10 April Fool’s Pranks for Car Lovers

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by CarInsuranceQuotes.net Staff Writer on March 27, 2012

It’s a little-known fact that car enthusiasts have notoriously bad senses of humor. Kidding, kidding. But if you know a car lover and you’ve got a gift for the giggles, consider April Fool’s Day to be your newest playground. Whether you love cars or love someone who loves cars (or maybe you just want to pull some auto pranks around the office), we’ve come up with 10 great April Fool’s pranks for the jokester and car lover in (or around) you. Happy pranking!

1. Collector Car Tax

   The Shelby American Automobiles Club pulled an Orson Welles on the American classic car lover. Their 2011 April Fool’s gag announced in a four-page newsletter a new collector car tax. Most notable for their great mock-up of a New York Times front page, this prank had car collectors up in arms, from sea to shining sea.

2. Wrapping

   If you’re a drunk college kid, or just one on the inside, wrapping someone’s car is a great April Fool’s gag. Especially if you’re friends or lovers with a persnickety automotive purist, gift wrapping, shrink wrapping, or Saran wrapping is a way to play a joke that shouldn’t ruffle too many feathers. Just gain access to the car (you don’t need the keys for this one) late at night, and proceed to wrap at your leisure. It’s like wrapping a house, only with less clean up. And you should use something more sinister than toilet paper. Be liberal in your application of the Saran wrap — the harder it is for them to clean up, the longer you have to point and laugh.

3. Post-It’d!

   It’s no stapler in a Jell-O mold, but you can use office supplies for this fun trick. Try putting Post-Its all over the car. Everywhere. Even coat the undercarriage. As long as it takes you to put them on is nothing compared to the fun you’ll have watching your driver have to take them off. Bonus points for fun shapes, or writing a message with differently colored Post-Its. Minus points for using Silly String instead of stickies — you’re (hopefully) not in fourth grade anymore.

4. Full Blast

   If you’ve got access to the keys, this one’s simple, quick, and fun. Take the keys to your car-loving friend’s auto, and turn the radio up full blast. Bonus points for a Tejano station, especially if your friend likes to jam to rap and rock. Turn the air conditioner on cold and full blast (hence, the name). Also turn the front and back windshield wipers on, and maybe the hazards or brights for good measure. Take it to the limit by adjusting the steering wheel and seat base all the way up and forward, making it hard for the driver to enter the car. If you also put Vaseline on the steering wheel and gearshift, they’ll think that’s the end of the prank. The double whammy is great, as they’ll already be frustrated (or laughing) when they turn on the car.

5. Cuppa Joe

   If you’re a car lover that doesn’t want to potentially wreck the interior of your car for the sake of a prank, try faking out all the other drivers on the road. Secure (read: duct tape) a venti cup of coffee to the roof of your car, and take a spin, ostentatiously making sharp turns on roads where plenty of people are able to see. Make certain that everyone’s watching you and wondering how your master handling gets the cup to stay put, especially while you do donuts in a parking lot. Bonus points for doing this with a car seat and a doll while speeding down a highway with your flashers on. Double bonus points? Not getting pulled over.

6. Sticker Price

   Making fake magnetic bumper stickers might be costly, but you can really annoy your car freak friend. Especially if they care about the exterior of their car looking sharp, this prank is a sure bet to get some laughs (or growls). Get magnets printed up with cheesy slogans that are bumper sticker-sized. Place them all over the car in question, and wait for your reward. Bonus points if you get political. Minus points if you get too crass.

7. Cinder Blocks

   This one’s particularly fitted for those of you that continually try to mask your white trash roots. Remove the tires from a car and prop ‘er up on cinder blocks. Bonus points for doing this on the day that your victim has a big meeting, or is really nervous about any “big deal” event for which they’re going to have to make a drive. Double bonus points if you hire a NASCAR pit crew to replace the tires in three minutes flat, so that your car enthusiast loved one won’t be late. Minus points if you get them fired for not showing up to that board meeting on time.

