say that the agency is still examining the issue and has made no decisions over how the Volcker restrictions would have impacted the JPMorgan trades in question.

Supporters of financial reform have seized on JPMorgan’s trading loss to push for tough interpretations of the reforms being finalized.

“We have got to be very careful that the regulators here are not undermined by this huge effort to weaken the rule by putting in a huge loophole which is called portfolio hedging,” Senator Carl Levin, who helped write the legislative language on the Volcker rule, said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday.

President Barack Obama on Monday also pointed to the loss to highlight the need for tough Wall Street reforms.

“Jamie Dimon, the head of (JPMorgan), is one of the smartest bankers we got and they still lost $2 billion and counting,” Obama said on ABC’s “The View,” according to a transcript released by the network.

“It’s going to be investigated, but this is why we passed Wall Street Reform,” he said.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Dave Clarke; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Fire Lake Ranch is often bustling with activity for farm dinners, gardening classes or asparagus picking, and this weekend will be no different as a stop on the Miami County Farm Tour.Julie and Bob Zoller started Fire Lake Ranch, 29580 Lone Star Road, Paola, to share their peaceful property with the community.They host events for families or businesses that can include a dinner straight from their gardens, or a day of relaxation by their lake. the Zollers also have movie nights with a large projection screen, and Julie is planning an upcoming fishing tournament for children.

BOSTON — with the aim of “keeping 38 Studios solvent,” Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s office has been meeting with Curt Schilling’s video game company about its finances.

According to the Providence Journal, which first reported the discussions, Chafee said on Monday that he’s examining “all the financials” and working at “protecting taxpayer dollars.”

The company released its first game — “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” — in February.

The former Red Sox pitcher moved 38 Studios to Providence from Massachusetts in 2010 after Rhode Island offered the company a $75 million loan guarantee. in return, the company pledged to expand to 450 employees. WPRI-TV reports that 38 Studios has so far received about $50 million from Rhode Island and currently has 288 employees based in Providence.

WPRI adds that the company’s finances have previously been scrutinized:

Last June, PricewaterhouseCoopers audited 38 Studios and issued a “going concern” opinion that expressed “substantial doubt” about whether the company would be able to stay solvent, the disclosure filing said.

Multiple outlets have not yet received comment from 38 Studios.

Rhode Island officials approved the loan guarantee before Chafee, who criticized the deal in his campaign, took office. According to the ProJo, however, “he has since said it’s important now to work with it and make sure it succeeds.”

In 2010, Massachusetts declined to bid against its neighbor with a competing loan offer.

“I’m sorry for [Schilling] and his employees, and I hope things work out,” Gov. Deval Patrick told the Boston Herald Tuesday, when asked about the news out of Rhode Island.

Update at 3:30 p.m.: Video game analyst Billy Pidgeon told our Newscast unit that any financial uncertainty at 38 Studios is most likely linked to the high cost of developing the company’s latest product:

You need to maintain this considerable amount of overhead to continue to work on a massively multi-player online game that’s going to compete worldwide.

(Photo credit: Jonathan Schaer/CNN)

We have many excuses for not eating healthy: I’m too busy. I don’t live near a grocery store. I can’t afford healthy food. I don’t know how to cook.

A new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service is taking one of those excuses off the table.

Previous studies have shown that eating junk food is cheaper than eating healthy food. but Andrea Carlson, lead author for the USDA study, said the way those researchers measured cost-effectiveness skewed the results.

Carlson and her team analyzed 4,439 foods in three different ways — price per calories (as previous studies had done), price per edible gram and price per average portion. Retail prices were based on Nielsen Homescan data. The average portion was determined from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The researchers found that when they used the price per calories analysis, fruits and vegetables appeared more expensive. “but this changes when you use other two,” Carlson said in a press call Wednesday.

For instance, take a chocolate glazed donut. Each donut is probably about 240 calories, and you could probably eat two or three of them with no problem (and just a teensy bit of guilt). Then take a banana with about 105 calories.

If these two cost the same, the banana is more expensive per each calorie eaten. but you’ll probably only eat one and feel a lot fuller afterward, Carlson said. That makes it cheaper per edible gram and per the average portion.

