Monthly Archives: March 2012

AAP

Adelaide have shed their robotic AFL image and been gifted more freedom under new coach Brenton Sanderson, says winger Brodie Smith.

Long derided as Crowbots under former coach Neil Craig, Adelaide have won all three of their pre-season games under Sanderson.

"It's a bit more exciting footy, I guess," Smith said of the changed game plan.

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"It's not so much structure as last year and a bit more licence to have a bit of a crack."

The Crows will test their new style against Collingwood when they host the competition powerhouse on Friday night.

Another win would seal a cup grand final berth, but Smith said making the pre-season play-off was not a priority.

"It's not as important as getting all our structures right and improving for round one (of the premiership season)," he said.

"Obviously, it would be nice to be there, but it's not top of the list."

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AFL's Crows given freedom by new coach

Reporting from Washington -- Israeli President Shimon Peres will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this spring, President Obama announced at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington.

"Shimon once described the story of the Jewish people by saying it proved that, 'slings, arrows and gas chambers can annihilate man, but cannot destroy human values, dignity and freedom,'" Obama said as he announced the award. "He has lived those values. He has taught us to ask more of ourselves and to empathize more with our fellow human beings."

Obama spoke privately with Peres after the main conference session and congratulated him on the award. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America's highest civilian honor.

Delegates to the conference, who had an otherwise mixed reaction to Obama's speech, greeted the announcement with applause.

"It's extremely well-deserved, the man has dedicated his life to peace," said Milton Salzer, a first-time delegate from Illinois. "His whole life he's had the message, peace is the first alternative, war is the last."

"He's done a lot for the relationship between Israel and America," said Jeffrey Freimark, a delegate from Florida. "There's a bit of a political ploy to it, but nonetheless it's good solid recognition of someone who's every much deserving."

The Israeli head of state spoke ahead of Obama at the conference, after being greeted onto the stage by a choir of children. Peres expressed hope that the younger generations in Israel's Arab neighbors will embrace democracy, while emphasizing Israel's need to defend itself against Iran.

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Obama announces Medal of Freedom honor for Shimon Peres

'Freedom's Cap: The United States Capitol and the Coming of the Civil War'

by Guy Gugliotta

Hill and Wang, 512 pp., $35

The United States Capitol, as everyone knows, is where Congress meets and does nothing. It wasn't always that way; before the Civil War, Congress actually voted to do something: expand the Capitol to its present size

Former Washington Post reporter Guy Gugliotta tells how it happened in this fascinating new book. It's a tale of political intrigue, famous personalities, technological innovations and bitter feuds, all under the pervasive shadow of slavery and the threat of secession and Civil War.

The original Capitol, dating to 1800, was reconstructed after the British burned it during the War of 1812. By 1850, Gugliotta writes, it was a wreck: "Walls were cracking, roofs sagged, timbers rotted." The Senate sweltered in summer and froze in winter. Acoustics were so bad in the House that members couldn't hear one another. Something had to be done, and the man who got it started was the junior senator from Mississippi Jefferson Davis.

From April 1850 until he left Washington 11 years later to become president of the Confederacy, Davis was the new Capitol's "political champion, benefactor, and shepherd," Gugilotta writes

Bringing it into existence involved battles with presidents, other congressmen, architects and contractors. It didn't help that the man in charge of the project, Army Capt. Montgomery Meigs, a Davis protg, was arrogant and stubborn and clashed with the principal architect, Thomas U. Walter. But Meigs also was something of an engineering genius who devised many new construction techniques, especially for the Capitol dome. Meigs later became quartermaster general of the U.S. Army, ironically playing an important role in the eventual defeat of Davis' Confederacy.

Gugliotta tells the story well. But meanwhile, comfortably situated in the expanded Capitol, Congress continues to do nothing.

Originally posted here:
'Freedom's Cap': the U.S. Capitol's big remodel

by Billy Todd Staff Writer The Sampson Independent

Courtesy photo The Freedom From Smoking program offered by CAPRI, has only limited space for 16 people. Class begins Tuesday, March 13 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Have you tried to quit smoking? Do you want to kick the habit? If so, the Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation Institute (CAPRI), offered through Sampson Regional Medical Center, has a plan for you the Freedom from Smoking program.

The American Lung Association produced the program that has been around since 1980. Research has proven that this class is very beneficial in the cessation of smoking and has been called Americans gold standard in smoking cessation programs.

CAPRI manager Frank Bray, RRT, CPFT, RCP, HFS, is a registered respiratory therapist and certified pulmonary function technologist who instructs the Freedom From Smoking class at the Center for Health + Wellness. Class begins March 13 and continues through April 24. The class meets from 6 to 8 p.m. each Tuesday evening with the exception of the fourth week when it meets on Tuesday and Thursday.

Bray explains that there are three phases for the class. The first three weeks we prepare the class members to stop smoking. The Tuesday of the fourth week is Quit Day. We even have a service where we bury the habit. The Thursday class is for reinforcement. The last three weeks we spend time on maintaining our new habit of not smoking, explained the instructor.

The Freedom From Smoking program focuses on behavior change. Bray asserts, You have got to want to quit to do it. The program has a positive focus. It emphasizes the benefits of better health and improved lifestyle habits, as well as mastery of ones own life. The activities and assignments provide the class members who smoke with proven strategies for changing their behavior and lifestyle.

The instructor shared that he felt the area needed a proven smoking cessation program that was medically and ethically sound, cost-effective and evidence-based and able to be replicated, something the Freedom From Smoking program has been shown to accomplish.

In 1975, the leadership of the American Lung Association, American Thoracic Society, and Congress Lung Association staff launched a project to develop a smoking cessation program. Each organization offered a unique contribution: The ALA had the concerned and committed volunteers, ATS supplied scientific research and expertise, and the CLAS provided practical experience as health education professionals.

Bray stresses that it is vitally important to understand that as a result of this research and development, the Freedom From Smoking self-help manuals were introduced nationwide in 1980. The Freedom From Smoking Clinic Program was first introduced in 1981, and has helped hundreds of thousands of smokers quit since then. The newest intervention approach designed by the American Lung Association, Freedom From Smoking Online, was first offered in 1996 as an Internet chat room. It was redesigned and launched in 2001 and now offers 24-hour, 7-day-a-week access to intervention sessions and message boards at http://www.ffsonline.org. All Freedom From Smoking products are regularly reviewed and updated to make sure Freedom From Smoking remains the gold standard in smoking cessation programs.

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CAPRI to offer second Freedom From Smoking class