8. Golf Balls To The Wall

   Best for compact cars (or people that have several thousand golf balls to unload), fill the car up with golf balls so that, upon opening the door, the balls roll out. This also works with beans, pennies, and styrofoam peanuts — the most economical, but least environmental of the bunch. Bonus points if you find a way to incorporate a gaggle of white turtledoves to also fly out of the car, gloriously punctuating your prank. Minus points if you kill the doves.

9. Junk In The Trunk

   One really fun and fairly simple April Fool’s day gag is to line the trunk of someone’s car in plastic, and then fill the trunk with water. Sealing plastics and drop cloths work best for this, as you want to be certain that you don’t damage the car. The sight gag should be enough to drop some jaws. Be sure that you have an exit strategy, because remember: cars don’t flush.

10. Love Notes

    This one’s for pansies and anarchists. Whether you’re too chicken to play a real prank, or you just like inserting a little chaos into the world, you’ve found a friend in the love note prank. Leave a long note on someone’s car, explaining that you’re terribly sorry and you’ll pay for the damages. This prank only works, by the way, if you didn’t actually hit them. An alternate message could read “I just got seen hitting your car, and I’m pretending to leave my info.”

10 Most Ethical CEOs in Corporate America

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http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/10-most-ethical-ceos-in-corporate-america/

We remember reaching a point around 2003 when we were completely sick of reading about Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, Enron’s wayward executives. Enough with the stories of scoundrel CEOs, we said. Boy, was that naive. Enron was just the tip of a dirty, dishonest iceberg. The banking debacle introduced us to a whole new crop of shady business practices and practitioners. Since the well of unethical CEOs is apparently bottomless, we’ve compiled our 10 picks for the gentlemen of the corporate world who make us proud to be capitalists.

1. Howard Schultz, Starbucks

   Howard Schultz first made waves in August 2011 by urging his fellow American CEOs to stop donating to politicians until they start running the government like a successful business. In other words, not living beyond their means. The next month he was back in the news announcing a partnership with nonpartisan group No Labelsto host a national telephone forum for ordinary Americans to come together to try to find solutions for the nation’s problems. The next month: a plan to facilitate “Americans helping Americans.” Called the Create Jobs for USA program, customer donations would combine with loans from microlenders to help fund small businesses in America.

2. Greg Steinhafel, Target

   Steinhafel became CEO of Target in 2008, the year the Great Recession began to set in. But despite sinking sales figures, Steinhafel chose to continue the retailer’s longstanding practice of donating 5% of the company’s earnings to charity. He has also had the opportunity to prove his moral fiber thanks to an in-house dispute with a major stockholder and a controversy over a donation to an anti-gay politician. Steinhafel protected the shareholders by winning the battle but still shook hands with the combative shareholder. And to prove Target’s commitment to gay rights, he approved an increase in donations to gay rights groups to more than half a million dollars in 2011.

3. Tony Hsieh, Zappos

   After selling his company LinkExchange to Microsoft in 2009, Tony Hsieh realized that happiness meant more than having money. He has made it his mission since becoming the chief exec of online retailer Zappos to do everything in his power to ensure employee and customer happiness. He even wrote a bookon the subject. Today Zappos is famous for its great employee culture and its equally great customer service. He formed a company called Delivering Happiness, based on the book’s title, to help people find their own passion and turn it into profit.

4. Jim Skinner, McDonald’s

   The winner of a slew of awards like “Executive of the Year” and “Most Respected CEO,” Jim Skinner is a company chief who turned his collar from blue to white through hard work and a focus on customers. After 10 years in the Navy, Skinner returned home to Illinois in 1971 to work as a McDonald’s restaurant manager. He worked his way to CEO in 2004 and led the company to a 40% earnings bump in four years thanks to zeroing in on value and service. Now he is steering McDonald’s toward healthier food options for kids and programs like National Hiring Day, which saw much-needed jobs offered to 60,000 Americans.

5. Michael Hershman, The Fairfax Group

   When corporations and governments run into sticky ethical situations, they call Michael Hershman and The Fairfax Group. The president and CEO of the well-known risk management consulting firm, Hershman is considered a leader on corporate transparency and accountability. He has advised countries like India and Chile on matters of ethics. In 1993 he co-founded Transparency International, a worldwide, not-for-profit group designed to fight corruption in government, business, and society. In 2011, Hershman was brought in to help monitor the FIFA World Cup selection committee after a bribery scandal rocked the soccer world.