“many have raised concerns that those of modest means … can’t afford a healthy diet,” said Kevin Concannon, the USDA under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. “The good news I take away from the study is that is not necessarily the case.”

Concannon said the study shows that carrots, onions, pinto beans and mashed potatoes are all less expensive per portion than ice cream, sweet rolls, pork chops and ground beef. in fact, protein foods and food high in saturated fat, added sugars and sodium were all more expensive than fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains based on these methods.

“This is great news for all getting by with a limited food budget,” he said. “You don’t have to compromise good nutrition.”

The bottom line, Carlson said, is that there is a range of prices for any type of food you buy. You can find expensive produce and inexpensive produce, as well as expensive and inexpensive junk food.

And while cost is a common excuse offered for not eating nutritionally, it’s not the only barrier. Food deserts make it difficult for some in the U.S. to access fresh produce, and others just don’t want to make the effort.

“Taste always is the first thing people consider when choosing food,” Carlson said.

The USDA offers tips for consumers on how to eat healthy on a budget. For meal plans and more, visit ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Need to know: G8 leaders are preparing to meet at Camp David today, for the opening of a summit that will be dominated by the economic crisis.

Europe's debt woes are the first item on the agenda for the power group, which meets on what's proving to be a bad day for the region's markets. Shares are down after Moody's cut the debt ratings of 16 Spanish banks last night, citing a weak economy and the struggling Spanish government.

The euro zone's largest bank, Banco Santander, is among the firms the ratings agency downgraded, late last night. its long-term debt rating went down two notches, while those of other banks were cut by up to three.

Want to know: We still don't know for sure what happened the night George Zimmerman shot dead Trayvon Martin, and the chances are we never will. As evidence slowly trickles out, the picture just gets more confusing.

Police reports made public yesterday say that witnesses reported seeing a fistfight between the two. Zimmerman's medical report states he was diagnosed with a fractured nose, two black eyes, lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury after the altercation. Meanwhile Martin's autopsy report shows that the teenager had traces of marijuana in his system when he died. 

Zimmerman's lawyers will use those statements to argue that the neighborhood watch volunteer shot 17-year-old Martin, who was unarmed, in self-defense. the case continues.

Dull but important: What's the world's biggest social network worth? A cool $104 billion.

That's how much Facebook is valued at by its initial public offering, which has investors snapping up its shares at $38 a pop. Shares went on sale to its underwriters' clients last night, but the fun really starts when they begin trading on the open market this morning, under the ticker "FB."

CEO Mark Zuckerberg won't be in new York to ring the Nasdaq opening bell; he and most of his employees will be watching the frenzy from Facebook's Silicon Valley headquarters. or from Singapore, if you're co-founder Eduardo Saverin and have realized that your favorite ever country coincidentally doesn't tax capital gains.

Just because: As Egypt's first free presidential race enters the final stretch, Egyptians say the top contenders are failing to address the issue they worry about most: the economy.

Voters worry the candidates are ill prepared to take on the country's growing economic crisis, which include tumbling foreign reserves, negligible foreign investment and a mammoth budget deficit. 

GlobalPost reports from Cairo, where local residents have plenty of ideas of their own about to improve life for the millions of Egyptians left impoverished by decades of self-serving leadership.

Strange but true: Pity police in Windsor, Canada, for they have the uneviable task of waiting for a jewel thief to – uh – pass a $20,000 diamond they suspect he swallowed.

Richard Matthews, 52, is accused of down the 1.7-carat rock at a jewelry store eight days ago, and leaving a fake one in its place. He was arrested shortly afterward and has been doing his business into a bucket ever since. 

Police started him off on a fiber-rich diet, but have since relaxed the restrictions in the hope his system will also… relax. Careful what you wish for, officers: you're the ones cleaning out that bucket.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/chatter/chatter-g8-summit-squares-euro-crisis

• <… Big news for Myanmar, but still not the biggest
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 The pastor’s stolen SUV has been recovered, and the FBI is now also working the case.

