Lois Hayes, Retired Teacher, Sends Handwritten Birthday Cards To Former Students

Lois Hayes, 66, may have retired from her career at an elementary school, but she hasn't forgotten her former students.

Every week the Lexington, Miss., resident rolls through an index of cards with past students' names and birthdays. And every week, she sends out a handful of handwritten, personal birthday notes for the upcoming birthdays -- about 400 each year, MSNBC's The Daily Nightly reports.

Hayes says the tradition began when she decided she wanted her students to know they were "special." "It brings back memories to think of them, and what they were like when I taught them," she says.

“When I retired, I really was afraid we would not be able to send cards anymore,” Hayes told the news source. “I buy the cards by the box and it has never been a problem, coming up with the postage or buying the cards. The Lord has provided for us, so it has been a joy to be able to do it.”

Source:Huffington Post

Counter-terrorism degree launches

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) says it wants to train the next generation of security professionals.

The airport security course is being designed in conjunction with the police and airline industry.

Andy Johnson, course leader and former police officer, says it will reflect the "evolving security landscape".

Universities are facing an increasingly competitive market for students and income - and this development, by the Preston-based institution, will hope to reach a growth area.

Read University Press Release Here

Amazing Animals Made from Recycled CDs and Other Computer Junk

Sean Avery, guy makes amazing art from old e-waste such as CDs and computer parts. A very unique work done. Sean writes on his website: "As a designer I am very capable and have an impeccable work ethic, putting 100% into any project that I undertake. I am highly proficient with industry standard software like Adobe inDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. I am currently under contract with Anvil Mining, who have asked me to design their company biography. "
See his work and contact details here.

Identical Strangers by Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein

From the Publisher:
Elyse Schein had always known she was adopted, but it wasn't until her mid-thirties while living in Paris that she searched for her biological mother. When Elyse contacted her adoption agency, she was not prepared for the shocking, life-changing news she received: She had an identical twin sister. Elyse was then hit with another bombshell: she and her sister had been separated as infants, and for a time, had been part of a secret study on separated twins.

Paula Bernstein, a married writer and mother living in New York, also knew she was adopted, but had no inclination to find her birth mother. When she answered a call from the adoption agency one spring afternoon, Paula's life suddenly divided into two starkly different periods: the time before and the time after she learned the truth.

As they reunite and take their tentative first steps from strangers to sisters, Paula and Elyse are also left with haunting questions surrounding their origins and their separation. They learn that the study was conducted by a pair of influential psychiatrists associated with a prestigious adoption agency. As they investigate their birth mother's past, Paula and Elyse move closer toward solving the puzzle of their lives.

In alternating voices, Paula and Elyse write with emotional honesty about the immediate intimacy they share as twins and the wide chasm that divides them as two complete strangers. Interweaving eye-opening studies and statistics on twin science into their narrative, they offer an intelligent and heartfelt glimpse into human nature.

Identical Strangers is the amazing story of two women coming to terms with the strange and unbelievable hand fate has dealt them, an account that broadens the definition of family and provides insight into our own DNA and the singularly exceptional imprint it leaves on our lives.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. It features disturbing, violent images, facilitating its social commentary on psychiatry, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian, future Britain.

Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the main character, is a charismatic, psychopathic delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and what is termed "ultra-violence". He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian друг, "friend", "buddy"). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via controversial psychological conditioning. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured adolescent slang comprising Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.

A Clockwork Orange features a soundtrack comprising mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Wendy Carlos (then known as "Walter Carlos"). The now-iconic poster of A Clockwork Orange was created by designer Bill Gold.