6. Casey Sheahan, Patagonia

   As a provider of outdoor wear, Patagonia has a vested interest in protecting the environment. Still, it goes above and beyond what could be considered simple due diligence from a business standpoint. The company’s Environmental Grants Program has given $22 million to conservation causes since being created in 1985. Casey Sheahan is a perfect fit for such a company. With his wife, Sheahan formed the Conscious Global Leadership Institute to “share best inner practices for inspired, heart-centered leadership.” On his watch, Patagonia Fishing and Patagonia Footwear joined 1% for the Planet, a group of companies that pledge at least 1% of all annual sales to promoting conservationism.

7. Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farms

   Technically, Gary Hirshberg is not a CEO. On Jan. 23, 2012, he stepped down as the chief executive of Stonyfield Farms, the biggest producer of organic yogurt in the world, after 29 years at the helm. Hirshberg started the company with one question in mind: “Is it possible to create an enterprise where everybody wins?” The “CE-Yo” as he was known was a proponent of corporate sustainability when few people had even heard the term. In 2008 he penned Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World. Although the company will keep Hirshberg’s philosophy of “healthy food, healthy people, healthy planet,” his is a voice that will be sorely missed in corporate ethics.

8. Kenneth Chenault, American Express

   Kenneth Chenault rose to the top of the corporate ladder at AmEx by remembering what his father told him: “Focus on the things that you can control, and the only thing that you can control is your performance.” Chenault’s tremendous work ethic helped him excavate AmEx from the slump it was in when he took over in January 2001. When planes hit the World Trade Center buildings across the street from AmEx’s headquarters, Chenault saw to it that stranded cardholders found rides home, and he later OK’ed the donation of $1 million to the families of AmEx employees lost that day.

9. Dan Amos, Aflac

   Profits have grown nearly tenfold since Dan Amos took the helm at Aflac way back in 1990. Ninety-nine out of 100 CEOs would use that as justification to raise their salaries tenfold as well. Not Dan Amos: he volunteeredto allow shareholders to vote on the executive compensation plan, the first major U.S. corporation to ever do so. The same year, he was awarded the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Corporate Citizenship Award. Aflac is widely recognized as one of the best American companies to work for, largely due to Amos’ leadership that fosters ethical business practices with social responsibilities. As just one example, he has overseen the donation of $50 million to the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

10. Mike Duke, Wal-Mart

    For better or worse, as the country’s biggest company, what Wal-Mart does sets the trend for the rest of the retailers in America. Recently Wal-Mart has been making promising strides to benefit consumers under Duke’s leadership. The company recently announceda plan to reduce salt, fat, and sugar contents in its food, as well as lower prices on fruits and vegetables. First Lady Michelle Obama has lent her support to Wal-Mart’s effort as part of her program to fight childhood obesity, the first such time she has partnered with a single company.

14 Famous People Who Were Philosophy Majors

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Posted on Tuesday March 27, 2012                        by Staff Writers

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/03/27/14-famous-people-who-were-philosophy-majors/

Visual and liberal arts majors always encounter some kind of “joke” about flipping burgers or dying penniless in a gutter, surrounded by cats. Thanks to STEM subjects receiving all the funding and attention, anyone entering into a more “right-brained” degree plan does unfortunately face a more difficult time scoring a relevant job after graduation. Fortunately, though, they have creativity on their side. Philosophy majors, for example, enjoy career paths across a wide range of industries. All it takes is a little pluck and a lot of luck to score some rare opportunities, and these famous philosophy majors have certainly proved that it’s possible.

1. Umberto Eco

   It makes perfect sense that one of the most prestigious living philosophers received a degree in the subject — in 1954 from the University of Turin, actually. Humberto Eco’s focus lay largely with medieval philosophy, and he penned his bachelor’s thesis on Thomas Aquinas before eventually sloughing off religious doctrine entirely. The avant-garde scene, with which he grew intimately acquainted while working at Radiotelevisione Italiana, holds considerable influence over his provocative, mind-melting fiction and nonfiction works alike.

