| Transcript of The Times interview with David Petraeus
The months of April, May, June even into July, and the very tough casualties that we sustained and that our Iraqi partners sustained as we went into al-Qaeda sanctuaries and had to fight to take them away, which was again, we knew it was going to happen. You may recall that I said this is going to get harder before it get easier, but that was very, very hard. And there were moments when General Odierno [Commanding Genral of US III Corps] and I would look at each other and say ’When are we going to get to that point? When are we going to cross this?’ It did finally come, although I am not implying that we have turned corners or are seeing lights at the end of the tunnel or are doing victory dances in the end zone because we are doing none of that. Ambassador Crocker and I won’t even characterize ourselves as an optimist or a pessimist at this point.
Urban Ecology: Taking Measure Of The Coming Megacity's Impact
Ecologist Nancy Grimm of Arizona State University and her colleagues are addressing these questions. "When we think of global change, images of melting ice caps and pasture replacing tropic rainforest come to mind," Grimm says. "What drives these changes" In fact, much of the current environmental impact originates in cities, and with demographic transition to city life the urban footprint is likely to continue to grow." Urban challenges face communities worldwide, with solutions lagging behind. Grimm and her colleagues promote a global perspective of urban development. Their analyses capture some of the commonalities that will face future city planners and societies, viewing cities as both drivers of and responders to environmental change. The authors chart the socio-ecological challenges and changes ahead for all cities, but particularly those in rapidly developing regions, like China and India.
Officer Barely Dodges Pole through Car Window Tragedy
A chase ended with a pole smashed right through the windshield of a Edgewood ISD patrol car. The school district police officer was after two men who stole an air-conditioning unit. The Edgwood ISD officer saw the two people stealing the air conditioner. She chased after them into the street, where the two men separated and one ran right in front of her police car. She then swerved to avoid the suspect and instead smashed into a chain link fence. A post from the fence crashed through the windshield. Luckily no one was in the passenger seat of the patrol car, because the fence post went completely through the windshield and into the passenger seat of the police car. The two thieves got away with the air conditioning unit they stole from the abandoned Edgewood Elementary School.
A full house for HomeFront
The nonprofit began in 1990 when executive director Connie Mercer was informed of the many homeless families living out of motel rooms in the area. She and several friends began preparing hot meals for them, as well as providing recreation for children and transportation for adults to doctor’s appointments and job training. The organization officially became known as HomeFront in 1998. Laura Trzasko, development assistant for HomeFront, came up with the idea of merging poker with charity. "I really wanted to plan an event," says the 22-year-old Plainsboro resident, who joined HomeFront six months ago. "Poker is very popular right now," Ms. Trzasko says. "I feel like you can’t miss it when it’s always on ESPN." .
Boy--Casualties of the Gender War
The current theories (now coming into question) of the inferior treatment of girls in the schools were, in the main, authored and promoted by Harvard's Carol Gilligan, whose papers, written between 1982 and 1990, were followed by a cascade of articles written by popular writers embracing Gilligan's assertions. At the same time as the Gilligan studies were being published and re-published, a study at the University of Michigan was showing that between 86 and 88% of the students (male and female) were happy, and unaware of the "accelerating downward spiral" cited by Gilligan and her colleagues.v,vi,vii Newer studies (1995-98) are beginning to cast more doubt on Gilligan's research. Even Gilligan has expressed some new ideas which seem to modify her previous position, and she more recently (1996) stated the "boys show a high incidence of depression, out-of-control behavior, learning disorders, even allergies and stuttering".
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