Who beat and robbed prominent Detroit pastor Marvin Winansbefore stealing his luxury SUV? Two arrest warrants have already been issued and more are likely on the way. The pastor’s stolen SUV has been recovered, and the FBI is now also working the case.

Police say the car was found behind an abandoned house in Detroit.  it was covered in a tarp, but still fully intact.

The attack happened Wednesday at a Citgo gas station on Linwood and the Davison. Pastor Winans says four men followed him to his car while he pumped gas and then beat him, punching and stomping him on the ground, stealing his wallet and his $40,000 Rolex before hopping into his burgundy 2012 Infiniti QX56 SUV. Police say there are only four such cars in the State of Michigan.

Police believe the thieves are still riding around town in the pastor’s car. They say they have received several calls that it has been sighted several times around the city.

Police also say at least three of the suspects were issued tickets for loitering at the same gas station hours before the carjacking. Sources say Pastor Winans identified them by pictures.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing expressed sympathy to his longtime friend and said Winans won’t get special treatment.

“I know him. We’ve been friends for a long time. Very, very unfortunate that this has happened, but I don’t want to overreact either because this happens to too many of our citizens and because he is who he is with the personality and the name recognition, we have to be careful not to overreact. We’ve got to make sure that any time this happens [to] any citizen, we need to respond.”

There is a $2,000 reward for information leading to arrests.

He said he was pumping gas at a Citgo station on Davison and Linwood when a young man approached and “engaged him in conversation about the music he had on the radio,” Detroit police Inspector Nick Kyriacou said.

When the young man suddenly told Winans that gas was spilling from his tank, the minister turned toward his SUV and the young man sucker-punched him from behind and pushed him down, after which “three or four men punched and kicked him on the pavement,” Kyriacou said.

“somebody said, ‘Roll him over,’ and they got his wallet,” Kyriacou said.

As many as 10 young men, ages 18 to 20, were in the station when Winans paid for his gasoline, and the attackers apparently followed him to his car, Kyriacou said. Winans was able to describe only the one who spoke with him: 5 feet 4, in his late teens, wearing a white T-shirt and dark jeans, police said.

Winans’ newest recording — “Let the Church say Amen” — was listed on Billboard.com this week as the nation’s top gospel recording. he is pastor of Perfecting Church, whose website says it has more than 3,000 members and a 4,500-seat sanctuary being built at Woodward and 7 Mile in Detroit. it has been incomplete for at least a year.

“I am shocked, but I’m not shocked that something like this happened at this location,” said the Rev. James Garrett, pastor of Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Church in southwest Detroit. Garrett, 67, said he lives near the crime scene and drove there after his daughter told him of the crime.

Anyone with information can call the Detroit police 10th Precinct anytime at 313-596-1000.

Chocolate, parmesan cheese wafers and English asparagus are just some of the edible treats celebrities will bring to the Queen's big Jubilee Lunch.

Sixty famous names have been asked to come up with their suggestions for the community event being staged during the diamond jubilee holiday weekend.

Dame Edna Everage said she would bring her pineapple and sausage surprise, actress Joanna Lumley her parmesan cheese wafers, while former Newcastle United and England striker Alan Shearer would put a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale on the table.

Tom Parker Bowles, the son of the Duchess of Cornwall, favours English produce from asparagus “steamed and swathed in butter” to Poole prawns and a few bottles of West Country cider, while comic Dawn French is a fan of large quantities of chocolate.

Dame Edna apologised for not being in the UK to celebrate the Queen's 60-year reign.

She said: “Sadly I won't be in England for the diamond jubilee because my sense of community is so strong I will be doing my farewell show in Australia, celebrating my own diamante jubilee.

“However I am contributing a set of tasteful dinner mats portraying Australian marsupials, painted by deviated septum victims in honour of my favourite charity. When will I stop giving?”

The big Jubilee Lunch will be held across the country on Sunday, June 3 and is part of a weekend-long series of events to celebrate the Queen's milestone.

Camilla Parker Bowles is patron of the event, led by the Eden Project, which aims to encourage neighbourhoods to come together to share lunch and a few hours of community, friendship and fun.