2. Aung San Suu Kyi

   Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi hold a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and economics from Oxford, alongside a University of Delhi B.A. in politics and Ph.D. from University of London. Currently, she serves as the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, a political party in Burma dedicated to overthrowing the military junta and installing policies for the peoples. Geopolitics followers know her as a human rights activist who finally saw freedom in 2010 after multiple house arrest sentences for promoting subversive principles and philosophies.

3. Peter Thiel

   If Peter Thiel’s name doesn’t conjure up recognition, perhaps some of his technological creations and investments do. The co-founder and former CEO of Paypal also assisted in the development of Facebook, Yelp, Spotify, Yammer, LinkedIn, and plenty of other familiar and not-so-familiar online ventures.The hedge fund leader, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and all-around money-haver launched his billion-dollar career after a stint at Stanford, where he completed work on a B.A. in philosophy as well as a J.D. at the law school.

4. Ethan Coen

   Along with brother Joel, Ethan Coen has produced some of modern cinema’s most beloved masterpieces, such as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, and plenty more. In 1979, he earned himself a philosophy degree from Princeton University, where his senior thesis dealt with language theorist (among other things) Ludwig Wittgenstein. Fans of the pair’s trademark quirky, occasionally staccato dialogue probably won’t find this at all surprising.

5. Angela Davis

   As a proud feminist, Black Panther, and communist, this prominent social activist and retired University of California philosophy professor garners a veritable monsoon of controversy. Angela Davis’ higher education career started at Brandeis University, where she switched her major from French to philosophy and worked under Marxist Herbert Marcuse. These studies left a gargantuan influence on her later campaigns against racism, capitalist inequalities (obviously), sexism, and anti-LGBTQ sentiment.

6. Steve Martin

   California State University, Long Beach holds popular comedian, musician, writer, and general entertainer Steve Martin amongst its alumni. By then, he already managed to channel his own emotions and experiences into performing, leading one to understandably assume he probably pursued a degree path involving drama or theatre. Philosophy piqued his fascination most of all, however, particularly when it came to ideologies regarding logic and language.

7. Alex Trebek

   For $400. This Jeopardy host majored in philosophy at University of Ottawa. *Ding* Who is Alex Trebek? That is correct! He completed his diploma in 1961, then launched a television career two years later as the face of Canadian game show High Rollers. Other stints on different programs followed before he finally landed his most famous and long-standing gig in 1984.

8. George Soros

   “The Man Who Broke the Bank of England” started off at London School of Economics and completed his Bachelor of Science degree in philosophy in 1952. Just about the only job he could score after graduation was an entry-level slot at Singer & Friedlander, a bank. Turns out ol’ George Soros possessed a knack for all things fiscal, seeing as how he kind of sort of ended up a billionaire. Launching his own hedge fund and investment firm proved quite profitable indeed, and the business mogul receives almost as much attention as his charitable efforts.

9. Bruce Lee

   Bruce Lee’s real emphasis at University of Washington dredges up quite the dispute! His official records state “drama,” but the martial arts superstar always claims philosophy — as do many of his followers and fellow(?) majors. Regardless of how things actually went down, he did in fact study the subject quite extensively, and frequently touted its role in shaping both his acting and his athletics.

10. Phil Jackson

    Legendary Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson accomplished much more than just sharpening his basketball (and track and field!) acumen while attending University of North Dakota. Players, contemporaries, administrators, and fans don’t call him “The Zen Master” because he just loves getting his Bobby Knight on. Inquiries into “Eastern” thought and Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance won him 11 championships as a coach, added to the two earned as a player. He even published a book, Sacred Hoops, about how sport and philosophy interplay in his mind.

11. Gene Siskel

    Philosophy lends itself quite well to film criticism for obvious reasons, and this famed commentator actually started off as doing just that with The Chicago Tribune. John Hersey, the Pulitzer recipient for A Bell for Adano served as Gene Siskel’s mentor during his studies while at Yale, even hooking him up with the aforementioned maiden voyage into the aforementioned career path. From there, he grew into a household name after hooking up with The Chicago Sun-Times‘ Roger Ebert and earning a lauded television program.

