For ‘A’ Students in Some Brooklyn Schools, a Cellphone and 130 Free Minutes - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/nyregion/28cellphones.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Each student is receiving a Samsung flip-phone in a package specially designed with the program's logo. The phones come loaded with 130 prepaid minutes. Good behavior, attendance, homework and test scores will be rewarded with additional minutes. Teachers and administrators will also be able to use a system to send text messages to several students at a time, to remind them, say, of upcoming tests and other school information.

Some critics say it is absurd for school officials to reward students with a device that is banned from the public schools...MORE

IndianExpress.com :: Baba Amte laid to rest with state honours

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/271598.html

"Isliye rah sangharsh ki ham chune/
Zindagi ansuon me nahae nahin/
Shaam sehmi na ho, raat ho na dari/
Bhor ki ankh phir dabdabai na ho "
(We must choose the path of struggle, so life shouldn't get drowned in tears.
The evening shouldn't get enveloped by awe and night shouldn't be fearful.
And the dawn shouldn't crack with tears welled up in its eyes)

Even as an emotionally overwhelmed Medha Patkar wiped her tears to sing the lines in chorus with a group of activists, people stopped and listened.
“Haath lage nirman me, nahi marane, nahi mangane"
(let's use our hands to create, not beg or beat).

Bharat Jodo, Bharat Jodo
(Knit India),” she called out. People raised their fists in air and echoed it.
MORE

U.S. Imprisons One in 100 Adults, Report Finds - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/29prison.html?_r=1&ex=1361941200&en=895e0616e28e0cd3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

U.S. Imprisons One in 100 Adults, Report Finds
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: February 29, 2008
For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults are behind bars, according to a new report.
Text of the Report (pewcenteronthestates.org)
Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million, after three decades of growth
that has seen the prison population nearly triple. Another 723,000 people are in local jails...MORE

Homelessness--Two Sides of the Street | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/21/2008

SOURCE:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/hot_topics/15848292.html
Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008

HOMELESS IN PHILADELPHIA: FIRST OF THREE PARTS
Two Sides of the Street
As homelessness mounts, the struggle over shelter — and rights — intensifies...MORE
By Jennifer Lin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Keep your data safe by following the Password Commandments |

SOURCE:   http://www.cnet.com/
Workers' Edge - a productivity blog from Dennis O'Reilly - CNET Blogs
February 27, 2008 12:01 AM PST
Keep your data safe by following the Password Commandments
Posted by Dennis O'Reilly
Your first--and sometimes only--line of PC defense is your password.
Even the most carefully crafted password can be rendered useless if you don't keep it secret.
This is not such an easy thing to do, especially considering all the clever tricks data thieves have come up
with to grab it, with or without your knowledge. More dangerous is the lackadaisical approach many people
take to creating, using, and protecting their passwords.
Here are 10 ways to use passwords to best effect....MORE

Revisiting Rental Housing — HBS Working Knowledge-PODCAST

SOURCE:  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5864.html

Podcast: Revisiting Rental Housing
Podcast with:    Nicolas Retsinas
Published:    February 27, 2008
Interviewer:    Sean Silverthorne
Running Time:    13 min., 22 sec.
Renters are the forgotten underclass of American policymakers. Although a third of all U.S. citizens rent their dwelling, rental stock is in poor shape, short supply, and expensive. With subprime defaults continuing, it appears as if the situation will only worsen as former home owners now seek shelter in the rental market....MORE

U.S. Among Harshest for Sentencing Children

SOURCE:  http://www.blackagendareport.com/

U.S. Among Harshest for Sentencing Children
by Daniel Macallair

The American Prison Gulag, the shame of the planet, reveals its utter barbarity in
condemning thousands of children to permanent...MORE

BBC NEWS |New homes 'must cater for ageing'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7261944.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 25 February 2008, 13:32 GMT

New homes 'must cater for ageing'
 
New homes will have 16 key design features under the plans
Every new home built in England will have to be designed to suit an ageing population, under government plans.
Ministers want all new homes to include 16 features such as stairs wide enough for stairlifts, downstairs bathrooms, and room for wheelchairs to turn.

Builders have until 2010 to show they are adopting the standards, with the threat of compulsion from 2013 if not.
...SOURCE

GroundReport | Philippines | Ort is now the favorite food of the low income earner city dwellers

SOURCE:  http://www.groundreport.com/

Ort is now the Favorite Food of the Low Income Earner City Dwellers
by   Renato Ariza for
Rus in Urbe       
February 24, 2008

Before, only the vagabond, street dweller, homeless and the extremely poor people are the one eating orts or leftover foods that were discarded from the different restaurants and fast food chains in cities. These people roam the city’s garbage depots to look for leftovers, others works in dumpsites collecting salable trashed items and the much sought after leftovers which is already unfit for human consumption...MORE

Stadium Project Falling Short Of City's Ambitious Hiring Goals - washingtonpost.com

SOURCE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
By Daniel LeDuc
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 24, 2008; Page A01
Stadium Project Falling Short Of City's Ambitious Hiring Goals
Contractors Use Fewer D.C. Workers Than Required
Workers build a restaurant and bar at Nationals Park. Contractors have not used as many D.C. journeymen as a project labor agreement envisioned.
With Washington's new ballpark a little more than a month from its scheduled completion, the project has failed to meet the majority of hiring goals
meant to provide construction jobs to city residents, and the District has not sanctioned any contractor for falling short.