JoAnn Kurtz-Ahlers, President of Kurtz-Ahlers & Associates, shares her understanding of the luxury traveler mindset with a round up of spa and wellness experiences that are trending for 2012-2013.

San Juan Capistrano, CA (PRWEB) May 17, 2012

since launching Kurtz-Ahlers & Associates (www.KurtzAhlers.com) over 10 years ago, JoAnn Kurtz-Ahlers has represented some of the world’s most revered hotels, luxury yachts and first-class, destinations, providing these hospitality groups with individually designed services, including marketing, sales representation, and consulting. as President and Founder of the company, with over two decades of experience as an industry-leading Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ritz-Carlton, Ms. Kurtz-Ahlers has a unique understanding of the mindset of the luxury traveler. For travel in 2012-13, Ms. Kurtz-Ahlers has released a roundup of experiences that are gaining a new wave of popularity amongst wellness travelers.

“Over the past two decades, the concept of spa has become much more than massages and beauty treatments in a calm and relaxed setting. Today, a new class of ‘wellness travelers’ are now turning to spas and retreats as a comprehensive solution to their physical and mental health goals,” said Ms. Kurtz-Ahlers. “According to the American Spa Association, stress is the number one reason people seek out spas. In this new era, wellness Spa retreats throughout the world are responding to these stress-related, health issues by offering guests unusual treatments and benefits that go above and beyond the traditional spa experience to help this new generation of wellness traveler achieve a wide array of goals, emotional, physical and aesthetic, in new and unique settings around the globe.”

Ms. Kurtz-Ahlers’ insights on guest expectations and passion for healthy living have contributed to her company, creating carving a a specialized niche in the contemporary wellness travel arena. With a portfolio of over 45 properties in 20 countries, Kurtz-Ahlers & Associates represents top wellness retreats including Chiva-Som in Thailand and The Ranch at Live Oak Malibu. “These properties provide an experience to guests that can be life-changing and inspire a dedication to healthy and mindful living.” by analyzing rising lifestyle trends in the U.S., in combination with her wide range insider’s perspective of the travel industry, knowledge, Ms. Kurtz-Ahlers notes the following spa and wellness offerings:

Sleep RetreatsAccording to surveys completed by the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers, the average good night’s sleep is 6.5 hours per night. Once held at a standard of nine hours per night, it’s no secret that Americans are not getting the sleep replenishing rest they once did. Spas are responding to travelers’ needs by providing experiences that help induce relaxation and healthy and abundant sleep.

•     The Spa at Aria in Las Vegas offers a Shio Salt Room, featuring zero gravity lounge chairs that gently vibrate in sync with the serene music that plays through via headphones that are provided to each guest during their relaxing, therapeutic sessions with well-qualified staff. The salt is intended to excrete toxins from guests’ skin while relaxing.
• The Mayflower Inn & Spa, Washington, Connecticut provides a Sleep Well program, where guests receive private sleep consultation which offering offers tools and tricks on and knowledgeable tips on getting the most out of a night’s sleep and ways to reduce disturbances.

Horse: Guyana Star Dweej Trainer: Doodnauth Shivmangal Pedigree: By Eddington out of a Pine Bluff mare (Special Feeling) Career Record: 9-1-5-0 Career Earnings: $103,830 Notable Races: None

Can He Win The Preakness?

During some years, the new shooters at the Preakness include some really talented horses that developed a little too late to make the Derby. other years, we find borderline stakes horses taking a shot at a big prize. Guyana Star Dweej is an example of a borderline stakes horse taking a shot.

Guyana Star Dweej broke his maiden two races back at Aqueduct in his eighth attempt to win his first race. He followed up his maiden score with a second place finish against $75k Optional Claiming horses at Belmont at the end of April.

While there is no doubt that this colt has improved over the last six months, the caliber of horses he’s faced in his previous races pales in comparison to the field he’ll run against on Saturday. Anything’s possible in horse racing but this colt seems way out of his league in the Preakness and he should go to post at huge odds on Saturday afternoon.

UPDATE: Guyana Star Dweej is out of the Preakness due to an injury.