12. Susan Sontag

    Filmmaker, author, activist, photographer and all around Renaissance woman Susan Sontag is frequently said to have received her B.A. from University of Chicago in philosophy, which she then followed up with graduate studies in the subject — along with religious studies and literature — at Harvard and Oxford. Considering her creative and intellectual oeuvre intended to shed light on social and political ills, this rigorous educational regimen served her well indeed. And by “indeed,” we mean she earned a MacArthur Fellowship, National Book Critics Circle Award, and litany of other national and international honors.

13. David Foster Wallace

    While attending Amherst as an undergraduate, renowned American postmodernist novelist and essayist double majored in philosophy and English. After graduating, he pursued a master’s in creative writing from University of Arizona, eventually earning a MacArthur Fellowship and adjunct professorship at Emerson College. Prolific in his lifetime, with an enviable bibliography of long and short works, he is most known for the metafictional masterpiece Infinite Jest.

14. Ricky Gervais

    This controversy-courting comedian behind beloved TV shows Extras and The Office (the original British series) majored in philosophy at the undergraduate level while attending University College London. When asked about how it helped bolster his television career, he whipped out the old saw about monkeys and typewriters. Fans, however, can certainly see the humorous benefits of devoting time, energy, and money towards the philosophical arts if pursuing an entertainment career

American Students Studying Abroad

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Posted on Wednesday March 21, 2012                        by Staff Writers

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/study-abroad

The 10 Worst U.S. Cities to Be a Teacher

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by Staff Writers http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2012/03/26/the-10-worst-u-s-cities-to-be-a-teacher/

Being a teacher can be a thankless and trying job for even the most experienced and dedicated educators out there. With many leaving the profession after just five years on the job, it clearly isn’t for everyone, nor is it the easy job that many in the political world paint it to be. Teachers may enjoy summer vacations and breaks throughout the semester but many work long hours during the school year, deal with troubled students, and face a serious lack of educational resources for teaching.

Even in the best schools and communities, teaching is far from an easy career, but some cities pose special challenges for those who choose to teach, with many schools lacking funding, facing high drop-out rates, having violence on campus, or offering abysmally low salaries or a lack of jobs overall. While not every teacher in these schools is miserable, these cities offer some of the worst working conditions for teachers anywhere in the U.S., a trend we hope changes soon for teachers in these districts.

1. Pierre, South Dakota

   When it comes to making money as a teacher, South Dakota is one of your worst bets. Average pay for teachers statewide is just $35,201, well below the $40,000 average in the U.S. In addition to low pay, teachers in the South Dakota capital shouldn’t expect to get much respect from legislators. The state’s governor, Dennis Daugaard has laid out numerous plans to cut education in the state, believing that many teachers and educational staff are dead weight and unnecessary for schools to function. He’s also proposed a 10% cut in education funding, which many in the state believe will cripple schools that are already struggling to perform to standards. Currently, the state has a 6.6% graduation rate, a figure that isn’t likely to improve with further cuts and disrespect to teachers.

2. Topeka, Kansas

   Education in Kansas’ capital isn’t exactly booming. The state, Topeka included, suffers from low assessment scores and low graduation rates (just 6.4%). Even worse, Kansas officials have asked to opt out of certain requirements of the No Child Left Behind law because schools in the state can’t keep up with rising standards due to a lack of core curriculum. More than five dozen school districts filed a class action suit in November over what they consider to be unconstitutional cuts in state aid. These troubles have added up to a poor working environment for teachers, one that isn’t likely to change soon as the state’s governor has proposed even more budget cuts for education. In addition, Topeka offers teacher salaries that are in the bottom 10 nationwide, averaging just $47,080 a year. Things don’t get better down the line either, as legislators plan to change or eliminate current retirement programs.

3. Nashville, Tennessee

   Education is a hot button issue in Nashville right now, as new legislation on a variety of issues has been proposed throughout the state. Officials are trying to cope with low graduation rates and some poorly performing schools, but with teachers only earning an average of $47,000 a year (those in Nashville start under $40,000 a year, less than other smaller cities in the state) and with new plans to forbid teachers unions from collective bargaining, many educators feel demoralized and underappreciated. Perhaps more troubling is legislation that proposes to prohibit teachers from discussing alternative lifestyles with students, banning any talk of gay or lesbian relationships, and a bill dubbed “the monkey bill” that seeks to limit the teaching of evolution and other scientific topics in schools.

4. Albuquerque, New Mexico

   When it comes to teacher salaries, New Mexico comes in near the bottom, with teachers statewide earning just $46,950, including those who’ve been working for more than 10 years. Additionally, the state’s pension system is massively underfunded, with more than $5.9 billion in liabilities and only 60% of the cash on hand to pay them. As a whole, education isn’t faring well in New Mexico, with just 67% of students graduating from high school and 24 school districts requesting emergency financial help in 2010. The state is pushing hard for reform, however, though only time will tell if these changes are beneficial to teachers.

5. Detroit, Michigan

   It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Detroit is a hard place to be a teacher. The city earned the honor of “Most Dangerous City in America” in 2007 due to both its incredibly high rate of property crimes such as car theft and burglary, and a rate of violent crime that’s the sixth-highest in the U.S. In addition to high crime, years of economic woes, and a huge population drop over the past two decades have left many public services in the city, including education, crippled. Detroit has an incredibly low job growth rate in almost every educational field but does offer teachers fairly good pay, with a statewide average of $50,238. Of course, teachers may get paid more because they have to work harder than their counterparts elsewhere in the state. In Detroit, 34.5% of kids live in poverty with the majority coming from single-parent homes. Despite failing schools and troubled students, the city has been slow to adopt reforms, and in a 2010 study by the Fordham Institute was given a grade of F across the board for reform friendliness.

6. St. Louis, Missouri

   When it comes to crime, parts of St. Louis aren’t far behind notorious cities like Detroit. The city has been plagued by gang crime, some of which has shown up in local middle and high schools as well, and was named the “Most Dangerous City” in the U.S. in 2006. What’s worse for teachers is that the St. Louis school district had its accreditation revoked in 2006 by the Missouri board of education for not meeting state standards several years in a row, and six years later has yet to fully get it back. While schools have made great strides, teacher salaries are on the low end nationwide, averaging just $46,411, and many may not be able to cope with struggling students, lack of resources, and a district that still hasn’t recovered from a major setback.

7. New Orleans, Louisiana

   New Orleans has had a rough couple of years with the devastation reaked by Hurricane Katrina, but even before that the education system was faltering and the state as a whole (though New Orleans especially) was a leader in violent crime, being named the murder capital of the U.S. in 2007. Today, more than 40% of kids in New Orleans live under the poverty line and lack basic school supplies, educational resources, and even food at home. Even worse, 91 of the 103 public schools in the city are in the failing category according to No Child Left Behind standards, making it the lowest performing school district in the state. Teacher salaries are low, with most starting at just $34,374 on average, and with schools already struggling to make ends meet, jobs are pretty hard to come by, especially at good schools. However, the city has one bright spot in that is has been ranked well for its acceptance of reform, being ranked among the most reform-friendly in the U.S.

8. Bismarck, North Dakota

   North Dakota doesn’t fare much better than South Dakota when it comes to being a great place for teachers. Teachers statewide make an average of just $44,266 and the troubled state is expecting major budget cuts in the future. In recent years, more than 500 teachers and 1,200 teaching assistants have been laid off statewide, a trend that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Current budget cut proposals would slash the budget of the Bismarck School District by $6 million, meaning more layoffs may be on the horizon and many students may not get access to the educational resources and personnel they need.

9. Biloxi, Mississippi

   Schools in Mississippi are some of the most troubled in the U.S. High school graduation rates are at just 64%, the worst in the nation, as are the state’s abysmal reading and math scores. Work in Biloxi or any of the state’s other major cities may be ideal for teachers who are looking for a challenge, but salary and job security may be major issues to consider. Teachers make an average of $46,818 a year, the 6th-lowest in the nation, and new jobs are being limited by statewide budget cuts. Additionally, the state faces a high crime rate and is one of the poorest and least healthy in the nation, putting greater pressure on teachers and increasing absenteeism of students.

10. San Jose, California

    San Jose is close to Silicon Valley and San Francisco, is a wealthy community, and offers a great public safety record, diversity, and a great climate. It should be a great place to be a teacher, right? It depends on what you’re basing your assessment on. San Jose has one of the lowest job growth rates in the nation, making teaching jobs incredibly hard to come by. Cutbacks and layoffs have affected this community as well as many others across California due to the state’s severe budget crisis. The city was also ranked one of the worst for school reform and change by the Fordham Institute, scoring a D grade overall. This reticence to change is driven both by strong union resistance and leaders that are generally apathetic toward school reform. San Jose is not a terrible place to be a teacher, especially not when compared with many other schools on this list, but for those who want job security, opportunity, and a forward-thinking workplace, it’s one of the worst in the nation on all accounts.

10 Reasons Some Men Love Bigger Women

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http://www.topdatingsites.com/blog/2012/10-reasons-some-men-love-bigger-women/

Thanks in no small measure to the fashion industry and its preference for impossibly thin models, women have been brainwashed into believing that the ideal figure comes in a size 2. In truth, many men prefer women with more, shall we say, substance. Yes, curves are back in a big way and men love them. Here are 10 reasons why some men love bigger women:

1. Culture – Physical attraction is of course an individual thing, but a physical ideal is often the product of a particular culture. In many cultures, the ideal female figure is more curvaceous, and men from those cultures are naturally more attracted to women who fit that image.
2. Biology – From a physiological standpoint, the female figure throughout history had been viewed from the perspective of one’s child-bearing characteristics. Wider hips and larger bosoms indicated fertility, strength and nursing capabilities.
3. Memory – Some men might have a preference for larger women based on a psychological attachment to a strong female figure in their early lives. The physical dimensions they seek in a mate reflect the level of influence or control that figure had on them in their formative years.
4. Mother – In the same way that many cultures have valued women for their ability to bear children, some men choose women in an attempt to replace their own mothers. Their physical preferences are rooted in the aforementioned idealized maternal image.
5. Fidelity – Some men choose larger women based solely on the pretext that, as such, these women would be less likely to cheat on them. Their logic goes that a larger woman will be less attractive to other men, thus ensuring her fidelity. What this says about such a man’s self-image and his view of the opposite sex could fill a book.
6. Insecurity – Some men choose larger women because, like the men described above, their preference is rooted in self-doubt. Their insecurity about their own appearance draws them to women whom they regard to be physically less-than-ideal themselves, and so won’t be rejected for their own shortcomings.
7. Modern – Modern culture has recently begun to once again celebrate the zaftig female form. The prevalence of plus-size women in pop culture has changed a lot of minds regarding physical attraction.
8. Compatibility – A predilection for plus-size mates might in some instances simply be a matter of physical compatibility. Large men would logically be expected to gravitate toward large women, closer to their own dimensions.
9. Attraction – There are men who just like “something to grab onto”, as they say. They find the substance of a larger woman more sexually appealing and satisfying. Women with curves look like women, which leads us to our next observation …
10. Different – As the French saying goes, vive le différence! Men are attracted to those attributes of the opposite sex that make them different. An hourglass figure is synonymous with femininity, and so is naturally appealing to those who do indeed celebrate how our genders complement one another.

Personal tastes and preferences vary widely, as do the underlying reasons behind them. While some of the reasons listed above might not be very complementary, there are many men who honestly prefer women with more flesh on their bones.

Amazon Founder Finds Apollo 11 Moon Rocket Engines On Ocean Floor

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SPACE.com and collectSPACE.com Staff

Date: 28 March 2012 Time: 02:57 PM ET

This NASA file photo shows the first stage of the mighty Saturn V rocket used to launch the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969 as the booster was being built. The five huge F-1 rocket engines were discarded into the Atlantic Ocean after the July 16, 1969 launch. CREDIT: NASA

When NASA’s mighty Saturn V rocket launched the historic Apollo 11 mission to land the first men on the moon in 1969, the five powerful engines that powered the booster’s first stage dropped into the Atlantic Ocean and were lost forever.Lost, that is, until now. 

A private expedition financed by Amazon.com founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos has discovered the five F-1 rocket engines used to launch Apollo 11 into space on July 16, 1969 and is drawing up plans to retrieve one or more so they can be publicly displayed.

“I’m excited to report that, using state-of-the-art deep sea sonar, the team has found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet below the surface, and we’re making plans to attempt to raise one or more of them from the ocean floor,” Bezos wrote in a statement posted to the Bezos Expeditions website. “We don’t know yet what condition these engines might be in – they hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they’re made of tough stuff, so we’ll see.”

NASA’s Saturn V remains today, more than 40 years later, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It used a cluster of five 12.2-foot (3.7-meter) wide F-1 engines as its foundation, with each 18.5-foot (5.6-meter) tall engine capable of generating 1.5 million pounds of thrust — about 32 million horsepower — as it burned about 6,000 pounds of rocket fuel every second. [The World’s Tallest Rockets Compared]

 

The Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle climbs toward orbit on July 16, 1969, bearing astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. Armstrong and Aldrin would make history as the first men on the moon. CREDIT: NASA 

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Legacy of Apollo

Bezos said he was only 5 years old when he watched with rapt attention when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins made their historic voyage to the moon. But it was only recently that a question struck his mind.

“A year or so ago, I started to wonder, with the right team of undersea pros, could we find and potentially recover the F-1 engines that started mankind’s mission to the moon?” Bezos wrote.

It was then that Bezos began planning what his website billed as the F-1 Engine Recovery expedition.

If one of the Apollo 11 F-1 engines is ultimately recovered, it will be turned over to NASA, Bezos added.

“Though they’ve been on the ocean floor for a long time, the engines remain the property of NASA. If we are able to recover one of these F-1 engines that started mankind on its first journey to another heavenly body, I imagine that NASA would decide to make it available to the Smithsonian for all to see.,” Bezos wrote. “If we’re able to raise more than one engine, I’ve asked NASA if they would consider making it available to the excellent Museum of Flight here in Seattle.”

A private space history expedition

Bezos stressed that at no point will public funds be used in the F-1 engine recovery project. The entire effort is a privately-funded expedition, he wrote.

“NASA is one of the few institutions I know that can inspire five-year-olds. It sure inspired me, and with this endeavor, maybe we can inspire a few more youth to invent and explore,” Bezos added.

The Apollo 11 project is not  Bezos’ only space-themed project. His private spaceflight company Blue Origin is developing a commercial spaceship capable of flying people to and from Earth orbit. That project has received some NASA funding to push its space capsule plan forward.

Only three Saturn V rockets remain today, and only one is assembled from entirely from flight-capable hardware. The 363-foot (110.6-meter) tall boosters on display at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Fla. and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. are comprised of flight, test and replica  components. The Saturn V at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas is built entirely from leftover flight hardware.

Additional standalone F-1 engines, which never flew, are displayed across the nation, including in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. In total, NASA launched 65 F-1 engines, five per flight, on 13 Saturn V boosters between 1967 and 1973.

North Korea’s Unha-3 Rocket Launch Plan Explained (Infographic)

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by Karl  Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist

Date: 23 March 2012 Time: 11:38 AM ET

North Korea has announced plans to launch a new long-range rocket, which it says will carry the country’s first Earth-orbiting satellite. The Unha-3 rocket launch is slated for mid-April to mark the 100th birthday of North Korea’s founder Kim il-Sung, who founded the communist state in 1948, but the announcement has sparked criticism from the U.S. and other countries over the rocket’s potential use as a military weapon. Learn some of the scant details available of North Korea’s April 2012 rocket launch plan in the SPACE.com infographic above.

NASA’s Space Shuttle – From Top to Bottom (Infographic)

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Karl Tate, SPACE.com

NASA’s space shuttles were American icons of spaceflight. Never before had a winged spaceship blasted off from a rocket launching pad, soared through space, then returned home to land on a runway, and then turn around and do it again. NASA’s space shuttleswere the world’s first reusable crewed spacecraft and flew in space for 30 years, from April 1981 to July 2011.NASA has retired its space shuttle fleet to make way for a new deep space exploration program. See how the space shuttles worked in the infographic above.

Space Planes: Evolution of the Winged Spaceship (Infographic)

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Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist